“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?

“How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

“You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”