Absalom's Conspiracy

15 After this Absalom ^(A)got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ² And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside ^(B)the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” ³ Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” ⁴ Then Absalom would say, ^(C)“Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” ⁵ And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶ Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ And at the end of four^[a] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron. ⁸ For your servant ^(D)vowed a vow ^(E)while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to^[b] the Lord.’” ⁹ The king said to him, ^(F)“Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” ¹¹ With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem ^(G)who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. ¹² And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for^{[c] (H)}Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^(I)David's counselor, from his city ^(J)Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom ^(K)kept increasing.

David Flees Jerusalem

¹³ And a messenger came to David, saying, ^(L)“The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” ¹⁴ Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us ^(M)flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” ¹⁵ And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” ¹⁶ So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ^(N)ten concubines to keep the house. ¹⁷ And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.

¹⁸ And ^(O)all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from ^(P)Gath, passed on before the king. ¹⁹ Then the king said to ^(Q)Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. ²⁰ You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go ^(R)I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show^[d] steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” ²¹ But Ittai answered the king, ^(S)“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, ^(T)wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” ²² And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. ²³ And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed ^(U)the brook ^(V)Kidron, and all the people passed on toward ^(W)the wilderness.

²⁴ And ^(X)Abiathar came up, and behold, ^(Y)Zadok came also with all the Levites, ^(Z)bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will ^(AA)bring me back and let me see both it and his ^(AB)dwelling place. ²⁶ But if he says, ‘I have no ^(AC)pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, ^(AD)let him do to me what seems good to him.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a ^(AE)seer? Go back^[e] to the city in peace, with ^(AF)your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ See, I will wait at ^(AG)the fords of ^(AH)the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, ^(AI)barefoot and ^(AJ)with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, ^(AK)weeping as they went. ³¹ And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please ^(AL)turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³² While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai ^(AM)the Archite came to meet him ^(AN)with his coat torn and ^(AO)dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ^(AP)a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ^(AQ)‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵ Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, ^(AR)tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Behold, ^(AS)their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, ^(AT)and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So Hushai, ^(AU)David's friend, came into the city, ^(AV)just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, ^(A)when he fled from Absalom his son.

Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Lilies. Of David.

²⁷ Just then ^(A)his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” ²⁸ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man ^(B)who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” ³⁰ They went out of the town and were coming to him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ^(C)“Rabbi, eat.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the disciples said to one another, ^(D)“Has anyone brought him something to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, ^(E)“My food is ^(F)to do the will of him who sent me and ^(G)to accomplish his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that ^(H)the fields are white for harvest. ³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that ^(I)sower and ^(J)reaper ^(K)may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ^(L)‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap ^(M)that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, ^(N)and you have entered into their labor.”

³⁹ Many Samaritans ^(O)from that town believed in him ^(P)because of ^(Q)the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed ^(R)because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, ^(S)and we know that this is indeed ^(T)the Savior ^(U)of the world.”

⁴³ After ^(V)the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified ^(W)that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, ^(X)having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For ^(Y)they too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

⁴⁶ So he came again to ^(Z)Cana in Galilee, ^(AA)where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus ^(AB)had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, ^(AC)“Unless you^[a] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down ^(AD)before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants^[b] met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour^[c] the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, ^(AE)and all his household. ^54 (AF)This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.