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21  The Lord rewarded me after my righteous dealing; ♦︎
   according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me,
22  Because I had kept the ways of the Lord ♦︎
   and had not gone wickedly away from my God,
23  For I had an eye to all his laws, ♦︎
   and did not cast out his commandments from me.
24  I was also wholehearted before him ♦︎
   and kept myself from iniquity;
25  Therefore the Lord rewarded me
      after my righteous dealing, ♦︎
   and according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26  With the faithful you show yourself faithful; ♦︎
   with the true you show yourself true;
27  With the pure you show yourself pure, ♦︎
   but with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
28  For you will save a lowly people ♦︎
   and bring down the high looks of the proud.
29  You also shall light my candle; ♦︎
   the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
30  By your help I shall run at an enemy host; ♦︎
   with the help of my God I can leap over a wall.
31  As for God, his way is perfect;
      the word of the Lord is tried in the fire; ♦︎
   he is a shield to all who trust in him.
32  For who is God but the Lord, ♦︎
   and who is the rock except our God?
33  It is God who girds me about with strength ♦︎
   and makes my way perfect.
34  He makes my feet like hinds’ feet ♦︎
   so that I tread surely on the heights.
35  He teaches my hands to fight ♦︎
   and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
36  You have given me the shield of your salvation; ♦︎
   your right hand upholds me
      and your grace has made me great.
37  You enlarge my strides beneath me, ♦︎
   yet my feet do not slide.
38  I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, ♦︎
   nor turn again until I have destroyed them.
39  I will smite them down so they cannot rise; ♦︎
   they shall fall beneath my feet.
40  You have girded me with strength for the battle; ♦︎
   you will cast down my enemies under me;
41  You will make my foes turn their backs upon me ♦︎
   and I shall destroy them that hate me.
42  They will cry out, but there shall be none to help them; ♦︎
   they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer.
43  I shall beat them as small as the dust on the wind; ♦︎
   I will cast them out as the mire in the streets.
44  You will deliver me from the strife of the peoples; ♦︎
   you will make me the head of the nations.
45  A people I have not known shall serve me;
      as soon as they hear me, they shall obey me; ♦︎
   strangers will humble themselves before me.
46  The foreign peoples will lose heart ♦︎
   and come trembling out of their strongholds.
47  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock! ♦︎
   Praised be the God of my salvation,
48  Even the God who vindicates me ♦︎
   and subdues the peoples under me!
49  You that deliver me from my enemies,
      you will set me up above my foes; ♦︎
   from the violent you will deliver me;
50  Therefore will I give you thanks, O Lord, among the nations ♦︎
   and sing praises to your name,

21 Then the king said to Joab, ‘Very well, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.’ ²²Joab prostrated himself with his face to the ground and did obeisance, and blessed the king; and Joab said, ‘Today your servant knows that I have found favour in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.’ ²³So Joab set off, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴The king said, ‘Let him go to his own house; he is not to come into my presence.’ So Absalom went to his own house, and did not come into the king’s presence.

David Forgives Absalom

25 Now in all Israel there was no one to be praised so much for his beauty as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight. ²⁷There were born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

28 So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem without coming into the king’s presence. ²⁹Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king; but Joab would not come to him. He sent a second time, but Joab would not come. ³⁰Then he said to his servants, ‘Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.’ So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. ³¹Then Joab rose and went to Absalom at his house, and said to him, ‘Why have your servants set my field on fire?’ ³²Absalom answered Joab, ‘Look, I sent word to you: Come here, that I may send you to the king with the question, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now let me go into the king’s presence; if there is guilt in me, let him kill me!’ ³³Then Joab went to the king and told him; and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and prostrated himself with his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.

The Rich Man

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ¹⁸Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ ²⁰He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ ²¹Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money^* to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ ²²When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ ²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is^* to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ ²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another,^* ‘Then who can be saved?’ ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ ²⁹Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,^{* 30}who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’