¹⁶ Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. ¹⁷ And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him ^(A)a very great heap of stones. And all Israel ^(B)fled every one to his own home. ¹⁸ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself ^(C)the pillar that is in ^(D)the King's Valley, for he said, ^(E)“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^[a] to this day.

David Hears of Absalom's Death

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, ^(F)“Let me run and carry news to the king that ^(G)the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.” ²⁰ And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king's son is dead.” ²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. ²² Then Ahimaaz 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 news?” ²³ “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of ^(H)the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David ^(I)was sitting between the two gates, and ^(J)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. ²⁵ The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer. ²⁶ 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 news.” ²⁷ The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is ^(K)like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, ^(L)“He is a good man and comes with good news.”

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

David's Grief

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

Joab Rebukes David

19 It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” ² So 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.” ³ And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle. ⁴ The king ^(T)covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, ^(U)“O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁵ Then 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, ⁶ because 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 know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. ⁷ Now therefore arise, go out and speak ^(V)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.” ⁸ Then the king arose and took his ^(W)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.

David Returns to Jerusalem

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

³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews ^(A)who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ^(B)“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he ^(C)was deeply moved^[a] in his spirit and ^(D)greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ^35 (E)Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See ^(F)how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he ^(G)who opened the eyes of the blind man ^(H)also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Then Jesus, ^(I)deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ^(J)a cave, and ^(K)a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for ^(L)he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, ^(M)“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see ^(N)the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus ^(O)lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ^42 (P)I knew that you always hear me, but I said this ^(Q)on account of the people standing around, ^(R)that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ^44 (S)The man who had died came out, ^(T)his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and ^(U)his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”