David Flees Jerusalem

¹³ And a messenger came to David, saying, ^(A)“The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” ¹⁴ Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us ^(B)flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

²³ And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed ^(A)the brook ^(B)Kidron, and all the people passed on toward ^(C)the wilderness.

²⁴ And ^(D)Abiathar came up, and behold, ^(E)Zadok came also with all the Levites, ^(F)bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will ^(G)bring me back and let me see both it and his ^(H)dwelling place. ²⁶ But if he says, ‘I have no ^(I)pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, ^(J)let him do to me what seems good to him.”