David Is Cursed

When King David came to Bahurim, behold, a man was coming out from there from the family of the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he was coming out, cursing as he came.

This is what Shimei said when he cursed: “Go away, go away, you man of bloodshed and worthless man!

Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Now let me go over and cut off his head.”

But the king said, “What business of mine is yours, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Curse David,’ then who should say, ‘Why have you done so?’”

Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my son who came out of my own body seeks my life; how much more now this Benjaminite? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him.

So David and his men went on the road; and Shimei kept going on the hillside close beside him, and as he went he cursed and threw stones and dirt at him.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, “Should Shimei not be put to death for this, the fact that he cursed the Lord’s anointed?”