⁵ And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” ^(A)And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

A Rebellious Son

¹⁸ “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, ¹⁹ then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, ²⁰ and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ ^21 (A)Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. ^(B)So you shall purge the evil from your midst, ^(C)and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, ^(A)forgive them, ^(B)for they know not what they do.”^[a] And they cast lots ^(C)to divide his garments.

¹² But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king's son, for ^(A)in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’

¹⁴ And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” ^(A)For the Lord had ordained^[a] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

Hushai Saves David

17 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is ^(A)weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. ^(B)I will strike down only the king, ³ and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,^[a] and all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

¹¹ And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, ^(A)my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.