³ But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

²³ But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’

⁵ But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

³⁸ They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

²⁵ “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.

³⁴ I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’^[a]

³² And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me see the king; if he finds me guilty of anything, then let him kill me.”

²⁸ Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but he never got to see the king.

²⁴ But the king gave this order: “Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my presence.” So Absalom did not see the king.

¹³ “All right,” David replied, “but I will not negotiate with you unless you bring back my wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”