Book of Common Prayer

A psalm of praise. A psalm of David.

17 One day Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Here’s what I suggest. Choose 12,000 men. Start out tonight and go after David. ² Attack him while he’s tired and weak. Fill him with terror. Then all the people with him will run away. Don’t strike down anyone except the king. ³ Bring all the other people back. After the man you want to kill is dead, everyone else will return to you. And none of the people will be harmed.” ⁴ Ahithophel’s plan seemed good to Absalom. It also seemed good to all the elders of Israel.

⁵ But Absalom said, “Send for Hushai, the Arkite. Then we can find out what he suggests as well.” ⁶ Hushai came to him. Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given us his advice. Should we do what he says? If we shouldn’t, tell us what you would do.”

⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given you isn’t good this time. ⁸ You know your father and his men. They are fighters. They are as strong as a wild bear whose cubs have been stolen from her. Besides, your father really knows how to fight. He won’t spend the night with his troops. ⁹ In fact, he’s probably hiding in a cave or some other place right now. Suppose he attacks your troops first. When people hear about it, they’ll say, ‘Many of the troops who followed Absalom have been killed.’ ¹⁰ Then the hearts of your soldiers will melt away in fear. Even those as brave as a lion will be terrified. That’s because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a fighter. They know that those with him are brave.

¹¹ “So here’s what I suggest. Bring together all the men of Israel from the town of Dan all the way to Beersheba. They are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. You yourself should lead them into battle. ¹² Then we’ll attack David no matter where we find him. As dew completely covers the ground, we’ll completely overpower his entire army. We won’t leave him or any of his men alive. ¹³ He might try to get away by going into a city. If he does, all of us will bring ropes to that city. We’ll drag the whole city down into the valley. Not even a pebble of that city will be left.”

¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel agreed. They said, “The advice of Hushai, the Arkite, is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” The Lord had decided that Ahithophel’s good advice would fail. The Lord wanted to bring horrible trouble on Absalom.

¹⁵ Hushai spoke to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. He said, “Ahithophel has given advice to Absalom and the elders of Israel. He suggested that they should do one thing. But I suggested something else. ¹⁶ Send a message right away. Tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night in the desert at a place where people cross the Jordan River. Make sure you go on across. If you don’t, you and all the people with you will be swallowed up.’ ”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel just outside Jerusalem. They knew they would be in danger if anyone saw them entering the city. A female servant was supposed to go and tell them what had happened. Then they were supposed to go and tell King David. ¹⁸ But a young man saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom about it. So the two men left right away. They went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard. They climbed down into it. ¹⁹ The man’s wife got a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well. Then she scattered grain on the covering. So no one knew that the men were hiding in the well.

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

She answered, “They went across the brook.” When the men looked around, they didn’t find anyone. So they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well. They went to tell King David what they had found out. They said to him, “Go across the river right away. Ahithophel has told Absalom how to come after you and strike you down.” ²² So David and all the people with him started out. They went across the Jordan River. By sunrise, everyone had crossed over.

²³ Ahithophel saw that his advice wasn’t being followed. So he put a saddle on his donkey. He started out for his house in his hometown. When he arrived, he made everything ready for his death. He made out his will. Then he killed himself. And so he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

⁶ In the same way, Abraham “believed God. God was pleased with Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6)

⁷ So you see, those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Long ago, Scripture knew that God would make the Gentiles right with himself. He would do this by their faith in him. He announced the good news ahead of time to Abraham. God said, “All nations will be blessed because of you.” (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18) ⁹ So those who depend on faith are blessed along with Abraham. He was the man of faith.

¹⁰ All who depend on obeying the law are under a curse. It is written, “May everyone who doesn’t continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law be under God’s curse.” (Deuteronomy 27:26) ¹¹ We know that no one who depends on the law is made right with God. This is because “the one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) ¹² The law is not based on faith. In fact, it is just the opposite. It teaches that “the person who does these things will live by them.” (Leviticus 18:5) ¹³ Christ set us free from the curse of the law. He did it by becoming a curse for us. It is written, “Everyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” (Deuteronomy 21:23) ¹⁴ Christ Jesus set us free so that the blessing given to Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ. He did it so that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. The promised Spirit comes by believing in Christ.

³⁰ I can do nothing by myself. I judge only as I hear. And my judging is fair. I do not try to please myself. I try to please the one who sent me.

Being a Witness About Jesus

³¹ “If I am a witness about myself, what I say is not true. ³² There is someone else who is a witness in my favor. And I know that what he says about me is true.

³³ “You have sent people to John the Baptist. He has been a witness to the truth. ³⁴ I do not accept what a person says. I only talk about what John says so that you can be saved. ³⁵ John was like a lamp that burned and gave light. For a while you chose to enjoy his light.

³⁶ “What I say about myself is more important than what John says about me. I am doing the works the Father gave me to finish. These works are a witness that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ The Father who sent me is himself a witness about me. You have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he really looks like. ³⁸ And his word does not live in you. That’s because you do not believe the one he sent. ³⁹ You study the Scriptures carefully. You study them because you think they will give you eternal life. The Scriptures you study are a witness about me. ⁴⁰ But you refuse to come to me and receive life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept praise from human beings. ⁴² But I know you. I know that you do not have love for God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. But if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ You accept praise from one another. But you do not seek the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe?

⁴⁵ “Do not think I will bring charges against you in front of the Father. Moses is the one who does that. And he is the one you build your hopes on. ⁴⁶ Do you believe Moses? Then you should believe me. He wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But you do not believe what he wrote. So how are you going to believe what I say?”