2 Samuel 18–19

Chapter 18

¹Then David mustered the men who were with him, and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ²And David sent forth the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” ³But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us;^x therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” ⁴The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

⁶So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. ⁸The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.

⁹And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging^y between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. ¹⁰And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” ¹¹Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a girdle.” ¹²But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not put forth my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’ ¹³On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life^z (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” ¹⁴Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was still alive in the oak. ¹⁵And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him.

¹⁶Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel; for Joab restrained them. ¹⁷And they took Absalom, and threw him into a great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones; and all Israel fled every one to his own home. ¹⁸Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance”; he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s monument to this day.

¹⁹Then said Ahima-az the son of Zadok, “Let me run, and carry tidings to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the power of his enemies.” ²⁰And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry tidings today; you may carry tidings another day, but today you shall carry no tidings, because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. ²²Then Ahima-az the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the tidings?” ²³“Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahima-az ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵And the watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there are tidings in his mouth.” And he came apace, and drew near. ²⁶And the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings tidings.” ²⁷And the watchman said, “I think the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahima-az the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man, and comes with good tidings.”

²⁸Then Ahima-az cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth, and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” ²⁹And the king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahima-az answered, “When Joab sent your servant,^b I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.” ³⁰And the king said, “Turn aside, and stand here.” So he turned aside, and stood still.

³¹And behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from the power of all who rose up against you.” ³²The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man.” ³³And the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Chapter 19

¹It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” ²So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” ³And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle. ⁴The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁵Then Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines, ⁶because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for today I perceive that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. ⁷Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants; for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night; and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.” ⁸Then the king arose, and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate”; and all the people came before the king.

Now Israel had fled every man to his own home. ⁹And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and saved us from the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. ¹⁰But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”

¹¹And King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king?^{d 12}You are my kinsmen, you are my bone and my flesh; why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ ¹³And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of my army henceforth in place of Joab.’ ” ¹⁴And he swayed the heart of all the men of Judah as one man; so that they sent word to the king, “Return, both you and all your servants.” ¹⁵So the king came back to the Jordan; and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan.

¹⁶And Shime-i the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, made haste to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David; ¹⁷and with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king, ¹⁸and they crossed the ford^e to bring over the king’s household, and to do his pleasure. And Shime-i the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, ¹⁹and said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; let not the king bear it in mind. ²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” ²¹Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shime-i be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” ²²But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall any one be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” ²³And the king said to Shime-i, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.

²⁴And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. ²⁵And when he came^f from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” ²⁶He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me; for your servant said to him, ‘Saddle an ass for me,^g that I may ride upon it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. ²⁷He has slandered your servant to…