The One Year Bible TLB (120 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
A little gained honestly is better than great wealth gotten by dishonest means.
9
We should make plans—counting on God to direct us.
May 30There was deep sadness throughout the city as the king and his retinue passed by, crossed Kidron Brook, and went out into the country.
24
Abiathar and Zadok and the Levites took the Ark of the Covenant of God and set it down beside the road until everyone had passed.
25-26
Then, following David’s instructions, Zadok took the Ark back into the city. “If the Lord sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if he is through with me, well, let him do what seems best to him.”
27
Then the king told Zadok, “Look, here is my plan. Return quietly to the city with your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan.
28
I will stop at the ford of the Jordan River and wait there for a message from you. Let me know what happens in Jerusalem before I disappear into the wilderness.”
29
So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back into the city and stayed there.
30
David walked up the road that led to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the mountain.
31
When someone told David that Ahithophel, his advisor, was backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, please make Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!”
32
As they reached the spot at the top of the Mount of Olives where people worshiped God, David found Hushai the Archite waiting for him with torn clothing and earth upon his head.
33-34
But David told him, “If you go with me, you will only be a burden; return to Jerusalem and tell Absalom, ‘I will counsel you as I did your father.’ Then you can frustrate and counter Ahithophel’s advice.
35-36
Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, are there. Tell them the plans that are being made to capture me, and they will send their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan to find me and tell me what is going on.”
37
So David’s friend Hushai returned to the city, getting there just as Absalom arrived.
16:
1
David was just past the top of the hill when Ziba, the manager of Mephibosheth’s household, caught up with him. He was leading two donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of grapes, and a small barrel of wine.
2
“What are these for?” the king asked Ziba.
And Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for your people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat; the wine is to be taken with you into the wilderness for any who become faint.”
3
“And where is Mephibosheth?” the king asked him.
“He stayed at Jerusalem,” Ziba replied. “He said, ‘Now I’ll get to be king! Today I will get back the kingdom of my father, Saul.’”
*
4
“In that case,” the king told Ziba, “I give you everything he owns.”
“Thank you, thank you, sir,” Ziba replied.
5
As David and his party passed Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei, the son of Gera, a member of Saul’s family.
6
He threw stones at the king and the king’s officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded them!
7-8
“Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David. “The Lord is paying you back for murdering King Saul and his family; you stole his throne and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom! At last you will taste some of your own medicine, you murderer!”
9
“Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?” Abishai demanded. “Let me go over and strike off his head!”
10
“No!” the king said. “If the Lord has told him to curse me, who am I to say no?
11
My own son is trying to kill me, and this Benjaminite is merely cursing me. Leave him alone, for no doubt the Lord has told him to do it.
12
And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses.”
13
So David and his men continued on, and Shimei kept pace with them on a nearby hillside, cursing as he went and throwing stones at David and tossing dust into the air.
14
The king and all those who were with him were weary by the time they reached Bahurim, so they stayed there awhile and rested.
15
Meanwhile, Absalom and his men arrived at Jerusalem, accompanied by Ahithophel.
16
When David’s friend, Hushai the Archite, arrived, he went immediately to see Absalom.
“Long live the king!” he exclaimed. “Long live the king!”
17
“Is this the way to treat your friend David?” Absalom asked him. “Why aren’t you with him?”
18
“Because I work for the man who is chosen by the Lord and by Israel,” Hushai replied.
19
“And anyway, why shouldn’t I? I helped your father and now I will help you!”
20
Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and asked him, “What shall I do next?”
21
Ahithophel told him, “Go and sleep with your father’s wives, for he has left them here to keep the house. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted him beyond the possibility of reconciliation, and they will all close ranks behind you.”
*
22
So a tent was erected on the roof of the palace where everybody could see it, and Absalom went into the tent to lie with his father’s wives.
23
(Absalom did whatever Ahithophel told him to, just as David had; for every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.)
Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire, he was asked again, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?”
“Of course not,” he replied.
26
But one of the household slaves of the High Priest—a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off—asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”
27
Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.
28
Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Next he was taken to the palace of the Roman governor. His accusers wouldn’t go in themselves for that would “defile” them,
*
they said, and they wouldn’t be allowed to eat the Passover lamb.
29
So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man? What are you accusing him of doing?”
30
“We wouldn’t have arrested him if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.
31
“Then take him away and judge him yourselves by your own laws,” Pilate told them.
“But we want him crucified,” they demanded, “and your approval is required.”
*
32
This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction concerning the method of his execution.
*
33
Then Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked him.
34
“‘King’ as
you
use the word or as the
Jews
use it?”
Jesus asked.
*
35
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their chief priests brought you here. Why? What have you done?”
36
Then Jesus answered,
“I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of the world.”
37
Pilate replied, “But you are a king then?”
“Yes,”
Jesus said.
“I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are my followers.”
38
“What is truth?” Pilate exclaimed. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.
39
But you have a custom of asking me to release someone from prison each year at Passover. So if you want me to, I’ll release the ‘King of the Jews.’”
40
But they screamed back. “No! Not this man, but Barabbas!” Barabbas was a robber.
19:
1
Then Pilate laid open Jesus’ back with a leaded whip,
2
and the soldiers made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head and robed him in royal purple.
3
“Hail, ‘King of the Jews’!” they mocked, and struck him with their fists.
4
Pilate went outside again and said to the Jews, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him
not guilty.”
5
Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Behold the man!”
6
At sight of him the chief priests and Jewish officials began yelling, “Crucify! Crucify!”
“You
crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him
not guilty.”
7
They replied, “By our laws he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”
8
When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.
9
He took Jesus back into the palace again and asked him, “Where are you from?” but Jesus gave no answer.
10
“You won’t talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or to crucify you?”
11
Then Jesus said,
“You would have no power at all over me unless it were given to you from above. So those
*
who brought me to you have the greater sin.”
12
Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”
13
At these words Pilate brought Jesus out to them again and sat down at the judgment bench on the stone-paved platform.
*
14
It was now about noon of the day before Passover.
And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15
“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him—crucify him!”
“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests shouted back.
16
Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified.
17
So they had him at last, and he was taken out of the city, carrying his cross to the place known as “The Skull,” in Hebrew, “Golgotha.”
18
There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
19
And Pilate posted a sign over him reading, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
20
The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the signboard was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people read it.
21
Then the chief priests said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to
‘He said,
I am King of the Jews.’”
22
Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is.”
I hate those who are undecided whether or not to obey you; but my choice is clear—I love your law.
114
You are my refuge and my shield, and your promises are my only source of hope.
115
Begone, you evil-minded men! Don’t try to stop me from obeying God’s commands.
116
Lord, you promised to let me live! Never let it be said that God failed me.
117
Hold me safe above the heads of all my enemies; then I can continue to obey your laws.
118
But you have rejected all who reject your laws. They are only fooling themselves.
119
The wicked are the scum you skim off and throw away; no wonder I love to obey your laws!
120
I tremble in fear of you; I fear your punishments.
121
Don’t leave me to the mercy of my enemies, for I have done what is right; I’ve been perfectly fair.
122
Commit yourself to bless me! Don’t let the proud oppress me!
123
My eyes grow dim with longing for you to fulfill your wonderful promise to rescue me.
124
Lord, deal with me in loving-kindness, and teach me, your servant, to obey;
125
for I am your servant; therefore give me common sense to apply your rules to everything I do.
126
Lord, it is time for you to act. For these evil men have violated your laws,
127
while I love your commandments more than the finest gold.
128
Every law of God is right, whatever it concerns. I hate every other way.