2 Samuel 15:13–17:22

¹³And there came a messenger to David, saying: All Israel with their whole heart followeth Absalom.

¹⁴And David said to his servants, that were with him in Jerusalem: Arise and let us flee: for we shall not escape else from the face of Absalom: make haste to go out, lest he come and overtake us, and bring ruin upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

¹⁵And the king’s servants said to him: Whatsoever our lord the king shall command, we thy servants will willingly execute.

¹⁶And the king went forth, and all his household on foot: and the king left ten women his concubines to keep the house:

¹⁷And the king going forth and all Israel on foot, stood afar off from the house:

¹⁸And all his servants walked by him, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the Gethites, valiant warriors, six hundred men who had followed him from Geth on foot, went before the king.

¹⁹And the king said to Ethai the Gethite: Why comest thou with us: return and dwell with the king, for thou art a stranger, and art come out of thy own place.

²⁰Yesterday thou camest, and to day shalt thou be forced to go forth with us? but I shall go whither I am going: return thou, and take back thy brethren with thee, and the Lord will shew thee mercy, and truth, because thou hast shewn grace and fidelity.

²¹And Ethai answered the king, saying: As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth: in what place soever thou shalt be, my lord, O king, either in death, or in life, there will thy servant be.

²²And David said to Ethai: Come, and pass over. And Ethai the Gethite passed, and all the men that were with him, and the rest of the people.

²³And they all wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself went over the brook Cedron, and all the people marched towards the way that looketh to the desert.

²⁴And Sadoc the priest also came, and all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the covenant of God, and they set down the ark of God: and Abiathar went up, till all the people that was come out of the city had done passing.

²⁵And the king said to Sadoc: Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find grace in the sight of the Lord, he will bring me again, and he will shew me it, and his tabernacle.

²⁶But if he shall say to me: Thou pleasest me not: I am ready, let him do that which is good before him.

²⁷And the king said to Sadoc the priest: O seer, return into the city in peace: and let Achimaas thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, your two sons, be with you.

²⁸Behold I will lie hid in the plains of the wilderness, till there come word from you to certify me.

²⁹So Sadoc and Abiathar carried back the ark of God into Jerusalem: and they tarried there.

³⁰But David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, going up and weeping, walking barefoot, and with his head covered, and all the people that were with them, went up with their heads covered weeping.

³¹And it was told David that Achitophel also was in the conspiracy with Absalom, and David said: Infatuate, O Lord, I beseech thee, the counsel of Achitophel.

³²And when David was come to the top of the mountain, where he was about to adore the Lord, behold Chusai the Arachite, came to meet him with his garment rent and his head covered with earth.

³³And David said to him: If thou come with me, thou wilt be a burden to me:

³⁴But if thou return into the city, and wilt say to Absalom: I am thy servant, O king: as I have been thy father’s servant, so I will be thy servant: thou shalt defeat the counsel of Achitophel.

³⁵And thou hast with thee Sadoc, and soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests.

³⁶And there are with them their two sons Achimaas; the son of Sadoc, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar: and you shall send by them to me every thing that you shall hear.

³⁷Then Chusai the friend of David went into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

Chapter 16

And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold Siba the servant of Miphiboseth came to meet him with two asses, laden with two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs, and a vessel of wine.

²And the king said to Siba: What mean these things? And Siba answered: The asses are for the king’s household to sit on: and the loaves and the figs for thy servants to eat, and the wine to drink if any man be faint in the desert.

³And the king said: Where is thy master’s son? And Siba answered the king: He remained in Jerusalem, saying: To day, will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

⁴And the king said to Siba: I give thee all that belonged to Miphiboseth. And Siba said: I beseech thee let me find grace before thee, my lord, O king.

⁵And king David came as far as Bahurim: and behold there came out from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named Semei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on,

⁶And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people, and all the warriors walked on the right, and on the left side of the king.

⁷And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial.

⁸The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of Saul: because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood.

⁹And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go, and cut off his head.

¹⁰And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? Let him alone and let him curse: for the Lord hath bid him curse David: and who is he that shall dare say, why hath he done so?

¹¹And the king said to Abisai, and to all his servants: Behold my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now a son of Jemini? let him alone that he may curse as the Lord hath bidden him.

¹²Perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and the Lord may render me good for the cursing of this day.

¹³And David and his men with him went by the way. And Semei by the hill’s side went over against him, cursing, and casting stones at him, and scattering earth.

¹⁴And the king and all the people with him came weary, and refreshed themselves there.

¹⁵But Absalom and all his people came into Jerusalem, and Achitophel was with him.

¹⁶And when Chusai the Arachite, David’s friend, was come to Absalom, he said to him: God save thee, O king, God save thee, O king.

¹⁷And Absalom said to him, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with thy friend?

¹⁸And Chusai answered Absalom: Nay: for I will be his, whom the Lord hath chosen, and all this people, and all Israel, and with him will I abide.

¹⁹Besides this, whom shall I serve? is it not the king’s son? as I have served thy father, so will I serve thee also.

²⁰And Absalom said to Achitophel: Consult what we are to do.

²¹And Achitophel said to Absalom: Go in to the concubines of thy father, whom he hath left to keep the house: that when all Israel shall hear that thou hast disgraced thy father, their hands may be strengthened with thee.

²²So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and he went in to his father’s concubines before all Israel.

²³Now the counsel of Achitophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man should consult God: so was all the counsel of Achitophel, both when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom.

Chapter 17

And Achitophel said to Absalom: I will choose me twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.

²And coming upon him (for he is now weary, and weak handed) I will defeat him: and when all the people is put to flight that is with him, I will kill the king who will be left alone.

³And I will bring back all the people, as if they were but one man: for thou seekest but one man: and all the people shall be in peace.

⁴And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel.

⁵But Absalom said: Call Chusai the Arachite, and let us hear what he also saith.

⁶And when Chusai was come to Absalom, Absalom said to him: Achitophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do it or not? what counsel dost thou give?

⁷And Chusai said to Absalom: The counsel that Achitophel hath given this time is not good.

⁸And again Chusai said: Thou knowest thy father, and the men that are with him, that they are very valiant, and bitter in their mind, as a bear raging in the wood when her whelps are taken away: and thy father is a warrior, and will not lodge with the people.

⁹Perhaps he now lieth hid in pits, or in some other place where he liest: and when any one shall fall at the first, every one that heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that followed Absalom.

¹⁰And the most valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall melt for fear: for all the people of Israel know thy father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are valiant.

¹¹But this seemeth to me to be good counsel: Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered: and thou shalt be in the midst of them.

¹²And we shall come upon him in what place soever he shall be found: and we shall cover him, as the dew falleth upon the ground, and we shall not leave of the men that are with him, not so much as one.

¹³And if he shall enter into any city, all Israel shall cast ropes round about that city, and we will draw it into the river, so that there shall not be found so much as one small stone thereof.

¹⁴And Absalom, and all the men of Israel said: The counsel of Chusai the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel: and by the will of the Lord the profitable counsel of Achitophel was defeated, that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.

¹⁵And Chusai said to Sadoc…