Saturday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. 2Verse 2. He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” 3Verse 3. Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.” 4Verse 4. And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5Verse 5. Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. 6Verse 6. Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 7Verse 7. After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD. 8Verse 8. For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’ ” 9Verse 9. “Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron. 10Verse 10. Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’” 11Verse 11. Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter. 12Verse 12. While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing. 13Verse 13. Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

1Verse 1. As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon, 2Verse 2. “I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man. 3Verse 3. And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn, 4Verse 4. and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 5Verse 5. Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me— what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6Verse 6. So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7Verse 7. But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8Verse 8. Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim who is with you. He called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim, but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD: ‘I will never put you to the sword.’ 9Verse 9. Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood.”