2 Samuel 15:13-16:14

Contemporary English Version

David Has To Leave Jerusalem

¹³ A messenger came and told David, “Everyone in Israel is on Absalom's side!”

¹⁴ David's officials were in Jerusalem with him, and he told them, “Let's get out of here! We'll have to leave soon, or none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry! If he moves fast, he could catch us while we're still here. Then he will kill us and everyone else in the city.”

¹⁵ The officials said, “Your Majesty, we'll do whatever you say.”

^16-17 David left behind ten of his wives^[a] to take care of the palace, but the rest of his family and his officials and soldiers went with him.

They stopped at the last house at the edge of the city. ¹⁸ Then David stood there and watched while his regular troops and his bodyguards^[b] marched past. The last group was the 600 soldiers who had followed him from Gath.^[c] Their commander was Ittai.

¹⁹ David spoke to Ittai and said, “You're a foreigner from the town of Gath. You don't have to leave with us. Go back and join the new king! ²⁰ You haven't been with me very long, so why should you have to follow me, when I don't even know where I'm going? Take your soldiers and go back. I pray that the Lord will be^[d] kind and faithful to you.”

²¹ Ittai answered, “Your Majesty, just as surely as you and the Lord live, I will go where you go, no matter if it costs me my life.”

²² “Then come on!” David said.

So Ittai and all his men and their families walked on past David.

David Sends the Sacred Chest Back to Jerusalem

²³ The people of Jerusalem were crying and moaning as David and everyone with him passed by. He led them across Kidron Valley^[e] and along the road toward the desert.

²⁴ Zadok and Abiathar the priests were there along with several men from the tribe of Levi who were carrying the sacred chest. They set the chest down, and left it there until David and his followers had gone out of the city.

²⁵ Then David said:

Zadok, take the sacred chest back to Jerusalem. If the Lord is pleased with me, he will bring me back and let me see it and his tent again. ²⁶ But if he says he isn't pleased with me, then let him do what he knows is best.

²⁷ Zadok, you are a good judge of things,^[f] so return to the city and don't cause any trouble. Take your son Ahimaaz with you. Abiathar and his son Jonathan will also go back. ²⁸ I'll wait at the river crossing in the desert until I hear from you.

²⁹ Zadok and Abiathar took the sacred chest back into Jerusalem and stayed there. ³⁰ David went on up the slope of the Mount of Olives. He was barefoot and crying, and he covered his head to show his sorrow. Everyone with him was crying, and they covered their heads too.

³¹ Someone told David, “Ahithophel is helping Absalom plot against you!”

David said, “Please, Lord, keep Ahithophel's plans from working!”

David Sends Hushai Back as a Spy

³² When David reached the top of the Mount of Olives, he met Hushai the Archite^[g] at a place of worship. Hushai's robe was torn, and dust was on his head.^{[h] 33} David told him:

If you come with me, you might slow us down.^{[i] 34} Go back into the city and tell Absalom, “Your Majesty, I am your servant. I will serve you now, just as I served your father in the past.”

Hushai, if you do that, you can help me ruin Ahithophel's plans. ³⁵ Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you, and you can tell them everything you hear in the palace. ³⁶ Then they can send their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan to tell me what you've heard.

³⁷ David's advisor Hushai slipped back into Jerusalem, at just about the same time Absalom was coming in.

Ziba Gives Food to David

16 ^(A) David had started down the other side of the Mount of Olives, when he was met by Ziba, the chief servant of Mephibosheth.^[j] Ziba had two donkeys that were carrying 200 loaves of bread, 100 handfuls of raisins, 100 figs,^[k] and some wine.

² “What's all this?” David asked.

Ziba said, “The donkeys are for your family to ride. The bread and fruit are for the people to eat, and the wine is for them to drink in the desert when they are tired out.”

^3 (B) “And where is Mephibosheth?” David asked.

Ziba answered, “He stayed in Jerusalem, because he thinks the people of Israel want him to rule the kingdom of his grandfather Saul.”

⁴ David then told him, “Everything that used to belong to Mephibosheth is now yours.”

Ziba said, “Your Majesty, I am your humble servant, and I hope you will be pleased with me.”

Shimei Curses David

⁵ David was near the town of Bahurim when a man came out and started cursing him. The man was Shimei the son of Gera, and he was one of Saul's distant relatives. ⁶ He threw stones at David, at his soldiers, and at everyone else, including the bodyguards who walked on each side of David.

⁷ Shimei was yelling at David, “Get out of here, you murderer! You good-for-nothing, ⁸ the Lord is paying you back for killing so many in Saul's family. You stole his kingdom, but now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. You're a murderer, and that's why you're in such big trouble!”

⁹ Abishai said, “Your Majesty, this man is as useless as a dead dog! He shouldn't be allowed to curse you. Let me go over and chop off his head.”

¹⁰ David replied, “What will I ever do with you and your brother Joab? If Shimei is cursing me because the Lord has told him to, then who are you to tell him to stop?”

¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and all his soldiers:

My own son is trying to kill me! Why shouldn't this man from the tribe of Benjamin want me dead even more? Let him curse all he wants. Maybe the Lord did tell him to curse me. ¹² But if the Lord hears these curses and sees the trouble I'm in, maybe he will have pity on me instead.

¹³ David and the others went on down the road. Shimei went along the hillside by the road, cursing and throwing rocks and dirt at them. ¹⁴ When David and those with him came to the Jordan River, they were tired out. But after they rested, they^[l] felt much better.