⁹ Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging^[a] between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.^{(A) 10} A man saw it and told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” ¹¹ Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” ¹² But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son, for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom!’^{(B) 13} On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life^[b] (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” ¹⁴ Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak.^{(C) 15} And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.

¹⁶ Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the troops.^{(D) 17} They took Absalom, threw him into a great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Meanwhile all the Israelites fled to their homes.^{(E) 18} Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a pillar that is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar by his own name; it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.^(F)

The Plot to Kill Paul

¹² In the morning the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.^{(A) 13} There were more than forty who joined in this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Paul.^{(B) 15} Now then, you and the council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you, on the pretext that you want to make a more thorough examination of his case. And we are ready to do away with him before he arrives.”^(C)

¹⁶ Now the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, so he went and gained entrance to the barracks and told Paul.^{(D) 17} Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸ So he took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you; he has something to tell you.”^{(E) 19} The tribune took him by the hand, drew him aside privately, and asked, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰ He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more thoroughly into his case.^{(F) 21} But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him. They have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they kill him. They are ready now and are waiting for your consent.”^{(G) 22} So the tribune dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of this.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

²³ Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Get ready to leave by nine o’clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen.^{(H) 24} Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and take him safely to Felix the governor.”^(I)

Jesus’s Authority Is Questioned

²⁷ Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him ²⁸ and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” ³¹ They argued with one another, “What should we say?^[a] If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet.^{(A) 33} So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

12 Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went away.^{(B) 2} When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. ³ But they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. ⁵ Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶ He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not read this scripture:

¹² When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.^(D)