23 Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.

24 Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had passed out of the city.

25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again. 26But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.”

27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace— you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan. 28See, I will wait at the fords 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 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

31 Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.”

So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

32 When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

33 David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me. 34But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’

35 Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace. 36Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”

37 So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

1 When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.

2“Why do you have these?” asked the king.

Ziba replied, “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 to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

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

And Ziba answered, “Indeed, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he has said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore to me the kingdom of my grandfather.’”

4 So the king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!”

“I humbly bow before you,” said Ziba. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king!”

5 As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. 6He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left.

7 And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed! 8The Lord has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!”

9 Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

10 But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the Lord told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’”

11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the Lord has told him so. 12Perhaps the Lord will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”

13 So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei went along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he yelled curses, threw stones, and flung dust at David. 14Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived, exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.

15 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 16And David’s friend Hushai the Archite went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

17“Is this the loyalty you show your friend?” Absalom replied. “Why did you not go with your friend?”

18“Not at all,” Hushai answered. “For the one chosen by the Lord, by this people, and by all the men of Israel — his I will be, and with him I will remain. 19Furthermore, whom should I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, so also I will serve in yours.”

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

21 Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”

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.

23 Now in those days the advice of Ahithophel was like the consultation of the word of God. Such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.

25 Simon Peter was still standing and warming himself. So they asked him, “Aren’t you also one of His disciples?”

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, asked, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?”

27 Peter denied it once more, and immediately a rooster crowed.

28 Then they led Jesus away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

29 So Pilate went out to them and asked, “What accusation are you bringing against this man?”

30“If He were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed Him over to you.”

31“You take Him and judge Him by your own law,” Pilate told them.

“We are not permitted to execute anyone,” the Jews replied. 32This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to indicate the kind of death He was going to die.

33 Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

34 “Are you saying this on your own,” Jesus asked, “or did others tell you about Me?”

35“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.”

37“Then You are a king!” Pilate said.

“You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

38“What is truth?” Pilate asked.

And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him. 39But it is your custom that I release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So then, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

40“Not this man,” they shouted, “but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.)

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, set it on His head, and dressed Him in a purple robe. 3And they went up to Him again and again, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapping Him in the face.

4 Once again Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.” 5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

6 As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

“You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”

7“We have a law,” answered the Jews, “and according to that law He must die, because He declared Himself to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid, 9and he went back into the Praetorium. “Where are You from?” he asked.

But Jesus gave no answer.

10 So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?”

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha. 14It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”

15 At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!”

“Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests.

16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away. 17Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate also had a notice posted on the cross. It read:

20 Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but only that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’ ”

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