Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

This is a special song that David wrote.

Tell God about your sins^[a]

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz shouted to the king, ‘All is well!’ He bent down low in front of the king, with his face towards the ground. He said, ‘Praise the Lord your God! He has put your enemies under your power. They turned against you, my lord the king, but they have lost the fight.’

²⁹ The king asked, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’

Ahimaaz answered, ‘When Joab sent me, your servant, I saw that many people had come together. There was a lot of noise, but I do not know what was happening.’

³⁰ The king said, ‘Stand over there and wait.’ So Ahimaaz moved away and he waited.

³¹ Then the Ethiopian man arrived. He said, ‘My lord the king, listen to this good news! Today the Lord has helped you to win the fight. He has kept you safe from all the people who turned against you.’

³² The king asked the Ethiopian man, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’

The man replied, ‘My lord the king, I hope that your enemies and all those who want to hurt you would be as dead as he is!’

³³ The king became very upset. He went upstairs to the room above the gate. He wept loudly. As he went, he cried, ‘My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! It would be better if I had died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!’

Joab warns King David

19 Someone told Joab that the king was very sad and he was weeping because Absalom was dead. ² All the people heard the news that the king was very sad about his son's death. King David's army had won the battle, so everyone should have been very happy. But instead, they were all sad. ³ The soldiers came very quietly back into Mahanaim city. It seemed like they were ashamed because they had run away from the battle. ⁴ The king covered his face and he cried, ‘Absalom, Absalom! My son, my son!’

⁵ Then Joab went to see the king in his room. He said to the king, ‘Today you have made your men feel ashamed. But the army has saved your life today. We have saved the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your slave wives. ⁶ You seem to love the people who hate you. And you seem to hate the people who love you! You have shown today that your officers and soldiers are not important to you. It seems that you would be happy if Absalom were still alive, and all the rest of us were dead. ⁷ Now go out and speak to your soldiers. Thank them that they have fought well. If you do not do that, none of your men will remain here tonight. I tell you in the Lord's name, that will certainly happen. That would bring worse trouble to you than anything that has happened in your whole life.’

⁸ So the king went out from his room. He went to sit by the city's gate. People heard the news, ‘The king is sitting by the gate.’ So they all came there to listen to him.

David returns to Jerusalem as king

At this time, the Israelite soldiers had run back to their own homes.

Jesus helps a man who cannot walk

¹⁷ One day, while Jesus was teaching in someone's house, many people were sitting there. Some of them were Pharisees.^[a] Other people were teachers of God's Law. They had come from many villages in Galilee, and from Judea and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there with Jesus to make sick people well.

¹⁸ Then some men arrived. They were carrying a man on a mat. The man could not walk or move his legs. They tried to get into the house because they wanted to bring the man to Jesus. ¹⁹ But the house was full of people and they could not get in. So they carried the man onto the flat roof of the house. Then they made a hole in the roof. After that, they put the mat down through the hole. The man was still lying on it. He came down in the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Jesus saw them. He knew that they believed in him. So he said to the sick man, ‘My friend, I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.’

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law were there. They heard what Jesus said. So they began to think among themselves, ‘Who is this man? He is speaking as if he is God. Only God can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’ ²² Jesus knew what these men were thinking. He told them, ‘You should not be thinking these things. ²³ I said to this man, “I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.” Instead, I could have said to him, “Stand up and walk.” Which one is easier for me to say? ²⁴ But I want you to know this. I, the Son of Man, have authority here on earth.^[b] I can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’

Then he said to the man who could not walk, ‘I am saying to you, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and go home!” ’

²⁵ Immediately, the man stood up in front of them all. He picked up the mat that he had been lying on. He went home. He was praising God as he went. ²⁶ What had happened surprised everyone. They said, ‘God is great and powerful! We have seen very strange and special things happen today.’