Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
5 The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” All the troops heard him give all the commanders this order regarding Absalom.
6 So the troops went out to the country to fight Israel in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There David’s men defeated Israel’s army, and the massacre was sizable that day—20,000 men. 8 The fighting spread over the whole country. That day the woods devoured more people than the battle.
9 Absalom happened to come face to face with some of David’s men. He was riding on a mule, and the mule went under the tangled branches of a large tree. Absalom’s head became caught in the tree. So he was left hanging[a] in midair when the mule that was under him ran away.
15 Then ten of Joab’s armorbearers surrounded Absalom, attacked him, and killed him.
31 Then the Sudanese messenger came. “Good news for Your Majesty!” he said. “Today Yahweh has freed you from all who turned against you.”
32 “Is the young man Absalom alright?” the king asked.
The Sudanese messenger answered, “May your enemies and all who turned against you be like that young man!”[a]
33 The king was shaken by the news. He went to the room above the gate and cried. “My son Absalom!” he said as he went. “My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!”
Psalm 130
A song for going up to worship.
1 O Yahweh, out of the depths I call to you.
2 O Adonay, hear my voice.
Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy.
3 O Yahweh, who would be able to stand
if you kept a record of sins?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you can be feared.
5 I wait for Yahweh, my soul waits,
and with hope I wait for his word.
6 My soul waits for Adonay
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in Yahweh,
because with Yahweh there is mercy
and with him there is unlimited forgiveness.
8 He will rescue Israel from all its sins.
25 So then, get rid of lies. Speak the truth to each other, because we are all members of the same body.
26 Be angry without sinning. Don’t go to bed angry. 27 Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work.
28 Thieves must quit stealing and, instead, they must work hard. They should do something good with their hands so that they’ll have something to share with those in need.
29 Don’t say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you. 30 Don’t give God’s Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free from the world of sin.
31 Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred. 32 Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.
Imitate God
5 Imitate God, since you are the children he loves. 2 Live in love as Christ also loved us. He gave his life for us as an offering and sacrifice, a soothing aroma to God.
35 Yeshua told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.
41 The Jews began to criticize Yeshua for saying, “I am the bread that came from heaven.” 42 They asked, “Isn’t this man Yeshua, Joseph’s son? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he say now, ‘I came from heaven’?”
43 Yeshua responded, “Stop criticizing me! 44 People cannot come to me unless the Father who sent me brings them to me. I will bring these people back to life on the last day. 45 The prophets wrote, ‘God will teach everyone.’ Those who do what they have learned from the Father come to me. 46 I’m saying that no one has seen the Father. Only the one who is from God has seen the Father. 47 I can guarantee this truth: Every believer has eternal life.
48 “I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert and died. 50 This is the bread that comes from heaven so that whoever eats it won’t die. 51 I am the living bread that came from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread I will give to bring life to the world is my flesh.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.