Old/New Testament
14 Now Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was toward Absalom.
2 And Joab sent to Tekoah and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, Pretend to be a mourner; put on mourning apparel, do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has long been mourning for the dead.
3 And go to the king and speak thus to him. And Joab told her what to say.
4 When the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king!
5 The king asked her, What troubles you? She said, I am a widow; my husband is dead.
6 And your handmaid had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.
7 And behold, our whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who slew his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew; and so they would destroy the heir also. And so quenching my coal which is left, they would leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the earth.
8 David said to the woman, Go home, and I will give orders concerning you.
9 And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king, let the guilt be on me and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.
10 The king said, If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you again.
11 Then she said, I pray you, let the king remember the Lord your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And David said, As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.
12 Then the woman said, Let your handmaid, I pray you, speak one word to my lord the king. He said, Say on.
13 [She] said, Why then have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like one who is guilty, in that [he] does not bring home his banished one.
14 We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. And God does not take away life, but devises means so that he who is banished may not be an utter outcast from Him.
15 And now I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And I thought, I will speak to the king; it may be that he will perform the request of his servant.
16 For the king will hear to deliver his handmaid from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from [Israel] the inheritance of God.
17 And the woman said, The word of my lord the king will now give me rest and security, for as an angel of God is my lord the king to hear and discern good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you!
18 Then the king said to the woman, Hide not from me anything I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king speak.
19 The king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who directed me; he put all these words in my mouth.
20 In order to change the course of matters [between Absalom and his father] your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God—to know all things that are on the earth.
21 Then the king said to Joab, Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.
22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face and did obeisance and thanked the king. And Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.
23 So Joab arose, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24 And the king said, Let him go to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the king’s face.
25 But in all Israel there was none so much to be praised for his beauty as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
26 And when he cut the hair of his head, he weighed it—for at each year’s end he cut it, because its weight was a burden to him—and it weighed 200 shekels by the king’s weight.
27 There were born to Absalom three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.
28 Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem and did not see the king’s face.
29 So Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; even when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
30 Therefore Absalom said to his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. So Absalom’s servants set the field afire.
31 Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?
32 Absalom answered Joab, I sent to you, saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king to ask, Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still. Now therefore [Joab], let me see the king, and if there is iniquity and guilt in me, let him kill me.
33 So Joab came to the king and told him. And when David had called for Absalom, he came to him and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and [David] kissed Absalom.
15 After this, Absalom got a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2 And [he] rose up early and stood beside the gateway; and when any man who had a controversy came to the king for judgment, Absalom called to him, Of what city are you? And he would say, Your servant is of such and such a tribe of Israel.
3 Absalom would say to him, Your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king’s agent to hear you.
4 Absalom added, Oh, that I were judge in the land! Then every man with any suit or cause might come to me and I would do him justice!
5 And whenever a man came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.
6 Thus Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 And after [four] years, Absalom said to the king, I pray you, let me go to Hebron [his birthplace] and pay my vow to the Lord.
8 For your servant vowed while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, If the Lord will bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord [by offering a sacrifice].
9 And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, Absalom is king at Hebron.
11 With Absalom went 200 men from Jerusalem, who were invited [as guests to his sacrificial feast]; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not a thing.
12 And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy was strong; the people with Absalom increased continually.
13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.
14 David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise and let us flee, or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us and smite the city with the sword.
15 And the king’s servants said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king says.
16 So the king and all his household after him went forth. But he left ten women who were concubines to keep the house.(A)
17 The king went forth with all the people after him, and halted at the last house.
18 All David’s servants passed on beside him, along with [his bodyguards] all the Cherethites, Pelethites; also all the Gittites, 600 men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.
19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you go with us also? Return to your place and remain with the king [Absalom], for you are a foreigner and an exile.
20 Since you came only yesterday, should I make you go up and down with us? Since I must go where I may, you return, and take back your brethren with you. May loving-kindness and faithfulness be with you.
21 But Ittai answered the king, As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or life, even there also will your servant be.
22 So David said to Ittai, Go on and pass over [the Kidron]. And Ittai the Gittite passed over and all his men and all the little ones who were with him.
23 All the country wept with a loud voice as all the people passed over. The king crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people went on toward the wilderness.
24 Abiathar [the priest] and behold, Zadok came also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until all the people had gone from the city.
25 Then the king told Zadok, Take back the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His house.
26 But if He says, I have no delight in you, then here I am; let Him do to me what seems good to Him.
27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, Are you not a seer? [You and Abiathar] return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan son of Abiathar.
28 See, I will wait at the fords [at the Jordan] of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.
29 Zadok, therefore, and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem and they stayed there.
30 And David went up over the Mount of Olives and wept as he went, barefoot and his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, weeping as they went.
31 David was told, Ahithophel [your counselor] is among the conspirators with Absalom. David said, O Lord, I pray You, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.
32 When David came to the summit [of Olivet], where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent and earth upon his head.
33 David said to him, If you go with me, you will be a burden to me.
34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in the past, so will I be your servant now, then you may defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
35 Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be with you? So whatever you hear from the king’s house, just tell it to [them].
36 Behold, their two sons are there with them, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them send to me everything you hear.
37 So Hushai, David’s friend, returned, and Absalom also came into Jerusalem.
17 And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come, but woe to him by or through whom they come!
2 It would be more profitable for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea than that he should cause to sin or be a snare to one of these little ones [[a]lowly in rank or influence].
3 [b]Pay attention and always be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him.
4 And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).
5 The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith (that trust and confidence that spring from our belief in God).
6 And the Lord answered, If you had faith (trust and confidence in God) even [so small] like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.
7 Will any man of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and take your place at the table?
8 Will he not instead tell him, Get my supper ready and gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you yourself shall eat and drink?
9 Is he grateful and does he praise the servant because he did what he was ordered to do?
10 Even so on your part, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants [possessing no merit, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have [merely] done what was our duty to do.
11 As He went on His way to Jerusalem, it occurred that [Jesus] was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.
12 And as He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance.
13 And they raised up their voices and called, Jesus, Master, take pity and have mercy on us!
14 And when He saw them, He said to them, Go [at once] and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cured and made clean.(A)
15 Then one of them, upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, [c]recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud voice;
16 And he fell prostrate at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. And he was a Samaritan.
17 Then Jesus asked, Were not [all] ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
18 Was there no one found to return and to [d]recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?
19 And He said to him, Get up and go on your way. Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your belief in God) has restored you to health.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation