The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday May 30, 2020 (NIV)

²³ And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed ^(A)the brook ^(B)Kidron, and all the people passed on toward ^(C)the wilderness.

²⁴ And ^(D)Abiathar came up, and behold, ^(E)Zadok came also with all the Levites, ^(F)bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will ^(G)bring me back and let me see both it and his ^(H)dwelling place. ²⁶ But if he says, ‘I have no ^(I)pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, ^(J)let him do to me what seems good to him.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a ^(K)seer? Go back^[a] to the city in peace, with ^(L)your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ See, I will wait at ^(M)the fords of ^(N)the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, ^(O)barefoot and ^(P)with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, ^(Q)weeping as they went. ³¹ And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please ^(R)turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³² While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai ^(S)the Archite came to meet him ^(T)with his coat torn and ^(U)dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ^(V)a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ^(W)‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵ Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, ^(X)tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Behold, ^(Y)their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, ^(Z)and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So Hushai, ^(AA)David's friend, came into the city, ^(AB)just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

David and Ziba

16 When David had passed a little beyond ^(AC)the summit, ^(AD)Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, ^(AE)a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. ² And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, ^(AF)“The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who ^(AG)faint in the wilderness to drink.” ³ And the king said, “And where is your master's son?” ^(AH)Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’” ⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

Shimei Curses David

⁵ When King David came to ^(AI)Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was ^(AJ)Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came ^(AK)he cursed continually. ⁶ And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. ⁷ And Shimei said as he ^(AL)cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! ⁸ The Lord ^(AM)has avenged on you all ^(AN)the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”

⁹ Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this ^(AO)dead dog ^(AP)curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” ¹⁰ But the king said, ^(AQ)“What have I to do with you, ^(AR)you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” ¹¹ And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, ^(AS)my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. ¹² It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me,^[b] and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” ¹³ So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and ^(AT)cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. ¹⁴ And the king, and all the people who were with him, ^(AU)arrived weary at the Jordan.^[c] And there he refreshed himself.

Absalom Enters Jerusalem

^15 (AV)Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. ¹⁶ And when Hushai the Archite, ^(AW)David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, ^(AX)“Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷ And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? ^(AY)Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. ¹⁹ And again, ^(AZ)whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” ²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to ^(BA)your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and ^(BB)the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” ²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom ^(BC)on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father's concubines ^(BD)in the sight of all Israel. ²³ Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, ^(BE)both by David and by Absalom.

Peter Denies Jesus Again

^25 (A)Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of ^(B)the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you ^(C)in the garden with him?” ²⁷ Peter again denied it, and ^(D)at once a rooster crowed.

Jesus Before Pilate

^28 (E)Then they led Jesus ^(F)from the house of Caiaphas to ^(G)the governor's headquarters.^[a] It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, ^(H)so that they would not be defiled, ^(I)but could eat the Passover. ^29 (J)So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹ Pilate said to them, ^(K)“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ^32 (L)This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^(M)to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33 (N)So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^(O)“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ^(P)“My kingdom ^(Q)is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^(R)my servants would have been fighting, that ^(S)I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^(T)“You say that I am a king. ^(U)For this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^(V)I have come into the world—^(W)to bear witness to the truth. ^(X)Everyone who is ^(Y)of the truth ^(Z)listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^(AA)he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ^(AB)“I find no guilt in him. ^39 (AC)But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, ^(AD)“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.^[b]

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and ^(AE)flogged him. ^2 (AF)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^(AG)I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing ^(AH)the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^(AI)“Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^(AJ)“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^(AK)I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews^[c] answered him, “We have a law, and ^(AL)according to that law he ought to die because ^(AM)he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, ^(AN)he was even more afraid. ^9 (AO)He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^(AP)“Where are you from?” But ^(AQ)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^(AR)“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(AS)he who delivered me over to you ^(AT)has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on ^(AU)Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. ^(AV)Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ^(AW)the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic^[d] Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(AX)the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.^[e] He said to the Jews, ^(AY)“Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, ^(AZ)“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ^16 (BA)So he ^(BB)delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and ^(BC)he went out, ^(BD)bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ^18 (BE)There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate ^(BF)also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for ^(BG)the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, ^(BH)“What I have written I have written.”

Samekh

Ayin