Rebellion, Worship, and Lament in God's Story

1. When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 2. The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.” 3. The king said, “Where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem; for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore me the kingdom of my father.’” 4. Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.” 5. When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed as he came. 6. He cast 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. Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow! 8. Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of Saul’s house, in whose place you have reigned! Yahweh has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son! Behold, you are caught by your own mischief, because you are a man of blood!” 9. Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.” 10. The king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because Yahweh has said to him, ‘Curse David;’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” 11. David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, “Behold, my son, who came out of my bowels, seeks my life. How much more this Benjamite, now? Leave him alone, and let him curse; for Yahweh has invited him. 12. It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today.” 13. So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him, and cursed as he went, threw stones at him, and threw dust. 14. The king, and all the people who were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there. 15. Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16. When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17. Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?” 18. Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but whomever Yahweh, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him I will stay. 19. Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so will I be in your presence.” 20. Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel what we shall do.” 21. Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” 22. So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23. The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. So was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. 1. Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. 2. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only, 3. and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace.” 4. The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. 5. Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says.” 6. When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.” 7. Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” 8. Hushai said moreover, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. 9. Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’ 10. Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. 11. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. 12. So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one. 13. Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.” 14. Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom. 15. Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way. 16. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Don’t lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’” 17. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David. For they might not be seen to come into the city. 18. But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there. 19. The woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and spread out bruised grain on it; and nothing was known. 20. Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water.” When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. 21. After they had departed, they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, “Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22. Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan. 23. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father. 24. Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25. Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26. Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. 27. When David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, 28. brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, roasted grain, 29. honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.” 1. David counted the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. 2. David sent the people out, a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the people, “I will also surely go out with you myself.” 3. But the people said, “You shall not go out; for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us out of the city.” 4. The king said to them, “I will do what seems best to you.” The king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. 5. The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.” All the people heard when the king commanded all the captains concerning Absalom. 6. So the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. 7. The people of Israel were struck there before David’s servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. 8. For the battle was there spread over the surface of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. 9. Absalom happened to meet David’s servants. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the sky and earth; and the mule that was under him went on. 10. A certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 11. Joab said to the man who told him, “Behold, you saw it, and why didn’t you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver, and a sash.” 12. The man said to Joab, “Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn’t stretch out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom.’ 13. Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hidden from the king), then you yourself would have set yourself against me.” 14. Then Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this with you.” He took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the middle of the oak. 15. Ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded and struck Absalom, and killed him. 16. Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for Joab held the people back. 17. They took Absalom and cast him into the great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, each to his own tent. 18. Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king’s valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in memory.” He called the pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom’s monument, to this day. 19. Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me now run, and carry the king news, how Yahweh has avenged him of his enemies.” 20. Joab said to him, “You must not be the bearer of news today, but you must carry news another day. But today you must carry no news, because the king’s son is dead.” 21. Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen!” The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran. 22. Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab, “But come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite.” Joab said, “Why do you want to run, my son, since that you will have no reward for the news?” 23. “But come what may,” he said, “I will run.” He said to him, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite. 24. Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate to the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man running alone. 25. The watchman cried, and told the king. The king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” He came closer and closer. 26. The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper, and said, “Behold, a man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.” 27. The watchman said, “I think the running of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and comes with good news.” 28. Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, “All is well.” He bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, “Blessed is Yahweh your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king!” 29. The king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, even me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I don’t know what it was.” 30. The king said, “Come and stand here.” He came, and stood still. 31. Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, “News for my lord the king, for Yahweh has avenged you today of all those who rose up against you.” 32. The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you harm, be as that young man is.” 33. The king was much moved, and went up to the room over the gate, and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died for you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

1. After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.” 2. Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne 3. that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at. 4. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads. 5. Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6. Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. 7. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8. The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” 9. When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, 10. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, 11. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!” 1. I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals. 2. I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?” 3. No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it. 4. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look in it. 5. One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” 6. I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7. Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8. Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9. They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, 10. and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” 11. I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; 12. saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!” 13. I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” 14. The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped. 1. I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, “Come and see!” 2. And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 3. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4. Another came out, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword. 5. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come and see!” And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand. 6. I heard a voice in the middle of the four living creatures saying, “A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don’t damage the oil and the wine!” 7. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see!” 8. And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him. 9. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. 10. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11. A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course. 12. I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. 13. The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. 14. The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15. The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. 16. They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17. for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

1. Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you. 2. Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry. 3. For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol. 4. I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help, 5. set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand. 6. You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 7. Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah. 8. You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape. 9. My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you. 10. Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you? Selah. 11. Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction? 12. Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13. But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you. 14. Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? 15. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. 16. Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off. 17. They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me. 18. You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.