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23 The whole land wept aloud as the last of the soldiers went by, and the king crossed the Wadi Kidron with all the soldiers moving on ahead of him by way of the ascent of the Mount of Olives, toward the wilderness.
David and the Priests. 24 Zadok, too, and all the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of God set down the ark of God until the whole army had finished marching out of the city; and Abiathar came up. 25 Then the king said to Zadok: “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor with the Lord, he will bring me back and permit me to see it and its lodging place. 26 But if he should say, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ I am ready; let him do to me as he sees fit.”(A) 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest: “Look, you and Abiathar return to the city in peace, and both your sons with you, your own son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. 28 Remember, I shall be waiting at the fords near the wilderness until a report from you comes to me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.
30 As David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, he wept without ceasing. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All those who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went.(B) 31 When David was told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom,” he said, “O Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel to folly!”(C)
David and Hushai. 32 When David reached the top, where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him, with garments torn and dirt upon his head.(D) 33 David said to him: “If you come with me, you will be a burden to me; 34 but if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Let me be your servant, O king; I was formerly your father’s servant, but now I will be yours,’ you will thwart for me the counsel of Ahithophel.(E) 35 You will have the priests Zadok and Abiathar there with you. If you hear anything from the king’s house, you shall report it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, 36 who have there with them their two sons, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Through them you shall send on to me whatever you hear.” 37 So David’s friend Hushai went into the city, Jerusalem, as Absalom was about to enter it.
Chapter 16
David and Ziba. 1 David went a little beyond the top and Ziba, the servant of Meribbaal, was there to meet him with saddled donkeys laden with two hundred loaves of bread, an ephah of cakes of pressed raisins, an ephah of summer fruits, and a skin of wine.(F) 2 The king said to Ziba, “What are you doing with all this?” Ziba replied: “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on. The bread and summer fruits are for your servants to eat, and the wine to drink when they grow weary in the wilderness.” 3 Then the king said, “And where is your lord’s son?” Ziba answered the king, “He is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore to me my father’s kingdom.’”(G) 4 The king therefore said to Ziba, “So! Everything Meribbaal had is yours.” Then Ziba said: “I pay you homage, my lord the king. May I find favor with you!”(H)
David and Shimei. 5 As King David was approaching Bahurim, there was a man coming out; he was of the same clan as the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, son of Gera. He kept cursing as he came out,(I) 6 and throwing stones at David and at all King David’s officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard, were on David’s right and on his left. 7 Shimei was saying as he cursed: “Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you scoundrel! 8 The Lord has paid you back for all the blood shed from the family of Saul,[a] whom you replaced as king, and the Lord has handed over the kingdom to your son Absalom. And now look at you: you suffer ruin because you are a man of blood.” 9 Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king: “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”(J) 10 But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’”(K) 11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants: “If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.(L) 12 Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and repay me with good for the curses he is uttering this day.” 13 David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept up with them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.(M) 14 The king and all the soldiers with him arrived at the Jordan tired out, and stopped there to rest.
Absalom’s Counselors. 15 In the meantime Absalom, with all the Israelites, entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 16 When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, he said to him: “Long live the king! Long live the king!”(N) 17 But Absalom asked Hushai: “Is this your devotion to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” 18 Hushai replied to Absalom: “On the contrary, I am his whom the Lord and all this people and all Israel have chosen, and with him I will stay. 19 Furthermore, as I was in attendance upon your father, so will I be before you. Whom should I serve, if not his son?”(O)
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Offer your counsel on what we should do.” 21 Ahithophel replied to Absalom: “Go to your father’s concubines, whom he left behind to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears how odious you have made yourself to your father, all those on your side will take courage.”(P) 22 So a tent was pitched on the roof for Absalom, and Absalom went to his father’s concubines in view of all Israel.(Q)
Counsel of Ahithophel. 23 Now the counsel given by Ahithophel at that time was as though one sought the word of God. Such was all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom.(R)
25 Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.[a]
The Trial Before Pilate. 28 (A)Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.[b] It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring [against] this man?” 30 They answered and said to him, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” 31 At this, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” The Jews answered him, “We do not have the right to execute anyone,”[c] 32 [d]in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of death(B) he would die. 33 So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”(C) 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”(D) 37 So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king.[e] For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”(E) 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”(F)
When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.[f] Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!”[g] Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Chapter 19
1 [h](G)Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, 3 and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. 4 Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”(H) 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!”(I) 6 When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.”(J) 7 [i]The Jews answered,(K) “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” 8 Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, 9 and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him.(L) 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered [him], “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”(M) 12 Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.[j] Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”(N)
13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him[k] on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.[l] And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” 15 They cried out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.[m]
The Crucifixion of Jesus. So they took Jesus, 17 (O)and carrying the cross himself[n] he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. 19 [o]Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” 20 Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”(P) 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
Samekh
113 I hate every hypocrite;
your law I love.
114 You are my refuge and shield;
in your word I hope.
115 Depart from me, you wicked,(A)
that I may keep the commandments of my God.
116 Sustain me by your promise that I may live;
do not disappoint me in my hope.
117 Strengthen me that I may be safe,
ever to contemplate your statutes.
118 You reject all who stray from your statutes,
for vain is their deceit.
119 Like dross you regard all the wicked on earth;
therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh shudders with dread of you;
I fear your judgments.
Ayin
121 I have fulfilled your righteous judgment;
do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee your servant’s welfare;
do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes long to see your salvation
and the promise of your righteousness.
124 Act with mercy toward your servant;
teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant; give me discernment
that I may know your testimonies.
126 It is time for the Lord to act;
they have disobeyed your law.
127 Truly I love your commandments
more than gold, more than the finest gold.
128 Thus, I follow all your precepts;
every wrong way I hate.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.