Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^(A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Hushai Saves David

17 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is ^(A)weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. ^(B)I will strike down only the king, ³ and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,^[a] and all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call ^(C)Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶ And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” ⁷ Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,^{[b] (D)}like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall^[c] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly ^(E)melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, ^(F)from Dan to Beersheba, ^(G)as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹² So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” ¹⁴ And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” ^(H)For the Lord had ordained^[d] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

^15 (I)Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. ¹⁶ Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at ^(J)the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be ^(K)swallowed up.’” ¹⁷ Now ^(L)Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at ^(M)En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at ^(N)Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. ^19 (O)And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. ²⁰ 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 have gone over the brook^[e] of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, ^(P)“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” ²² Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to ^(Q)his own city. He ^(R)set his house in order and ^(S)hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

²⁴ Then David came to ^(T)Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵ Now Absalom had set ^(U)Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,^[f] who had married Abigal the daughter of ^(V)Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. ²⁶ And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, ^(W)Shobi the son of Nahash from ^(X)Rabbah of the Ammonites, and ^(Y)Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and ^(Z)Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, ²⁸ brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,^{[g] 29} honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and ^(AA)weary and thirsty ^(AB)in the wilderness.”

Not Peace, but Division

^49 (A)“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ^50 (B)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how ^(C)great is my distress until it is accomplished! ^51 (D)Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? ^(E)No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(F)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, ^(G)“When you see ^(H)a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵ And ^(I)when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be ^(J)scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(K)You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser

⁵⁷ “And why ^(L)do you not judge ^(M)for yourselves what is right? ^58 (N)As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, ^(O)you will never get out until you have paid the very last ^(P)penny.”^[a]

Repent or Perish

13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood ^(Q)Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And he answered them, ^(R)“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you ^(S)repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in ^(T)Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you ^(U)repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

⁶ And he told this parable: “A man had ^(V)a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷ And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. ^(W)Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ ⁸ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. ⁹ Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”