Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 130[a]
Prayer for Pardon and Peace
1 A song of ascents.
Out of the depths[b] I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cries of supplication.[c]
3 If you, O Lord, kept a record of our sins,
O Lord, who could stand[d] upright?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you may be revered.[e]
5 I wait for the Lord[f] in anxious expectation;
I place my hope in his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the dawn.
More than watchmen wait for the dawn[g]
7 [h]let Israel wait for the Lord.
For with the Lord there is kindness,
as well as plenteous redemption.
8 He alone will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
37 Absalom, who had taken flight, went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur, 38 and he remained in Geshur for three years.
39 Efforts for Absalom’s Return. During all that time, David mourned over his son, but once he became reconciled to the death of Amnon, he yearned to be reconciled with Absalom.
Chapter 14
1 Joab, the son of Zeruiah, ascertained that the king, in his heart, longed for Absalom, 2 so he sent to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her: “Pretend to be a mourner. Dress yourself in mourning garments and do not anoint yourself with oil. Simply pretend to be a woman who has been grieving for the dead for many days. 3 Then go to the king and speak to him as I instruct you.” After that, Joab told her what she was to say.
4 When the woman of Tekoa approached the king, she fell prostrate to the ground in homage and said: “Please help me, O king.” 5 The king asked: “What can I do for you?” She replied: “As you can see I am a widow. My husband is dead. 6 Your servant had two sons, and they fought with one another in the field. There was no one around to separate them, and one of them struck the other and killed him.
7 “Now the entire family has risen against your servant and demanded: ‘Give up the man who killed his brother, so that we can put him to death to atone for the life of the brother whom he killed. Thus we shall get rid of the heir as well.’ Should they do this, they will extinguish my one remaining ember and leave my husband neither name nor posterity on the face of the earth.” 8 The king said to the woman: “Return home. I myself shall issue orders on your behalf.”
9 Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king: “My lord, let the guilt be on me and on my father’s house. The king and his throne will be without guilt.” 10 The king replied: “If anyone says something further that is threatening to you, have him brought to me, and he will never trouble you again.” 11 [a]Then she said: “May the king keep the Lord, your God, in mind so that the avenger of blood will be prevented from killing any further and my son will not be destroyed.” The king swore: “As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”
12 The woman continued further; “Please permit your servant to speak a further word to my lord the king.” He replied: “Speak.” 13 She said: “In pronouncing this verdict, has not the king condemned himself by devising something like this against the people of God, since you have refused to bring back your banished son? 14 We all must die. We are like water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered up again. However, God does not take away a life. Rather, he devises ways that will enable us to avoid being estranged forever from him.
15 “I have dared to speak in this way to your majesty because the people have intimidated me. I thought: ‘Perhaps if I can speak to the king, he will grant the request of his servant. 16 He will surely listen to me and deliver his servant from the hands of those who seek to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’ 17 And I further thought: ‘Perhaps the word of my lord the king will restore my peace of mind, for my lord the king is like an angel of God in discerning between good and evil.’ May the Lord, your God, be with you.”
18 Then in reply the king said to the woman: “Do not be evasive in replying to the question I will now ask you.” The woman answered: “Let my lord the king present his question.” 19 Then the king asked: “Is not the hand of Joab behind you in all this?” The woman asserted: “As you live, my lord the king, no one can avoid being completely truthful in responding to what you ask. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me and taught your servant all the things she was to say. 20 Your servant Joab did this to present the situation in a different light. But my lord has the wisdom of an angel of God and is fully aware of everything that happens in the land.”
21 Absalom’s Return. Then the king said to Joab: “Very well. I grant this request. Go forth and bring back the young man Absalom.” 22 Then Joab fell prostrate to the ground in homage and blessed the king, saying: “My lord the king, today your servant knows that I have found favor with you, since the king has granted his servant’s request.”
23 Then Joab set out immediately for Geshur and brought back Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 But the king said: “Let him go to his own house. He shall not come into my presence.” Therefore, Absalom went to his own house and was not received by the king.
Chapter 15
Patience and Self-Denial. 1 Those of us who are strong must resolve to put up with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. 2 Each of us must consider his neighbor’s good for the purpose of building him up. 3 Even Christ never sought to please himself, but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen upon me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that by perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we may continue to have hope.
5 May the God of perseverance and encouragement grant that you may live in harmony with one another, following in the example of Jesus Christ, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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