One Year Bible.

Absalom Killed

¹Then David reviewed his troops and appointed over them commanders of thousands and of hundreds. ²He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”

³But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will not care about us. Even if half of us die, they will not care. But you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better now if you support us from the city.”

⁴“I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

⁵Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.

⁶So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day— twenty thousand men. ⁸The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.

⁹Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair. ¹⁰When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

¹¹“You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt!”

¹²The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ¹³If I had jeopardized my own life— and nothing is hidden from the king— you would have abandoned me.”

¹⁴But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

¹⁶Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab had restrained them. ¹⁷They took Absalom, cast him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled, each to his home.

¹⁸During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.

David Mourns for Absalom

¹⁹Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.”

²⁰But Joab replied, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

²²Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!”

“My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”

²³“No matter what, I want to run!” he replied.

“Then run!” Joab told him.

So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

²⁴Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone. ²⁵So he called out and told the king.

“If he is alone,” the king replied, “he bears good news.”

As the first runner drew near, ²⁶the watchman saw another man running, and he called out to the gatekeeper, “Look! Another man is running alone!”

“This one also brings good news,” said the king.

²⁷The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”

“This is a good man,” said the king. “He comes with good news.”

²⁸Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” And he bowed facedown before the king.

He continued, “Blessed be the LORD your God! He has delivered up the men who raised their hands against my lord the king.”

²⁹The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?”

And Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.”

³⁰“Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.”

So he stepped aside.

³¹Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Today the LORD has avenged you of all who rose up against you!”

³²The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?”

And the Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you be like that young man.”

³³The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Paul’s Joy in the Corinthians

¹Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

²Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. ³I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you. ⁴Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.

⁵For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction — conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁶But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.

⁸Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it— for I see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time— ⁹yet now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

¹¹Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. ¹²So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God. ¹³On account of this, we are encouraged.

In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well. ¹⁵And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.

Generosity Commended

¹Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the churches of Macedonia. ²In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity. ³For I testify that they gave according to their ability and even beyond it. Of their own accord, ⁴they earnestly pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. ⁵And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, through the will of God.

⁶So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it. ⁷But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ⁸I am not giving a command, but I am testing the sincerity of your love through the earnestness of others.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. ¹⁰And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire. ¹¹Now finish the work, so that you may complete it with the same eager desire, according to your means. ¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

¹³It is not our intention that others may be relieved while you are burdened, but that there may be equality. ¹⁴At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. This way there will be equality. ¹⁵As it is written:

“He who gathered much had no excess,

and he who gathered little had no shortfall.”

Titus Commended

¹⁶But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you. ¹⁷For not only did he welcome our appeal, but he is eagerly coming to you of his own volition.

¹⁸Along with Titus we are sending the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in the gospel. ¹⁹More than that, this brother was chosen by the churches to accompany us with the gracious offering we administer to honor the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help.

²⁰We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this generous gift. ²¹For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.

²²And we are sending along with them our brother who has proven his earnestness to us many times and in many ways, and now even more so by his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴In full view of the churches, then, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our boasting about you.