Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

By David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away. So David^[a] left.

Learning about God’s Deliverance

¹⁵ So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, what Ahithophel had suggested to Absalom and the elders of Israel. He also reported what he himself had proposed. Hushai said, ¹⁶ “Quick! Get word to David! Tell him not to spend the night at the crossings that lead to the desert. Instead, he must cross the Jordan River immediately. That way, if he crosses the river, the king and his entourage^[a] will survive.”

¹⁷ Meanwhile, since they could not risk being seen entering the city, Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been waiting at En-rogel, where a young servant woman was to go to inform them and they would then go brief King David. ¹⁸ But a young man observed Jonathan and Ahimaaz and informed Absalom, so they left in a hurry, arrived at the home of a man who lived at Bahurim, and hid inside a well that was in his courtyard. ¹⁹ The man’s wife grabbed a sheet, covered the mouth of the well with it, and spread some dried grain over it. As a result, nobody could tell it was a hiding place.^[b]

²⁰ When Absalom’s servants approached the woman of the house, they asked her, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

“They’ve already crossed the brook,” the woman answered. So Absalom’s servants went away in search of Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but they couldn’t find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ A little while later, the men crawled up out of the well and went off to talk to King David. They told David, “Get up! Cross the water quickly, because this is what Ahithophel advised about you…” ²² So David got up and all of his entourage crossed the Jordan River.^[c] Everyone had crossed the Jordan River by dawn’s first light.

Ahithophel’s Suicide

²³ Meanwhile, when Ahithophel observed that his counsel was not being acted upon, he saddled his donkey, got up, and left for his hometown. Leaving behind a set of orders for his household, he hanged^[d] himself. After his death he was buried in his father’s tomb.

David Receives Supplies in the Wilderness

²⁴ Later, David arrived at Mahanaim. Absalom and all of the Israelis who supported him crossed the Jordan River. ²⁵ Absalom had installed Amasa in place of Joab over the army. (Amasa was the son of a man named Jether the Ishmaelite. His mother was Abigail, a daughter of Nahash and a sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.) ²⁶ Absalom and the Israelis with him^[e] camped in the territory of Gilead. ²⁷ When David arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi (Nahash’s son from the Ammonite town of Rabbah), Makir (Ammiel’s son from Lo-debar), and Barzillai (from Rogelim in Gilead) were already there. ²⁸ They brought along bedding, bowls, clay basins, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grains, beans, peas, ²⁹ honey, cheeses,^[f] sheep, and cheese made from cow’s milk for David and his entourage because they had been reasoning, “The people are hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the wilderness.”

Help Each Other

6 Brothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person gently. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well. ² Practice carrying each other’s burdens. In this way you will fulfill the law of the Messiah.^{[a] 3} For if anyone thinks he is something when he is really nothing, he is only fooling himself. ⁴ Each person must examine his own actions, and then he can boast about his own accomplishments and not about someone else. ⁵ For everyone must carry his own load.

⁶ The person who is taught the word should share all his goods with his teacher. ⁷ Stop being^[b] deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants: ⁸ The person who sows through human means will harvest decay from human means, but the person who sows in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹ Let’s not get tired of doing what is good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest—if we do not give up. ¹⁰ So then, whenever we have the opportunity, let’s practice doing good to everyone, especially to the family of faith.