2 Samuel 15:13–17:22

¹³Then an informer came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Get up. We have to flee, or we will not escape from Absalom!^j Leave quickly, or he will overtake us quickly, heap disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s servants said to the king, “Whatever my lord the king decides, we are your servants.” ¹⁶Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace. ¹⁷So the king set out, and all the people followed him. They stopped at the last house ¹⁸while all his servants marched past him. Then all the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the people of Gath—six hundred men who came with him from there^k—marched past the king.

¹⁹The king said to Ittai of Gath,^l “Why are you also going with us? Go back and stay with the new king since you’re both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland. ²⁰Besides, you only arrived yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I go wherever I can? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the Lord show you^A kindness and faithfulness.”

²¹But in response, Ittai vowed to the king, “As the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether it means life or death, your servant will be there!”^m

²²“March on,” David replied to Ittai. So Ittai of Gath marched past with all his men and the dependents who were with him. ²³Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly while all the people were marching out of the city. As the king was crossing the Kidron Valley, all the people were marching past on the road that leads to the wilderness.

²⁴Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices^B until the people had finished marching past.^{n 25}Then the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city.^o If I find favor with the Lord, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its^C dwelling place.^{a 26}However, if he should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am—he can do with me whatever pleases him.”^Db

²⁷The king also said to the priest Zadok,^c “Look,^E return to the city in peace and your two sons with you: your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. ²⁸Remember, I’ll wait at the fords^F of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives,^d weeping as he ascended. His head was covered,^e and he was walking barefoot.^f All of the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they ascended.

³¹Then someone reported to David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.”

“Lord,” David pleaded, “please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”^g

³²When David came to the summit where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite^h was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. ³³David said to him, “If you go away with me, you’ll be a burden to me, ³⁴but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, Your Majesty! Previously, I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can counteract Ahithophel’s counsel for me. ³⁵Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Report everything you hear from the palace to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. ³⁶Take note: their two sons are there with them—Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Send them to tell me everything you hear.” ³⁷So Hushai,ⁱ David’s personal adviser, entered Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

ZIBA HELPS DAVID

16When David had gone a little beyond the summit,^A Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant,^j was right there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of summer fruit, and a clay jar of wine. ²The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?”

Ziba answered, “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 for those to drink who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

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

“Why, he’s staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied to the king, “for he said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore my grandfather’s kingdom to me.’ ”^k

⁴The king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!”^l

“I bow before you,” Ziba said. “May I find favor with you, my lord the king!”

SHIMEI CURSES DAVID

⁵When King David got to Bahurim, a man belonging to the family of the house of Saul was just coming out.^m His name was Shimei son of Gera,ⁿ and he was yelling curses as he approached. ⁶He threw stones at David and at all the royal^B servants, the people and the warriors on David’s right and left. ⁷Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you wicked man!^{o 8}The Lord has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you became king, and the Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. Look, you are in trouble because you’re a man of bloodshed!”

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

¹⁰The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything?^r He curses^s me this way because the Lord^C told him, ‘Curse David!’^t Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that?’ ” ¹¹Then David said to Abishai and all his servants, “Look, my own son, my own flesh and blood,^D intends to take my life^u—how much more now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me; the Lord has told him to. ¹²Perhaps the Lord will see my affliction^A and restore goodness to me instead of Shimei’s curses today.” ¹³So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei was going along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he cursed David, threw stones at him, and kicked up dust. ¹⁴Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived^B exhausted, so they rested there.

ABSALOM’S ADVISERS

¹⁵Now Absalom and all the Israelites came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was also with him. ¹⁶When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”^a

¹⁷“Is this your loyalty to your friend?” Absalom asked Hushai. “Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

¹⁸“Not at all,” Hushai answered Absalom. “I am on the side of the one that the Lord, this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. I will stay with him. ¹⁹Furthermore, whom will I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, I will also serve in yours.”^b

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

²¹Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace.^c When all Israel hears that you have become repulsive to your father, everyone with you will be encouraged.”^{C 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.^d

²³Now the advice Ahithophel gave in those days was like someone asking about a word from God^e—such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice. 17Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out in pursuit of David tonight. ²I will attack him while he is weary and discouraged,^D throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will scatter. I will strike down only the king^{f 3}and bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you’re looking for, all^E the people will be at peace.” ⁴This proposal seemed right to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.”

⁶So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him, “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say?”

⁷Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” ⁸Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors and are desperate like a wild bear robbed of her cubs.^g Your father is an experienced soldier who won’t spend the night with the people. ⁹He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves^A or some other place. If some of our troops fall^B first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰Then, even a brave man with the heart of a lion^h will lose heart^C because all Israel knows that your father and the valiant men with him are warriors. ¹¹Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba—as numerous as the sand by the seaⁱ—be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle. ¹²Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left—neither he nor any of the men with him. ¹³If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones^D into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.” ¹⁴Since the Lord had decreed^j that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined^k in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

DAVID INFORMED OF ABSALOM’S PLANS

¹⁵Hushai then told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “This is what^E Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what^F I advised. ¹⁶Now send someone quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the wilderness ford,^G but be sure to cross over the Jordan,^Hl or the king and all the people with him will be devoured.’ ”

¹⁷Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to…