19:1And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. 19:2And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people; for the people heard say that day, The king grieveth for his son. 19:3And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 19:4And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! 19:5And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines; 19:6in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that princes and servants are nought unto thee: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. 19:7Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants; for I swear by Jehovah, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry a man with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that hath befallen thee from thy youth until now. 19:8Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate: and all the people came before the king.
Now Israel had fled every man to his tent. 19:9And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom. 19:10And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?
19:11And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, to bring him to his house. 19:12Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king? 19:13And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. 19:14And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent unto the king, saying, Return thou, and all thy servants. 19:15So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.
19:16And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David. 19:17And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went through the Jordan in the presence of the king. 19:18And there went over a ferry-boat to bring over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan. 19:19And he said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. 19:20For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
19:21But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Jehovah's anointed? 19:22And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel? 19:23And the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.
19:24And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace. 19:25And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth? 19:26And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go with the king; because thy servant is lame. 19:27And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes. 19:28For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king; yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more unto the king? 19:29And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I say, Thou and Ziba divide the land. 19:30And Mephibosheth said unto the king, yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come in peace unto his own house.
19:31And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went over the Jordan with the king, to conduct him over the Jordan. 19:32Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. 19:33And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will sustain thee with me in Jerusalem. 19:34And Barzillai said unto the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? 19:35I am this day fourscore years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? 19:36Thy servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward? 19:37Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. 19:38And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. 19:39And all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over: and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.
19:40So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him: and all the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel. 19:41And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David's men with him? 19:42And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then are ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all at the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift? 19:43And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
12:1I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 12:2I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up even to the third heaven. 12:3And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knoweth), 12:4how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 12:5On behalf of such a one will I glory: but on mine own behalf I will not glory, save in my weaknesses. 12:6For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth: but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be, or heareth from me. 12:7And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. 12:8Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 12:9And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 12:10Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 12:11I am become foolish: ye compelled me; for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing. 12:12Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works. 12:13For what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the churches, except it be that I myself was not a burden to you? forgive me this wrong. 12:14Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 12:15And I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less? 12:16But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile. 12:17Did I take advantage of you by any one of them whom I have sent unto you? 12:18I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps? 12:19Ye think all this time that we are excusing ourselves unto you. In the sight of God speak we in Christ. But all things, beloved, are for your edifying. 12:20For I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I should find you not such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not; lest by any means there should be strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults; 12:21lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.
26:1And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 26:2Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: 26:3therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up. 26:4And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. 26:5She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah; and she shall become a spoil to the nations. 26:6And her daughters that are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 26:7For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people. 26:8He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against thee, and cast up a mound against thee, and raise up the buckler against thee. 26:9And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. 26:10By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. 26:11With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets; he shall slay thy people with the sword; and the pillars of thy strength shall go down to the ground. 26:12And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the waters. 26:13And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. 26:14And I will make thee a bare rock; thou shalt be a place for the spreading of nets; thou shalt be built no more: for I Jehovah have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah. 26:15Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? 26:16Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at thee. 26:17And they shall take up a lamentation over thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there! 26:18Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at thy departure. 26:19For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee; 26:20then will I bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make thee to dwell in the nether parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living: 26:21I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt no more have any being; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Maschil of Asaph.
74:1O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?
Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
74:2Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old,
Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance;
And mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
74:3Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins,
All the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
74:4Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly;
They have set up their ensigns for signs.
74:5They seemed as men that lifted up
Axes upon a thicket of trees.
74:6And now all the carved work thereof
They break down with hatchet and hammers.
74:7They have set thy sanctuary on fire;
They have profaned the dwelling-place of thy name by casting it to the ground.
74:8They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether:
They have burned up all the *synagogues of God in the land.
74:9We see not our signs:
There is no more any prophet;
Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
74:10How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
74:11Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand?
Pluck it out of thy bosom and consume them.
74:12Yet God is my King of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
74:13Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength:
Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
74:14Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces;
Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
74:15Thou didst cleave fountain and flood:
Thou driedst up mighty rivers.
74:16The day is thine, the night also is thine:
Thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
74:17Thou hast set all the borders of the earth:
Thou hast made summer and winter.
74:18Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah,
And that a foolish people hath blasphemed thy name.
74:19Oh deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast:
Forget not the life of thy poor for ever.
74:20Have respect unto the covenant;
For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
74:21Oh let not the oppressed return ashamed:
Let the poor and needy praise thy name.
74:22Arise, O God, plead thine own cause:
Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.
74:23Forget not the voice of thine adversaries:
The tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.