Absalom’s Conspiracy

1 After this Absalom ^vgot himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside ^wthe way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, ^x“Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

7 And at the end of four¹ years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron. 8 For your servant ^zvowed a vow ^awhile I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to² the Lord.’” 9 The king said to him, ^b“Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” 11 With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem ^cwho were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. 12 And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for^{3 d}Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^eDavid’s counselor, from his city ^fGiloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom ^gkept increasing.

David Flees Jerusalem

13 And a messenger came to David, saying, ^h“The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” 14 Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us ⁱflee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 And the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” 16 So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ^jten concubines to keep the house. 17 And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.

18 And ^kall his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from ^lGath, passed on before the king. 19 Then the king said to ^mIttai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. 20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go ⁿI know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show⁴ steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king, ^o“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, ^pwherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” 22 And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. 23 And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed ^qthe brook ^rKidron, and all the people passed on toward ^sthe wilderness.

24 And ^tAbiathar came up, and behold, ^uZadok came also with all the Levites, ^vbearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. 25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will ^wbring me back and let me see both it and his ^xdwelling place. 26 But if he says, ‘I have no ^ypleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, ^zlet him do to me what seems good to him.” 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a ^aseer? Go back⁵ to the city in peace, with ^byour two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I will wait at ^cthe fords of ^sthe wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, ^dbarefoot and ^ewith his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, ^fweeping as they went. 31 And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please ^gturn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

32 While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai ^hthe Archite came to meet him ⁱwith his coat torn and ⁱdirt on his head. 33 David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ^ja burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ^k‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 35 Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king’s house, ^ltell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Behold, ^mtheir two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son, ^mand by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” 37 So Hushai, ⁿDavid’s friend, came into the city, ^ojust as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

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,⁶ 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.⁷ And there he refreshed himself.

The Death of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ^lMary and her sister Martha. 2 ^mIt was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, ⁿhe whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, ^o“This illness does not lead to death. It is for ^pthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

5 Now ^qJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus¹ was ill, ^rhe stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, ^s“Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, ^t“Rabbi, ^uthe Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, ^v“Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^wIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But ^xif anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ^xin him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^yhas fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 ^zSo Thomas, called the Twin,² said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, ^athat we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^bfour days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles³ off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^cto console them concerning their brother. 20 ^dSo when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to ^eJesus, “Lord, ^fif you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^gGod will give you.”