2 Samuel 12; 2 Samuel 13; Luke 16

1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

2 The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle,

3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. It lived and grew up with him and his children. It shared his meager food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his guest.

5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb."

7 Nathan replied to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

8 I gave your master's house to you and your master's wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

9 Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife-you murdered him with the Ammonite's sword.

10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.'

11 "This is what the Lord says, 'I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.

12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.' "

13 David responded to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Then Nathan replied to David, "The Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.

14 However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die."

15 Then Nathan went home. The Lord struck the baby that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went [home], and spent the night lying on the ground.

17 The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

18 On the seventh day the baby died. But David's servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, "Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn't listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate."

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, "Is the baby dead?" "He is dead," they replied.

20 Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord's house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested [something to eat]. So they served him food, and he ate.

21 His servants asked him, "What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food."

22 He answered, "While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.'

23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I'll go to him, but he will never return to me."

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon.The Lord loved him,

25 and He sent [a message] through Nathan the prophet, who named him Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

26 Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

27 Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, "I have fought against Rabbah and have also captured the water supply.

28 Now therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will be the one to capture the city, and it will be named after me.

29 So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; he fought against it and captured it.

30 He took the crown from the head of their king, and it was [placed] on David's head. The crown weighed 75 pounds of gold, and it had a precious stone [in it]. In addition, David took away a large quantity of plunder from the city.

31 He removed the people who were in the city and put [them to work] with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to labor at brickmaking. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

1 Some time passed. David's son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David's son Amnon was infatuated with her.

2 Amnon was frustrated to the point of making himself sick over his sister Tamar because she was a virgin, but it seemed impossible to do anything to her.

3 Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, a son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

4 and he asked Amnon, "Why are you, the king's son, so miserable every morning? Won't you tell me?" Amnon replied, "I'm in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister."

5 Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed and pretend you're sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come and give me [something] to eat. Let her prepare food in my presence so I can watch and eat from her hand.' "

6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my presence so I can eat from her hand."

7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: "Please go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare a meal for him."

8 Then Tamar went to his house while Amnon was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his presence, and baked them.

9 She brought the pan and set it down in front of him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, "Everyone leave me!" And everyone left him.

10 "Bring the meal to the bedroom," Amnon told Tamar, "so I can eat from your hand." Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon's bedroom.

11 When she brought [them] to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, "Come sleep with me, my sister!"

12 "Don't, my brother!" she cried. "Don't humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Don't do this horrible thing!

13 Where could I ever go with my disgrace? And you-you would be like one of the immoral men in Israel! Please, speak to the king, for he won't keep me from you."

14 But he refused to listen to her, and because he was stronger than she was, he raped her.

15 After this, Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that the hatred he hated her with was greater than the love he had loved her with. "Get out of here!" he said.

16 "No," she cried, "sending me away is much worse than the great wrong you've already done to me!" But he refused to listen to her.

17 Instead, he called to the servant who waited on him: "Throw this woman out and bolt the door behind her!"

18 Amnon's servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved garment, because this is what the king's virgin daughters wore.

19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long-sleeved garment she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away weeping.

20 Her brother Absalom said to her: "Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Don't take this thing to heart." So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.

21 When King David heard about all these things, he was furious.

22 Absalom didn't say anything to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon since he disgraced his sister Tamar.

23 Two years later, Absalom's sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons.

24 Then he went to the king and said, "Your servant has just hired sheepshearers. Will the king and his servants please come with your servant?"

25 The king replied to Absalom, "No, my son, we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you." Although Absalom urged him, he wasn't willing to go, though he did bless him.

26 "If not," Absalom said, "please let my brother Amnon go with us." The king asked him, "Why should he go with you?"

27 But Absalom urged him, so he sent Amnon and all the king's sons.

28 Now Absalom commanded his young men, "Watch Amnon until he is in a good mood from the wine. When I order you to strike Amnon, then kill him. Don't be afraid. Am I not the one who has commanded you? Be strong and courageous!"

29 So Absalom's young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all [the rest of] the king's sons got up, and each fled on his mule.

30 While they were on the way, a report reached David: "Absalom struck down all the king's sons; not even one of them survived!"

31 In response the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

32 But Jonadab, son of David's brother Shimeah, spoke up: "My lord must not think they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, because only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this ever since the day Amnon disgraced his sister Tamar.

33 So now, my lord the king, don't take seriously the report that says all the king's sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead."

34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the young man who was standing watch looked up, there were many people coming from the road west of him from the side of the mountain.

35 Jonadab said to the king, "Look, the king's sons have come! It's exactly like your servant said."

36 Just as he finished speaking, the king's sons entered and wept loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept bitterly.

37 Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.

38 Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur where he stayed three years.

39 Then King David longed to go to Absalom, for David had finished grieving over Amnon's death.

1 He also said to the disciples: "There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.

2 So he called the manager in and asked, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be [my] manager.'

3 "Then the manager said to himself, 'What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig; I'm ashamed to beg.

4 I know what I'll do so that when I'm removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.'

5 "So he summoned each one of his master's debtors. 'How much do you owe my master?' he asked the first one.

6 " 'A hundred measures of oil,' he said. " 'Take your invoice,' he told him, 'sit down quickly, and write 50.'

7 "Next he asked another, 'How much do you owe?' " 'A hundred measures of wheat,' he said. " 'Take your invoice,' he told him, 'and write 80.'

8 "The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light [in dealing] with their own people.

9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

10 Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.

11 So if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous money, who will trust you with what is genuine?

12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?

13 No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't be slaves to both God and money."

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at Him.

15 And He told them: "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God's sight.

16 "The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is strongly urged to enter it.

17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.

18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

19 "There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day.

20 But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate.

21 He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.

22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.

24 'Father Abraham!' he called out, 'Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!'

25 " 'Son,' Abraham said, 'remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.'

27 " 'Father,' he said, 'then I beg you to send him to my father's house-

28 because I have five brothers-to warn them, so they won't also come to this place of torment.'

29 "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.'

30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said. 'But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

31 "But he told him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.' "