16David went just beyond the top of the Mount of Olives. Ziba was waiting there to meet him. He was Mephibosheth’s manager. He had several donkeys with saddles on them. They were carrying 200 loaves of bread and 100 raisin cakes. They were also carrying 100 fig cakes and a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin.

²The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought all of these things?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on. The bread and fruit are for the people to eat. The wine will make those who get tired in the desert feel like new again.”

³Then the king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson Mephibosheth?”

Ziba said to him, “He’s staying in Jerusalem. He thinks, ‘Today the people of Israel will give me back my grandfather Saul’s kingdom.’ ”

⁴Then the king said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth belongs to you now.”

“You are my king and master,” Ziba said. “I make myself low in front of you. I bow down to you. May you be pleased with me.”

Shimei Calls Down Curses on David

⁵King David approached Bahurim. As he did, a man came out toward him. The man was from the same family group that Saul was from. His name was Shimei. He was the son of Gera. As he came out of the town, he called down curses on David. ⁶He threw stones at David and all of his officials. He did it even though all of the troops and the special guard were there. They were to the right and left of David.

⁷As Shimei called down curses, he said, “Get out! Get out, you murderer! You are a worthless and evil man! ⁸You spilled the blood of a lot of people in Saul’s family. You took over his kingdom. Now the Lord is paying you back. He has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have been destroyed because you are a murderer!”

⁹Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, spoke to the king. He said, “King David, why should we let this dead dog call down curses on you? Let me go over there. I’ll cut off his head.”

¹⁰But the king said, “You and Joab are sons of Zeruiah. What do you and I have in common? Maybe the Lord said to him, ‘Call down curses on David.’ If he did, who can ask him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ”

¹¹Then David spoke to Abishai and all of his officials. He said, “My very own son Absalom is trying to kill me. How much more should this man from Benjamin want to kill me! Leave him alone. Let him call down curses. The Lord has told him to do it. ¹²Maybe the Lord will see how much I’m suffering. Maybe he’ll reward me with good things in place of the curses that are being called down on me today.”

¹³So David and his men kept going along the road. At the same time, Shimei was going along the hillside across from him. He was calling down curses as he went. He was throwing stones at David. He was showering him with dirt.

¹⁴The king and all of the people who were with him came to the place they had planned to go to. They were very tired. So David rested there.

Hushai and Ahithophel Give Advice to Absalom

¹⁵During that time, Absalom and all of the men of Israel came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was with him.

¹⁶Then Hushai, the Arkite, went to Absalom. He said to him, “May the king live a long time! May the king live a long time!” Hushai was David’s friend.

¹⁷Absalom asked Hushai, “Is this the way you show love to your friend? Why didn’t you go with him?”

¹⁸Hushai said to Absalom, “Why should I? You are the one the Lord has chosen. These people and all of the men of Israel have also chosen you. I want to be on your side. I want to stay with you. ¹⁹After all, who else should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve the king’s son? I will serve you, just as I served your father.”

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

²¹Ahithophel answered, “Your father left some concubines behind to take care of the palace. Go and have sex with them. Then all of the people of Israel will hear about it. They will hear that you have made yourself smell very bad to your father. Everyone who is with you will become braver.”

²²So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. He went in and had sex with his father’s concubines. Everyone in Israel saw it.

²³In those days the advice Ahithophel gave was as good as advice from someone who asks God for guidance. That’s what David and Absalom thought about all of Ahithopel’s advice.

17One day Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Here’s what I suggest. Choose 12,000 men. Start out tonight and go after David. ²Attack him while he’s tired and weak. Fill him with terror. Then all of the people who are with him will run away. Don’t strike down anyone except the king. ³Bring all of the other people back. After the man you want to kill is dead, everyone else will return to you. And none of the people will be harmed.”

⁴Ahithophel’s plan seemed good to Absalom. It also seemed good to all of the elders of Israel.

⁵But Absalom said, “Send for Hushai, the Arkite. Then we can find out what he suggests.”

⁶Hushai came to him. Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given us his advice. Should we do what he says? If we shouldn’t, tell us what you would do.”

⁷Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given you isn’t good this time. ⁸You know your father and his men. They are fighters. They are as strong as a wild bear whose cubs have been stolen from her. Besides, your father really knows how to fight. He won’t spend the night with his troops. ⁹In fact, he’s probably hiding in a cave or some other place right now.

“Suppose he attacks your troops first. When people hear about it, they’ll say, ‘Many of the troops who followed Absalom have been killed.’ ¹⁰Then the hearts of your soldiers will melt away in fear. Even those who are as brave as a lion will be terrified. That’s because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a fighter. They know that those who are with him are brave.

¹¹“So here’s what I suggest. Bring together all of the men of Israel from the town of Dan all the way to Beersheba. They are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. You yourself should lead them into battle.

¹²“Then we’ll attack David no matter where we find him. As dew completely covers the ground, we’ll completely overpower his entire army. We won’t leave him or any of his men alive. ¹³He might try to get away by going into a city. If he does, all of us will bring ropes to that city. We’ll drag the whole city down into the valley. No one will be able to find even a piece of that city.”

¹⁴Absalom and all of the men of Israel agreed. They said, “The advice of Hushai, the Arkite, is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” The Lord had decided that Ahithophel’s good advice would fail. The Lord wanted to bring horrible trouble on Absalom.

¹⁵Hushai spoke to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. He said, “Ahithophel has given advice to Absalom and the elders of Israel. He suggested that they should do one thing. But I suggested something else.

¹⁶“Send a message right away. Tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the place in the desert where people can go across the Jordan River. Make sure you go on across. If you don’t, you and all of the people who are with you will be swallowed up.’ ”

¹⁷Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel just outside Jerusalem. They knew they would be in danger if anyone saw them entering the city. A female servant was supposed to go and tell them what had happened. Then they were supposed to go and tell King David. ¹⁸But a young man saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom about it. So the two men left quickly. They went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard. They climbed down into it. ¹⁹The man’s wife got a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well. Then she scattered grain on the covering. So no one knew that the men were hiding in the well.

²⁰Absalom’s men came to the house. They asked the woman, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

She answered, “They went across the brook.” When the men looked around, they didn’t find anyone. So they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹After the men had gone, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well. They went to tell King David what they had found out. They said to him, “Go across the river right away. Ahithophel has told Absalom how to come after you and strike you down.”

²²So David and all of the people who were with him started out. They went across the Jordan River. By sunrise, everyone had crossed over.

²³Ahithophel saw that his advice wasn’t being followed. So he put a saddle on his donkey. He started out for his house in his hometown. When he got there, he put everything in order. He made out his will. Then he killed himself. So he died, and his body was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴David went to Mahanaim. Absalom went across the Jordan River with all of the men of Israel.

²⁵Absalom had made Amasa commander of the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Jether. Jether belonged to the family line of Ishmael. He had gotten married to Abigail. She was the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Zeruiah. Zeruiah was the mother of Joab. ²⁶Absalom and the people of Israel camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷David came to Mahanaim. Shobi, the son of Nahash, met him there. Shobi was from Rabbah in the land of Ammon. Makir, the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, met him there too. So did Barzillai from Rogelim in the land of Gilead. ²⁸They brought beds, bowls and clay pots. They brought wheat, barley, flour, and grain that had been cooked. They brought beans and lentils. ²⁹They brought honey, butter, sheep and cheese that was made from cows’ milk. They brought all of that food for David and his people to eat. They said, “These people have become hungry. They’ve become tired and thirsty in the desert.”

Read in Logos