Old/New Testament
Joab’s Plan Regarding Absalom
14 Meanwhile, Zeruiah’s son Joab knew that the king’s attention was focused on Absalom,[a] 2 so he[b] sent messengers[c] to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup.[d] Act like a woman who’s been in mourning for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him like this…” Then Joab told her what to say.
4 When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, “Help, your majesty!”
5 The king asked her, “What’s your problem?”[e]
“I’ve been a widowed woman[f] ever since my husband died,” she answered. 6 “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. 7 Now please pay attention closely! My[g] whole family is attacking your humble servant! They’re saying, ‘Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we’ll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we’ll kill the heir also!’ They’re going to extinguish the only light[h] left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!”
8 Then the king replied to the woman, “Go home and I’ll issue a special order just for you.”
9 But the woman from Tekoa told the king, “Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors’ household, and not on my king or his throne!”
10 The king replied, “Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won’t be bothering[i] you anymore!”
11 Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the Lord your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”
So he promised, “As the Lord lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head[j] will fall to the ground!”
12 At this, the woman responded, “Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?”
“Say it…”[k] he replied.
13 “Why, then,” the woman asked, “are you planning to act just like this against God’s people? Based on what your majesty has said, you’re acting like one who is guilty himself, because you’re not bringing back the one whom you’ve banished! 14 After all, even though we all die,[l] and we’re[m] all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn’t take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged.[n]
15 “Now as to why I’ve come to speak with your majesty the king, it’s because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself,[o] ‘I’ll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. 16 Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression[p] of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!’[q]
17 “So your humble servant is saying, ‘Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the Lord your God remain present with you.’”
18 In reply, the king asked the woman, “Please don’t conceal anything about which I’m going to be asking you now.”
So the woman replied, “Please, your majesty, let the king speak.”
19 Then the king asked, “Is Joab behind all of this with you?”[r]
“As your soul lives, your majesty, the king,” the woman answered, “no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, 20 intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that’s going on throughout the earth.”[s]
David Authorizes Absalom’s Return
21 Then the king addressed Joab, “Look! I’ll do this thing that you’ve requested.[t] Go bring back the young man Absalom.”
22 At this, Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrating himself to bless the king, and then[u] said, “Today your servant realizes that he’s found favor with you, your majesty, in that the king has acted on the request of his servant.” 23 Then Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
24 Nevertheless, the king said, “Let him return to his own home and not show his face to me.” So Absalom returned to his own home and did not show his face to the king.
David’s Son Absalom
25 Now throughout all of Israel no one was as handsome as Absalom or so highly praised, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there wasn’t a single thing wrong about him. 26 Whenever he cut his hair —he cut it at the end of every year, because it grew thick on his head,[v] which is why he cut it—his hair weighed in at 200 shekels[w] measured by the royal standard.[x] 27 Absalom fathered three sons and one daughter, whom he named Tamar. She was a beautiful woman, both in form and appearance.
28 Meanwhile, Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but never saw the king’s face. 29 After this, Absalom sent for Joab, intending to send him to the king, but Joab[y] would not come. Absalom[z] sent for him a second time, but he still[aa] would not come. 30 So Absalom[ab] told his servants, “Observe that Joab’s grain field lies next to mine. He has barley planted there. Go set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
31 At this, Joab got up, went to Absalom’s home, and demanded of him, “Why did your servants set fire to my grain field?”
32 In answer to Joab, Absalom replied, “Look, I sent for you, telling you ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask him “What’s the point in moving here from Geshur? I would have been better off to have remained there!”’ So let me see the king’s face, and if I’m guilty of anything, let him execute me!”
33 So when Joab approached the king and told him what Absalom had said,[ac] he summoned Absalom, who then came to the king and fell to the ground on his face in front of him.[ad] Then the king kissed Absalom.
Absalom Instigates Civil War
15 Sometime later, Absalom acquired a chariot equipped with horses and recruited[ae] 50 men to accompany[af] him.[ag] 2 Then he[ah] would get up early, stand near the passageway to the palace[ai] gate, and when anyone arrived to file a legal complaint for a hearing before the king, Absalom would call to him and ask, “You’re from what city?” If[aj] he replied, “Your servant is from one of Israel’s tribes,” 3 Absalom would respond, “Look, your claims are valid and defensible, but nobody will listen to you on behalf of the king. 4 Who will appoint me to be a judge in the land? When anyone arrived to file a legal complaint or other cause, he could approach me for justice and I would settle it!” 5 Furthermore, if a man approached him to bow down in front of him, he would put out his hand, grab him, and embrace him. 6 By doing all of this to anyone who came to the king for a hearing, Absalom stole the loyalty[ak] of the men of Israel.
7 And so it was that forty[al] years after Israel had demanded a king,[am] Absalom asked the king, “Please let me go to Hebron so I can pay my vow that I made to the Lord, 8 because when I was living at Geshur in Aram, your servant made this solemn promise:[an] ‘If the Lord ever brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’”
9 The king replied to him, “Go in peace!” So Absalom[ao] got up and left for Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent agents throughout all of the tribes of Israel, telling them, “When you hear the sound of the battle trumpet, you’re to announce that Absalom is king in Hebron.” 11 Meanwhile, 200 men left Jerusalem with Absalom. They had been invited to go along, but were innocent, not knowing anything about what was happening.[ap] 12 Absalom also sent for Ahithophel[aq] the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come[ar] from his home town of Giloh while Absalom[as] was presenting the sacrificial offerings. And so the conspiracy widened, because the common people increasingly sided with Absalom.
David Flees from Jerusalem
13 Then a messenger arrived to inform David, “The loyalties of the men[at] of Israel have shifted to[au] Absalom.”
14 So David told all of his staff who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let’s get up and get out of here! Otherwise, none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry, or he’ll overtake us quickly, bring disaster on all of us, and execute the inhabitants of the city!”
15 “Look!” the king’s staff replied. “Your servants will do whatever the king chooses.” 16 So the king left, taking his entire household with him except for ten mistresses,[av] who were to keep the palace in order. 17 The king left, along with all of his people with him, and they paused at the last house. 18 All of his staff were going on ahead of[aw] him—that is, all of the special forces[ax] and mercenaries,[ay] all of the Gittites, and 600 men who had come to serve[az] him from Gath, went on ahead of the king.
19 Then the king suggested to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you have to go with us? Return and stay with the new[ba] king, since you’re a foreigner and exile. Stay where you want to stay.[bb] 20 It seems only yesterday that you arrived, so should I make you wander around with us while I go wherever I can? Go back, and take your brothers with you. May gracious love and truth accompany you!”
21 “As the Lord lives,” Ittai answered in reply, “and as your majesty the king lives, wherever your majesty my king may be—whether living or dying—that’s where your servant will be!”
22 So David replied, “Come along, then!” So Ittai the Gittite went along also, accompanied by all of his men and all of his little ones. 23 With all of the people in[bc] the territory crying loudly, everybody passed over the Kidron brook, along with the king. Then everyone headed out toward the road that leads to the wilderness.
24 Meanwhile, Zadok showed up also, along with all of the descendants of Levi with him, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God and Abiathar approached while all the people finished abandoning the city. 25 The king told Zadok, “Take the Ark of God back to the city. If I’m shown favor in the Lord’s sight, then he’ll bring me back again and show me both it and the place where it rests.[bd] 26 But if he should say something like ‘I’m not pleased with you,’ well then, here I am—let him do to me whatever seems right to him.”
27 The king also asked Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer, too? Go back to the city in comfort, along with your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. 28 Look! I’ll camp at the wilderness fords until you send word to inform me.”
29 So Zadok and Abiathar returned the Ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there. 30 David then left, going up the Mount of Olives,[be] crying as he went, with his head covered and his feet bare. All of the people who were with him covered their own heads and climbed up the Mount of Olives,[bf] crying as they went along.
31 Just then, someone told David, “Ahithophel is one of Absalom’s conspirators!”
So David prayed, “Lord, please turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”
Hushai Serves as a Spy
32 Just as David was coming to the top of the Mount of Olives where God was being worshipped, there was Hushai the Archite to meet him, with his coat ripped and dust all over his head! 33 David greeted him, “If you come along with me, you’ll be a burden to me. 34 So go back to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I’ll be your servant, your majesty! Just as I served your father in the past, I can be your servant now.’ That way you can manipulate Ahithophel’s advice to my benefit. 35 Won’t Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? So whatever you hear from the king’s palace, you’re to report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Their two sons—Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan—are with them there. You’ll be sending me everything that you hear through them.” 37 So David’s friend Hushai went back to the city just as Absalom was arriving in Jerusalem.
Causing Others to Sin(A)
17 Jesus[a] told his disciples, “It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 “Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Faith and Obedience
5 Then the apostles told the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of[b] a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!
7 “Suppose a man among you has a servant plowing or watching sheep. Would he say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and have something to eat’? 8 Of course not. Instead, he would say to him, ‘Get dinner ready for me, and put on your apron and wait on me until I eat and drink. Then you can eat and drink.’ 9 He doesn’t praise the servant for doing what was commanded, does he? 10 That’s the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.’”
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
11 One day, Jesus[c] was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem. 12 As he was going into a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 When Jesus[d] saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean. 15 But one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’[e] feet and thanked him. Now that man[f] was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? 18 Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?” 19 Then he told the man,[g] “Get up, and go home! Your faith has saved you.”[h]
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