Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

David wrote this song when he made the Philistine king think that he was crazy. He wanted the king to send him away.^[a]

God is great!^[b]

¹⁵ Then Hushai went to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. He said to them, ‘This was Ahithophel's advice to Absalom and Israel's leaders. But this was my advice. ¹⁶ So now quickly send a report to David. Warn him that he must not stay tonight at the place in the desert where the road crosses the river. Instead, he must cross the Jordan River immediately, together with all the people who are with him. If not, Absalom and his army may catch them all and destroy them.’

Jonathan and Ahimaaz take the message to David

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel.^[a] They did not go into the city because they did not want anyone to see them there. So a female servant would take messages to them. Then they would take the messages to King David. ¹⁸ But this time a young man did see them. He told Absalom where they were. So they quickly left En Rogel and they went to a man's house in Bahurim. He had a well in his yard and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹ His wife took a lid and she put it over the top of the well. Then she put some grain on it. Nobody knew that the men were hiding there.

²⁰ Absalom's men came to the house. They asked the woman, ‘Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?’

The woman answered, ‘They went across the stream.’ Absalom's men looked everywhere for them, but they did not find them. So they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well. Then they took the message to David. They said to him, ‘You must go across the river immediately. Ahithophel has told Absalom how he can catch you here.’

²² So David and all the people who were with him went across the Jordan River. When dawn came, they had all gone across to the other side.

Ahithophel kills himself

²³ Ahithophel realized that Absalom had not agreed to his advice. So he got on his donkey and he went home to his own town. He told his family what he needed to tell them. Then he hanged himself. He died and his family buried him in his father's grave.

Three friends help David

²⁴ David arrived at Mahanaim with his men. Absalom and Israel's army went across the Jordan River. ²⁵ Joab had been the leader of Israel's army. But now Absalom had chosen Amasa as leader instead of Joab. Amasa's father, Jether, was a descendant of Ishmael. He had married Abigail. She was Nahash's daughter and a sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. ²⁶ Absalom and Israel's army made their camp in Gilead region.

²⁷ When David arrived in Mahanaim, three men came to help him. One man was Nahash's son Shobi. He was from the Ammonites' town, Rabbah. The other men were Ammiel's son Makir, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai from Rogelim in Gilead. ²⁸ They brought beds and pots and cups for David's people. They also brought food for David and his people to eat. There was wheat, barley, flour and cooked grain. They also brought beans, lentils, ²⁹ honey, cream, sheep and cheese made from cows' milk. They said, ‘The people have travelled through the desert. So they must be tired, thirsty and hungry.’

Be kind and good to each other

6 My friends, if you see that someone among you is doing a wrong thing, you must warn that person. Those of you who have help from God's Spirit should tell that person how to live in a good way. But you must be patient and respect him. Be very careful yourselves, so that you do not also want to do wrong things. ² When anyone among you has troubles, you must help each other. If you do that, you will be obeying Christ's rule.^{[a] 3} You must not think that you are too important to help other people. If you are not really so important, you are thinking a false thought. ⁴ Everyone should think carefully about the things that they themselves do. If those things are good, that is a reason to be proud. A person like that does not need to think about whether he is better than anyone else. ⁵ Each person must live in a way that they know is right for them.

⁶ Everyone who is learning about God's message from a teacher should help his teacher. The student should share all the good things that he has with his teacher.

⁷ Nobody can hide the things that he does from God. Do not think a false thought like that! It is like a farmer who plants seeds in his field. The same kind of crops will grow as the seeds which he plants. That will be his harvest. ⁸ A person may do things only to make himself happy. That person's harvest will be God's punishment and death. Or a person may do the things that God's Spirit wants. That person will receive a harvest from God's Spirit. The harvest will be life with God for ever. ⁹ We must continue to do things that are good and we should not get tired. If we do not feel weak and stop doing good things, then we will receive a good harvest at the proper time.

¹⁰ Because of all that, we must help everyone when we have the chance. Certainly we must do good things to help our friends who believe in Christ, as we do.