Absalom Returns to Jerusalem

14 So Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was concerned ^(A)about Absalom. ² And Joab sent to ^(B)Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman, and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, ^(C)and put on mourning apparel; do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has been mourning a long time for the dead. ³ Go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab ^(D)put the words in her mouth.

⁴ And when the woman of Tekoa ^[a]spoke to the king, she ^(E)fell on her face to the ground and prostrated herself, and said, ^(F)“Help, O king!”

⁵ Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?”

And she answered, ^(G)“Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead. ⁶ Now your maidservant had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him ^(H)for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.”

⁸ Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.”

⁹ And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, let ^(I)the ^[b]iniquity be on me and on my father’s house, ^(J)and the king and his throne be guiltless.”

¹⁰ So the king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.”

¹¹ Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, and do not permit ^(K)the avenger of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son.”

And he said, ^(L)“As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹² Therefore the woman said, “Please, let your maidservant speak another word to my lord the king.”

And he said, “Say on.”

¹³ So the woman said: “Why then have you schemed such a thing against ^(M)the people of God? For the king speaks this thing as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring ^(N)his banished one home again. ¹⁴ For we ^(O)will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not ^(P)take away a life; but He ^(Q)devises means, so that His banished ones are not ^[c]expelled from Him. ¹⁵ Now therefore, I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And your maidservant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his maidservant. ¹⁶ For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the ^(R)inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷ Your maidservant said, ‘The word of my lord the king will now be comforting; for ^(S)as the angel of God, so is my lord the king in ^(T)discerning good and evil. And may the Lord your God be with you.’ ”

¹⁸ Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide from me anything that I ask you.”

And the woman said, “Please, let my lord the king speak.”

¹⁹ So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said, “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab commanded me, and ^(U)he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant. ²⁰ To bring about this change of affairs your servant Joab has done this thing; but my lord is wise, ^(V)according to the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.”

²¹ And the king said to Joab, “All right, I have granted this thing. Go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²² Then Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself, and ^[d]thanked the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.” ²³ So Joab arose ^(W)and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴ And the king said, “Let him return to his own house, but ^(X)do not let him see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but did not see the king’s face.

David Forgives Absalom

²⁵ Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks. ^(Y)From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶ And when he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he cut it because it was heavy on him—when he cut it, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king’s standard. ^27 (Z)To Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance.

²⁸ And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, ^(AA)but did not see the king’s face. ²⁹ Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him. And when he sent again the second time, he would not come. ³⁰ So he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹ Then Joab arose and came to Absalom’s house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”

³² And Absalom answered Joab, “Look, I sent to you, saying, ‘Come here, so that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” ’ Now therefore, let me see the king’s face; but ^(AB)if there is iniquity in me, let him execute me.”

³³ So Joab went to the king and told him. And when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king. Then the king ^(AC)kissed Absalom.

Absalom’s Treason

15 After this ^(AD)it happened that Absalom ^(AE)provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ² Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a ^(AF)lawsuit^[e] came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your ^[f]case is good and right; but there is no ^[g]deputy of the king to hear you.” ⁴ Moreover Absalom would say, ^(AG)“Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.” ⁵ And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and ^(AH)kiss him. ⁶ In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. ^(AI)So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ Now it came to pass ^(AJ)after ^[h]forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to ^(AK)Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord. ^8 (AL)For your servant ^(AM)took a vow ^(AN)while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’ ”

⁹ And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron.

¹⁰ Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom ^(AO)reigns in Hebron!’ ” ¹¹ And with Absalom went two hundred men ^(AP)invited from Jerusalem, and they ^(AQ)went along innocently and did not know anything. ¹² Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^(AR)David’s counselor, from his city—from ^(AS)Giloh—while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom ^(AT)continually increased in number.

David Escapes from Jerusalem

¹³ Now a messenger came to David, saying, ^(AU)“The hearts of the men of Israel are ^[i]with Absalom.”

¹⁴ So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us ^(AV)flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵ And the king’s servants said to the king, “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands.” ¹⁶ Then ^(AW)the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ^(AX)ten women, concubines, to keep the house. ¹⁷ And the king went out with all the people after him, and stopped at the outskirts. ¹⁸ Then all his servants passed ^[j]before him; ^(AY)and all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, ^(AZ)six hundred men who had followed him from Gath, passed before the king.

¹⁹ Then the king said to ^(BA)Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place. ²⁰ In fact, you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today, since I go ^(BB)I know not where? Return, and take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you.”

²¹ But Ittai answered the king and said, ^(BC)“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.”

²² So David said to Ittai, “Go, and cross over.” Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. ²³ And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the ^(BD)wilderness.

²⁴ There was ^(BE)Zadok also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ^(BF)ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ^(BG)Abiathar went up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He ^(BH)will bring me back and show me both it and ^(BI)His dwelling place. ²⁶ But if He says thus: ‘I have no ^(BJ)delight in you,’ here I am, ^(BK)let Him do to me as seems good to Him.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a ^(BL)seer?^[k] Return to the city in peace, and ^(BM)your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ See, ^(BN)I will wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ Therefore Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem. And they remained there.

³⁰ So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he ^(BO)had his head covered and went ^(BP)barefoot. And all the people who were with him ^(BQ)covered their heads and went up, ^(BR)weeping as they went up. ³¹ Then someone told David, saying, ^(BS)“Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, ^(BT)turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

³² Now it happened when David had come to the top of the mountain, where he worshiped God—there was Hushai the ^(BU)Archite coming to meet him ^(BV)with his robe torn and dust on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you go on with me, then you will become ^(BW)a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, ^(BX)‘I will be your servant, O king; as I was your father’s servant previously, so I will now also be your servant,’ then you may defeat the counsel of Ahithophel for me. ³⁵ And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? Therefore it will be that whatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall tell to ^(BY)Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Indeed they have there ^(BZ)with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send me everything you hear.”

³⁷ So Hushai, ^(CA)David’s friend, went into the city. ^(CB)And Absalom came into Jerusalem.