The Daily Audio Bible

²³ As David and his men left the city, all the people who saw them wept loudly. The king went across the Kidron Valley and his men followed him. They travelled along the road towards the desert.

²⁴ Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, were with them. The Levites were also there, and they were carrying God's Covenant Box. They put it down on the ground while all the people left the city. After all the people had passed, they picked it up again.

²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, ‘Take the Covenant Box back into the city. If the Lord is pleased with me, he will bring me back here again. The Lord will let me see the Covenant Box again, as well as his home. ²⁶ But if he is not pleased with me, then he must do to me whatever he decides is right.’

²⁷ Then the king said to Zadok the priest, ‘You do not know what will happen. So go safely back into the city, both you and Abiathar. Take your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan with you. ²⁸ I will wait at the place in the desert where we go across the river. I will wait there until I receive a message from you.’ ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar took the Covenant Box back into Jerusalem. They stayed there.

David sends Hushai to Jerusalem

³⁰ But David continued to go up the Mount of Olives.^[a] He was weeping as he went. He had covered his head and he was not wearing any shoes on his feet. All the people with him also covered their heads and they wept as they went up the hill. ³¹ Someone told David that his advisor, Ahithophel, had now joined with Absalom and his men. So David prayed, ‘Lord, please cause Ahithophel to give them foolish advice.’

³² David arrived at the top of the hill. It was a place where people worshipped God. Hushai, who was an Arkite, met him there. He had torn his clothes and he had dirt on his head.^{[b] 33} David said, ‘If you come with me, you will be no help to me. ³⁴ Instead, go back into the city. You should say to Absalom, “I accept you as king and I will be your servant. I was once your father's servant, but now I will be your servant.” Then you will be able to speak against Ahithophel's advice. ³⁵ The priests, Zadok and Abiathar, will be there with you. Tell them any news that you hear in the king's palace. ³⁶ Their two sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, are with them. Send them to me to tell me any news that you hear.’

³⁷ So David's friend Hushai arrived at Jerusalem at the same time that Absalom was coming into the city.

David and Ziba

16 When David had passed beyond the top of the Mount of Olives, he met Mephibosheth's servant Ziba.^[c] Ziba was waiting there for him with two donkeys. The donkeys were ready for people to ride them. They also carried 200 loaves of bread, 100 blocks of raisins, 100 blocks of figs and a leather bag of wine.

² The king asked Ziba, ‘Why have you brought all these things?’

Ziba answered, ‘The donkeys are for the king's family to ride. The bread and the fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine will help people who become weak when you travel through the desert.’

³ The king asked, ‘Where is your master's grandson?’^[d]

Ziba answered, ‘He is staying in Jerusalem. He thinks that the Israelites will now give back to him his grandfather Saul's kingdom.’

⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, ‘Everything that Mephibosheth had will now belong to you.’

Ziba said, ‘Thank you, sir. I hope that you will always be pleased with me.’

Shimei curses David

⁵ King David and his people arrived near Bahurim town.^[e] Gera's son Shimei came out to meet David. He was a relative of Saul. Shimei cursed David in a loud voice as he came towards him. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at the king's officers. There was a big group of people and brave soldiers all around David. ⁷ Shimei said, ‘Go away! Get out of here! You are a murderer, a wicked man! ⁸ The Lord has punished you because of all the people that you killed from Saul's family. You made yourself king, instead of Saul. But now the Lord has given the kingdom to your son, Absalom. All this trouble has come to you because you are a murderer!’

⁹ Then Zeruiah's son, Abishai, said to the king, ‘This man is only a useless dog! He must not curse you, my lord the king. I should go and cut off his head!’

¹⁰ The king said, ‘No! You sons of Zeruiah should not tell me what to do! Perhaps he is cursing me because the Lord has said to him, “Curse David.” Then we cannot say that he is wrong to curse me.’

¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and to all his officers, ‘My own son is trying to kill me. Now this man from Benjamin's tribe wants to do the same thing. The Lord has told him to do this, so do not stop him cursing me. ¹² Perhaps the Lord will understand my trouble. He may see how Shimei is cursing me and he may bless me instead.’

¹³ David and his men continued to walk along the road. Shimei walked along the side of the hill, near the road. As he went, he cursed David and he threw stones and dirt at David and his people. ¹⁴ When King David and all the people who were with him reached the Jordan River, they were tired and weak. So they rested there.

Ahithophel gives advice to Absalom

¹⁵ So Absalom and all the Israelites who were with him arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel came with him. ¹⁶ David's friend, Hushai the Arkite, had also come there. He went to Absalom and he said to him, ‘May the king live for ever! May the king live for ever!’

¹⁷ Absalom asked Hushai, ‘Why have you not been faithful to your friend David? Why did you not go with him?’

¹⁸ Hushai replied, ‘No, I will serve you. You are the king that the Lord has chosen. And all these people and the men of Israel have chosen you too. So I will stay with you. ¹⁹ I served your father when he was king. So now it is surely right for me to serve you, his son.’

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, ‘What do you think that we should do now? What is your advice?’

²¹ Ahithophel answered, ‘Sleep with your father's slave wives that are here. He left them to take care of his palace. Then all the people in Israel will know that you have insulted your father. They will know that he must now hate you. That will help your own men to be strong.’

²² So they put up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. There he had sex with his father's slave wives, and all the Israelites could see him.

²³ In those days, people thought that Ahithophel's words were as good as a message from God. So Absalom trusted Ahithophel as his advisor, as David had done too.

Peter says again that he does not know Jesus

²⁵ Simon Peter was still standing there by the fire to make himself warm. The other people there said to him, ‘You must also be one of that man's disciples.’ But Peter said, ‘No, I am not.’

²⁶ One of the people there was a servant of the leader of the priests. He belonged to the same family as the man whose ear Peter had cut off. This servant said to Peter, ‘I am sure that I saw you in the garden with Jesus.’ ²⁷ Again, Peter said, ‘No, that is not true.’ Immediately a cockerel sang.

Pilate asks Jesus questions

²⁸ The Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas's house to the Roman ruler's big house.^[a] It was early in the morning. The Jewish leaders wanted to follow the Jewish rules so that they could eat the Passover meal. They did not go into the ruler's house, because it would have made them unclean.^[b]

²⁹ So Pilate, the Roman ruler, went outside to meet them. He asked them, ‘What wrong thing do you say that this man has done?’ ³⁰ They replied, ‘We would not have brought him to you if he had done nothing wrong.’ ³¹ Pilate said to them, ‘You yourselves take him away. You should judge him by your own laws.’ The Jewish leaders replied, ‘We do not have authority to kill anyone when they have done something bad.’^{[c] 32} Jesus had already told people how he would die. These things happened to make his words become true.^[d]

³³ Pilate went back inside his palace. He told Jesus to come and stand in front of him. He asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ ³⁴ Jesus said, ‘Is that your own idea, or have other people spoken to you about me?’ ³⁵ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? It was your own people and the leaders of your priests who brought you to me. What have you done?’

³⁶ Jesus said, ‘My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my disciples would have fought for me. They would have fought so that the Jewish leaders could not take hold of me. No, my kingdom belongs to another place.’ ³⁷ Pilate said to him, ‘So that means you really are a king!’

Jesus answered, ‘You have said that I am a king! I was born for this reason: I came into the world to tell people the truth about God. Everyone who believes the truth listens to my message.’ ³⁸ Pilate said, ‘I do not know what truth is.’

When Pilate had said that, he went outside again to the Jewish people there. He said to them, ‘I do not see that this man is guilty of anything wrong. I have no reason to punish him. ³⁹ But every year we do something for you Jews. We let one man go free from the prison at the time of your Passover festival. Do you want me to let the king of the Jews go free?’ ⁴⁰ They shouted their answer, ‘No, we do not want him! Let Barabbas go free!’ (Barabbas was a man who had attacked people and robbed them.)

19 Then Pilate told the soldiers to take Jesus outside. He told them to hit Jesus many times with a whip.

² The soldiers used some branches with thorns to make a crown for Jesus. They put it on his head. Then put a dark red coat on him too. They did all this as if he was a king. ³ They came to him many times and they were saying to him, ‘Hello, King of the Jews, you are great!’ At the same time they slapped his face with their hands.

⁴ Pilate went outside once more. He said to the crowd, ‘Listen to me. I will bring Jesus out here to you. You should know this: I do not say that this man is guilty of anything wrong. I have no reason to punish him.’ ⁵ Then Jesus came out. He was still wearing the hat of thorns on his head and the dark red coat. Pilate said to them, ‘Look. Here is the man!’ ⁶ When the leaders of the priests and their officers saw Jesus, they shouted, ‘Kill him! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him for yourselves and kill him on a cross. I can find no reason why I should punish him.’ ⁷ The Jews answered, ‘We have a law which says that he must die. He must die because he said, “I am the Son of God.” ’

⁸ When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back into the house. He asked Jesus, ‘Where are you really from?’ But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰ Pilate said to him, ‘Are you refusing to speak to me? Remember that I have authority. I can let you go free, or I can let them kill you on a cross.’ ¹¹ Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power against me unless God had given it to you. So the man who sold me to you has done a worse thing than you have done.’ ¹² From that moment, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jewish leaders shouted back, ‘If you let him go, you are not Caesar's friend. Nobody should say that he himself is a king. That shows that he is against Caesar!’

¹³ When Pilate heard those words, he brought Jesus outside. Pilate sat down on a special seat for the judge. The seat was in a place called ‘Gabbatha’ in the Jewish language. There were large flat stones there, which covered the ground. ¹⁴ It was about noon on the day when they prepared the Passover meal. Pilate said to the Jews, ‘Here is your king!’ ¹⁵ But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?’ The leaders of the priests answered, ‘Caesar is the only ruler that we call king.’ ¹⁶ Then Pilate gave Jesus to them, so that they could kill him on a cross.

They fix Jesus to a cross

The soldiers took hold of Jesus. ¹⁷ He was carrying the cross on which they would kill him. He went out to the place called ‘The Place of the Skull’.^[e] This place is called ‘Golgotha’ in the Jewish language.^[f]

¹⁸ When they arrived there, the soldiers fixed Jesus to the cross. They put two other men on crosses near to him. They were on each side of him and Jesus was between them.

¹⁹ Pilate wrote a notice. Then the soldiers put it on the cross. It said: ‘Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews’. ²⁰ The place where they put Jesus on the cross was near to the city. So many of the Jews read this notice. They could read it because Pilate had written the words in three languages. He had written it in the Jewish language and in the languages of the Roman people and the Greek people. ²¹ The leaders of the Jewish priests said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”. Instead, write, “This man said that he is the King of the Jews.” ’ ²² Pilate answered, ‘I will not change what I have written.’

SAMEKH

AYIN