Beginning
David and Ziba
16 When David had passed beyond the top of the Mount of Olives, he met Mephibosheth's servant Ziba.[a] Ziba was waiting there for him with two donkeys. The donkeys were ready for people to ride them. They also carried 200 loaves of bread, 100 blocks of raisins, 100 blocks of figs and a leather bag of wine.
2 The king asked Ziba, ‘Why have you brought all these things?’
Ziba answered, ‘The donkeys are for the king's family to ride. The bread and the fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine will help people who become weak when you travel through the desert.’
3 The king asked, ‘Where is your master's grandson?’[b]
Ziba answered, ‘He is staying in Jerusalem. He thinks that the Israelites will now give back to him his grandfather Saul's kingdom.’
4 Then the king said to Ziba, ‘Everything that Mephibosheth had will now belong to you.’
Ziba said, ‘Thank you, sir. I hope that you will always be pleased with me.’
Shimei curses David
5 King David and his people arrived near Bahurim town.[c] Gera's son Shimei came out to meet David. He was a relative of Saul. Shimei cursed David in a loud voice as he came towards him. 6 He threw stones at David and at the king's officers. There was a big group of people and brave soldiers all around David. 7 Shimei said, ‘Go away! Get out of here! You are a murderer, a wicked man! 8 The Lord has punished you because of all the people that you killed from Saul's family. You made yourself king, instead of Saul. But now the Lord has given the kingdom to your son, Absalom. All this trouble has come to you because you are a murderer!’
9 Then Zeruiah's son, Abishai, said to the king, ‘This man is only a useless dog! He must not curse you, my lord the king. I should go and cut off his head!’
10 The king said, ‘No! You sons of Zeruiah should not tell me what to do! Perhaps he is cursing me because the Lord has said to him, “Curse David.” Then we cannot say that he is wrong to curse me.’
11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his officers, ‘My own son is trying to kill me. Now this man from Benjamin's tribe wants to do the same thing. The Lord has told him to do this, so do not stop him cursing me. 12 Perhaps the Lord will understand my trouble. He may see how Shimei is cursing me and he may bless me instead.’
13 David and his men continued to walk along the road. Shimei walked along the side of the hill, near the road. As he went, he cursed David and he threw stones and dirt at David and his people. 14 When King David and all the people who were with him reached the Jordan River, they were tired and weak. So they rested there.
Ahithophel gives advice to Absalom
15 So Absalom and all the Israelites who were with him arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel came with him. 16 David's friend, Hushai the Arkite, had also come there. He went to Absalom and he said to him, ‘May the king live for ever! May the king live for ever!’
17 Absalom asked Hushai, ‘Why have you not been faithful to your friend David? Why did you not go with him?’
18 Hushai replied, ‘No, I will serve you. You are the king that the Lord has chosen. And all these people and the men of Israel have chosen you too. So I will stay with you. 19 I served your father when he was king. So now it is surely right for me to serve you, his son.’
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, ‘What do you think that we should do now? What is your advice?’
21 Ahithophel answered, ‘Sleep with your father's slave wives that are here. He left them to take care of his palace. Then all the people in Israel will know that you have insulted your father. They will know that he must now hate you. That will help your own men to be strong.’
22 So they put up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. There he had sex with his father's slave wives, and all the Israelites could see him.
23 In those days, people thought that Ahithophel's words were as good as a message from God. So Absalom trusted Ahithophel as his advisor, as David had done too.
Hushai and Ahithophel give advice to Absalom
17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, ‘Please let me choose 12,000 men so that I can go and attack David tonight. 2 Now he will be very tired and weak. So when we attack him, he will be frightened. All his soldiers will run away. But I will kill only the king. 3 Then I will bring all his army back to you. If we kill this one man that you want to destroy, then all the people will return safely.’
4 This seemed a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel.
5 But Absalom said, ‘Send Hushai the Arkite to me. We should hear what advice he gives us.’
6 When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, ‘This is Ahithophel's advice. What do you think we should do? If you think differently, what advice do you give us?’
7 Hushai replied to Absalom, ‘This time Ahithophel's idea is not good. 8 You know your father and his men. They are all strong fighters. They are as dangerous as a mother bear when you take away her babies. Remember that your father has fought many battles. He will not stay all night among his soldiers. 9 By this time he is hiding in a cave or in some other safe place. He might attack your soldiers first and kill some of them. When somebody hears the news, he will say, “They have destroyed Absalom's army!” 10 Then your bravest soldiers will be very frightened, even if they are as brave as lions. Everyone in Israel knows that your father is a fighter. And they know that the men with him are brave.
11 This is my advice to you. Bring together all the soldiers in Israel. Tell them to come from everywhere in the land, from Dan to Beersheba. There will be as many of them as the sand on the shore of the sea. Then you yourself should lead the whole army into the battle. 12 In this way we can attack David in any place that we find him. We will suddenly be all around him, like dew that covers the ground. He and his men will all die. Not even one of them will still be alive. 13 If he escapes into a city, we can completely destroy the city. Our soldiers will use ropes to pull it all down into the valley!’
14 Absalom and all Israel's leaders said, ‘Hushai's idea is better than Ahithophel's idea.’ This happened because the Lord did not let the people accept Ahithophel's advice. His idea was a good one, but the Lord had decided to cause trouble for Absalom.
15 Then Hushai went to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. He said to them, ‘This was Ahithophel's advice to Absalom and Israel's leaders. But this was my advice. 16 So now quickly send a report to David. Warn him that he must not stay tonight at the place in the desert where the road crosses the river. Instead, he must cross the Jordan River immediately, together with all the people who are with him. If not, Absalom and his army may catch them all and destroy them.’
Jonathan and Ahimaaz take the message to David
17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel.[d] They did not go into the city because they did not want anyone to see them there. So a female servant would take messages to them. Then they would take the messages to King David. 18 But this time a young man did see them. He told Absalom where they were. So they quickly left En Rogel and they went to a man's house in Bahurim. He had a well in his yard and they climbed down into it. 19 His wife took a lid and she put it over the top of the well. Then she put some grain on it. Nobody knew that the men were hiding there.
20 Absalom's men came to the house. They asked the woman, ‘Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?’
The woman answered, ‘They went across the stream.’ Absalom's men looked everywhere for them, but they did not find them. So they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well. Then they took the message to David. They said to him, ‘You must go across the river immediately. Ahithophel has told Absalom how he can catch you here.’
22 So David and all the people who were with him went across the Jordan River. When dawn came, they had all gone across to the other side.
Ahithophel kills himself
23 Ahithophel realized that Absalom had not agreed to his advice. So he got on his donkey and he went home to his own town. He told his family what he needed to tell them. Then he hanged himself. He died and his family buried him in his father's grave.
Three friends help David
24 David arrived at Mahanaim with his men. Absalom and Israel's army went across the Jordan River. 25 Joab had been the leader of Israel's army. But now Absalom had chosen Amasa as leader instead of Joab. Amasa's father, Jether, was a descendant of Ishmael. He had married Abigail. She was Nahash's daughter and a sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. 26 Absalom and Israel's army made their camp in Gilead region.
27 When David arrived in Mahanaim, three men came to help him. One man was Nahash's son Shobi. He was from the Ammonites' town, Rabbah. The other men were Ammiel's son Makir, from Lo-Debar, and Barzillai from Rogelim in Gilead. 28 They brought beds and pots and cups for David's people. They also brought food for David and his people to eat. There was wheat, barley, flour and cooked grain. They also brought beans, lentils, 29 honey, cream, sheep and cheese made from cows' milk. They said, ‘The people have travelled through the desert. So they must be tired, thirsty and hungry.’
Absalom dies
18 David brought together all the men who were with him. He chose some officers to lead groups of 1,000 soldiers, and some to lead groups of 100 soldiers. 2 David sent his army out in three groups. Joab led one group. Joab's brother Abishai, Zeruiah's son, led another group. Ittai from Gath led the third group. The king said to them all, ‘I myself will go with you into battle.’
3 But the men replied, ‘No, you must not go with us. If we have to run away quickly, it will not matter to Absalom's men. Even if they kill half of our soldiers, it will not seem important to them. What they really want is to kill you. You are worth 10,000 of us. You must stay here in the city. Then you can send help to us if we need it.’
4 The king said to them, ‘I will do whatever you think is good.’ So he stood beside the gate of the city while his army marched out. They marched out in their groups of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, ‘Because the young man Absalom is my son, do not hurt him.’ All the soldiers heard David give this command to the three officers.
6 David's army marched out to fight Israel's army. They fought the battle in the forest of Ephraim. 7 David's soldiers won the fight against Israel's soldiers. Many soldiers died in the battle that day. There were 20,000 dead men. 8 They fought the battle everywhere in the forest and around it. The forest itself caused the death of more men than the battle did.
9 During the battle, Absalom was riding on his mule and he met some of David's soldiers. His mule carried him under a big oak tree. The tree's branches caught Absalom's hair so that he hung there above the ground. His mule ran off and left him there.
10 One of David's men saw what had happened. He told Joab, ‘I have seen Absalom. He is hanging from an oak tree.’
11 Joab said to the man who told him the news, ‘You saw him there, did you? So why did you not kill him? I would have given you ten silver coins and a brave soldier's belt.’
12 But the man replied, ‘I would never hurt the king's son, even for a gift of 1,000 silver coins. We all heard the king give this command to you, Abishai and Ittai. He said, “Keep the young man Absalom safe, because he is my son.” 13 If I had killed Absalom, my own life would be in danger. The king knows everything that happens! You would not have tried to save me from the king's punishment.’
14 Joab said, ‘I cannot stay here while you talk like this.’ So he took three spears and he went to the tree where Absalom was hanging. While Absalom was still alive, Joab pushed the spears into Absalom's heart. 15 Then ten of Joab's own guards came around Absalom. They knocked him down and they killed him.
16 Then Joab made a sound with his trumpet to stop the battle. So his soldiers stopped chasing after Israel's soldiers. 17 They took Absalom's dead body and they threw it into a deep hole in the forest. They made a big heap of stones over the body.
All the Israelite soldiers ran back to their homes.
18 While Absalom was alive, he had built a tall pillar in the King's Valley. He built it so that people would remember him. He thought, ‘I have no son, so my family's name will not continue.’ He put his own name on the pillar, so people still call it Absalom's Pillar.
David hears about Absalom's death
19 Zadok's son Ahimaaz said to Joab, ‘Let me run to give the king the good news. I will tell him that the Lord has saved him from the power of his enemies.’
20 Joab said, ‘No, it will not be good news for the king. His son is dead. You must not take this news today. Another day there will be good news for you to take to him, but not today.’
21 Then Joab spoke to a servant who came from Ethiopia, ‘Go now to the king. Tell him what you have seen.’ The man bent down in front of Joab and then he ran off with the message.
22 Zadok's son Ahimaaz spoke to Joab again. He said, ‘I am not afraid of what may happen to me. Please let me run after the Ethiopian man.’
But Joab replied, ‘Why do you want to go as well? The king will not give you any gift for this news.’
23 Ahimaaz said, ‘But I do want to go, whatever happens.’
So Joab said, ‘Run after him, then!’
So Ahimaaz ran fast along a road in the Jordan Valley. He arrived near Mahanaim before the Ethiopian man.
24 David was sitting between the two gates of Mahanaim city.[e] A man went up to the top of the wall, on the roof above the gate. He was watching the road. As he looked, he saw a man who was running towards the city. He was running alone. 25 So the man on the wall shouted a message to the king, to say what he had seen.
The king said, ‘If the man is alone, he is bringing good news.’ The man who was running towards the city came much nearer.
26 Then the man on the wall saw another man who was running towards the city. He called down to the guard at the city's gate, ‘Look! There is another man who is running alone!’
The king said, ‘He will bring good news, too.’
27 The man on the wall said, ‘The first man is running like Zadok's son, Ahimaaz.’
The king said, ‘He is a good man. I am sure that he brings good news.’
28 Then Ahimaaz shouted to the king, ‘All is well!’ He bent down low in front of the king, with his face towards the ground. He said, ‘Praise the Lord your God! He has put your enemies under your power. They turned against you, my lord the king, but they have lost the fight.’
29 The king asked, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’
Ahimaaz answered, ‘When Joab sent me, your servant, I saw that many people had come together. There was a lot of noise, but I do not know what was happening.’
30 The king said, ‘Stand over there and wait.’ So Ahimaaz moved away and he waited.
31 Then the Ethiopian man arrived. He said, ‘My lord the king, listen to this good news! Today the Lord has helped you to win the fight. He has kept you safe from all the people who turned against you.’
32 The king asked the Ethiopian man, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’
The man replied, ‘My lord the king, I hope that your enemies and all those who want to hurt you would be as dead as he is!’
33 The king became very upset. He went upstairs to the room above the gate. He wept loudly. As he went, he cried, ‘My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! It would be better if I had died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!’
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