2 Samuel 15:13–17:22

David Flees Jerusalem

¹³Then an informant came to David, saying, “^aThe hearts of the men of Israel ¹have followed Absalom.”

¹⁴So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “^aArise and let us flee, for otherwise there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go in haste, lest he overtake us hastily and drive calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.”

¹⁶So the king went out and all his household ¹with him. But ^athe king left ten concubines to keep the house.

¹⁷And the king went out and all the people ¹with him, and they stopped at the last house.

¹⁸Now all his servants passed on beside him, ^aall the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, ^bsix hundred men who had come ¹with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

¹⁹Then the king said to ^aIttai the Gittite, “Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place.

²⁰“You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, going about, while ^aI go where I go? Return and cause your brothers to return; ^blovingkindness and ¹truth be with you.”

²¹But Ittai answered the king and said, “As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely ^awherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.”

²²So David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

²³While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people passed over. The king also passed over ^athe brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward ^bthe way of the wilderness.

²⁴Now behold, ^aZadok also came, and all the Levites with him ^bcarrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ^cAbiathar came up until all the people had finished passing from the city.

²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of Yahweh, then ^aHe will cause me to return and show me both it and ^bHis habitation.

²⁶“But if He should say thus, ‘^aI have no delight in you,’ behold, here I am, ^blet Him do to me as seems good in His sight.”

²⁷The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Are you not ^aa seer? Return to the city in peace and your ^btwo sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

²⁸“See, I am going to wait ^aat the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there.

³⁰But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and ^ahis head was covered and he was walking ^bbarefoot. And all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they went.

³¹Now David informed them, saying, “^aAhithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Yahweh, I pray, ^bmake the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.”

³²Then it happened that as David was coming to the summit, where he used to worship God, that behold, Hushai the ^aArchite met him with his ¹coat torn and ²dust on his head.

³³And David said to him, “If you pass over with me, then you will be ^aa burden to me.

³⁴“But if you return to the city, and ^asay to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant,’ then you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me.

³⁵“Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So it shall be that ^awhatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall inform Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

³⁶“Behold, ^atheir two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and ^bby their hand you shall send me everything that you hear.”

³⁷So Hushai, ^aDavid’s friend, came into the city, and ^bAbsalom came into Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 16

Ziba Meets David

¹Now David had passed ^aa little beyond the summit, and behold, ^bZiba the young man of Mephibosheth met him ^cwith a couple of saddled donkeys, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits, and a jug of wine.

²And the king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” And Ziba said, “^aThe donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine, ^bfor whoever is faint in the wilderness to drink.”

³Then the king said, “And where is ^ayour master’s son?” And ^bZiba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will return the kingdom of my father to me.’”

⁴So the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” And Ziba said, “I prostrate myself; let me find favor in your sight, O my lord, the king!”

Shimei Curses David

⁵And King David came to ^aBahurim, and behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul ^bwhose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out ^ccursing continually as he came.

⁶He also threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left.

⁷And thus Shimei said when he cursed, “Get out, get out, ^ayou man of bloodshed, and vile fellow!

⁸“^aYahweh has returned upon you all ^bthe bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and Yahweh has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

⁹Then ^aAbishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should ^bthis dead dog ^ccurse my lord the king? Let me pass over now and remove his head.”

¹⁰But the king said, “^aWhat have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? ^bIf he curses, and if Yahweh has told him, ‘Curse David,’ ^cthen who shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”

¹¹Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, ^amy son who came forth from my body seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, ^bfor Yahweh has told him.

¹²“Perhaps Yahweh will look on my affliction and ^1areturn good to me instead of his cursing this day.”

¹³So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him.

¹⁴Then the king and all the people who were with him arrived weary and he refreshed himself there.

Absalom Enters Jerusalem

^15aNow Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, had entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.

¹⁶And it happened that when ^aHushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, that ^bHushai said to Absalom, “^cLong live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your lovingkindness to your friend? ^aWhy did you not go with your friend?”

¹⁸Then Hushai said to Absalom, “No! For whom Yahweh, this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain.

¹⁹“Besides, ^awhom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”

²⁰Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your advice. What shall we do?”

²¹And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “^aGo in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father. The hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened.”

²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, ^aand Absalom went in to his father’s concubines ^bin the sight of all Israel.

^23aNow the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if one asked of the word of God; ^bso was all the counsel of Ahithophel regarded by both David and Absalom.

CHAPTER 17

Absalom Calls for Hushai’s Counsel

¹Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue David tonight.

²“^aAnd I will come upon him while he is weary with his hands falling limp and throw him into utter fright, so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then ^bI will strike down the king alone,

³and I will cause all the people to return to you. ¹The return of everyone depends on the man you seek; then all the people will be at ^apeace.”

⁴And the word was right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵Then Absalom said, “Call now ^aHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what is also in his mouth.”

⁶Then Hushai came to Absalom. And Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken ¹thus. Shall we ²carry out his word? If not, you speak.”

⁷And Hushai said to Absalom, “^aThis time the counsel that Ahithophel has counseled is not good.”

⁸Then Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and they are bitter of soul, ^alike a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is a man of war, and will not spend the night with the people.

⁹“Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the ¹caves or in another place; and it will be ²when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

¹⁰“And even the one who is a man of valor, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, ^awill utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are men of valor.

¹¹“But I counsel that all Israel be utterly gathered to you, ^afrom Dan even to Beersheba, ^bas the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that ¹you personally go into battle.

¹²“So we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will set down on him ^aas the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.

¹³“If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall carry ropes to that city, and we will ^adrag it into the ¹valley until not even a small stone is found there.”

¹⁴Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The…