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2 Samuel 19:9-15
New English Translation
2 Samuel 19:9-15
New English Translation
9 All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. 10 But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king,[a] has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?”[b]
11 Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, “Tell the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace,[c] when everything Israel is saying has come to the king’s attention.[d] 12 You are my brothers—my very own flesh and blood![e] Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back?’ 13 Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my flesh and blood?[f] God will punish me severely,[g] if from this time on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
14 He[h] won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. Then they sent word to the king saying, “Return, you and all your servants as well.” 15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan River.[i]
Now the people of Judah[j] had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him[k] cross the Jordan.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 19:10 tn Heb “over us.”
- 2 Samuel 19:10 tc The LXX includes the following words at the end of v. 11: “And what all Israel was saying came to the king’s attention.” The words are misplaced in the LXX from v. 12 (although the same statement appears there in the LXX as well).
- 2 Samuel 19:11 tn Heb “his house.”
- 2 Samuel 19:11 tc The Hebrew text adds “to his house” (= palace), but the phrase, which also appears earlier in the verse, is probably accidentally repeated here.
- 2 Samuel 19:12 tn Heb “my bone and my flesh.”
- 2 Samuel 19:13 tn Heb “my bone and my flesh.”
- 2 Samuel 19:13 tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”
- 2 Samuel 19:14 tn The referent of “he” is not entirely clear: cf. NCV “David”; TEV “David’s words”; NRSV, NLT “Amasa.”
- 2 Samuel 19:15 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Samuel 19:15 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Judah.”
- 2 Samuel 19:15 tn Heb “the king.” The pronoun (“him”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
2 Samuel 19:9-15
New International Version
2 Samuel 19:9-15
New International Version
David Returns to Jerusalem
9 Throughout the tribes of Israel, all the people were arguing among themselves, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies; he is the one who rescued us from the hand of the Philistines.(A) But now he has fled the country to escape from Absalom;(B) 10 and Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”
11 King David sent this message to Zadok(C) and Abiathar, the priests: “Ask the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace, since what is being said throughout Israel has reached the king at his quarters? 12 You are my relatives, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring back the king?’ 13 And say to Amasa,(D) ‘Are you not my own flesh and blood?(E) May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,(F) if you are not the commander of my army for life in place of Joab.(G)’”
14 He won over the hearts of the men of Judah so that they were all of one mind. They sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your men.” 15 Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan.
Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal(H) to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan.
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