2 Samuel 19:1–21:22
19 And Joab was told, “Behold, the king is weeping and amourning for Absalom.” 2 So the victory that day was turned into bmourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.” 3 And the people 1stole back cinto the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 4 But the king dcovered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, e“O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
5 Then fJoab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines, 6 in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you 2regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well. 7 Now therefore, arise, go out and speak 3comfort to your servants. For I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night. And that will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.” 8 Then the king arose and sat in the ggate. And they told all the people, saying, “There is the king, sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king.
For everyone of Israel had hfled to his tent.
9 Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us from the hand of our ienemies, he delivered us from the hand of the jPhilistines, and now he has kfled from the land because of Absalom. 10 But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?”
11 So King David sent to lZadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the words of all Israel have come to the king, to his very house? 12 You are my brethren, you are mmy bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?’ 13 nAnd say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? oGod do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of the army before me 4continually in place of Joab.’ ” 14 So he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah, pjust as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants!”
15 Then the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to qGilgal, to go to meet the king, to escort the king racross the Jordan. 16 And sShimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 There were a thousand men of tBenjamin with him, and uZiba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over the Jordan before the king. 18 Then a ferryboat went across to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good.
David’s Mercy to Shimei
Now Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had crossed the Jordan. 19 Then he said to the king, v“Do not let my lord 5impute iniquity to me, or remember what wwrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should xtake it to heart. 20 For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore here I am, the first to come today of all ythe house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”
21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, zbecause he acursed the Lord’s anointed?”
22 And David said, b“What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? cShall any man be put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” 23 Therefore dthe king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him.
24 Now eMephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace. 25 So it was, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, f“Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”
26 And he answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go to the king,’ because your servant is lame. 27 And ghe has slandered your servant to my lord the king, hbut my lord the king is like the angel of God. Therefore do what is good in your eyes. 28 For all my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king. iYet you set your servant among those who eat at your own table. Therefore what right have I still to 6cry out anymore to the king?”
29 So the king said to him, “Why do you speak anymore of your matters? I have said, ‘You and Ziba divide the land.’ ”
30 Then Mephibosheth said to the king, “Rather, let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house.”
31 And jBarzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and went across the Jordan with the king, to escort him across the Jordan. 32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. And khe had provided the king with supplies while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man. 33 And the king said to Barzillai, “Come across with me, and I will provide for you while you are with me in Jerusalem.”
34 But Barzillai said to the king, “How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35 I am today leighty years old. Can I discern between the good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any longer the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king? 36 Your servant will go a little way across the Jordan with the king. And why should the king repay me with such a reward? 37 Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant mChimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.”
38 And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good to you. Now whatever you request of me, I will do for you.” 39 Then all the people went over the Jordan. And when the king had crossed over, the king nkissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own place.
40 Now the king went on to Gilgal, and 7Chimham went on with him. And all the people of Judah escorted the king, and also half the people of Israel. 41 Just then all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen you away and obrought the king, his household, and all David’s men with him across the Jordan?”
42 So all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is pa close relative of ours. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?”
43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, “We have qten shares in the king; therefore we also have more right to David than you. Why then do you despise us—were we not the first to advise bringing back our king?”
Yet rthe words of the men of Judah were 8fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
20 And there happened to be there a 1rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet, and said:
a“We have no share in David,
Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse;
bEvery man to his tents, O Israel!”
2 So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the cmen of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king.
3 Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, dhis concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 And the king said to Amasa, e“Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him. 6 And David said to fAbishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take gyour lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us.” 7 So Joab’s men, with the hCherethites, the Pelethites, and iall the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor; on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips; and as he was going forward, it fell out. 9 Then Joab said to Amasa, “Are you in health, my brother?” jAnd Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And khe struck him with it lin the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died.
Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 Meanwhile one of Joab’s men stood near Amasa, and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David—follow Joab!” 12 But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came upon him halted. 13 When he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel to mAbel and Beth Maachah and all the …