hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
013:023 It happened after two full years, that Absalom had
sheepshearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim:
and Absalom invited all the king's sons.
013:024 Absalom came to the king, and said, See now, your servant
has sheepshearers; let the king, I pray you, and his servants
go with your servant.
013:025 The king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go,
lest we be burdensome to you. He pressed him:
however he would not go, but blessed him.
013:026 Then said Absalom, If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.
The king said to him, Why should he go with you?
013:027 But Absalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king's
sons go with him.
013:028 Absalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark you now,
when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you,
Smite Amnon, then kill him; don't be afraid; haven't I
commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
013:029 The servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded.
Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got him up
on his mule, and fled.
013:030 It happened, while they were in the way, that the news came
to David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons,
and there is not one of them left.
013:031 Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay on the earth;
and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.
013:032 Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered, Don't let
my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men
the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead; for by the appointment
of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced
his sister Tamar.
013:033 Now therefore don't let my lord the king take the thing
to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead;
for Amnon only is dead.
013:034 But Absalom fled. The young man who kept the watch lifted up
his eyes, and looked, and behold, many people were coming
by way of the hillside behind him.
013:035 Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons are come:
as your servant said, so it is.
013:036 It happened, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that behold,
the king's sons came, and lifted up their voice, and wept:
and the king also and all his servants wept very sore.
013:037 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur,
king of Geshur. [David] mourned for his son every day.
013:038 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
013:039 [the soul of] king David longed to go forth to Absalom:
for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
014:001 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart
was toward Absalom.
014:002 Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched there a wise woman,
and said to her, please act like a mourner, and put on
mourning clothing, Please, and don't anoint yourself with oil,
but be as a woman who has a long time mourned for the dead:
014:003 and go in to the king, and speak on this manner to him.
So Joab put the words in her mouth.
014:004 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face
to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
014:005 The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, Of a truth
I am a widow, and my husband is dead.
014:006 Your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field,
and there was none to part them, but the one struck the other,
and killed him.
014:007 Behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid,
and they say, Deliver him who struck his brother, that we
may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed,
and so destroy the heir also. Thus will they quench my coal
which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor
remainder on the surface of the earth.
014:008 The king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give
charge concerning you.
014:009 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king,
the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house; and the king
and his throne be guiltless.
014:010 The king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me,
and he shall not touch you any more.
014:011 Then said she, Please let the king remember Yahweh your God,
that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they
destroy my son. He said, As Yahweh lives, there shall not
one hair of your son fall to the earth.
014:012 Then the woman said, Please let your handmaid speak a word
to my lord the king. He said, Say on.
014:013 The woman said, Why then have you devised such a thing against
the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is
as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home
again his banished one.
014:014 For we must needs die, and are as water split on the ground,
which can't be gathered up again; neither does God take
away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be
an outcast from him.
014:015 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my
lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid:
and your handmaid said, I will now speak to the king;
it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.
014:016 For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand
of the man who would destroy me and my son together out
of the inheritance of God.
014:017 Then your handmaid said, Please let the word of my lord the king
be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king
to discern good and bad: and Yahweh your God be with you.
014:018 Then the king answered the woman, Please don't hide anything
from me that I shall ask you. The woman said, Let my lord
the king now speak.
014:019 The king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?
The woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king,
none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything
that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab,
he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth
of your handmaid;
014:020 to change the face of the matter has your servant Joab done
this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom
of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
014:021 The king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing:
go therefore, bring the young man Absalom back.
014:022 Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance,
and blessed the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows
that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, king, in that
the king has performed the request of his servant.
014:023 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
014:024 The king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him
not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house,
and didn't see the king's face.
014:025 Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom
for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown
of his head there was no blemish in him.
014:026 When he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end
that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it);
he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels,
after the king's weight.
014:027 To Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter,
whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a beautiful face.
014:028 Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem; and he didn't see
the king's face.
014:029 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king;
but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time,
but he would not come.
014:030 Therefore he said to his servants, Behold, Joab's field is
near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.
Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
014:031 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said
to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?
014:032 Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here,
that I may send you to the king, to say, Why am I come
from Geshur? it were better for me to be there still.
Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be
iniquity in me, let him kill me.
014:033 So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called
for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face
to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
015:001 It happened after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot
and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
015:002 Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate:
and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should
come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him,
and said, Of what city are you? He said, Your servant is
of one of the tribes of Israel.
015:003 Absalom said to him, Behold, your matters are good and right;
but there is no man deputized of the king to hear you.
015:004 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land,
that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me,
and I would do him justice!
015:005 It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance,
he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
015:006 In this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king
for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
015:007 It happened at the end of forty years, that Absalom said
to the king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I have
vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.
015:008 For your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria,
saying, If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem,
then I will serve Yahweh.
015:009 The king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.
015:010 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel,
saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet,
then you shall say, Absalom is king in Hebron.
015:011 With Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, who were invited,
and went in their simplicity; and they didn't know anything.
015:012 Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor,
from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering
the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people
increased continually with Absalom.
015:013 There came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men
of Israel are after Absalom.
015:014 David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise,
and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom:
make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring
down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.
015:015 The king's servants said to the king, Behold, your servants
are ready to do whatever my lord the king shall choose.
015:016 The king went forth, and all his household after him.
The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.
015:017 The king went forth, and all the people after him; and they
stayed in Beth Merhak.
015:018 All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites,
and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men
who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.
015:019 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why go you also with
us? return, and abide with the king: for you are a foreigner,
and also an exile; [return] to your own place.
015:020 Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go
up and down with us, seeing I go where I may? return you,
and take back your brothers; mercy and truth be with you.
015:021 Ittai answered the king, and said, As Yahweh lives, and as my
lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king
shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will
your servant be.
015:022 David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. Ittai the Gittite
passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who
were with him.
015:023 All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people
passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron,
and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
015:024 Behold, Zadok also [came], and all the Levites with him,
bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down
the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people
had done passing out of the city.
015:025 The king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city:
if I shall find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, he will bring
me again, and show me both it, and his habitation:
015:026 but if he say thus, I have no delight in you; behold, here am I,
let him do to me as seems good to him.
015:027 The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer?
Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you,
Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
015:028 Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word
comes from you to inform me."
015:029 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again
to Jerusalem: and they abode there.
015:030 David went up by the ascent of the [Mount of] Olives, and wept
as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot:
and all the people who were with him covered every man his head,
and they went up, weeping as they went up.
015:031 One told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators
with Absalom. David said, Yahweh, please turn the counsel
of Ahithophel into foolishness.
015:032 It happened that when David had come to the top [of the ascent],
where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came
to meet him with his coat torn, and earth on his head.
015:033 David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be
a burden to me:
015:034 but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, I will be
your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant
in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you
defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
015:035 Don't you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you?
therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear
out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and
Abiathar the priests.
015:036 Behold, they have there with them their two sons,
Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and by them
you shall send to me everything that you shall hear.
015:037 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom
came into Jerusalem.
016:001 When David was a little past the top [of the ascent], behold,
Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple
of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread,
and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits,
and a bottle of wine.
016:002 The king said to Ziba, What do you mean by these?
Ziba said, The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on;
and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat;
and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.
016:003 The king said, Where is your master's son? Ziba said
to the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem; for he said,
Today will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom
of my father.
016:004 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, all that pertains
to Mephibosheth is yours. Ziba said, I do obeisance;
let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.
016:005 When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of
the house of Saul came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera.
He came out, and cursed still as he came.
016:006 He cast 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.
016:007 Thus said Shimei when he cursed, Be gone, be gone, you man
of blood, and base fellow:
016:008 Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of the house of Saul,
in whose place you have reigned; and Yahweh has delivered
the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son; and behold,
you are [taken] in your own mischief, because you are a
man of blood.
016:009 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah to the king,
"Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Please let me go over and take off his head."
016:010 The king said, What have I to do with you, you sons
of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because Yahweh has said
to him, Curse David; who then shall say, Why have you done so?
016:011 David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold,
my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life:
how much more [may] this Benjamite now [do it]? let him alone,
and let him curse; for Yahweh has invited him.
016:012 It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me,
and that Yahweh will requite me good for [his] cursing
of me this day.
016:013 So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along
on the hillside over against him, and cursed as he went,
and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
016:014 The king, and all the people who were with him, came weary;
and he refreshed himself there.
016:015 Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem,
and Ahithophel with him.
016:016 It happened, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come
to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, [Long] live the king,
[Long] live the king.
016:017 Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness to your friend?
Why didn't you go with your friend?
016:018 Hushai said to Absalom, No; but whom Yahweh, and this people,
and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be,
and with him will I abide.
016:019 Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn't I serve in the presence
of his son? as I have served in your father's presence,
so will I be in your presence.
016:020 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give your counsel what
we shall do.
016:021 Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines,
that he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear
that you are abhorred of your father: then will the hands
of all who are with you be strong.
016:022 So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house;
and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight
of all Israel.
016:023 The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days,
was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all
the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
017:001 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose
out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after
David this night:
017:002 and I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will
make him afraid; and all the people who are with him shall flee;
and I will strike the king only;
017:003 and I will bring back all the people to you: the man whom
you seek is as if all returned: [so] all the people shall
be in peace.
017:004 The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
017:005 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let
us hear likewise what he says.
017:006 When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him,
saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner:
shall we do [after] his saying? if not, speak up.
017:007 Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given
this time is not good.
017:008 Hushai said moreover, You know your father and his men,
that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds,
as a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father
is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
017:009 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place:
and it will happen, when some of them are fallen at the first,
that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among
the people who follow Absalom.
017:010 Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion,
will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father
is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
017:011 But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you,
from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea
for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.
017:012 So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found,
and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground;
and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not
leave so much as one.
017:013 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel
bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river,
until there not be one small stone found there.
017:014 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai
the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.
For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel,
to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.
017:015 Then said Hushai to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and
thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel;
and thus and thus have I counseled.
017:016 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Don't lodge
this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means
pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people
who are with him.
017:017 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female
servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David:
for they might not be seen to come into the city.
017:018 But a boy saw them, and told Absalom: and they went both of them
away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim,
who had a well in his court; and they went down there.
017:019 The woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth,
and strewed bruised grain thereon; and nothing was known.
017:020 Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said,
Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? The woman said to them,
They have gone over the brook of water. When they had sought
and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
017:021 It happened, after they had departed, that they came up
out of the well, and went and told king David; and they
said to David, Arise you, and pass quickly over the water;
for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.
017:022 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him,
and they passed over the Jordan: by the morning light there
lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan.
017:023 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed,
he saddled his donkey, and arose, and got him home, to his city,
and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died,
and was buried in the tomb of his father.
017:024 Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom passed over the Jordan,
he and all the men of Israel with him.
017:025 Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab.
Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra
the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash,
sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
017:026 Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
017:027 It happened, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi
the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai
the Gileadite of Rogelim,
017:028 brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat,
and barley, and meal, and parched [grain], and beans,
and lentils, and parched [pulse],
017:029 and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd,
for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat:
for they said, The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty,
in the wilderness.
018:001 David numbered the people who were with him, and set captains
of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
018:002 David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand
of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son
of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand
of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the people, I will
surely go forth with you myself also.
018:003 But the people said, You shall not go forth: for if we flee away,
they will not care for us; neither if half of us die,
will they care for us: but you are worth ten thousand of us;
therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us
out of the city.
018:004 The king said to them, What seems you best I will do.
The king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out
by hundreds and by thousands.
018:005 The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal
gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.
All the people heard when the king gave all the captains
charge concerning Absalom.
018:006 So the people went out into the field against Israel:
and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
018:007 The people of Israel were struck there before the servants
of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day
of twenty thousand men.
018:008 For the battle was there spread over the surface of all
the country; and the forest devoured more people that day
than the sword devoured.
018:009 Absalom happened to meet the servants of David.
Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under
the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold
of the oak, and he was taken up between the sky and earth;
and the mule that was under him went on.
018:010 A certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw