2 Samuel 16–17

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 them. They in turn would go and inform King David, because they dared not be seen entering the city. ¹⁸However, a young man did see them and informed Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

²⁰Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

“They passed by toward the water,”^I the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹After they had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well and went and informed King David. They told him, “Get up and immediately ford the river, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.” ²²So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order and hanged himself.^a So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴David had arrived at Mahanaim by the time Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵Now Absalom had appointed Amasa^b over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra^A the Israelite;^Bc Ithra had married Abigail daughter of Nahash.^C Abigail was a sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. ²⁶And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. ²⁷When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash^d from Rabbah^e of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar,^f and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim^{g 28}brought beds, basins,^D and pottery items. They also brought wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,^{E 29}honey, curds, sheep, goats, and cheese^F from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. They had reasoned, “The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”