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Psalms 25

To You, O Lord, I Lift Up My Soul
1 Of David.

 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
 let me not be put to shame;
 let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
 they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
 teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
 for you are the God of my salvation;
 for you I wait all the day long.

6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
 for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
 according to your steadfast love remember me,
 for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

8 Good and upright is the LORD;
 therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
 and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
 for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your name's sake, O LORD,
 pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the LORD?
 Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
 and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
 and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
 for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
 for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
 bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
 and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider how many are my foes,
 and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
 Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
 for I wait for you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God,
 out of all his troubles.

2 Samuel 15

Absalom's Conspiracy
1 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.
8 For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.’” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” 11 With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. 12 And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.
David Flees Jerusalem
13 And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”
14 Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” 16 So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house. 17 And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.
18 And all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.
19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home.
20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” 22 And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. 23 And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people passed on toward the wilderness.
24 And Abiathar came up, and behold, Zadok came also with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city.
25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. 26 But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.” 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Go back to the city in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.
David Weeps at Mount Olivet
30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.
31 And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
32 While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head.
33 David said to him, “If you go on 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; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 35 Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Behold, their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” 37 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

Psalms 83

God, Don't Keep Silent
1 A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

 O God, do not keep silence;
 do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
 those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people;
 they consult together against your treasured ones.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
 let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

5 For they conspire with one accord;
 against you they make a covenant—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
 Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
 Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Asshur also has joined them;
 they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
 as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who were destroyed at En-dor,
 who became dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
 all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves
 of the pastures of God.”


13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,
 like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest,
 as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so may you pursue them with your tempest
 and terrify them with your hurricane!
16 Fill their faces with shame,
 that they may seek your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
 let them perish in disgrace,
18 that they may know that you alone,
 whose name is the LORD,
 are the Most High over all the earth.

Luke 6

The Lord of the Sabbath
1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.
2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The Twelve Apostles
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.