Book of Common Prayer

The Lord Is Always Merciful

(By David for praise.)

The Lord Is Kind and Merciful

17 Ahithophel said to Absalom:

Let me choose 12,000 men and attack David tonight, ² while he is tired and discouraged. He will panic, and everyone with him will run away. I won't kill anyone except David, ³ since he's the one you want to get rid of. Then I'll bring the whole nation back to you like a bride coming home to her husband.^[a] This way there won't be a civil war.

Hushai Fools Absalom

⁴ Absalom and all the leaders of the tribes of Israel agreed that Ahithophel had a good plan. ⁵ Then Absalom said, “Bring in Hushai the Archite. Let's hear what he has to say.”

⁶ Hushai came in, and Absalom told him what Ahithophel had planned. Then Absalom said, “Should we do what he says? And if we shouldn't, can you come up with anything better?”

⁷ Hushai said:

This time Ahithophel's advice isn't so good. ⁸ You know that your father and his followers are real warriors. Now they are as fierce as a mother bear whose cubs have just been killed. Besides, your father has a lot of experience in fighting wars, and he won't be spending the night with the others. ⁹ He has probably already found a hiding place in a cave or somewhere else.

As soon as anyone hears that some of your soldiers have been killed, everyone will think your whole army has been destroyed. ¹⁰ Then even those who are as brave as a lion will lose their courage. All Israel knows what a great warrior your father is and what brave soldiers he has.

¹¹ My advice is to gather all the fighting men of Israel from the town of Dan in the north down to the town of Beersheba in the south. You will have more soldiers than there are grains of sand on the seashore. Absalom, you should lead them yourself, ¹² and we will all go to fight David wherever he is. We will fall on him just as dew falls and covers the ground. He and all his soldiers will die! ¹³ If they go into a walled town, we will put ropes around that town and drag it into the river. We won't leave even one small piece of a stone.

¹⁴ Absalom and the others liked Hushai's plan better than Ahithophel's plan. This was because the Lord had decided to keep Ahithophel's plan from working and to cause trouble for Absalom.

Jonathan and Ahimaaz Tell David the News

¹⁵ At once, Hushai went to Zadok and Abiathar. He told them what advice Ahithophel had given to Absalom and to the leaders of Israel. He also told them about the advice he had given. ¹⁶ Then he said, “Hurry! Send someone to warn David not to spend the night on this side of the Jordan. He must get across the river, so he and the others won't be wiped out!”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz^[b] had been waiting at Rogel Spring^[c] because they did not want to be seen in Jerusalem. A servant girl went to the spring and gave them the message for David. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them and went to tell Absalom. So Jonathan and Ahimaaz left and hurried to the house of a man who lived in Bahurim. Then they climbed down into a well in the courtyard. ¹⁹ The man's wife put the cover on the well and poured grain on top of it, so the well could not be seen.^[d]

²⁰ Absalom's soldiers came to the woman and demanded, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

The woman answered, “They went across that stream.”

The soldiers went off to look for the two men. But when they did not find the men, they went back to Jerusalem.

²¹ After the soldiers had gone, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well. They went to David and said, “Hurry! Get ready to cross the river!” Then they told him about Ahithophel's plan.

²² David and the others got ready and started crossing the Jordan River. By sunrise all of them were on the other side.

Ahithophel Kills Himself

²³ When Ahithophel saw that Absalom and the leaders of Israel were not going to follow his advice, he saddled his donkey and rode back to his home in Gilo. He told his family and servants what to do. Then he hanged himself, and they buried him in his family's burial place.

^6 (A) The Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith. ^7 (B) And so, you should understand that everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham.^{[a] 8 (C)} Long ago the Scriptures said God would accept the Gentiles because of their faith. This is why God told Abraham the good news that all nations would be blessed because of him. ⁹ This means everyone who has faith will share in the blessings given to Abraham because of his faith.

^10 (D) Anyone who tries to please God by obeying the Law is under a curse. The Scriptures say, “Everyone who doesn't obey everything in the Law is under a curse.” ^11 (E) No one can please God by obeying the Law. The Scriptures also say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”^[b]

^12 (F) The Law isn't based on faith. It promises life only to people who obey its commands. ^13 (G) But Christ rescued us from the Law's curse, when he became a curse in our place. This is because the Scriptures say that anyone who is nailed to a tree is under a curse. ¹⁴ And because of what Jesus Christ has done, the blessing promised to Abraham was taken to the Gentiles. This happened so that by faith we would be given the promised Holy Spirit.

³⁰ I cannot do anything on my own. The Father sent me, and he is the one who told me how to judge. I judge with fairness, because I obey him, and I don't just try to please myself.

Witnesses to Jesus

³¹ If I speak for myself, there is no way to prove I am telling the truth. ³² But there is someone else who speaks for me, and I know what he says is true. ^33 (A) You sent messengers to John, and he told them the truth. ³⁴ I don't depend on what people say about me, but I tell you these things so that you may be saved. ^35 (B) John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.

³⁶ But something more important than John speaks for me. I mean the things that the Father has given me to do! All of these speak for me and prove that the Father sent me.

^37 (C) The Father who sent me also speaks for me, but you have never heard his voice or seen him face to face. ³⁸ You have not believed his message, because you refused to have faith in the one he sent.

^39 (D) You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, ⁴⁰ but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.

⁴¹ I don't care about human praise, ⁴² but I do know that none of you love God. ⁴³ I have come with my Father's authority, and you have not welcomed me. But you will welcome people who come on their own. ⁴⁴ How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!

⁴⁵ Don't think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. ⁴⁶ Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. ⁴⁷ But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?