2 Samuel 15, 2 Corinthians 8, Ezekiel 22, Psalm 69

2 Samuel 15,

1 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.
 
2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel."
 
3 Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you."
 
4 And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice."
 
5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.
 
6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
 
7 At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the LORD.
 
8 While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: 'If the LORD takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.' "
 
9 The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he went to Hebron.
 
10 Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, 'Absalom is king in Hebron.' "
 
11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter.
 
12 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept on increasing.
 
13 A messenger came and told David, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom."
 
14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword."
 
15 The king's officials answered him, "Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses."
 
16 The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace.
 
17 So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at a place some distance away.
 
18 All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.
 
19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland.
 
20 You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your countrymen. May kindness and faithfulness be with you."
 
21 But Ittai replied to the king, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be."
 
22 David said to Ittai, "Go ahead, march on." So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.
 
23 The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the desert.
 
24 Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.
 
25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again.
 
26 But if he says, 'I am not pleased with you,' then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him."
 
27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer? Go back to the city in peace, with your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan son of Abiathar. You and Abiathar take your two sons with you.
 
28 I will wait at the fords in the desert until word comes from you to inform me."
 
29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.
 
30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.
 
31 Now David had been told, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." So David prayed, "O LORD, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness."
 
32 When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head.
 
33 David said to him, "If you go with me, you will be a burden to me.
 
34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; I was your father's servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,' then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's advice.
 
35 Won't the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king's palace.
 
36 Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear."
 
37 So David's friend Hushai arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.
 

2 Corinthians 8,

1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
 
2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
 
3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
 
4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
 
5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.
 
6 So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.
 
7 But just as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us-see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
 
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.
 
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
 
10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
 
11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
 
12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
 
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.
 
14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality,
 
15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."
 
16 I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you.
 
17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.
 
18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.
 
19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
 
20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.
 
21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
 
22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.
 
23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ.
 
24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
 

Ezekiel 22,

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
 
2 "Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices
 
3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols,
 
4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.
 
5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.
 
6 " 'See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.
 
7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
 
8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths.
 
9 In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
 
10 In you are those who dishonor their fathers' bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.
 
11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor's wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father's daughter.
 
12 In you men accept bribes to shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 
13 " 'I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst.
 
14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.
 
15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness.
 
16 When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.' "
 
17 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
 
18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.
 
19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
 
20 As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.
 
21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.
 
22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you.' "
 
23 Again the word of the LORD came to me:
 
24 "Son of man, say to the land, 'You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.'
 
25 There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.
 
26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
 
27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
 
28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'-when the LORD has not spoken.
 
29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.
 
30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
 
31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."
 

Psalm 69

1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
 
2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
 
3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
 
4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
 
5 You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you.
 
6 May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the LORD Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel.
 
7 For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.
 
8 I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons;
 
9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
 
10 When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;
 
11 when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me.
 
12 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
 
13 But I pray to you, O LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.
 
14 Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.
 
15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.
 
16 Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.
 
17 Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
 
18 Come near and rescue me; redeem me because of my foes.
 
19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you.
 
20 Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
 
21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
 
22 May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap.
 
23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
 
24 Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them.
 
25 May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
 
26 For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
 
27 Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation.
 
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.
 
29 I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me.
 
30 I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
 
31 This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.
 
32 The poor will see and be glad-you who seek God, may your hearts live!
 
33 The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
 
34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them,
 
35 for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it;
 
36 the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.