American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Moses and Aaron among his priests,And Samuel among them that call upon his name;They called upon Jehovah, and he answered them.
Then said Jehovah unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
{Or, The Spirit breatheth}The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom.
And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that hath a long time mourned for the dead:
and go in to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.
And when the woman of Tekoa spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, Of a truth I am a widow, and my husband is dead.
And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and killed him.
And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they say, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and so destroy the heir also. Thus will they quench my coal which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the face of the earth.
And the king said unto the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house; and the king and his throne be guiltless.
And the king said, Whosoever saith aught unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember Jehovah thy God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
Then the woman said, Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one that is guilty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one.
For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.
Now therefore seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.
For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.
Then thy handmaid said, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be {Hebrew: for rest.}comfortable; for as {Or, the}an angel of God, so is my lord the king {Hebrew: to hear.}to discern good and bad: and Jehovah thy God be with thee.
Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, aught that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thy handmaid;
to change the face of the matter hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of {Or, the}an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, {Another reading is, thou hast done.}I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom back.
And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found favor in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of {Another reading is, thy.}his servant.
So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem; and he saw not the king's face.
Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come.
Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it were better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.
So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Jehovah.
Surely men of low degree are {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity, and men of high degree are a lie:In the balances they will go up;They are together lighter than {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity.
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches;Pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord:Lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd;And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;And thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and {Or, maketh}made intercession for the transgressors.
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.
And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.
And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when {Or, the battle was spread}they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the {Hebrew: array.}army in the field about four thousand men.
And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh unto us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;
And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah.
for he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak {Many ancient authorities read with.}in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you.