2 Samuel 15:1-12

Evangelical Heritage Version

Absalom’s Rebellion

15 After this, Absalom acquired for himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run in front of him. ² Absalom would get up early and stand beside the road by the gatehouse. Absalom would call out to every man who had a legal issue to bring before the king for judgment, and he would say, “What city are you from?” The person would say, “Your servant is from such-and-such of the tribes of Israel.” ³ Absalom would say to him, “Your claims are good and valid, but there is no one from the king to listen to you.” ⁴ Then Absalom would say, “I wish someone would make me a judge in the land. Then everyone who has a legal issue or needs a judgment could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

⁵ Whenever someone approached to bow down to him, he would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him. ⁶ Absalom acted this way to everyone of Israel who came to the king for judgment. In this way Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ After four^[a] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and fulfill my vow, which I have made to the Lord, ⁸ because when I was at Geshur in Aram, your servant vowed, ‘If the Lord will really return me to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord.’”

⁹ The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he set out and went to Hebron.

¹⁰ But Absalom sent agents throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” ¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem who had been invited went along with Absalom. They went innocently, since they did not know what was going on.

¹² While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom summoned David’s advisor, Ahithophel of Giloh, to come from Giloh, his hometown. The conspiracy gained strength as more and more people were going over to Absalom.