2 Samuel 19:16-23
New Catholic Bible
16 Shimei, the son of Gera the Benjaminite, from Horonaim, hurried down with the men of Judah to welcome King David.
17 Accompanying Shimei were one thousand men from Benjamin. Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, together with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, hastened to the Jordan ahead of the king. 18 They crossed at the ford to transport the king’s household and to do whatever the king requested.
When Shimei, the son of Gera, crossed the Jordan, he threw himself down before the king, 19 and he said: “I entreat my lord not to hold me guilty or to remember how shamefully I behaved on the day my lord the king departed from Jerusalem. I beg you not to hold my guilt against me. 20 I humbly admit that I have sinned. Today I am the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”
21 However, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, objected, saying: “Should not Shimei be put to death because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” 22 David replied: “Of what concern are my decisions to you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you have become my adversary? Should anyone be put to death this day in Israel? Am I not fully aware that today I am king of Israel?” 23 Then the king said to Shimei: “You shall not die,” and he confirmed that with an oath.
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