My son, have respect for the Lord and the king. Don’t join with officials who disobey them.

我儿，你要敬畏耶和华与君王，不要与反复无常的人结交，

我儿啊，你要敬畏耶和华与君王，不可结交反覆无常的人，

我儿啊，你要敬畏耶和华与君王，不可结交反覆无常的人，

孩子啊，要敬畏耶和华和君王，不要跟反复无常之徒为伍。

我儿，你要敬畏耶和华，也要尊敬君王；不要与叛逆的人结交。

我儿啊，你当敬畏耶和华和君王，不要与逆反的人结交！

我兒，你要敬畏耶和華與君王，不要與反覆無常的人結交，

我兒啊，你要敬畏耶和華與君王，不可結交反覆無常的人，

我兒啊，你要敬畏耶和華與君王，不可結交反覆無常的人，

孩子啊，要敬畏耶和華和君王，不要跟反復無常之徒為伍。

我兒，你要敬畏耶和華，也要尊敬君王；不要與叛逆的人結交。

弟子啊，你要敬畏永恆主，敬畏君王；不可激怒此二者；

我兒啊，你當敬畏耶和華和君王，不要與逆反的人結交！

我子、宜敬畏耶和華與王、好更張者、勿與之交、

爾小子、宜畏耶和華而尊王、勿交厭故喜新之人。

我子、當畏主而尊王、勿與叛逆之人交、

Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,

My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise,

My child, fear the Lord and the king. Don’t associate with rebels,

My son, fear the LORD, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

My son, fear the Lord and the king; Do not get involved with those of high rank,

My son, fear the Lord and the king; Do not associate with those given to change;

My son, fear thou Jehovah and the king; And company not with them that are given to change:

My son, fear the Lord, as well as the king, and don’t associate with rebels,

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king:[ and] meddle not with them that are given to change:

Fear the LORD, my child, as well as the king, and do not associate with rebels,

My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious;

All of you must obey those who rule over you. There are no authorities except the ones God has chosen. Those who now rule have been chosen by God.So whoever opposes the authorities opposes leaders whom God has appointed. Those who do that will be judged.If you do what is right, you won’t need to be afraid of your rulers. But watch out if you do what is wrong! You don’t want to be afraid of those in authority, do you? Then do what is right, and you will be praised.The one in authority serves God for your good. But if you do wrong, watch out! Rulers don’t carry a sword for no reason at all. They serve God. And God is carrying out his anger through them. The ruler punishes anyone who does wrong.You must obey the authorities. Then you will not be punished. You must also obey them because you know it is right.That’s also why you pay taxes. The authorities serve God. Ruling takes up all their time.Give to everyone what you owe them. Do you owe taxes? Then pay them. Do you owe anything else to the government? Then pay it. Do you owe respect? Then give it. Do you owe honor? Then show it.

Remind God’s people to obey rulers and authorities. Remind them to be ready to do what is good.

Follow the lead of every human authority. Do this for the Lord’s sake. Obey the emperor. He is the highest authority.Obey the governors. The emperor sends them to punish those who do wrong. He also sends them to praise those who do right.By doing good you will put a stop to the talk of foolish people. They don’t know what they are saying.Live as free people. But don’t use your freedom to cover up evil. Live as people who are God’s slaves.Show proper respect to everyone. Love the family of believers. Have respect for God. Honor the emperor.

Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth.All those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body.They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron,“ You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’ s people?”

“ But then you saw that Nahash, the king of Ammon, was about to attack you. So you said to me,‘ No! We want a king to rule over us.’ You said it even though the Lord your God was your king.Now here is the king you have chosen. He’s the one you asked for. The Lord has placed a king over you.But you must have respect for the Lord. You must serve him and obey him. You must not say no to his commands. Both you and the king who rules over you must obey the Lord your God. If you do, that’s good.But you must not disobey him. You must not say no to his commands. If you do, his power will be against you. That’s what happened to your people who lived before you.“ So stand still. Watch the great thing the Lord is about to do right here in front of you!It’s time to gather in the wheat, isn’t it? I’ll call out to the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will realize what an evil thing you did in the sight of the Lord. You shouldn’t have asked for a king.”Samuel called out to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people had great respect for the Lord and for Samuel.They said to Samuel,“ Pray to the Lord your God for us. Pray that we won’t die because we asked for a king. That was an evil thing to do. We added it to all our other sins.”

A messenger came and spoke to David. He told him,“ The hearts of the Israelites are turned toward Absalom.”Then David spoke to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem. He said,“ Come on! We have to leave right away! If we don’t, none of us will escape from Absalom. He’ll move quickly to catch up with us. He’ll destroy us. His men will kill everyone in the city with their swords.”The king’s officials answered him,“ You are our king and master. We’re ready to do anything you want.”The king started out. Everyone in his whole family went with him. But he left ten concubines behind to take care of the palace.So the king and all those with him left. They stopped at the edge of the city.All of David’s officials marched past him. All the Kerethites and Pelethites marched along with them. And all of the 600 men who had come with him from Gath marched in front of him.The king spoke to Ittai. He was from Gath. The king said to him,“ Why do you want to come along with us? Go back. Stay with King Absalom. You are an outsider. You left your own country.You came to join me only a short time ago. So why should I make you wander around with us now? I don’t even know where I’m going. So go on back. Take your people with you. And may the Lord be kind and faithful to you.”But Ittai replied to the king,“ You are my king and master. I want to be where you are. It doesn’t matter whether I live or die. And that’s just as sure as the Lord and you are alive.”David said to Ittai,“ Go ahead then. Keep marching with my men.” So Ittai, the Gittite, kept marching. All his men and their families marched with him.All the people in the countryside wept out loud as David and all his followers passed by. The king went across the Kidron Valley. He and all the people with him moved on toward the desert.Zadok also went with them. Some of the Levites went with him. They were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark. Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had left the city.Then the king said to Zadok,“ Take the ark of God back into the city. If the Lord is pleased with me, he’ll bring me back. He’ll let me see the ark again. He’ll also let me see Jerusalem again. That’s the place where he lives.But suppose he says,‘ I am not pleased with you.’ Then I accept that. Let him do to me what he thinks is best.”The king said again to Zadok the priest,“ Do you understand? Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you. Also take Abiathar and his son Jonathan with you.I’ll wait at the place in the desert where we can go across the Jordan River. I’ll wait there until you send word to let me know what’s happening.”So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem. They stayed there.But David went on up the Mount of Olives. He was weeping as he went. His head was covered, and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too. And they were weeping as they went up.David had been told,“ Ahithophel, along with Absalom, is one of the people making secret plans against you.” So David prayed,“ Lord, make Ahithophel’s advice look foolish.”David arrived at the top of the Mount of Olives. That’s where people used to worship God. Hushai, the Arkite, was there to meet him. His robe was torn. There was dust on his head.David said to him,“ If you go with me, you will be too much trouble for me.So return to the city. Say to Absalom,‘ Your Majesty, I’ll be your servant. In the past, I was your father’s servant. But now I’ll be your servant.’ If you do that, you can help me by making sure Ahithophel’s advice fails.Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, will be there with you. Tell them everything you hear in the king’s palace.They have their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan there with them. Send them to tell me everything you hear.”So David’s trusted friend Hushai went to Jerusalem. He arrived just as Absalom was entering the city.

He said to his men,“ May the Lord keep me from doing a thing like that again to my master. He is the Lord’ s anointed king. So I promise that I will never lay my hand on him. The Lord has anointed him.”

I’m telling you to obey the king’s command. You promised to serve him. You made a promise to God.Don’t be in a hurry to quit your job in the palace. Don’t stand up for something the king doesn’t like. He’ll do anything he wants to.The king has the final word. So who can ask him,“ What are you doing?”No one who obeys his command will be harmed. Those who are wise will know the proper time and way to approach him.

The Israelites saw the amazing power the Lord showed against the Egyptians. So the Israelites had great respect for the Lord and put their trust in him. They also put their trust in his servant Moses.

They said to him,“ You are old. Your sons don’t live as you do. So appoint a king to lead us. We want a king just like the kings all the other nations have.”Samuel wasn’t pleased when they said,“ Give us a king to lead us.” So he prayed to the Lord.The Lord told him,“ Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king.

All the Israelites saw that the king refused to listen to them. So they answered the king. They said,“ We don’t have any share in David’s royal family. We don’t have any share in Jesse’s son. People of Israel, let’s go back to our homes. David’s royal family, take care of your own kingdom!” So the Israelites went home.

“ Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them,“ So give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”