15After this, Absalom got a chariot and horses for himself and fifty men to run before him. ²Absalom would get up early and stand near the city gate. ⁿ Anyone who had a problem for the king to settle would come here. When someone came, Absalom would call out and say, “What city are you from?”

The person would answer, “I’m from one of the tribes of Israel.”

³Then Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are right, but the king has no one to listen to you.” ⁴Absalom would also say, “I wish someone would make me judge in this land! Then people with problems could come to me, and I could help them get justice.”

⁵People would come near Absalom to bow to him. When they did, Absalom would reach out his hand and take hold of them and kiss them. ⁶Absalom did that to all the Israelites who came to King David for decisions. In this way, Absalom stole the hearts of all Israel.

⁷After four years Absalom said to King David, “Please let me go to Hebron. I want to carry out my promise that I made to the Lord ⁸while I was living in Geshur in Aram. I said, ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship him in Hebron.’ ”

⁹The king said, “Go in peace.”

So Absalom went to Hebron. ¹⁰But he sent secret messengers through all the tribes of Israel. They told the people, “When you hear the trumpets, say this: ‘Absalom is the king at Hebron!’ ”

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Footnotes

ncity gate People came here to conduct business. Public meetings and court cases were also held here.