David flees from Jerusalem

¹³ A messenger came to David, reporting, “The hearts of the Israelites have gone over to Absalom.” ¹⁴ Then David told all the servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come on! We have to run for it, or we won’t be able to escape Absalom. Hurry, or he will catch up with us in no time, destroy us,^[a] and attack the city with the sword.”

³⁰ But David, his head covered, walked barefoot up the slope of the Mount of Olives crying. All the people who were with him covered their heads too and cried as they went up.

Shimei curses David

⁵ When King David came to Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul’s family came out from there. His name was Shimei; he was Gera’s son. He was cursing as he came out. ⁶ He threw rocks at David and at all of King David’s servants, even though the entire army and all the warriors were on either side of him.

⁷ This is what Shimei said as he cursed David: “Get out of here! Get out of here! You are a murderer! You are despicable! ⁸ The Lord has paid you back for all the blood of Saul’s family, in whose place you rule, and the Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You are in this trouble because you are a murderer!”

⁹ Zeruiah’s son Abishai said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my master the king? Let me go over and cut his head off!”

¹⁰ But the king said, “My problems aren’t yours, you sons of Zeruiah. If he is cursing because the Lord told him to curse David, then who is to question, ‘Why are you doing this?’”

¹¹ Then David addressed Abishai and all his servants: “Listen! My own son, one of my very own children, wants me dead. This Benjaminite can only feel the same—only more! Leave him alone. And let him curse, because the Lord told him to. ¹² Perhaps the Lord will see my distress; perhaps the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing today.”

¹³ So David and his men kept walking, while Shimei went along on the hillside next to him, cursing as he went, throwing rocks and dirt at him. ¹⁴ The king and all the people who were with him reached the Jordan River^[a] exhausted, and he rested there.

Psalm 3

A psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

Jesus frees a demon-possessed man

5 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. ² As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. ³ This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. ⁴ He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. ⁵ Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus from far away, he ran and knelt before him, ⁷ shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”

⁸ He said this because Jesus had already commanded him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”

⁹ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He responded, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” ¹⁰ They pleaded with Jesus not to send them out of that region.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. ¹² “Send us into the pigs!” they begged. “Let us go into the pigs!” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission, so the unclean spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

¹⁴ Those who tended the pigs ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to be demon-possessed. They saw the very man who had been filled with many demons sitting there fully dressed and completely sane, and they were filled with awe. ¹⁶ Those who had actually seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man told the others about the pigs. ¹⁷ Then they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ While he was climbing into the boat, the one who had been demon-possessed pleaded with Jesus to let him come along as one of his disciples. ¹⁹ But Jesus wouldn’t allow it. “Go home to your own people,” Jesus said, “and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy.” ²⁰ The man went away and began to proclaim in the Ten Cities all that Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.