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Psalm 17

¹Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
²Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
³Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
⁴Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
⁵Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
⁶I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
⁷Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
⁸Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
⁹From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
¹⁰They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
¹¹They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
¹²Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
¹³Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
¹⁴From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
¹⁵As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

15And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
²And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
³And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.
⁴Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
⁵And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
⁶And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
⁷And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron.
⁸For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.
⁹And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.
¹⁰But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
¹¹And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing.
¹²And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

3Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
²Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
³Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
⁴And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
⁶Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
⁷But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
⁸How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
⁹For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
¹⁰For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
¹¹For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
¹²Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
¹³And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
¹⁴But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
¹⁵But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
¹⁶Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.