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Psalm 130

1  Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord;
      Lord, hear my voice; ♦︎
   let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
2  If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss, ♦︎
   O Lord, who could stand?
3  But there is forgiveness with you, ♦︎
   so that you shall be feared.
4  I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; ♦︎
   in his word is my hope.
5  My soul waits for the Lord,
      more than the night watch for the morning, ♦︎
   more than the night watch for the morning.
6  O Israel, wait for the Lord, ♦︎
   for with the Lord there is mercy;
7  With him is plenteous redemption ♦︎
   and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

Absalom Usurps the Throne

15After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him. ²Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the road into the gate; and when anyone brought a suit before the king for judgement, Absalom would call out and say, ‘From what city are you?’ When the person said, ‘Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel’, ³Absalom would say, ‘See, your claims are good and right; but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you.’ ⁴Absalom said moreover, ‘If only I were judge in the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice.’ ⁵Whenever people came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of them, and kiss them. ⁶Thus Absalom did to every Israelite who came to the king for judgement; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

7 At the end of four^* years Absalom said to the king, ‘Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the Lord. ⁸For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram: If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will worship the Lord in Hebron.’^{* 9}The king said to him, ‘Go in peace.’ So he got up, and went to Hebron. ¹⁰But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, ‘As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then shout: Absalom has become king at Hebron!’ ¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom; they were invited guests, and they went in their innocence, knowing nothing of the matter. ¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for^* Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.

David Flees from Jerusalem

13 A messenger came to David, saying, ‘The hearts of the Israelites have gone after Absalom.’

Ask, Search, Knock

7 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? ¹⁰Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!