2 Samuel 16–17

David and Ziba

16When David had passed a little beyond ^pthe summit, ^qZiba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, ^ra hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. ²And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, ^s“The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who ^tfaint in the wilderness to drink.” ³And the king said, “And where is your master’s son?” ^uZiba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’ ” ⁴Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

Shimei Curses David

⁵When King David came to ^vBahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was ^wShimei, the son of Gera, and as he came ^xhe cursed continually. ⁶And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. ⁷And Shimei said as he ^xcursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! ⁸The Lord ^yhas avenged on you all ^zthe blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”

⁹Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this ^adead dog ^bcurse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” ¹⁰But the king said, ^c“What have I to do with you, ^dyou sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ” ¹¹And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, ^emy own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. ¹²It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me,¹ and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” ¹³So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and ^fcursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. ¹⁴And the king, and all the people who were with him, ^garrived weary at the Jordan.² And there he refreshed himself.

Absalom Enters Jerusalem

^15hNow Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. ¹⁶And when Hushai the Archite, ^hDavid’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, ⁱ“Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? ^jWhy did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. ¹⁹And again, ^kwhom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.”

²⁰Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” ²¹Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to ^lyour father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and ^mthe hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” ²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom ⁿon the roof. And Absalom went in to his father’s concubines ^oin the sight of all Israel. ²³Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, ^pboth by David and by Absalom.

Hushai Saves David

17Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. ²I will come upon him while he is ^qweary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. ^rI will strike down only the king, ³and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,¹ and all the people will be at peace.” ⁴And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵Then Absalom said, “Call ^sHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” ⁶And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” ⁷Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,^{2 t}like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. ⁹Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall³ at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly ^umelt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, ^vfrom Dan to Beersheba, ^was the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹²So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. ¹³If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” ¹⁴And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” ^xFor the Lord had ordained⁴ to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

^15yThen Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. ¹⁶Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at ^zthe fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be ^aswallowed up.’ ” ¹⁷Now ^bJonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at ^cEn-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. ¹⁸But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at ^dBahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. ^19eAnd the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. ²⁰When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook⁵ of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, ^f“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” ²²Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to ^ghis own city. He ^hset his house in order and ⁱhanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

²⁴Then David came to ^jMahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵Now Absalom had set ^kAmasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,⁶ who had married Abigal the daughter of ^lNahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. ²⁶And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷When David came to Mahanaim, ^mShobi the son of Nahash from ⁿRabbah of the Ammonites, and ^oMachir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and ^pBarzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, ²⁸brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,^{7 29}honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and ^qweary and thirsty ^rin the wilderness.”