¹⁵ Then said Hushai to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counseled.

¹⁶ Now send quickly and tell David, Lodge not this night at the fords [at the Jordan] of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up and all the people with him.

¹⁷ Now [the youths] Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En-rogel, for they must not be seen coming into the city. But a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.

¹⁸ But a lad saw them and told Absalom; but they left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

¹⁹ And the woman spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not discovered.

²⁰ For when Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They went over the brook of water. When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had departed, the boys came up out of the well and went and told King David, and said, Arise and pass quickly over the river Jordan; for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.

²² David arose and all the people with him and passed over the Jordan. By daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed.

²³ But when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, went home to his city, put his household in order, and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

31 At that time, says the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.

² Thus says the Lord: The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness [place of exile]—when Israel sought to find rest.

³ The Lord appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.^(A)

⁴ Again I will build you and you will be built, O Virgin Israel! You will again be adorned with your timbrels [small one-headed drums] and go forth in the dancing [chorus] of those who make merry.^(B)

⁵ Again you shall plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and make the fruit common and enjoy it [undisturbed].

⁶ For there shall be a day when the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry out, Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.

⁷ For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the head of the nations [on account of the chosen people, Israel]. Proclaim, praise, and say, The Lord has saved His people, the remnant of Israel!

⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and among them will be the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who labors in childbirth together; a great company, they will return here to Jerusalem.

⁹ They will come with weeping [in penitence and for joy], pouring out prayers [for the future]. I will lead them back; I will cause them to walk by streams of water and bring them in a straight way in which they will not stumble, for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim [Israel] is My firstborn.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare it in the isles and coastlands far away, and say, He Who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.

¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from the hand of him who was too strong for him.

¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion and shall flow together and be radiant with joy over the goodness of the Lord—for the corn, for the juice [of the grape], for the oil, and for the young of the flock and the herd. And their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow or languish any more at all.

¹³ Then will the maidens rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old together. For I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.

¹⁴ I will satisfy fully the life of the priests with abundance [of offerings shared with them], and My people will be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.

20 For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning ^[a]along with the dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³ And going out about the third hour (nine o’clock), he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;

⁴ And he said to them, You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you. And they went.

⁵ He went out again about the sixth hour (noon), and the ninth hour (three o’clock) he did the same.

⁶ And about the eleventh hour (five o’clock) he went out and found still others standing around, and said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?

⁷ They answered him, Because nobody has hired us. He told them, You go out into the vineyard also ^[b]and you will get whatever is just and fair.

⁸ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.^(A)

⁹ And those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (five o’clock) came and received a denarius each.

¹⁰ Now when the first came, they supposed they would get more, but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹ And when they received it, they grumbled at the owner of the estate,

¹² Saying, These [men] who came last worked no more than an hour, and yet you have made them rank with us who have borne the burden and the ^[c]scorching heat of the day.

¹³ But he answered one of them, Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this man hired last the same as I give to you.

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve [apostles], who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

¹⁵ And said, What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you? And they weighed out for and paid to him thirty pieces of silver [about twenty-one dollars and sixty cents].^(A)

¹⁶ And from that moment he sought a fitting opportunity to betray Him.

¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread [Passover week], the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him, Where do You wish us to prepare for You to eat the Passover supper?

¹⁸ He said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The Master says: My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.

¹⁹ And accordingly the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they made ready the Passover supper.^(B)

²⁰ When it was evening, He was reclining at table with the twelve disciples.

²¹ And as they were eating, He said, Solemnly I say to you, one of you will betray Me!

²² They were exceedingly pained and distressed and deeply hurt and sorrowful and began to say to Him one after another, ^[a]Surely it cannot be I, Lord, can it?

²³ He replied, He who has [just] dipped his hand in the same dish with Me will betray Me!

²⁴ The Son of Man is going just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better (more profitable and wholesome) for that man if he had never been born!^(C)

²⁵ Judas, the betrayer, said, ^[b]Surely it is not I, is it, Master? He said to him, You have stated [the fact].

²⁶ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and, ^[c]praising God, gave thanks and asked Him to bless it to their use, and when He had broken it, He gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body.

²⁷ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you;

²⁸ For this is My blood of the new covenant, which [^[d]ratifies the agreement and] is ^[e]being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.^(D)

²⁹ I say to you, I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it with you new and ^[f]of superior quality in My Father’s kingdom.