Gen 11:7-9, 2Sa 15:31, 17:1-14, Joh 7:45-53, Act 23:6-10 | ESV | STEP | Come , let us go down and there confuse their language , so that they may not understand one another’s speech .

Genesis 11:7-9

7 Come, ^alet us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So ^bthe Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called ^cBabel, because there the Lord confused ^{▼▼ Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused} the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

2 Samuel 15:31

31 And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please ^eturn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

2 Samuel 17:1-14

Hushai Saves David

1 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is ^fweary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. ^gI will strike down only the king, 3 and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew back to you. Like the return of the whole is the man whom you seek} and all the people will be at peace.” 4 And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, “Call ⁱHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” 7 Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” 8 Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, ^{▼▼Hebrew bitter of soul} ^klike a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9 Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall ^{▼▼Or And as he falls on them} at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10 Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly ^mmelt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. 11 But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, ⁿfrom Dan to Beersheba, ^oas the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12 So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. 13 If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” 14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” ^pFor the Lord had ordained ^{▼▼Hebrew commanded} to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

John 7:45-53

45 ^rThe officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, ^s“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, ^t“Have you also been deceived? 48 ^uHave any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 ^vNicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 ^w“Does our law judge a man without first ^xgiving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, ^y“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^zno prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.] ^{▼▼Some manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text}

The Woman Caught in Adultery

53 [[They went each to his own house,

Acts 23:6-10

6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^abSadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^acI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ^adwith respect to the ^aehope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees ^afsay that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^agthe scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, ^ah“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ^aiif a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^ajthe barracks.