1 Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, “Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. 6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead.

1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. 2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. 3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! 5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines; 6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

1 Word soon reached Joab that the king was weeping and mourning for Absalom. 2 As all the people heard of the king’s deep grief for his son, the joy of that day’s victory was turned into deep sadness. 3 They crept back into the town that day as though they were ashamed and had deserted in battle. 4 The king covered his face with his hands and kept on crying, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab went to the king’s room and said to him, “We saved your life today and the lives of your sons, your daughters, and your wives and concubines. Yet you act like this, making us feel ashamed of ourselves. 6 You seem to love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that your commanders and troops mean nothing to you. It seems that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died, you would be pleased.

1 And Joab was told, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.” 3 And the people stole back into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines, 6 in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well.

1 People told Joab, “Look, the king is sad and crying because of Absalom.” 2 David’s army had won the battle that day. But it became a very sad day for all the people, because they heard that the king was very sad for his son. 3 The people came into the city quietly that day. They were like an army that had been defeated in battle and had run away. 4 The king covered his face and cried loudly, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Joab went into the king’s house and said, “Today you have shamed all your men. They saved your life and the lives of your sons, daughters, wives, and slave women. 6 You have shamed them because you love those who hate you, and you hate those who love you. Today you have made it clear that your commanders and men mean nothing to you. What if Absalom had lived and all of us were dead? I can see you would be pleased.

1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. 2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people; for the people heard say that day, The king grieveth for his son. 3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 4 And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! 5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines; 6 in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that princes and servants are nought unto thee: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom. 2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people heard say that day, The king is grieved for his son. 3 And the people stole away that day into the city, as people steal away when ashamed of fleeing in battle. 4 And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son! 5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast put to shame this day the faces of all thy servants who have this day saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives and the lives of thy concubines; 6 in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest those that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that neither princes nor servants are anything to thee: for to-day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died to-day, then it would have been right in thine eyes.

1 Joab was told, “The king is crying and mourning for Absalom.” 2 The victory of that day was turned into mourning because all the troops heard that the king was grieving for his son. 3 That day the troops sneaked into the city as if they had fled from battle and were ashamed of it. 4 The king covered his face and cried loudly, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!” 

5 Then Joab came into the house. “Today you have made all your men feel ashamed,” he said. “They saved your life and the lives of your sons, daughters, wives, and concubinestoday. 6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. Today, you have made it clear that your commanders and servants mean nothing to you. I think you would be pleased if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead.

1 It was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping. He’s mourning over Absalom.” 2 That day’s victory was turned into mourning for all the troops because on that day the troops heard, “The king is grieving over his son.” 3 So they returned to the city quietly that day like people come in when they are humiliated after fleeing in battle. 4 But the king hid his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed all your soldiers—those who rescued your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, your wives, and your concubines. 6 You love your enemies and hate those who love you! Today you have made it clear that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. In fact, today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would be fine with you!

1 It was told Joab, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops; for the troops heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3 The troops stole into the city that day as soldiers steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle. 4 The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 5 Then Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have covered with shame the faces of all your officers who have saved your life today, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines, 6 for love of those who hate you and for hatred of those who love you. You have made it clear today that commanders and officers are nothing to you; for I perceive that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased.

1 And it was told to Joab that the king was weeping and he mourned over Absalom, 2 so the victory turned to mourning on that day for all the army, because they had heard that day, “The king is grieving over his son.” 3 The army came secretly into the city on that day because the army was disgraced when they fled in the battle, 4 and because the king had covered his face and cried with a loud voice, “My son, Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son.”

5 Then Joab came to the king’s house and said, “Today you have humiliated the faces of all of your servants who have saved your life this day, and the life of your sons and your daughters, the life of your wives, and the life of your concubines, 6 by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. Indeed, you have made clear this day that you have no regard for your commanders or officers, for I have realized today that were Absalom alive, and all of us were dead, then that would have been right in your eyes!

1 Someone told Joab, “The king is sobbing over Absalom. He’s filled with sadness because his son has died.”

2 The army had won a great battle that day. But their joy turned into sadness. That’s because someone had told the troops, “The king is filled with sorrow because his son is dead.” 3 The men came quietly into the city that day. They were like fighting men who are ashamed because they’ve run away from a battle.

4 The king covered his face. He sobbed out loud, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab went into the king’s house. He said to him, “Today you have made all of your men feel ashamed. They have just saved your life. They have saved the lives of your sons and daughters. And they have saved the lives of your wives and concubines.

6 “You love those who hate you. You hate those who love you. The commanders and their troops don’t mean anything to you. You made that very clear today. I can see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead.

1 Then it was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourns for Absalom.”

2 The victory that day was turned to mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.”

3 So the people went by stealth into the city that day, as people who are humiliated steal away when they flee in battle.

4 The king covered his face and cried out with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who today have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines,

6 by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have shown today that princes and servants are nothing to you; for I know this day that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased.