God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. A ^(B)Miktam^[a] of David.

David Pardons His Enemies

¹⁶ And ^(A)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷ And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And ^(B)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king, ¹⁸ and they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household and to do his pleasure. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, ¹⁹ and said to the king, ^(C)“Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant ^(D)did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Do not let the king take it to heart. ²⁰ For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first ^(E)of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” ²¹ Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because ^(F)he cursed the Lord's anointed?” ²² But David said, ^(G)“What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? ^(H)Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” ^23 (I)And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.

²⁴ And ^(J)Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. ²⁵ And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, ^(K)“Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” ²⁶ He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself,^[a] that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For ^(L)your servant is lame. ^27 (M)He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is ^(N)like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. ²⁸ For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but ^(O)you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” ²⁹ And the king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.” ³⁰ And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.”

³¹ Now ^(P)Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he went on with the king to the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan. ³² Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. ^(Q)He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. ³³ And the king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.” ³⁴ But Barzillai said to the king, ^(R)“How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁵ I am this day ^(S)eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be ^(T)an added burden to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? ³⁷ Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant ^(U)Chimham. Let him go over with my lord the king, and do for him whatever seems good to you.” ³⁸ And the king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you, and all that you desire of me I will do for you.” ³⁹ Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. And ^(V)the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home. ⁴⁰ The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. All the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way.

⁴¹ Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and ^(W)brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?” ⁴² All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is ^(X)our close relative. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense? Or has he given us any gift?” ⁴³ And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ^(Y)ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” ^(Z)But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ^26 (A)“If anyone comes to me and ^(B)does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, ^(C)yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ^27 (D)Whoever does not ^(E)bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not ^(F)first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not ^(G)sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ^33 (H)So therefore, any one of you who ^(I)does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Salt Without Taste Is Worthless

^34 (J)“Salt is good, ^(K)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵ It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. ^(L)He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now ^(M)the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes ^(N)grumbled, saying, ^(O)“This man receives sinners and ^(P)eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ^4 (Q)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^(R)if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^(S)in the open country, and ^(T)go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, ^(U)he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ^(V)I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^(W)repents than over ninety-nine ^(X)righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^(Y)the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”