2 Samuel 18–19

¹And David inspecteth the people who are with him, and setteth over them heads of thousands and heads of hundreds, ²and David sendeth the third of the people by the hand of Joab, and the third by the hand of Abishai, son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, and the third by the hand of Ittai the Gittite, and the king saith unto the people, ‘I certainly go out—I also—with you.’ ³And the people say, ‘Thou dost not go out, for if we utterly flee, they do not set their heart upon us; and if half of us die, they do not set their heart unto us—for now like us are ten thousand; and now, better that thou be to us from the city for an helper.’ ⁴And the king saith unto them, ‘That which is good in your eyes I do;’ and the king standeth at the side of the gate, and all the people have gone out by hundreds and by thousands, ⁵and the king chargeth Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, ‘Gently—for me, for the youth, for Absalom;’ and all the people heard in the king’s charging all the heads concerning Absalom. ⁶And the people goeth out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle is in a forest of Ephraim; ⁷and smitten there are the people of Israel before the servants of David, and the smiting there is great on that day—twenty thousand; ⁸and the battle is there scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest multiplieth to devour among the people more than those whom the sword hath devoured in that day.

⁹And Absalom meeteth before the servants of David, and Absalom is riding on the mule, and the mule cometh in under an entangled bough of the great oak, and his head taketh hold on the oak, and he is placed between the heavens and the earth, and the mule that is under him hath passed on. ¹⁰And one man seeth, and declareth to Joab, and saith, ‘Lo, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.’ ¹¹And Joab saith to the man who is declaring it to him, ‘And lo, thou hast seen—and wherefore didst thou not smite him there to the earth—and on me to give to thee ten silverlings and one girdle?’ ¹²And the man saith unto Joab, ‘Yea, though I am weighing on my hand a thousand silverlings, I do not put forth my hand unto the son of the king; for in our ears hath the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Observe ye who is against the youth—against Absalom; ¹³or I had done against my soul a vain thing, and no matter is hid from the king, and thou—thou dost station thyself over-against.’ ¹⁴And Joab saith, ‘Not right—I tarry before thee;’ and he taketh three darts in his hand, and striketh them into the heart of Absalom, while he is alive, in the midst of the oak. ¹⁵And they go round—ten youths bearing weapons of Joab—and smite Absalom, and put him to death. ¹⁶And Joab bloweth with a trumpet, and the people turneth back from pursuing after Israel, for Joab hath kept back the people; ¹⁷and they take Absalom and cast him in the forest unto the great pit, and set up over him a very great heap of stones, and all Israel have fled—each to his tent. ¹⁸And Absalom hath taken, and setteth up for himself in his life, the standing-pillar that is in the king’s valley, for he said, ‘I have no son to cause my name to be remembered;’ and he calleth the standing-pillar by his own name, and it is called ‘The monument of Absalom’ unto this day.

¹⁹And Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, ‘Let me run, I pray thee, and I bear the king tidings, for Jehovah hath delivered him out of the hand of his enemies;’ ²⁰and Joab saith to him, ‘Thou art not a man of tidings this day, but thou hast borne tidings on another day, and this day thou dost not bear tidings, because the king’s son is dead.’ ²¹And Joab saith to Cushi, ‘Go, declare to the king that which thou hast seen;’ and Cushi boweth himself to Joab, and runneth. ²²And Ahimaaz son of Zadok addeth again, and saith unto Joab, ‘And whatever it be, let me run, I pray thee, I also, after the Cushite.’ And Joab saith, ‘Why is this—thou art running, my son, and for thee there are no tidings found?’— ²³‘And, whatever it be, said he, let me run.’ And he saith to him, ‘Run;’ and Ahimaaz runneth the way of the circuit, and passeth by the Cushite. ²⁴And David is sitting between the two gates, and the watchman goeth unto the roof of the gate, unto the wall, and lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, a man running by himself. ²⁵And the watchman calleth, and declareth to the king, and the king saith, ‘If by himself, tidings are in his mouth;’ and he cometh, coming on and drawing near. ²⁶And the watchman seeth another man running, and the watchman calleth unto the gatekeeper, and saith, ‘Lo, a man running by himself;’ and the king saith, ‘Also this one is bearing tidings.’ ²⁷And the watchman saith, ‘I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.’ And the king saith, ‘This is a good man, and with good tidings he cometh.’ ²⁸And Ahimaaz calleth and saith unto the king, ‘Peace;’ and he boweth himself to the king, on his face, to the earth, and saith, ‘Blessed is Jehovah thy God who hath shut up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king.’ ²⁹And the king saith, ‘Peace to the youth—to Absalom?’ And Ahimaaz saith, ‘I saw the great multitude, at the sending away of the servant of the king, even thy servant by Joab, and I have not known what it is.’ ³⁰And the king saith, ‘Turn round, station thyself here;’ and he turneth round and standeth still. ³¹And lo, the Cushite hath come, and the Cushite saith, ‘Let tidings be proclaimed, my lord, O king; for Jehovah hath delivered thee to-day out of the hand of all those rising up against thee.’ ³²And the king saith unto the Cushite, ‘Peace to the youth—to Absalom?’ And the Cushite saith, ‘Let them be—as the youth—the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee for evil.’ ³³And the king trembleth, and goeth up on the upper chamber of the gate, and weepeth, and thus he hath said in his going, ‘My son! Absalom my son; my son Absalom; oh that I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son.’

Chapter 19

¹And it is declared to Joab, ‘Lo, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom;’ ²and the salvation on that day becometh mourning to all the people, for the people hath heard on that day, saying, ‘The king hath been grieved for his son.’ ³And the people stealeth away, on that day, to go in to the city, as the people steal away, who are ashamed, in their fleeing in battle; ⁴and the king hath covered his face, yea, the king crieth—a loud voice—‘My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son.’ ⁵And Joab cometh in unto the king to the house, and saith, ‘Thou hast put to shame to-day the faces of all thy servants, those delivering thy life to-day, and the life of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the life of thy wives, and the life of thy concubines, ⁶to love thine enemies, and to hate those loving thee, for thou hast declared to-day that thou hast no princes and servants, for I have known to-day that if Absalom were alive, and all of us to-day dead, that then it were right in thine eyes.

⁷‘And now, rise, go out and speak unto the heart of thy servants, for by Jehovah I have sworn, that—thou art not going out—there doth not lodge a man with thee to-night; and this is worse for thee than all the evil that hath come upon thee from thy youth till now.’ ⁸And the king riseth, and sitteth in the gate, and to all the people they have declared, saying, ‘Lo, the king is sitting in the gate;’ and all the people come in before the king, and Israel hath fled, each to his tents.

⁹And it cometh to pass, all the people are contending through all the tribes of Israel, saying, ‘The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, yea, he himself delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he hath fled out of the land because of Absalom, ¹⁰and Absalom whom we anointed over us is dead in battle, and now, why are ye silent—to bring back the king?’ ¹¹And king David sent unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, saying, ‘Speak ye unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye last to bring back the king unto his house? (and the word of all Israel hath come unto the king, unto his house;) ¹²my brethren ye are, my bone and my flesh ye are, and why are ye last to bring back the king? ¹³And to Amasa say ye, Art not thou my bone and my flesh? Thus doth God do to me, and thus He doth add, if thou art not head of the host before me all the days instead of Joab.’ ¹⁴And he inclineth the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they send unto the king, ‘Turn back, thou, and all thy servants.’ ¹⁵And the king turneth back, and cometh in unto the Jordan, and Judah hath come to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.

¹⁶And Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite, who is from Bahurim, hasteth, and cometh down with the men of Judah, to meet king David, ¹⁷and a thousand men are with him from Benjamin, and Ziba servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him, and they have gone prosperously over the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸And passed over hath the ferry-boat to carry over the household of the king, and to do that which is good in his eyes, and Shimei son of Gera hath fallen before the king in his passing over into Jordan, ¹⁹and saith unto the king, ‘Let not my lord impute to me iniquity; neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely in the day that my lord the king went out from Jerusalem,—for the king to set it unto his heart; ²⁰for thy servant hath known that I have sinned; and lo, I have come to-day, first of all the house of Joseph, to go down to meet my lord the king.’ ²¹And Abishai son of Zeruiah answereth and saith, ‘For this is not Shimei put to death—because he reviled the anointed of Jehovah?’ ²²And David saith, ‘What—to me and to you, O sons of Zeruiah, that ye are to me to-day for an adversary? to-day is any man put to death in Israel? for have I not known that to-day I am king over Israel?’ ²³And the king saith unto Shimei, ‘Thou dost not die;’ and the king sweareth to him.

²⁴And Mephibosheth son of…