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24 Zadok and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. When they positioned the ark of God, Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving[a] the city.

25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight he will bring me back and enable me to see both it and his dwelling place again. 26 However, if he should say, ‘I do not take pleasure in you,’ then he will deal with me in a way that he considers appropriate.”[b]

27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer?[c] Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar.[d] 28 Look, I will be waiting at the fords of the desert until word from you[e] reaches me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 15:24 tn Heb “crossing from.”
  2. 2 Samuel 15:26 tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.”
  3. 2 Samuel 15:27 tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek mss have ἴδετε (idete); the Lucianic recension has βλέπε (blepe). It could just as well be taken as a question: “Don’t you see what is happening?” The present translation takes the word as a question, with the implication that Zadok is a priest and not a prophet (i.e., “seer”) and therefore unable to know what the future holds.
  4. 2 Samuel 15:27 tn Heb “And Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, two of your sons, with you.” The pronominal suffix on the last word is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.
  5. 2 Samuel 15:28 tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

24 Abiathar came up, and Zadok also, with all the Levites, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city.(A) 25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and the place where it stays.(B) 26 But if he says, ‘I take no pleasure in you,’ here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.”(C) 27 The king also said to the priest Zadok, “Look,[a] go back to the city in peace, you and Abiathar,[b] with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan son of Abiathar.(D) 28 See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”(E) 29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

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Footnotes

  1. 15.27 Gk: Heb Are you a seer or Do you see?
  2. 15.27 Cn: Heb lacks and Abiathar