David and Ziba
1 When David had passed a little beyond pthe summit, qZiba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, ra hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. 2 And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, s“The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who tfaint in the wilderness to drink.” 3 And the king said, “And where is your master’s son?” uZiba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’” 4 Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”
Shimei Curses David
5 When King David came to vBahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was wShimei, the son of Gera, and as he came xhe cursed continually. 6 And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7 And Shimei said as he xcursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! 8 The Lord yhas avenged on you all zthe blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”
9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this adead dog bcurse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” 10 But the king said, c“What have I to do with you, dyou sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” 11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, emy own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12 It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me,1 and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” 13 So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and fcursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. 14 And the king, and all the people who were with him, garrived weary at the Jordan.2 And there he refreshed himself.
Absalom Enters Jerusalem
15 hNow Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16 And when Hushai the Archite, hDavid’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, i“Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17 And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? jWhy did you not go with your friend?” 18 And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. 19 And again, kwhom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” 21 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to lyour father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and mthe hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom non the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s concubines oin the sight of all Israel. 23 Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, pboth by David and by Absalom.
Hushai Saves David
1 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is qweary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. rI will strike down only the king, 3 and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,3 and all the people will be at peace.” 4 And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
5 Then Absalom said, “Call sHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” 7 Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” 8 Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,4 tlike a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9 Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall5 at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10 Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly umelt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. 11 But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, vfrom Dan to Beersheba, was the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12 So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. 13 If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” 14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” xFor the Lord had ordained6 to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.
15 yThen Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. 16 Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at zthe fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be aswallowed up.’” 17 Now bJonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at cEn-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at dBahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. 19 eAnd the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. 20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook7 of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, f“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to ghis own city. He hset his house in order and ihanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.
24 Then David came to jMahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25 Now Absalom had set kAmasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,8 who had married Abigal the daughter of lNahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26 And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David came to Mahanaim, mShobi the son of Nahash from nRabbah of the Ammonites, and oMachir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and pBarzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28 brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,9 29 honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and qweary and thirsty rin the wilderness.”
Absalom Killed
1 Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of sIttai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” 3 tBut the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” 4 The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” uAnd all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the vforest of Ephraim. 7 And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.
9 And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak,10 wand his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 10 And a certain man saw it and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 11 Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” 12 But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king’s son, for xin our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’ 13 On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life11 (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” 14 Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.
16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. 17 And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him ya very great heap of stones. And all Israel zfled every one to his own home. 18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself athe pillar that is in bthe King’s Valley, for he said, c“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s monument12 to this day.
David Hears of Absalom’s Death
19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, d“Let me run and carry news to the king that ethe Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.” 20 And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. 22 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?” 23 “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of fthe plain, and outran the Cushite.
24 Now David gwas sitting between the two gates, and hthe watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer. 26 The watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.” 27 The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is ilike the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, j“He is a good man and comes with good news.”
28 Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, k“Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” 29 And the king said, l“Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.” 30 And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.
David’s Grief
31 And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For mthe Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king said to the Cushite, l“Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, n“May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.” 33 13 And the king was deeply moved and went up gto the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, o“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath
1 After this there was a ofeast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by pthe Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic1 called Bethesda,2 which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and qparalyzed.3 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, r“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 rAnd at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
sNow that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews4 said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and tit is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for uJesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! vSin no more, wthat nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews xwere persecuting Jesus, ybecause he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Jesus Is Equal with God
18 This was why the Jews zwere seeking all the more to kill him, abecause not only was he bbreaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God chis own Father, dmaking himself equal with God.
The Authority of the Son
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ethe Son fcan do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father5 does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For gthe Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And hgreater works than these will he show him, so that iyou may marvel. 21 For as the Father jraises the dead and kgives them life, so lalso the Son gives life mto whom he will. 22 nFor the Father judges no one, but ohas given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they phonor the Father. qWhoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, rwhoever hears my word and sbelieves him who sent me has eternal life. He tdoes not come into judgment, but uhas passed from death to life.
