Book of Common Prayer

God is good, so thank him^[a]

This is a song that David wrote to praise God.

An alphabet of praise^[a]

Hushai and Ahithophel give advice to Absalom

17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, ‘Please let me choose 12,000 men so that I can go and attack David tonight. ² Now he will be very tired and weak. So when we attack him, he will be frightened. All his soldiers will run away. But I will kill only the king. ³ Then I will bring all his army back to you. If we kill this one man that you want to destroy, then all the people will return safely.’

⁴ This seemed a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel.

⁵ But Absalom said, ‘Send Hushai the Arkite to me. We should hear what advice he gives us.’

⁶ When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, ‘This is Ahithophel's advice. What do you think we should do? If you think differently, what advice do you give us?’

⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, ‘This time Ahithophel's idea is not good. ⁸ You know your father and his men. They are all strong fighters. They are as dangerous as a mother bear when you take away her babies. Remember that your father has fought many battles. He will not stay all night among his soldiers. ⁹ By this time he is hiding in a cave or in some other safe place. He might attack your soldiers first and kill some of them. When somebody hears the news, he will say, “They have destroyed Absalom's army!” ¹⁰ Then your bravest soldiers will be very frightened, even if they are as brave as lions. Everyone in Israel knows that your father is a fighter. And they know that the men with him are brave.

¹¹ This is my advice to you. Bring together all the soldiers in Israel. Tell them to come from everywhere in the land, from Dan to Beersheba. There will be as many of them as the sand on the shore of the sea. Then you yourself should lead the whole army into the battle. ¹² In this way we can attack David in any place that we find him. We will suddenly be all around him, like dew that covers the ground. He and his men will all die. Not even one of them will still be alive. ¹³ If he escapes into a city, we can completely destroy the city. Our soldiers will use ropes to pull it all down into the valley!’

¹⁴ Absalom and all Israel's leaders said, ‘Hushai's idea is better than Ahithophel's idea.’ This happened because the Lord did not let the people accept Ahithophel's advice. His idea was a good one, but the Lord had decided to cause trouble for Absalom.

¹⁵ Then Hushai went to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. He said to them, ‘This was Ahithophel's advice to Absalom and Israel's leaders. But this was my advice. ¹⁶ So now quickly send a report to David. Warn him that he must not stay tonight at the place in the desert where the road crosses the river. Instead, he must cross the Jordan River immediately, together with all the people who are with him. If not, Absalom and his army may catch them all and destroy them.’

Jonathan and Ahimaaz take the message to David

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel.^[a] They did not go into the city because they did not want anyone to see them there. So a female servant would take messages to them. Then they would take the messages to King David. ¹⁸ But this time a young man did see them. He told Absalom where they were. So they quickly left En Rogel and they went to a man's house in Bahurim. He had a well in his yard and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹ His wife took a lid and she put it over the top of the well. Then she put some grain on it. Nobody knew that the men were hiding there.

²⁰ Absalom's men came to the house. They asked the woman, ‘Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?’

The woman answered, ‘They went across the stream.’ Absalom's men looked everywhere for them, but they did not find them. So they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well. Then they took the message to David. They said to him, ‘You must go across the river immediately. Ahithophel has told Absalom how he can catch you here.’

²² So David and all the people who were with him went across the Jordan River. When dawn came, they had all gone across to the other side.

Ahithophel kills himself

²³ Ahithophel realized that Absalom had not agreed to his advice. So he got on his donkey and he went home to his own town. He told his family what he needed to tell them. Then he hanged himself. He died and his family buried him in his father's grave.

⁶ Think about our Jewish ancestor Abraham. We know this: ‘Abraham believed God. As a result, God accepted Abraham as right with him’. ⁷ So you should understand who Abraham's children really are. It is those people who trust God. ⁸ The Bible already said what would happen at a future time. It said that God would make the Gentiles right with himself, if they believed in him. God showed this good news to Abraham a long time before it happened. He said to Abraham, ‘I will bless people from all countries because of you.’^{[a] 9} So then, God did not bless only Abraham when he trusted God. God also blesses all people who trust him like Abraham did.

¹⁰ But some people try to obey all the rules of God's Law. They think that they will become right with God if they do this very well. But God will speak against people like that and he will punish them. It is written in the Bible: ‘God will punish everyone who does not always obey all the rules in his Law completely.’^{[b] 11} We know that the Law can not cause anyone to become right with God. That is clear because the Bible says, ‘The person that God has accepted as right will live because they trust him.’^[c]

¹² But the Law does not tell people to trust God. It tells people about all the things that they must do. The Bible says, ‘The person who obeys all the rules in God's Law completely will live’. ¹³ So God's Law shows that it is right for God to punish us. But Christ took that punishment away from us, because God punished him instead of us. It says in the Bible: ‘When people hang someone on a tree to kill him, it shows that God has cursed that person.’^{[d] 14} Christ died in that way so that God would bless the Gentiles in the way that he blessed Abraham. Also, if we believe in Christ, we can then receive God's Spirit that he promised.

The Father shows who Jesus really is

³⁰ Then Jesus said, ‘I can do nothing by myself. I hear what the Father says to me. Then, because of what he says, I judge people. So I judge in a way that is fair. I am not trying to do what I want for myself. The Father sent me, and I want to do what he wants. ³¹ If I say great things about myself, nobody would know that my words are true. ³² But there is someone else who speaks about me. I know that what he says about me is true. ³³ You have sent your people to ask John about me. What he has told you about me is true. ³⁴ I do not need any man to speak on my behalf. But I am telling you this to help you. Then God will be able to save you. ³⁵ John was like a light that shone brightly. For a certain time, you enjoyed the light that he gave.

³⁶ But it is not only John who shows who I am. There are other things that show it more strongly. My Father has given work to me so that I could finish it. These are the things that I do, and they show who I am. They show clearly that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ Also, the Father himself has spoken about me. You have never heard his voice. And you have never seen his shape. ³⁸ I am the one that he has sent. You do not receive his message because you do not believe in me. ³⁹ You study carefully what the Bible teaches. You think that those books will give you life with God. And it is true, those books do speak about who I am. ⁴⁰ But then you refuse to come to me so that you may have life with God!

⁴¹ I do not think that it is important for people to praise me. ⁴² But I know what kind of people you are. I know that you do not really love God. ⁴³ I have come with my Father's authority, but you do not accept me. But if someone else comes with his own authority, then you will accept him. ⁴⁴ You like to praise each other. That makes you happy. But what about God himself? You do not try to do good things so that he will praise you. That is why you will never believe in me.

⁴⁵ But I will not have to tell the Father that you are guilty. No, it is Moses who will do that. You think that Moses is the one who will show that you are right. But he is the one who will show that you are guilty. ⁴⁶ Moses wrote about me. So, if you had really believed Moses, you would believe me. ⁴⁷ But you do not believe what Moses wrote.^[a] So you will never believe what I say.’