Psalm 3

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

Absalom’s Conspiracy

15 After this Absalom acquired for himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run before him. ² Absalom would go early and stand beside the way into the gate. When any man who had a dispute concerning which he had come to the king for a judgment approached, Absalom would call to him and say, “Which city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claim is good and right, but there is no one to hear you on behalf of the king.” ⁴ Absalom would continue, “If I were appointed a judge in the land, then every man who had a claim could come and I would give him justice.”

⁵ When a man would approach to bow before him, he would reach out, embrace him, and kiss him. ⁶ Absalom acted this way toward every Israelite who came to the king for a judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ After forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please allow me to go fulfill my vow that I made to the Lord in Hebron. ⁸ For your servant made a vow when I was dwelling in Geshur in Aram, saying: If indeed the Lord will bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.”

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

¹⁰ But Absalom sent scouts throughout all of the tribes of Israel, saying, “When you hear the sound of the horn, say: Absalom has become king in Hebron.” ¹¹ Now two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem, invited and unsuspecting; they did not know anything. ¹² Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David, from his city Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. Now the conspiracy was strong, for the number of people with Absalom was continually growing.

David Flees Jerusalem

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

¹⁴ David said to all of his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Get up. We must flee or there will be no escape from Absalom for us. Hurry up and leave, or he will soon reach us and bring disaster upon us, striking the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵ The king’s servants said to the king, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

¹⁶ So the king left with his entire house after him, but he left behind ten women, concubines, to watch over the house. ¹⁷ So the king left with all of the people after him, and they came to a stop at the furthest house. ¹⁸ Now all his servants passed on beside him, all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.

¹⁹ The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Go back and dwell with the king, for you are a foreigner and, moreover, exiled from your own place. ²⁰ You came only yesterday. Shall I cause you to go roaming around with us today? I am going where I go. Go back, and take back your brothers with you. Mercy and truth be with you.”

²¹ Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord lives and as lives my lord the king, only in the place where my lord the king is, whether for death or for life, there alone will your servant be.”

²² So David said to Ittai, “Go on, pass by.” So Ittai the Gittite passed by, along with all of his men and all of the children and elderly who were with him.

²³ The whole land wept with a loud voice as all the people passed by. Now the king was crossing over the brook Kidron, and all of the people were crossing over on the road to the wilderness.

²⁴ And also Zadok and all of the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar came up until all of the people had finished passing from the city.

²⁵ The king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I have found favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its resting place. ²⁶ But if He should say now, ‘I take no delight in you,’ here I am. May He do to me what seems good to Him.”

²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace with your two sons, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸ I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word from you comes to inform me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and he went barefoot. Then all of the people who were with him each covered his head and went up, weeping as they went. ³¹ Now it was reported to David that Ahithophel was conspiring with Absalom, and David said, “O Lord, make the advice of Ahithophel folly.”

³² When David came to the summit where he would worship God, Hushai the Arkite approached him with his coat torn and dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you pass on with me, you will be a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you return to the city, you may say to Absalom, ‘I am your servant, O king, as I was a servant of your father. As I was then, so now I am your servant,’ so as to counter the advice of Ahithophel. ³⁵ Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be with you there? You shall report everything that you hear from the king’s house to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶ Their two sons Ahimaaz the son of Zadok and Jonathan the son of Abiathar will be there with them. You shall send word of everything that you hear to me by their hand.”

³⁷ So Hushai, the friend of David, came to the city as Absalom entered Jerusalem.

David and Ziba

16 When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of saddled donkeys carrying two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits, and one skin of wine.

² The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these things?”

Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the household of the king to ride. The bread and the summer fruit are for the servants to eat. The wine is for those who become weary in the wilderness to drink.”

³ The king said, “And where is your master’s son?”

Ziba said to the king, “He is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today they will return to me the house of Israel and my father’s kingdom.’ ”

⁴ Then David said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”

Ziba replied, “I bow before you. May I 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. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he came out continuously cursing. ⁶ He threw stones at David and all of the servants of King David, as well as all of the people and all of the warriors who were at his right and left. ⁷ Shimei said when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you scoundrel! ⁸ The Lord has returned upon you all 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. You are taken in your own evil, because you are a man of blood.”

⁹ Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “How can this dead dog curse my lord the king! Let me go over and remove his head.”

¹⁰ The king responded, “What do you have against me, sons of Zeruiah? Suppose that he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who shall then say, ‘Why do you do so?’ ”

¹¹ David then said to Abishai and to all of his servants, “My son who came from my own body seeks my life, and now also this Benjamite. Leave him alone and let him curse if the Lord has so instructed him. ¹² Perhaps today the Lord will look upon my guilt and return kindness instead of his cursing.”

¹³ So David and his men continued on the road, and Shimei went along on the hillside beside them, cursing, throwing stones, and flinging dust at them as he went. ¹⁴ The king and all of the people who were with him arrived at their destination exhausted, but he refreshed himself there.

The Advice of Ahithophel and Hushai

¹⁵ Now Absalom and all of the Israelite people entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ When Hushai the Arkite, the friend of David, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷ Then Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this the extent of your commitment to your friend? Why have you not gone with your friend?”

¹⁸ Hushai said to Absalom, “No! For whom the Lord, this people, and all men of Israel have chosen, his I will be and with him I will remain. ¹⁹ Furthermore, whom shall I serve? Should it not be his son? As I served your father, so shall I be with you.”

²⁰ Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your advice. What shall we do?”

²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Lie with your father’s concubines, whom he left to watch over the palace. When all Israel hears that you have made yourself abhorred by your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” ²² So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all of Israel.

²³ In those days, the advice that Ahithophel gave was as when one inquired a word from God. Such was all of the advice of Ahithophel, whether that which he gave to David or to Absalom.

17 Ahithophel also said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men so that I may arise and pursue David tonight. ² I will overtake him while he is weary and weak and strike him with terror; all of the people who are with him will flee. Then I will strike only the king, ³ and I will return all of the people to you. When all return except the man whom you are seeking, all of the people will be at peace.” ⁴ The advice pleased Absalom and all of the elders of Israel.

⁵ So Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Arkite so that we may hear what he has to say as well.” ⁶ When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “This is what Ahithophel had advised. Should we do this thing? If not, you should tell us.”

⁷ Hushai said to Absalom, “At this time, the advice that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Moreover, Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are warriors, and they have been provoked like a bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is a veteran of warfare. He will not spend the night with the people. ⁹ Even now, he has hidden himself in a ravine or some other place, and when one of them falls in the first attack, whoever hears will say, ‘It was a defeat for the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the valiant one, whose heart is like that of a lion, will completely despair, for all of Israel knows that your father is a warrior, and those who are with him are brave.

¹¹ “Therefore my advice is for all of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, to be completely gathered to you like the multitude of the sand along the shoreline and for you to go to battle in person. ¹² We will come upon him in one of the places where he may be found, and we will fall upon him like the dew upon the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will remain, not a single one. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all of Israel will bring ropes to that city. We will raze it until it is a valley, until there cannot be found there even a pebble.”

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all of the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had decided to undermine the prudent advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring calamity to Absalom.

Hushai Warns David to Escape

¹⁵ Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do one thing, but I advised them to do another thing. ¹⁶ Now quickly send someone to report to David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but instead cross over. Otherwise, the king and all of the people who are with him will be swallowed up.’ ”

¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En Rogel. A servant girl would go report to them, and they would go report to King David, because they could not be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them and reported this to Absalom. So the two of them went quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it. ¹⁹ The wife took a covering and spread it over the opening of the well. Then she scattered grain over it so that nothing could be discerned.

²⁰ The servants of Absalom came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

She said, “They crossed over the brook of water.” When they searched, they could not find them. So they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they left, they came up from the well, went, and reported to King David. They said to David, “Arise and quickly cross over the water because thus has Ahithophel advised against you.” ²² So David and all of the people who were with him arose and crossed over the Jordan. By daybreak, there was not one left who had not crossed over the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel realized that his advice was not followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his own city. He gave instruction to his household, then he hanged himself and died; he was interred in the tomb of his father.

Absalom’s Death

²⁴ David came to Mahanaim as Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and every Israelite with him. ²⁵ Now Absalom had placed Amasa over the army in the place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man named Jether the Ishmaelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab. ²⁶ Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim ²⁸ brought bedding, metal bowls, ceramic vessels, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, ²⁹ honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the livestock for David and the people who were with him to eat and use. For they said, “The people are hungry, exhausted, and thirsting in the wilderness.”

18 David mustered the people who were with him, and he set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² Then David dispatched the people, one-third under the command of Joab, one-third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, and one-third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. Then David said to the people, “I myself will go out with you.”

³ But the people said, “You should not go, for if we retreat, they will not be concerned about us. Even if half of us die, they will not be concerned about us. But now you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore, it would be better to assist us from the city.”

⁴ The king said to them, “I will do what seems best to you.”

So the king stood beside the gate while all of the people went out by hundreds and thousands. ⁵ The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Deal gently with the young man Absalom.” All of the people heard the king instruct the commanders concerning Absalom.

⁶ So the people went out toward Israel in the field, but the fighting occurred in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷ The people of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David. That day the defeat was extensive, twenty thousand men. ⁸ The fighting spread across the land, and the people consumed by the forest were more numerous than those consumed by the sword that day.

⁹ Absalom was encountered by some of the servants of David. Now Absalom was riding on his mule. When the mule went under the branches of a very large tree, his head was caught in the tree. He was left in midair while the mule that was under him kept going.

¹⁰ One man saw him and reported it to Joab, saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.”

¹¹ Joab said to the man who was reporting to him, “What? You saw him? Why did you not strike him on the spot, sending him to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels^[a] of silver and a belt.”

¹² The man said to Joab, “Not even if I had felt the weight of a thousand shekels^[b] of silver in my hand would I have laid a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you, Abishai, and Ittai saying: Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom! ¹³ Otherwise, I would have worked falsehood against my own life. For nothing is hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.”

¹⁴ Then Joab said, “I will not waste any more time with you.” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the midst of the tree. ¹⁵ Then ten young men, armor bearers for Joab, gathered around and struck down Absalom, killing him.

¹⁶ When Joab blew the horn, the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab held back the people. ¹⁷ Then they took Absalom, disposed of him in a large pit in the forest, and piled over him a very large heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his home.

¹⁸ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a memorial stone in the Valley of the King, for he said, “I have no son by whom my name may be remembered.” So he named the memorial stone after himself; and to this day, it is called the monument of Absalom.

David Mourns

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Allow me to run and bring the news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.”

²⁰ But Joab said to him, “You will not be a man who bears news today; you may bear news another day. Today you will not bear news because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, report to the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab, then ran off.

²² Ahimaaz again said to Joab, “Whatever may happen, let me run also, after the Cushite.”

Then Joab said, “Why is it that you want to run, my son? There is no messenger’s reward for you to obtain.”

²³ “Whatever happens, I want to run.”

So he said to him, “Run.” So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and passed the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gate, to the city wall. He lifted his eyes and saw a man running by himself. ²⁵ The watchman called and told the king.

The king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he came ever closer.

²⁶ Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, “Look there is another man running alone.”

The king said, “He also is bringing news.”

²⁷ The watchman said, “I think that the running of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz.”

The king said, “He is a good man and comes with good news.”

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz called to the king and said, “All is well.” He bowed down to the ground before the king and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God who has handed over the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.”

²⁹ The king said, “Is it well for the young man Absalom?”

Ahimaaz said, “I saw a great commotion when Joab sent the servant of the king, your servant, but I do not know what it was.”

³⁰ The king said, “Step aside and stand here.” So he stepped aside and stood in position.

³¹ Then the Cushite came and said, “Good news for my lord the king, for today the Lord has delivered you from those who rose up against you.”

³² The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well for the young man Absalom?”

The Cushite said, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who would rise up against you to do harm become as the young man is.”

³³ The king was deeply moved and went up to the upper chamber of the gate and wept. As he went he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! If only I could have given my death in your stead, Absalom, my son, my son!”

19 It was reported to Joab that the king was weeping and mourning over Absalom. ² The victory that day was turned into mourning for all of the people, for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” ³ So the people entered the city by stealth that day, as a people who have been disgraced steal away when they flee from battle. ⁴ The king covered his face and called with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵ Then Joab came to the king in his house and said, “Today you have shamed the faces of all of your servants who saved your life today, as well as the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, ⁶ by loving those who hated you and hating those who love you. You have shown today that commanders and servants are nothing to you. I know that if Absalom were alive instead today and all of us were dead, then this would be right in your eyes. ⁷ Now go out and speak reassuringly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, no man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than any calamity that has come against you from your youth until now.”

⁸ So the king arose and took his seat in the gate, and the people were all told, “The king is sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king, but the children of Israel had fled, each to his tent.

David Returns to Jerusalem

⁹ Now all of the people began to quarrel throughout all of the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and he saved us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land on account of Absalom. ¹⁰ But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now why are you idle to bring back the king?”

¹¹ Then David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Israel, saying, ‘Why are you last to bring the king back to his house when the word of all Israel has come to the king, to his house? ¹² You are my brother. You are my bone and my flesh. Why are you last to bring back the king?’ ¹³ Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do to me, and more so, if you are not commander of the army before me from now on in the place of Joab.’ ”

¹⁴ He swayed the heart of every man of Judah as though they were one man, and they sent a message to the king: “Return, you and all of your servants.”

¹⁵ So the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and bring the king across the Jordan. ¹⁶ Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hastened to go down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷ With him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸ They crossed the ford to bring the household of the king across and to do what was pleasing in his eyes.

Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king as he was crossing the Jordan, ¹⁹ and he said to the king, “Do not regard me as guilty, my lord, or remember how your servant went astray the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart. ²⁰ For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, I have come this day, first from all of the house of Joseph, to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²¹ Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of the Lord?”

²² David said, “What do you sons of Zeruiah have against me that you should become an adversary to me today? Should any man in Israel be put to death today? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” ²³ The king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” The king gave him his oath.

²⁴ Then Mephibosheth the son of Saul went down to meet the king. He had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he came back in peace. ²⁵ When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”

²⁶ He said, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, ‘I will saddle the mule for myself in order to ride on it and go with the king,’ because your servant is lame. ²⁷ But he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. Still my lord the king is as the angel of God, so do what seems best to you. ²⁸ For all my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What right do I have to cry out any more to the king?”

²⁹ The king said to him, “Why do you still speak of your affairs? I say that you and Ziba shall divide the field.”

³⁰ Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take everything, since my lord the king has come safely to his house.”

³¹ Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim in order to see the king across the Jordan. ³² Barzillai was very old, eighty years old. But he sustained the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man. ³³ The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me and I will sustain you with me in Jerusalem.”

³⁴ Barzillai said to the king, “How many days are left in my life that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁵ I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant from what is harmful? Can your servant taste what I eat and what I drink? Can I still hear the voices of men and women who sing? Why, then, should your servant be a burden to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant is merely crossing over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with this reward? ³⁷ Now allow your servant to return, that I may die in my own city with the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Kimham. He will cross over with my lord the king. Do for him what seems best to you.”

³⁸ The king said, “Kimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems best to you. Whatever you require of me, I will do for you.”

³⁹ All of the people crossed over the Jordan. And when the king had crossed over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him and he returned to his own place.

⁴⁰ The king passed on to Gilgal, and Kimham went on with him; all of the people of Judah and half of the people of Israel passed on with the king.

⁴¹ Now all of the men of Israel were coming to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king and his household across the Jordan, and all of the men of David with him?”

⁴² All of the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative. Why are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense? Has he given any gift to us?”

⁴³ And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “We have ten shares in the king. Therefore we also have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt? Were we not the first to advise bringing back our king?”

But the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.