Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Joy of Being Forgiven

32 How happy he is whose wrong-doing is forgiven, and whose sin is covered! ² How happy is the man whose sin the Lord does not hold against him, and in whose spirit there is nothing false.

³ When I kept quiet about my sin, my bones wasted away from crying all day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as in the hot summer. ⁵ I told my sin to You. I did not hide my wrong-doing. I said, “I will tell my sins to the Lord.” And You forgave the guilt of my sin. ⁶ So let all who are God-like pray to You while You may be found, because in the floods of much water, they will not touch him. ⁷ You are my hiding place. You keep me safe from trouble. All around me are your songs of being made free.

⁸ I will show you and teach you in the way you should go. I will tell you what to do with My eye upon you. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or the donkey which have no understanding. They must be made to work by using bits and leather ropes or they will not come to you. ¹⁰ Many are the sorrows of the sinful. But loving-kindness will be all around the man who trusts in the Lord. ¹¹ Be glad in the Lord and be full of joy, you who are right with God! Sing for joy all you who are pure in heart!

Absalom Becomes Friends with Men Of Israel

15 After this, Absalom got a war-wagon and horses, and fifty men to run in front of him. ² He used to get up early and stand beside the way to the gate. When any man had a problem to be decided upon by the king, Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would answer, “Your servant is from one of the families of Israel.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “Your side of the problem is good and right. But there is no man to listen to you for the king.” ⁴ And Absalom would say, “If only I were chosen to be the one to be judge in the land! Then every man who has a problem could come to me. And I would do for him what is right and fair.” ⁵ When a man came near to put his face to the ground in front of him, Absalom would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶ He acted this way toward all those of Israel who came with a problem for the king to judge. So Absalom became friends with the men of Israel.

⁷ At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “I ask you, let me go to Hebron and keep my promise that I have promised to the Lord. ⁸ For your servant made a promise while I was living at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord will bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’” ⁹ And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he got up and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent men to go in secret through all the families of Israel. He said to them, “As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron.’” ¹¹ With Absalom went 200 men from Jerusalem. They had been asked to come, and did not know what Absalom had planned. ¹² While Absalom was giving gifts on the altar in worship, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, from his city Giloh. He was the man who talked with David about what to do. The plans against David became strong. For more and more people joined Absalom.

11 I ask then, “Has God put His people, the Jews, aside?” No, not at all! I myself am a Jew. Abraham was my early father. I am from the family group of Benjamin. ² God has not put His people aside. He chose them from the beginning. Do you know what the Holy Writings say about Elijah? Do you know what Elijah said to God against the Jews? ³ He said, “Lord, they have killed Your early preachers. They have destroyed the places where You are worshiped. I am the only one left. They are trying to kill me.” ⁴ But what did God say to him? God said, “I still have 7,000 men. None of them have worshiped the false god Baal.” ⁵ It is the same now. A few of the Jews are being chosen because of God’s loving-favor. ⁶ If they are saved from the punishment of sin because of God’s loving-favor, it is nothing men have done to earn it. If men had earned it, then His loving-favor would not be a free gift. ⁷ This is the way it was. Many Jews did not get what they were looking for. Only those God chose received it. The hearts of the others were made hard. They could not understand it. ⁸ The Holy Writings say this about them, “God gave them hearts and minds that want to sleep. He gave them eyes that could not see. To this very day He gave them ears that could not hear.” ^{(A) 9} David said, “Let their table of food become a trap to hold them. Let it be a hole into which they fall and will suffer. ¹⁰ Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see. Keep their backs from being straight always because of their troubles.” ^(B)