My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of ^mAscents.

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,^{1 w}and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.

15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.

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 ¹ 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!”

35 Jesus said to them, ^x“I am the bread of life; ^ywhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^m“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, ⁿ“Is not this Jesus, ^othe son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^pwe know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^qdraws him. And ^rI will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ^s‘And they will all be ^ttaught by God.’ ^uEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 ^vnot that anyone has seen the Father except ^whe who is from God; he ^xhas seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^ywhoever believes has eternal life. 48 ^zI am the bread of life. 49 ^aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^bthey died. 50 ^cThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^dand not die. 51 I am the living bread ^ethat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^ffor the life of the world is ^gmy flesh.”

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you ^uspeak the truth with his neighbor, for ^vwe are members one of another. 26 ^wBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and ^xgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^ylet him labor, ^zdoing honest work with his own hands, so ^athat he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 ^bLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give ^cgrace to those who hear. 30 And ^ddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^eby whom you were sealed for the day of ^fredemption. 31 ^gLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 ^hBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, ⁱforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Walk in Love

1 ^jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And ^kwalk in love, ^las Christ loved us and ^mgave himself up for us, a ⁿfragrant ^ooffering and sacrifice to God.