The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday May 30, 2021 (NIV)

²³ Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly while all the people were marching out of the city. As the king was crossing the Kidron Valley, all the people were marching past on the road that leads to the wilderness.

²⁴ Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices^[a] until the people had finished marching past.^{(A) 25} Then the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city.^(B) If I find favor with the Lord, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its^[b] dwelling place.^{(C) 26} However, if he should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am—he can do with me whatever pleases him.”^[c](D)

²⁷ The king also said to the priest Zadok,^(E) “Look,^[d] return to the city in peace and your two sons with you: your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. ²⁸ Remember, I’ll wait at the fords^[e] of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰ David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives,^(F) weeping as he ascended. His head was covered,^(G) and he was walking barefoot.^(H) All of the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they ascended.

³¹ Then someone reported to David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.”

“Lord,” David pleaded, “please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!” ^(I)

³² When David came to the summit where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite^(J) was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go away with me, you’ll be a burden to me, ³⁴ but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, Your Majesty! Previously, I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can counteract Ahithophel’s counsel for me. ³⁵ Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Report everything you hear from the palace to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. ³⁶ Take note: their two sons are there with them—Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Send them to tell me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So Hushai,^(K) David’s personal adviser, entered Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

Ziba Helps David

16 When David had gone a little beyond the summit,^[f] Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant,^(L) was right there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of summer fruit, and a clay jar of wine. ² The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

³ “Where is your master’s grandson?” the king asked.

“Why, he’s staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied to the king, “for he said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore my grandfather’s kingdom to me.’”^(M)

⁴ The king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” ^(N)

“I bow before you,” Ziba said. “May I find favor with you, my lord the king!”

Shimei Curses David

⁵ When King David got to Bahurim, a man belonging to the family of the house of Saul was just coming out.^(O) His name was Shimei son of Gera,^(P) and he was yelling curses as he approached. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at all the royal^[g] servants, the people and the warriors on David’s right and left. ⁷ Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you wicked man!^{(Q) 8} The Lord has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you became king, and the Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. Look, you are in trouble because you’re a man of bloodshed!”

⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog^(R) curse my lord the king?^(S) Let me go over and remove his head!”

¹⁰ The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything?^(T) He curses^(U) me this way because the Lord^[h] told him, ‘Curse David!’ ^(V) Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that?’” ¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and all his servants, “Look, my own son, my own flesh and blood,^[i] intends to take my life^(W)—how much more now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me; the Lord has told him to. ¹² Perhaps the Lord will see my affliction^[j] and restore goodness to me instead of Shimei’s curses today.” ¹³ So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei was going along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he cursed David, threw stones at him, and kicked up dust. ¹⁴ Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived^[k] exhausted, so they rested there.

Absalom’s Advisers

¹⁵ Now Absalom and all the Israelites came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was also with him. ¹⁶ When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” ^(X)

¹⁷ “Is this your loyalty to your friend?” Absalom asked Hushai. “Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

¹⁸ “Not at all,” Hushai answered Absalom. “I am on the side of the one that the Lord, this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. I will stay with him. ¹⁹ Furthermore, whom will I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, I will also serve in yours.”^(Y)

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me your advice. What should we do?”

²¹ Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace.^(Z) When all Israel hears that you have become repulsive to your father, everyone with you will be encouraged.”^{[l] 22} So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.^(AA)

²³ Now the advice Ahithophel gave in those days was like someone asking about a word from God^(AB)—such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.

Peter Denies Jesus Twice More

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

He denied it and said, “I am not.”

²⁶ One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” ²⁷ Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.^(A)

Jesus before Pilate

²⁸ Then^(B) they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters.^(C) It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

²⁹ So Pilate^(D) came out to them and said, “What charge^(E) do you bring against this man?”

³⁰ They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal,^[a] we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.”

“It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared. ³² They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.^(F)

³³ Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” ^(G)

³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

³⁵ “I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶ “My kingdom^(H) is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world,^(I) my servants^(J) would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,^[b] my kingdom is not from here.”^(K)

³⁷ “You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world^(L) for this: to testify^(M) to the truth.^(N) Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” said Pilate.

Jesus or Barabbas

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds^(O) for charging him. ³⁹ You^(P) have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”

⁴⁰ They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” ^(Q) Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.^[c](R)

Jesus Flogged and Mocked

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² The soldiers also twisted together a crown^(S) of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. ³ And they kept coming up to him^(T) and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

⁴ Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds^(U) for charging him.” ⁵ Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.^(V) Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” ^(W)

Pilate Sentences Jesus to Death

⁶ When the chief priests and the temple servants^[d] saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁷ “We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die,^(X) because he made himself the Son of God.”^(Y)

⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹ He went back into the headquarters^(Z) and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.^{(AA) 10} So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹ “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”^(AB)

¹² From that moment Pilate kept trying^[e] to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic,^[f] Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.^[g] Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ Then he handed him over to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

Then they took Jesus away.^{[h] 17} Carrying^(AC) the cross by himself,^(AD) he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,^(AE) and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’^(AF) but that he said, ‘I am the king of the Jews.’”

²² Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”

ס Samek

ע Ayin