2 Samuel 18–19

Absalom’s Defeat and Death

18And David ¹numbered the people who were with him, and ^aset captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. ²Then David sent out one third of the people under the hand of Joab, ^bone third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the hand of ^cIttai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I also will surely go out with you myself.”

^3dBut the people answered, “You shall not go out! For if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city.”

⁴Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” ^eAnd all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom.

⁶So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the ^fwoods of Ephraim. ⁷The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day. ⁸For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and ^ghis head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was under him went on. ¹⁰Now a certain man saw it and told Joab, and said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree!”

¹¹So Joab said to the man who told him, “You just saw him! And why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt.”

¹²But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. ^hFor in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ²‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’ ¹³Otherwise I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there is nothing hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.”

¹⁴Then Joab said, “I cannot linger with you.” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart, while he was still alive in the midst of the terebinth tree. ¹⁵And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.

¹⁶So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people. ¹⁷And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and ⁱlaid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel ^jfled, everyone to his tent.

¹⁸Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a ³pillar for himself, which is in ^kthe King’s Valley. For he said, ^l“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.

David Hears of Absalom’s Death

¹⁹Then ^mAhimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has ⁴avenged him of his enemies.”

²⁰And Joab said to him, “You shall not take the news this day, for you shall take the news another day. But today you shall take no news, because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed himself to Joab and ran.

²²And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “But ⁵whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.”

So Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, since you have no news ready?”

²³“But whatever happens,” he said, “let me run.”

So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴Now David was sitting between the ⁿtwo gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate, to the wall, lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a man, running alone. ²⁵Then the watchman cried out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he came rapidly and drew near.

²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “There is another man, running alone!”

And the king said, “He also brings news.”

²⁷So the watchman said, ⁶“I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.”

And the king said, “He is a good man, and comes with ^ogood news.”

²⁸So Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, ⁷“All is well!” Then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king, and said, ^p“Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king!”

²⁹The king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was about.”

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

³¹Just then the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “There is good news, my lord the king! For the Lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you.”

³²And the king said to the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

So the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!”

David’s Mourning for Absalom

³³Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: ^q“O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, ^rmy son!”

19And Joab was told, “Behold, the king is weeping and ^amourning for Absalom.” ²So the victory that day was turned into ^bmourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.” ³And the people ¹stole back ^cinto the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. ⁴But the king ^dcovered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, ^e“O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵Then ^fJoab 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, ⁶in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you ²regard 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. ⁷Now therefore, arise, go out and speak ³comfort to your servants. For I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night. And that will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.” ⁸Then the king arose and sat in the ^ggate. And they told all the people, saying, “There is the king, sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king.

For everyone of Israel had ^hfled to his tent.

David Returns to Jerusalem

⁹Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us from the hand of our ⁱenemies, he delivered us from the hand of the ^jPhilistines, and now he has ^kfled from the land because of Absalom. ¹⁰But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?”

¹¹So King David sent to ^lZadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the words of all Israel have come to the king, to his very house? ¹²You are my brethren, you are ^mmy bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?’ ¹³ⁿAnd say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? ^oGod do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of the army before me ⁴continually in place of Joab.’ ” ¹⁴So he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah, ^pjust as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants!”

¹⁵Then the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to ^qGilgal, to go to meet the king, to escort the king ^racross the Jordan. ¹⁶And ^sShimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷There were a thousand men of ^tBenjamin with him, and ^uZiba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸Then a ferryboat went across to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good.

David’s Mercy to Shimei

Now Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had crossed the Jordan. ¹⁹Then he said to the king, ^v“Do not let my lord ⁵impute iniquity to me, or remember what ^wwrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should ^xtake it to heart. ²⁰For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore here I am, the first to come today of all ^ythe house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, ^zbecause he ^acursed the Lord’s anointed?”

²²And David said, ^b“What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? ^cShall any man be put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” ²³Therefore ^dthe king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him.

David and Mephibosheth Meet

²⁴Now ^eMephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace. ²⁵So it was, when he had come to Jerusalem to…