Absalom Murders Amnon

23 After two full years Absalom had ^jsheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons. 24 And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” 25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing. 26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him. 28 Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s ^kheart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” 29 So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.

30 While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.” 31 Then the king arose and ^ltore his garments and ^mlay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments. 32 But ⁿJonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. 33 Now therefore let not my lord the king so ^otake it to heart as to suppose that all the king’s sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead.”

Absalom Flees to Geshur

34 ^pBut Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him¹ by the side of the mountain. 35 And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.” 36 And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.

37 ^qBut Absalom fled and went to ^rTalmai the son of Ammihud, king of ^sGeshur. And David mourned for his son day after day. 38 ^qSo Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. 39 And the spirit of the king² longed to go out³ to Absalom, because ^the was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead.

Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew ^uthat the king’s heart went out to Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to ^vTekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. ^wDo not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. 3 Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab ^xput the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, ^yshe fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, ^z“Save me, O king.” 5 And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, ^a“Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6 And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would ^bdestroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor ^cremnant on the face of the earth.”

8 Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, ^d“On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.” 10 The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the Lord your God, that ^ethe avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, ^f“As the Lord lives, ^gnot one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

12 Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” 13 And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against ^hthe people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring ⁱhis banished one home again. 14 We must all die; we are ^jlike water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means ^kso that the banished one will not remain an outcast. 15 Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. 16 For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from ^lthe heritage of God.’ 17 And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is ^mlike the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!”

18 Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, ⁿ“As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; ^oit was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of ^mthe angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”

21 Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.” 22 And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage ^pand blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.” 23 So Joab arose and went to ^qGeshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 And the king said, “Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence.” So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king’s presence.

25 Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. ^rFrom the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 26 And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he ^scut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels⁴ by the king’s weight. 27 There were born ^tto Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.

28 So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king’s presence. 29 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come. 30 Then he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.⁵ 31 Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” 32 Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from ^qGeshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, ^uand if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.’” 33 Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.

I and the Father Are One

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, ^hin the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are ⁱthe Christ, ^jtell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. ^kThe works that I do ^lin my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but ^myou do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 ⁿMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 ^oI give them eternal life, and ^pthey will never perish, and ^qno one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, ^rwho has given them to me,^{1 s}is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of ^tthe Father’s hand. 30 ^uI and the Father are one.”

31 ^vThe Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but ^wfor blasphemy, because you, being a man, ^xmake yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in ^yyour Law, ^z‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be ^abroken— 36 do you say of him whom ^bthe Father consecrated and ^csent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because ^dI said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 ^eIf I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, ^feven though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that ^gthe Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 ^hAgain they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place ⁱwhere John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but ^jeverything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And ^kmany believed in him there.