Beginning
The Aftermath of the Battle
19 Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.”[a] 2 The victory that day became an occasion for mourning for all the people, because that day the people heard that the king was mourning for his son. 3 That day the people were sneaking into the city quietly, the way people who are ashamed of fleeing from the battle would sneak in quietly. 4 The king covered his face and cried with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son.”
5 Joab came to the king at the house and said, “Today you have put to shame all your followers, who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines. 6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have demonstrated clearly today that your officers and followers are nothing to you. Today I have no doubt that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, you would be pleased. 7 Now get up. Go out. Speak to the hearts of your followers. For by the Lord, I swear that if you do not go out, not a man will remain with you tonight, and this disaster will be greater for you than all the disasters that have come upon you from your youth until now.”
8 So the king got up and took his seat by the gate. All the people were told, “Look! The king is sitting in the gate.” So all the people came into the presence of the king.
Israel had fled, every man to his own home. 9 All the people in all the tribes of Israel were quarreling and saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He saved us from the hand of the Philistines. Now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. 10 But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now why are you silent about bringing back the king?”
11 King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. He said, “Speak to the elders of Judah. Ask them, ‘Why will you be the last to bring the king back to his palace?’ The plan that all Israel has been discussing has been reported to the king at his house. 12 You are my brothers. You are my flesh and blood.[b] Why will you be the last to bring back the king?”
13 He also said, “Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my flesh and blood? May God punish me severely and double it,[c] if you are not the permanent commander of my army in place of Joab.’”
14 David turned the hearts of all the men of Judah as if they were one man. They sent to the king and said, “Return, you and all your servants.”
15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan. The men of Judah came out to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king across the Jordan.
16 Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 One thousand men from Benjamin were with him. Also, Ziba, the manager of the house of Saul, came, along with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants. They rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king. 18 They crossed over the ford to escort the household of the king across and to make a good impression on the king.
Shimei son of Gera bowed down before the king when he was crossing over the Jordan. 19 He spoke to the king: “My lord, do not consider me guilty. Do not remember the wrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, and do not take it to heart, 20 for I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Look! I have come today, the first one from the whole house of Joseph to come down to welcome my lord the king.”
21 Abishai son of Zeruiah answered, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death because he cursed the anointed of the Lord?”
22 But David said, “What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? For today you are my adversaries. Should any man in Israel be put to death today? Do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” 23 The king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” The king took an oath concerning him.
24 Mephibosheth, grandson of Saul, also came down to welcome the king. He had not taken care of his feet or his beard and had not washed his clothing from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. 25 When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”
26 Mephibosheth answered, “Your servant said, ‘Because I am crippled, I need to have the donkey saddled so that I can ride on it and go with the king.’ But, my lord the king, my servant deceived me. 27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. However, my lord the king is like an angel of God. Do what is right in your eyes. 28 All the house of my father deserved death from my lord the king, but you included your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right do I have to cry out again to the king?”
29 The king said to him, “Why say more about your situation? I say that you and Ziba are to divide the land.”
30 Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has come safely to his house.”
31 Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim. He crossed over the Jordan, escorting the king back over the Jordan. 32 Barzillai was very old, eighty years old. He had provided food for the king during his stay at Mahanaim because he was a very wealthy man. 33 The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me. I will provide for you as my guest in Jerusalem.”
34 But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years am I going to be alive? Why should I go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35 Today I am eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat and what I drink? Can I still hear the voice of the male and female singers? Why should your servant become a further burden to my lord the king? 36 Let your servant cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance. Why will the king pay me back with such a reward? 37 Please, let your servant return and die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But look! Here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever seems good to you.”
38 So the king said, “Kimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you. All that you want from me, I will do for you.”
39 So all the people crossed over the Jordan, and the king also crossed over. Then he kissed Barzillai and blessed him. Barzillai then returned to his own home. 40 The king went over to Gilgal, and Kimham crossed over with him.
All the people of Judah, as well as half the people of Israel, escorted the king over. 41 But suddenly all the men of Israel came and said to the king, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen you and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, along with all the men of David?”
42 All the men of Judah responded to the men of Israel, “It is because the king is closely related to us! Why has this angered you? Have we eaten at the king’s expense? Or have we received anything for ourselves?”
43 The men of Israel responded to the men of Judah, “Ten shares of the king belong to us! That is more of David than you have the right to. Why do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak about bringing our king back?”
But the response of the men of Judah was even harsher than the words of the men of Israel.
Sheba’s Rebellion
20 A worthless troublemaker named Sheba son of Bikri, a Benjaminite, was present. He blew the ram’s horn and said, “We have no share with David, and no inheritance with the son of Jesse. Every man to his own tent,[d] Israel!” 2 So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stuck with their king and accompanied him from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
3 David arrived at his palace in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines whom he had left to take care of the house and put them in a residence that was under guard. He provided for them but did not go to them anymore. They were confined until the day of their death—a life of widowhood.
4 The king said to Amasa, “You have three days to bring all the men of Judah to me and to be here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time that David had set for him.
6 So David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bikri will do more damage to us than Absalom. You take the soldiers of your lord. Pursue Sheba, so that he does not find fortified cities for himself, and we lose him.”
7 So Joab’s men, the Kerethites, the Pelethites, and all the elite troops followed Abishai. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.
8 When they were by the large stone that is at Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his battle dress and had a belt with a sheathed dagger fastened around his waist. As he went forward, the dagger fell out. 9 Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” With his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa’s beard to kiss him. 10 Amasa was not on guard against the dagger that was in Joab’s other hand. With it Joab struck Amasa in the abdomen, and Amasa’s intestines spilled out on the ground. It did not take another blow to kill him.
Joab and his brother Abishai resumed their pursuit of Sheba son of Bikri. 11 One of Joab’s young officers stood beside Amasa. He said, “Who favors Joab? Who is for David? Follow Joab.”
12 Amasa was still wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. Someone saw that all the people were stopping when they came upon Amasa and saw him, so he dragged Amasa off the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. 13 When Amasa was removed from the highway, everyone followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.
14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Ma’akah, and all the Berites[e] were gathered together and they followed him.
15 All the men who were with Joab besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Ma’akah. They constructed a siege ramp against the rampart of the city, and they started battering the wall to make it fall down.
16 A wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here and let me speak to you.’” 17 He approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?”
He said, “I am.”
She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.”
He said, “I am listening.”
18 She said, “In former times they always said, ‘Let them ask in Abel.’ That is how they settled things. 19 I am one of the peaceful, faithful people of Israel. You are seeking to put to death a whole city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?”
20 Joab answered, “May I be cursed, yes, cursed, if I am here to swallow up or destroy. 21 That is not the case. The fact is, a man from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name is Sheba son of Bikri, lifted up his hand against King David. Just give him up, and I will withdraw from the city.”
The woman said to Joab, “Certainly! His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”
22 So the woman went to all the people with her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. Then he blew the ram’s horn, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Joab then returned to the king in Jerusalem.
David’s Officers
23 Joab was over the whole army of Israel. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and the Pelethites. 24 Adoram was in charge of forced labor. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the record keeper.[f] 25 Sheva[g] was the secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were the high priests. 26 Also Ira the Jairite was a government minister[h] for David.
The Famine
21 There was a famine in the days of David for three years in a row.
David sought the favor[i] of the Lord, and the Lord said, “There is blood guilt on Saul and on his house because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.
(The Gibeonites were not related to the people of Israel, but they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had given them a sworn promise, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How will I make atonement[j] to you so you will bless the heritage of the Lord?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “The issue between us and Saul and his house cannot be settled with silver and gold. Nor is it up to us to put anyone in Israel to death.”
So David said, “Well then, what are you saying I should do for you?”
5 They said to the king, “From the man who consumed us and who planned to destroy us so that we would have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 we ask you to give us seven of his male descendants. Allow us to hang them up before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the chosen of the Lord.”
The king said, “I will grant it.”
7 The king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. 8 The king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Saul to whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had given birth, and the five sons of Merab,[k] the daughter of Saul, to whom she gave birth for Adriel son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. 9 David handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them died together. They were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself near the rock. From the beginning of the grain harvest until rain started falling on them from the sky,[l] she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 David was informed about what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and got the bones of Saul and the bones of Saul’s son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. 13 He brought the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from there. They also gathered the bones of the men who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Saul’s son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father. They did everything the king commanded. After that, God responded to the prayers for the land.
Battles With the Philistine Giants
15 War occurred again between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his troops and fought against the Philistines. David became very tired. 16 Ishbi Benob was one of the descendants of Rapha the giant.[m] His bronze spear weighed more than seven pounds,[n] and he was equipped with a new weapon. He said that he was going to kill David. 17 Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid. He attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You are not to go out to battle with us anymore, so that you do not put out the lamp of Israel.”
18 After this, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, in which Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was also descended from Rapha the giant.
19 There was yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Elhanan son of Jair, the Bethlehemite, killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[o] whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.
20 There was war again in Gath. There was a very tall man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha the giant. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah,[p] the brother of David, killed him. 22 These four were descended from Rapha the giant in Gath. They fell at the hand of David and his servants.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.