16 And David hath passed on a little from the top, and lo, Ziba, servant of Mephibosheth -- to meet him, and a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred [of] summer-fruit, and a bottle of wine.

² And the king saith unto Ziba, `What -- these to thee?' and Ziba saith, `The asses for the household of the king to ride on, and the bread and the summer-fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for the wearied to drink in the wilderness.'

³ And the king saith, `And where [is] the son of thy lord?' and Ziba saith unto the king, `Lo, he is abiding in Jerusalem, for he said, To-day do the house of Israel give back to me the kingdom of my father.'

⁴ And the king saith to Ziba, `Lo, thine [are] all that Mephibosheth hath;' and Ziba saith, `I have bowed myself -- I find grace in thine eyes, my lord, O king.'

⁵ And king David hath come in unto Bahurim, and lo, thence a man is coming out, of the family of the house of Saul, and his name [is] Shimei, son of Gera, he cometh out, coming out and reviling;

⁶ and he stoneth David with stones, and all the servants of king David, and all the people, and all the mighty men on his right and on his left.

⁷ And thus said Shimei in his reviling, `Go out, go out, O man of blood, and man of worthlessness!

⁸ Jehovah hath turned back on thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and Jehovah doth give the kingdom in to the hand of Absalom thy son; and lo, thou [art] in thine evil, for a man of blood thou [art].'

⁹ And Abishai son of Zeruiah saith unto the king, `Why doth this dead dog revile my lord the king? let me pass over, I pray thee, and I turn aside his head.'

¹⁰ And the king saith, `What -- to me and to you, O sons of Zeruiah? for -- let him revile; even because Jehovah hath said to him, Revile David; and who saith, Wherefore hast Thou done so?'

¹¹ And David saith unto Abishai, and unto all his servants, `Lo, my son who came out of my bowels is seeking my life, and also surely now the Benjamite; leave him alone, and let him revile, for Jehovah hath said [so] to him;

¹² it may be Jehovah doth look on mine affliction, and Jehovah hath turned back to me good for his reviling this day.'

¹³ And David goeth with his men in the way, and Shimei is going at the side of the hill over-against him, going on, and he revileth, and stoneth with stones over-against him, and hath dusted with dust.

¹⁴ And the king cometh in, and all the people who [are] with him, wearied, and they are refreshed there.

¹⁵ And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, have come in to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him,

¹⁶ and it cometh to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, hath come unto Absalom, that Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Let the king live! let the king live!'

¹⁷ And Absalom saith unto Hushai, `This thy kindness with thy friend! why hast thou not gone with thy friend?'

¹⁸ And Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Nay, for he whom Jehovah hath chosen, and this people, even all the men of Israel, his I am, and with him I abide;

¹⁹ and secondly, for whom do I labour? is it not before his son? as I served before thy father so am I before thee.'

²⁰ And Absalom saith unto Ahithophel, `Give for you counsel what we do.'

²¹ And Ahithophel saith unto Absalom, `Go in unto the concubines of thy father, whom he left to keep the house, and all Israel hath heard that thou hast been abhorred by thy father, and the hands of all who [are] with thee have been strong.'

²² And they spread out for Absalom the tent on the roof, and Absalom goeth in unto the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel.

²³ And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days [is] as [when] one inquireth at the word of God; so [is] all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom.

17 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, `Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night,

² and come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who [are] with him, and I have smitten the king by himself,

³ and I bring back all the people unto thee -- as the turning back of the whole [is] the man whom thou art seeking -- all the people are peace.

⁴ And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

⁵ And Absalom saith, `Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what [is] in his mouth -- even he.'

⁶ And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, `According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou -- speak thou.'

⁷ And Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Not good [is] the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

⁸ And Hushai saith, `Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they [are] heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father [is] a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

⁹ lo, now, he is hidden in one of the pits, or in one of the places, and it hath been, at the falling among them at the commencement, that the hearer hath heard, and said, There hath been a slaughter among the people who [are] after Absalom;

¹⁰ and he also, the son of valour, whose heart [is] as the heart of the lion, doth utterly melt, for all Israel doth know that thy father is a hero, and sons of valour [are] those with him.

¹¹ `So that I have counselled: Let all Israel be diligently gathered unto thee, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, and thou thyself art going in the midst;

¹² and we have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we [are] upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who [are] with him even one.

¹³ And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found there even a stone.'

¹⁴ And Absalom saith -- and all the men of Israel -- `Better [is] the counsel of Hushai the Archite than the counsel of Ahithophel;' and Jehovah willed to make void the good counsel of Ahithophel for the sake of Jehovah's bringing unto Absalom the evil.

¹⁵ And Hushai saith unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, `Thus and thus hath Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus I have counselled;

¹⁶ and now, send hastily, and declare to David, saying, Lodge not to-night in the plains of the wilderness, and also, certainly pass over, lest there be a swallowing up of the king and of all the people who are with him.'

¹⁷ And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them -- and they go and have declared [it] to king David -- for they are not able to be seen to go in to the city.

¹⁸ And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there,

¹⁹ and the woman taketh and spreadeth the covering over the face of the well, and spreadeth on it the ground corn, and the thing hath not been known.

²⁰ And the servants of Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, `Where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman saith to them, `They passed over the brook of water;' and they seek, and have not found, and turn back to Jerusalem.

²¹ And it cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, `Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.'

²² And David riseth, and all the people who [are] with him, and they pass over the Jordan, till the light of the morning, till one hath not been lacking who hath not passed over the Jordan.

²³ And Ahithophel hath seen that his counsel was not done, and he saddleth the ass, and riseth and goeth unto his house, unto his city, and giveth charge unto his household, and strangleth himself, and dieth, and he is buried in the burying-place of his father.

²⁴ And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him;

²⁵ and Amasa hath Absalom set instead of Joab over the host, and Amasa [is] a man's son whose name is Ithra the Israelite who hath gone in unto Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, mother of Joab;

²⁶ and Israel encampeth with Absalom [in] the land of Gilead.

²⁷ And it cometh to pass at the coming in of David to Mahanaim, that Shobi, son of Nahash, from Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and Machir son of Ammiel, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite, from Rogelim,

²⁸ couch, and basin, and earthen vessel, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and roasted [corn], and beans, and lentiles, and roasted [pulse],

²⁹ and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, have brought nigh for David, and for the people who [are] with him to eat, for they said, `Thy people [is] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.'

18 And David inspecteth the people who [are] with him, and setteth over them heads of thousands and heads of hundreds,

² and 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.'

³ And 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.'

⁴ And 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,

⁵ and 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.

⁶ And the people goeth out into the field to meet Israel, and the battle is in a forest of Ephraim;

⁷ and smitten there are the people of Israel before the servants of David, and the smiting there is great on that day -- twenty thousand;

⁸ and 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.

⁹ And 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.

¹⁰ And one man seeth, and declareth to Joab, and saith, `Lo, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.'

¹¹ And 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?'

¹² And 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;

¹³ or 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.'

¹⁴ And 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.

¹⁵ And they go round -- ten youths bearing weapons of Joab -- and smite Absalom, and put him to death.

¹⁶ And Joab bloweth with a trumpet, and the people turneth back from pursuing after Israel, for Joab hath kept back the people;

¹⁷ and 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.

¹⁸ And 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.

¹⁹ And 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;'

²⁰ and 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.'

²¹ And Joab saith to Cushi, `Go, declare to the king that which thou hast seen;' and Cushi boweth himself to Joab, and runneth.

²² And 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.

²⁴ And 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.

²⁵ And 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.

²⁶ And 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.'

²⁷ And 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.'

²⁸ And 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.'

²⁹ And 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].'

³⁰ And the king saith, `Turn round, station thyself here;' and he turneth round and standeth still.

³¹ And 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.'

³² And 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.'

³³ And 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.'