17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I would^[a] choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. ² I would attack him while he is weary and weak.^(A) I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king^{(B) 3} and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.” ⁴ This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

⁵ But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai^(C) the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say as well.” ⁶ When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.”

⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. ⁸ You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs.^(D) Besides, your father is an experienced fighter;^(E) he will not spend the night with the troops. ⁹ Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place.^(F) If he should attack your troops first,^[b] whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion,^(G) will melt^(H) with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.^(I)

¹¹ “So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba^(J)—as numerous as the sand^(K) on the seashore—be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle. ¹² Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley^(L) until not so much as a pebble is left.”

¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice^(M) of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.”^(N) For the Lord had determined to frustrate^(O) the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster^(P) on Absalom.^(Q)

¹⁵ Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. ¹⁶ Now send a message at once and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness;^(R) cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.^(S)’”

¹⁷ Jonathan^(T) and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel.^(U) A female servant was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left at once and went to the house of a man in Bahurim.^(V) He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹ His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it.^(W)

²⁰ When Absalom’s men came to the woman^(X) at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

The woman answered them, “They crossed over the brook.”^[c] The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.” ²² So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his advice^(Y) had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order^(Z) and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle

9 Am I not free?^(A) Am I not an apostle?^(B) Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?^(C) Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?^{(D) 2} Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal^(E) of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink?^{(F) 5} Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife^(G) along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers^(H) and Cephas^[a]?^{(I) 6} Or is it only I and Barnabas^(J) who lack the right to not work for a living?

⁷ Who serves as a soldier^(K) at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard^(L) and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? ⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^[b](M) Is it about oxen that God is concerned?^{(N) 10} Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us,^(O) because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.^{(P) 11} If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?^{(Q) 12} If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right.^(R) On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder^(S) the gospel of Christ.

¹³ Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?^{(T) 14} In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.^(U)

¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights.^(V) And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.^{(W) 16} For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach.^(X) Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward;^(Y) if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.^{(Z) 18} What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge,^(AA) and so not make full use of my rights^(AB) as a preacher of the gospel.

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

¹⁹ Though I am free^(AC) and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,^(AD) to win as many as possible.^{(AE) 20} To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.^(AF) To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),^(AG) so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law^(AH) (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law),^(AI) so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.^(AJ) I have become all things to all people^(AK) so that by all possible means I might save some.^{(AL) 23} I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

The Need for Self-Discipline

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?^(AM) Run^(AN) in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown^(AO) that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.^{(AP) 26} Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;^(AQ) I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.^{(AR) 27} No, I strike a blow to my body^(AS) and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.^(AT)

Absalom’s Death

²⁴ David went to Mahanaim,^(A) and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa^(B) over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether,^[a](C) an Ishmaelite^[b] who had married Abigail,^[c] the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. ²⁶ The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash^(D) from Rabbah^(E) of the Ammonites, and Makir^(F) son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai^(G) the Gileadite^(H) from Rogelim ²⁸ brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils,^{[d] 29} honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat.^(I) For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.^(J)”

18 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² David sent out his troops,^(K) a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai^(L) son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai^(M) the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”

³ But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten^(N) thousand of us.^[e] It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”^(O)

⁴ The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. ⁵ The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

⁶ David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest^(P) of Ephraim. ⁷ There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

⁹ Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair^(Q) got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

¹⁰ When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

¹¹ Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike^(R) him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels^[f] of silver and a warrior’s belt.^(S)”

¹² But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels^[g] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.^[h]’ ¹³ And if I had put my life in jeopardy^[i]—and nothing is hidden from the king^(T)—you would have kept your distance from me.”

¹⁴ Joab^(U) said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵ And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.^(V)

¹⁶ Then Joab^(W) sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. ¹⁷ They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up^(X) a large heap of rocks^(Y) over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

¹⁸ During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley^(Z) as a monument^(AA) to himself, for he thought, “I have no son^(AB) to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

Watchfulness^(A)(B)

³⁵ “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.^(C) Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.^{(D) 38} It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. ³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief^(E) was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready,^(F) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

⁴¹ Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

⁴² The Lord^(G) answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? ⁴³ It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. ⁴⁴ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.^(H) He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

⁴⁷ “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.^{(I) 48} But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.^(J) From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Not Peace but Division^(K)

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism^(L) to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!^{(M) 51} Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵² From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”^(N)