2 Samuel 18–19

CHAPTER 18

Joab Puts Absalom to Death

¹Then David ¹numbered the people who were with him and ^aset over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.

²And David sent the people out, ^aone-third under the hand of Joab, one-third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one-third under the hand of ^bIttai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I myself will surely go out with you also.”

³But the people said, “^aYou should not go out; for if we indeed flee, they will not set their heart on us; even if half of us die, they will not set their heart on us. But now ¹you are worth ten thousand of us; so now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city.”

⁴Then the king said to them, “Whatever is good in your sight I will do.” So ^athe king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands.

⁵Then the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And ^aall the people heard when the king commanded all the commanders concerning Absalom.

⁶Then the people went out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle took place in ^athe forest of Ephraim.

⁷And the people of Israel were ¹defeated there before the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, 20,000 men.

⁸And the battle there was scattered over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹Then Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Now Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. And ^ahis head caught fast in the oak, so he was ¹left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him passed onward.

¹⁰Then a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.”

¹¹Then Joab said to the man who had told him, “Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”

¹²So the man said to Joab, “Even if I should receive one thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not send forth my hand against the king’s son; for ^ain our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘¹Keep for me the young man Absalom!’

¹³“Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and ^athere is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.”

¹⁴Then Joab said, “I will not wait around here before you.” ^aSo he took three ¹spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the ²midst of the oak.

¹⁵And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and put him to death.

¹⁶Then ^aJoab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people.

¹⁷And they took Absalom and cast him into ¹a deep pit in the forest and ^aset over him a very great heap of stones. And ^ball Israel fled, each to his tent.

¹⁸Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and ^aset up for himself a pillar which is in ^bthe King’s Valley, for he had said, “^cI have no son ¹to preserve my name.” So he named the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

David Weeps Over Absalom

¹⁹Then ^aAhimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and proclaim the good news to the king ^bthat Yahweh has judged to save him from the hand of his enemies.”

²⁰But Joab said to him, “You are not the man for the good news this day, but you shall proclaim the good news another day; however, you shall not proclaim the good news today because the king’s son has died.”

²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

²²Now Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said once more to Joab, “But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why would you run, my son, since ^ayou will have no reward for going?”

²³“But whatever happens,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and passed the Cushite.

²⁴Now ^aDavid was sitting between the two gates; and ^bthe watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man running by himself.

²⁵And the watchman called and told the king. And the king said, “If he is by himself there is good news in his mouth.” And he came nearer and nearer.

²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “Behold, another man running by himself.” And the king said, “This one also is bringing good news.”

²⁷And the watchman said, “I see that the running of the first one ^ais like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “^bThis is a good man and comes with good news.”

²⁸And Ahimaaz called and said to the king, “Peace!” And ^ahe prostrated himself before the king with his ¹face to the ground. And he said, “^bBlessed is Yahweh your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”

²⁹Then the king said, “^aIs there peace with the young man Absalom?” And Ahimaaz said, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but ^bI did not know what it was.”

³⁰Then the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.

³¹Behold, the Cushite arrived, and the Cushite said, “Let my lord the king receive good news, for ^aYahweh has judged to save you this day from the hand of all those who rose up against you.”

³²Then the king said to the Cushite, “^aIs there peace with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “^bLet the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be as that young man!”

³³¹Then the king trembled and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And thus he said as he walked, “^aO my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! ^bWould I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

CHAPTER 19

Joab Tells David to Speak to His Servants

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

²And the salvation 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.”

³So the people stole away to enter into the city that day, as people who are dishonored steal away when they flee in battle.

⁴But as for the king, he ^awrapped his face up. Then the king cried out with a loud voice, “^bO my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed the faces of all your servants, who today have provided escape for your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines,

⁶by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have informed all of us today that ¹princes and servants are nothing to you; for I know this day that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, surely then it would be right in your eyes.

⁷“So now, arise, go out and speak to the heart of your servants, for I swear by Yahweh, if you do not go out, surely ^anot a man will pass the night with you, and this will be of greater evil for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.”

David Returns to Jerusalem

⁸So the king arose and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is ^asitting in the gate.” Then all the people came before the king.

Now ^bIsrael had fled, each to his tent.

⁹And it happened that all the people were disputing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “^aThe king delivered us from the ¹hand of our enemies and ^bprovided us escape from the ²hand of the Philistines, but now ^che has fled out of the land from Absalom.

¹⁰“However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. So now, why are you silent about having the king return?”

¹¹Now King David had sent to ^aZadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to have the king return to his house, while the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house?

¹²‘You are my brothers; ^ayou are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to have the king return?’

¹³“And say to ^aAmasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? ^bMay God do so to me, and more also, if you will not be ^ccommander of the army before me continually ^din place of Joab.’”

¹⁴Thus he inclined the hearts of all the men of Judah ^aas one man, so they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.”

¹⁵The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And Judah came to ^aGilgal in order to go to meet the king, to cause the king to pass over across the Jordan.

¹⁶Then ^aShimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

¹⁷Now there were one thousand men of Benjamin with him, with ^aZiba the young man of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

¹⁸Then they kept passing over the ford to cause the king’s household to pass over, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to pass over the Jordan.

¹⁹So he said to the king, “^aLet not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would ¹take it to heart.

²⁰“For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, ^athe first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, “^aShould not Shimei be put to death for this, ^bbecause he cursed the anointed of Yahweh?”

²²David then said, “^aWhat have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? ^bShould any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?”…