2 SAMUEL 15:23-16:23
JOHN 18:25-19:22
PSALM 119:113-128
PROVERBS 16:10-11
2 SAMUEL 15:23-16:23
There was deep sadness throughout the land as the king and his followers passed by. They crossed the Kidron Valley and then went out toward the wilderness. 24 Abiathar and Zadok and the Levites took the Ark of the Covenant of God and set it down beside the road. Then they offered sacrifices there until everyone had passed by. 25 David instructed Zadok to take the Ark of God back into the city. " If the LORD sees fit," David said, " he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. 26 But if he is through with me, then let him do what seems best to him." 27 Then the king told Zadok the priest, " Look, here is my plan. You and Abiathar should return quietly to the city with your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan. 28 I will stop at the shallows of the Jordan River and wait there for a message from you. Let me know what happens in Jerusalem before I disappear into the wilderness." 29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the Ark of God back to the city and stayed there. 30 David walked up the road that led to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the mountain. 31 When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now backing Absalom, David prayed, " O LORD, let Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!" 32 As they reached the spot at the top of the Mount of Olives where people worshiped God, David found Hushai the Arkite waiting for him. Hushai had torn his clothing and put dirt on his head as a sign of mourning. 33 But David told him, " If you go with me, you will only be a burden. 34 Return to Jerusalem and tell Absalom, ` I will now be your adviser, just as I was your father's adviser in the past.' Then you can frustrate and counter Ahithophel's advice. 35 Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, are there. Tell them the plans that are being made to capture me, 36 and they will send their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan to find me and tell me what is going on." 37 So David's friend Hushai returned to Jerusalem, getting there just as Absalom arrived.16:1 DAVID was just past the top of the hill when Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, caught up with him. He was leading two donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of summer fruit, and a skin of wine. 2 " What are these for?" the king asked Ziba. And Ziba replied, " The donkeys are for your people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is to be taken with you into the wilderness for those who become faint." 3 " And where is Mephibosheth?" the king asked him. " He stayed in Jerusalem," Ziba replied. " He said, ` Today I will get back the kingdom of my grandfather Saul.' " 4 " In that case," the king told Ziba, " I give you everything Mephibosheth owns." " Thank you, sir," Ziba replied. " I will always do whatever you want me to do." 5 As David and his party passed Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei son of Gera, a member of Saul's family. 6 He threw stones at the king and the king's officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded them. 7 " Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!" he shouted at David. 8 " The LORD is paying you back for murdering Saul and his family. You stole his throne, and now the LORD has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, you murderer!" 9 " Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?" Abishai son of Zeruiah demanded. " Let me go over and cut off his head!" 10 " No!" the king said. " What am I going to do with you sons of Zeruiah! If the LORD has told him to curse me, who am I to stop him?" 11 Then David said to Abishai and the other officers, " My own son is trying to kill me. Shouldn't this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to do it. 12 And perhaps the LORD will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses." 13 So David and his men continued on, and Shimei kept pace with them on a nearby hillside, cursing as he went and throwing stones at David and tossing dust into the air. 14 The king and all who were with him grew weary along the way, so they rested when they reached the Jordan River. 15 Meanwhile, Absalom and his men arrived at Jerusalem, accompanied by Ahithophel. 16 When David's friend Hushai the Arkite arrived, he went immediately to see Absalom. " Long live the king!" he exclaimed. " Long live the king!" 17 " Is this the way you treat your friend David?" Absalom asked him. " Why aren't you with him?" 18 " I'm here because I work for the man who is chosen by the LORD and by Israel," Hushai replied. 19 " And anyway, why shouldn't I serve you? I helped your father, and now I will help you!" 20 Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and asked him, " What should I do next?" 21 Ahithophel told him, " Go and sleep with your father's concubines, for he has left them here to keep the house. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted him beyond hope of reconciliation, and they will give you their support." 22 So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went into the tent to sleep with his father's concubines. 23 Absalom followed Ahithophel's advice, just as David had done. For every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.
JOHN 18:25-19:22
Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire, they [the guards] asked him again, " Aren't you one of his disciples?" " I am not," he said. 26 But one of the household servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, " Didn't I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?" 27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed. 28 Jesus' trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn't go in themselves because it would defile them, and they wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the Passover feast. 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, " What is your charge against this man?" 30 " We wouldn't have handed him over to you if he weren't a criminal!" they retorted. 31 " Then take him away and judge him by your own laws," Pilate told them. " Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone," the Jewish leaders replied. 32 This fulfilled Jesus' prediction about the way he would die. 33 Then Pilate went back inside and called for Jesus to be brought to him. " Are you the King of the Jews?" he asked him. 34 Jesus replied, " Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?" 35 " Am I a Jew?" Pilate asked. " Your own people and their leading priests brought you here. Why? What have you done?" 36 Then Jesus answered, " I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." 37 Pilate replied, " You are a king then?" " You say that I am a king, and you are right," Jesus said. " I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true." 38 " What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, " He is not guilty of any crime. 39 But you have a custom of asking me to release someone from prison each year at Passover. So if you want me to, I'll release the King of the Jews." 40 But they shouted back, " No! Not this man, but Barabbas!" (Barabbas was a criminal.)19:1 THEN Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him. 3 " Hail! King of the Jews!" they mocked, and they hit him with their fists. 4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, " I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty." 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, " Here is the man!" 6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, " Crucify! Crucify!" " You crucify him," Pilate said. " I find him not guilty." 7 The Jewish leaders replied, " By our laws he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, " Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer. 10 " You won't talk to me?" Pilate demanded. " Don't you realize that I have the power to release you or to crucify you?" 11 Then Jesus said, " You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who brought me to you has the greater sin." 12 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, " If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar." 13 When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). 14 It was now about noon of the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, " Here is your king!" 15 " Away with him," they yelled. " Away with him--crucify him!" " What? Crucify your king?" Pilate asked. " We have no king but Caesar," the leading priests shouted back. 16 Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified.So they took Jesus and led him away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull Hill (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him. There were two others crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 And Pilate posted a sign over him that read, " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." 20 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. 21 Then the leading priests said to Pilate, " Change it from ` The King of the Jews' to ` He said, I am King of the Jews.' "22 Pilate replied, " What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is."
PSALM 119:113-128
I hate those who are undecided about you,
but my choice is clear--I love your law.
114 You are my refuge and my shield;
your word is my only source of hope.
115 Get out of my life, you evil-minded people,
for I intend to obey the commands of my God.
116 LORD, sustain me as you promised, that I may live!
Do not let my hope be crushed.
117 Sustain me, and I will be saved;
then I will meditate on your principles continually.
118 But you have rejected all who stray from your principles.
They are only fooling themselves.
119 All the wicked of the earth are the scum you skim off;
no wonder I love to obey your decrees!
120 I tremble in fear of you;
I fear your judgments.
121 Don't leave me to the mercy of my enemies,
for I have done what is just and right.
122 Please guarantee a blessing for me.
Don't let those who are arrogant oppress me!
123 My eyes strain to see your deliverance,
to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.
124 I am your servant;
deal with me in unfailing love,
and teach me your principles.
125 Give discernment to me, your servant;
then I will understand your decrees.
126 LORD, it is time for you to act,
for these evil people have broken your law.
127 Truly, I love your commands
more than gold, even the finest gold.
128 Truly, each of your commandments is right.
That is why I hate every false way.
PROVERBS 16:10-11
The king speaks with divine wisdom; he must never judge unfairly. The LORD demands fairness in every business deal; he sets the standard.
