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 and Abiathar the priests: Thus and thus did Achitophel counsel Absalom, and the ancients of Israel: and thus and thus did I counsel them.

¹⁶Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Tarry not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but without delay pass over: lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with him.

¹⁷And Jonathan and Achimaas stayed by the fountain Rogel: and there went a maid and told them: and they went forward, to carry the message to king David, for they might not be seen, nor enter into the city.

¹⁸But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom: but they making haste went into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

¹⁹And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as it were to dry sodden barley and so the thing was not known.

²⁰And when Absalom’s servants were come into the house, they said to the woman: Where is Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman answered them: They passed on in haste, after they had tasted a little water. But they that sought them, when they found them not, returned into Jerusalem.

²¹And when they were gone, they came up out of the well, and going on told king David, and said: Arise, and pass quickly over the river: for this manner of counsel has Achitophel given against you.

²²So David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan, until it grew light, and not one of them was left that was not gone over the river.

²³But Achitophel seeing that his counsel was not followed, saddled his ass, and arose and went home to his house and to his city, and putting his house in order, hanged himself, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

²⁴But David came to the camp, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

²⁵Now Absalom appointed Amasa in Joab’s stead over the army: and Amasa was the son of a man who was called Jethra, of Jezrael, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Naas, the sister of Sarvia who was the mother of Joab.

²⁶And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Galaad.

²⁷And when David was come to the camp, Sobi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammihel of Lodabar and Berzellai the Galaadite of Rogelim,

²⁸Brought him beds, and tapestry, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and fried pulse,

²⁹And honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves, and they gave to David and the people that were with him, to eat: for they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the wilderness.

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