Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

15 Some time later, Avshalom prepared himself a chariot and horses, with fifty men to run ahead of him. ² He would get up early and stand by the road leading to the city gate; and if someone had a case that was to come before the king for judgment, Avshalom would call to him and ask, “What city are you from?” and he would answer, “Your servant is from the such-and-such tribe in Isra’el.” ³ Avshalom would say to him, “Look, your cause is good and just; but the king hasn’t deputized anyone to hear your case.” ⁴ Then Avshalom would continue, “Now if I were made judge in the land, anyone with a suit or other cause could come to me, and I would see that he gets justice!” ⁵ Moreover, whenever any man came close to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶ This is how Avshalom behaved toward anyone in Isra’el who came to the king for judgment, and in this way Avshalom stole the hearts of the people of Isra’el.

⁷ At the end of forty years, Avshalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hevron and fulfill the vow I made to Adonai. ⁸ Your servant made a vow while I was staying at G’shur in Aram to the effect that if Adonai would bring me back to Yerushalayim, then I would serve Adonai.” ⁹ The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he set out and went to Hevron.

¹⁰ But Avshalom sent spies through all the tribes of Isra’el to say, “The moment you hear the sound of the shofar, then start proclaiming, ‘Avshalom is king in Hevron.’” ¹¹ With Avshalom went 200 men from Yerushalayim who had been invited; they went innocently, knowing nothing about the scheme. ¹² Avshalom sent for Achitofel the Giloni, David’s counselor, to come from his town Giloh and be with him while offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy grew strong, because the number of people favoring Avshalom kept increasing.

11 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that God has repudiated his people?” Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Isra’el, from the seed of Avraham,^[a] of the tribe of Binyamin. ² God has not repudiated his people,^[b] whom he chose in advance. Or don’t you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu? He pleads with God against Isra’el, ³ “Adonai, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I’m the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!”^{[c] 4} But what is God’s answer to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba‘al.”^{[d] 5} It’s the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ (Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.) ⁷ What follows is that Isra’el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike, ⁸ just as the Tanakh says,

⁹ And David says,