Absalom Usurps the Throne

15 After this Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.^{(A) 2} Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the road into the gate, and when anyone brought a suit before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out and say, “From what city are you?” When the person said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”^{(B) 3} Absalom would say, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you.” ⁴ Absalom would also say, “If only I were judge in the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice.”^{(C) 5} Whenever people came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of them and kiss them. ⁶ Thus Absalom did to every Israelite who came to the king for judgment, so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.^(D)

⁷ At the end of four^[a] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the Lord.^{(E) 8} For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram: If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord in Hebron.”^{[b](F) 9} The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he got up and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then shout: Absalom has become king at Hebron!” ¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom; they were invited guests, and they went in innocence, knowing nothing of the matter.^{(G) 12} While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for^[c] Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.^(H)

David Flees from Jerusalem

¹³ A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the Israelites have gone after Absalom.”^{(I) 14} Then David said to all his officials who were with him at Jerusalem, “Get up! Let us flee, or there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Hurry, or he will soon overtake us, and bring disaster down upon us, and attack the city with the edge of the sword.”^{(J) 15} The king’s officials said to the king, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king decides.” ¹⁶ So the king left, followed by all his household, except ten concubines whom he left behind to look after the house.^{(K) 17} The king left, followed by all the people, and they stopped at the last house. ¹⁸ All his officials passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath passed on before the king.^(L)

¹⁹ Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also coming with us? Go back, and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home.^{(M) 20} You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us while I go wherever I can? Go back, and take your kinsfolk with you, and may the Lord show^[d] steadfast love and faithfulness to you.”^{(N) 21} But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.”^{(O) 22} David said to Ittai, “Go then, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on, with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. ²³ The whole country wept aloud as all the people passed by; the king crossed the Wadi Kidron, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.

²⁴ Abiathar came up, and Zadok also, with all the Levites, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city.^{(P) 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 bring me back and let me see both it and the place where it stays.^{(Q) 26} But if he says, ‘I take no pleasure in you,’ here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.”^{(R) 27} The king also said to the priest Zadok, “Look,^[e] go back to the city in peace, you and Abiathar,^[f] with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan son of Abiathar.^{(S) 28} See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”^{(T) 29} So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and walking barefoot, and all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.^{(U) 31} David was told that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, “O Lord, I pray you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”^(V)

Hushai Becomes David’s Spy

³² When David came to the summit, where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and earth on his head.^{(W) 33} David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.^{(X) 34} But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.^{(Y) 35} The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be with you there. So whatever you hear from the king’s house, tell it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar.^{(Z) 36} Their two sons are with them there, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan, and by them you shall report to me everything you hear.”^{(AA) 37} So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.^(AB)

David’s Adversaries

16 When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, carrying two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred bunches of raisins, one hundred of summer fruits, and one skin of wine.^{(AC) 2} The king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who faint in the wilderness.”^{(AD) 3} The king said, “And where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather’s kingdom.’ ”^{(AE) 4} Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” Ziba said, “I do obeisance; let me find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

Shimei Curses David

⁵ When King David came to Bahurim, a man of the family of the house of Saul came out whose name was Shimei son of Gera; he came out cursing.^{(AF) 6} He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; now all the people and all the warriors were on his right and on his left. ⁷ Shimei shouted while he cursed, “Out! Out! Murderer! Scoundrel!^{(AG) 8} The Lord has avenged on all of you the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of blood.”^(AH)

⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”^{(AI) 10} But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”^{(AJ) 11} David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him.^{(AK) 12} It may be that the Lord will look on my distress,^[g] and the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today.”^{(AL) 13} So David and his men went on the road while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, throwing stones and flinging dust at him. ¹⁴ The king and all the people who were with him arrived weary at the Jordan,^[h] and there he refreshed himself.

The Counsel of Ahithophel

¹⁵ Now Absalom and all the Israelites^[i] came to Jerusalem; Ahithophel was with him.^{(AM) 16} When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”^{(AN) 17} Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?”^{(AO) 18} Hushai said to Absalom, “No, but the one whom the Lord and this people and all the Israelites have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. ¹⁹ Moreover, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? Just as I have served your father, so I will serve you.”^(AP)

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your counsel; what shall we do?” ²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, the ones he has left to look after the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”^{(AQ) 22} So they pitched a tent for Absalom upon the roof, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.^{(AR) 23} Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the oracle^[j] of God, so all the counsel of Ahithophel was esteemed both by David and by Absalom.^(AS)

17 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue David tonight. ² I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down only the king,^{(AT) 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,^[k] and all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ The advice pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

The Counsel of Hushai

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear too what he has to say.”^{(AU) 6} When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “This is what Ahithophel has said; shall we do as he advises? If not, you tell us.” ⁷ Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Hushai continued, “You know that your father and his men are warriors and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the troops.^{(AV) 9} Even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And when some of our troops^[l] fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant warrior whose heart is like the heart of a lion will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are valiant warriors.^{(AW) 11} But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, like the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. ¹² So we shall come upon him in whatever place he may be found, and we shall light on him as the dew falls on the ground, and he will not survive, nor will any of those with him. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley until not even a pebble is to be found there.” ¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring ruin on Absalom.^(AX)

Hushai Warns David to Escape

¹⁵ Then Hushai said to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have counseled.^{(AY) 16} Therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ”^{(AZ) 17} Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel; a female slave used to go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city.^{(BA) 18} But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.^{(BB) 19} The man’s wife took a covering, stretched it over the well’s mouth, and spread out grain on it, and nothing was known of it.^{(BC) 20} When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have crossed over the brook^[m] of water.” And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.^(BD)

²¹ After they had gone, the men came up out of the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Go and cross the water quickly, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.”^{(BE) 22} So David and all the people who were with him set out and crossed the Jordan; by daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself; he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.^(BF)

²⁴ Then David came to Mahanaim, while Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.^{(BG) 25} Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army in the place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,^[n] who had married Abigal daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.^{(BH) 26} The Israelites and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim^{(BI) 28} brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans and lentils,^{[o] 29} honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The troops are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”^(BJ)

Psalm 3

Trust in God under Adversity

A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

Psalm 63

Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

Salutation

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,^{(A) 3} the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh^{(B) 4} and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit^[a] of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,^{(C) 5} through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the gentiles for the sake of his name,^{(D) 6} including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(E)

Prayer of Thanksgiving

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.^{(F) 9} For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel^[b] of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers,^{(G) 10} asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened— ¹² or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as I have among the rest of the gentiles. ¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, ¹⁵ hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Power of the Gospel

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is God’s saving power for everyone who believes,^[c] for the Jew first and also for the Greek.^{(H) 17} For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”^[d](I)

The Guilt of Humankind

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those who by their injustice suppress the truth.^{(J) 19} For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made. So they are without excuse,^{(K) 21} for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened.^{(L) 22} Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.^(M)

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.^{(N) 25} They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.^(O)

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Their females exchanged natural intercourse^[e] for unnatural,^{(P) 27} and in the same way also the males, giving up natural intercourse^[f] with females, were consumed with their passionate desires for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.^(Q)

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind and to do things that should not be done.^{(R) 29} They were filled with every kind of injustice, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters,^[g] insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents,^{(S) 31} foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.^{(T) 32} They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.^(U)