2 Samuel 15:13-18

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹³ A messenger came to David and said, “The hearts of the men of Israel are following Absalom.”

¹⁴ So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Get ready. We must flee, or we will not escape from Absalom. Hurry up and go, so that he does not come quickly, overtake us, bring down disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵ The officials of the king said to him, “Here we are. We, your servants, will do everything our lord the king decides.” ¹⁶ So the king set out with his entire household, but he left ten concubines^[a] to watch over the house. ¹⁷ The king and all his people set out. They stopped at a house some distance away.

David’s Flight

¹⁸ All his troops were passing by in front of David. All the Kerethites, Pelethites, and Gittites—six hundred men from Gath who had come under his command—were passing by in front of the king.