So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

And Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, but did not see the king’s face.

For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’ ”

And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything.

David Escapes from Jerusalem

Now a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

Therefore Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem. And they remained there.

So Hushai, David’s friend, went into the city. And Absalom came into Jerusalem.

Then the king said, “And where is your master’s son?” And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me.’ ”

The Advice of Ahithophel

Meanwhile Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem; and Ahithophel was with him.

And when Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” So the woman said to them, “They have gone over the water brook.” And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

David Returns to Jerusalem

And Joab was told, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.”

David Returns to Jerusalem

Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us from the hand of our enemies, he delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

Then he said to the king, “Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember what wrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should take it to heart.

So it was, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”

And the king said to Barzillai, “Come across with me, and I will provide for you while you are with me in Jerusalem.”

But Barzillai said to the king, “How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king.

Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

So Joab’s men, with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.

Shimei Executed

Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.