Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

130 O Lord, from the depths of despair I cry for your help: ² “Hear me! Answer! Help me!”

^3-4 Lord, if you keep in mind our sins, then who can ever get an answer to his prayers? But you forgive! What an awesome thing this is! ⁵ That is why I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised. ⁶ I long for him more than sentinels long for the dawn.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord; for he is loving and kind and comes to us with armloads of salvation. ⁸ He himself shall ransom Israel from her slavery to sin.

15 Absalom then bought a magnificent chariot and chariot horses, and hired fifty footmen to run ahead of him. ² He got up early every morning and went out to the gate of the city; and when anyone came to bring a case to the king for trial, Absalom called him over and expressed interest in his problem.

³ He would say, “I can see that you are right in this matter; it’s unfortunate that the king doesn’t have anyone to assist him in hearing these cases. ⁴ I surely wish I were the judge; then anyone with a lawsuit could come to me, and I would give him justice!”

⁵ And when anyone came to bow to him, Absalom wouldn’t let him, but shook his hand instead!^{[a] 6} So in this way Absalom stole the hearts of all the people of Israel.

^7-8 After four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron to sacrifice to the Lord in fulfillment of a vow I made to him while I was at Geshur—that if he would bring me back to Jerusalem, I would sacrifice to him.”

⁹ “All right,” the king told him, “go and fulfill your vow.”

So Absalom went to Hebron.^{[b] 10} But while he was there, he sent spies to every part of Israel to incite rebellion against the king. “As soon as you hear the trumpets,” his message read, “you will know that Absalom has been crowned in Hebron.” ¹¹ He took two hundred men from Jerusalem with him as guests, but they knew nothing of his intentions. ¹² While he was offering the sacrifice, he sent for Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors who lived in Giloh. Ahithophel declared for Absalom, as did more and more others. So the conspiracy became very strong.

¹³ A messenger soon arrived in Jerusalem to tell King David, “All Israel has joined Absalom in a conspiracy against you!”

⁷ “Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. ⁸ For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open. ⁹ If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? ¹⁰ If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! ¹¹ And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?