Beginning

16 ¶ And when David was a little past the top of the mountain, behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a couple of asses saddled and upon them two hundred loaves of bread and one hundred bunches of raisins and one hundred of summer fruits and a bottle of wine.

² And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king’s household to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit for the servants to eat, and the wine that those that become weary in the wilderness may drink.

³ And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem, for he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba bowed down and said, Let me find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.

⁵ ¶ And when King David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of the house of Saul came forth, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came forth cursing

⁶ and casting stones at David and at all the slaves of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

⁷ And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial;

⁸ the LORD has returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom, thy son; and, behold, thou art taken in thy evil because thou art a bloody man.

⁹ Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse, my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.

¹⁰ And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the LORD has said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why hast thou done so?

¹¹ And David said to Abishai, and to all his slaves, Behold, my son, who came forth of my bowels, seeks my life; how much more now a son of Jemini? Let him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has bidden him.

¹² It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.

¹³ And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the side of the mountain over against him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and cast dust.

¹⁴ And the king and all the people that were with him arrived weary and refreshed themselves there.

¹⁵ ¶ And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.

¹⁶ And it came to pass when Hushai the Archite, David’s special companion, came unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, Long live the king, Long live the king.

¹⁷ And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy mercy to thy friend? Why didst thou not go with thy friend?

¹⁸ And Hushai said unto Absalom, No, but whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide.

¹⁹ And again, whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in thy father’s presence, so will I be in thy presence.

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.

²¹ And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father; then the hands of all that are with thee shall be strong.

²² So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house, and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

²³ And the counseled of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the word of God: so was all the counseled of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

17 ¶ Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night,

² and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed and will make him afraid, and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only.

³ Thus will I turn all the people back unto thee, and when they have returned (for that man is whom thou dost seek), all the people shall be in peace.

⁴ And this word seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and of all the elders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, Now call Hushai, the Archite, also, and let us likewise hear what he says.

⁶ And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Thus spoke Ahithophel; shall we follow his word or not? Speak thou.

⁷ Then Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.

⁸ For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and now their souls are bitter, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.

⁹ Behold, he is hid now in some pit or in some other place, and if some of thy men are overthrown at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

¹⁰ Thus even the valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.

¹¹ Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

¹² Then we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him, there shall not be left so much as one.

¹³ Moreover, if he goes into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until not even one small stone is found there.

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai, the Archite, is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had given orders to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

¹⁵ ¶ Then Hushai said unto Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counselled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counselled.

¹⁶ Now, therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass the Jordan; lest the king be swallowed up and all the people that are with him.

¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel, for they could not be seen coming into the city; and a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.

¹⁸ Nevertheless, a young man saw them and told Absalom, but both of them went away quickly and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.

¹⁹ And the woman of the house took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground wheat upon it, and the thing was not known.

²⁰ And when Absalom’s slaves came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ And it came to pass, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told King David and said unto David, Arise and pass quickly over the water, for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.

²² ¶ Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan before the morning light; there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan.

²³ And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose, and went home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

²⁴ Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

²⁵ And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab; this Amasa was the son of a man of Israel named Ithra, who had gone in to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

²⁶ So Israel pitched camp with Absalom in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ And it came to pass, when David arrived at Mahanaim, that Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lodebar; and Barzillai, the Gileadite of Rogelim,

²⁸ brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched wheat and beans and lentils and parched grain

²⁹ and honey and butter and sheep and cheese of cows for David and for the people that were with him, to eat, for they said, These people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.

18 ¶ And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

² And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab and another third under the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and the other third under the hand of Ittai, the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.

³ But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth, for if we flee away, they will not care about us; nor if half of us die, will they care about us; but now thou art worth ten thousand of us. Therefore, now it is better that thou help us out of the city.

⁴ Then the king said unto them, I will do what seems best unto you. And the king stood beside the gate, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.

⁵ And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

⁶ So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim,

⁷ where the people of Israel were slain before the slaves of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.

⁸ For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the land, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹ ¶ And Absalom met the slaves of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

¹⁰ And a certain man saw it and told Joab, saying, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.

¹¹ And Joab replied unto the man that told him, Behold, when thou didst see him, why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle.

¹² And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, yet I would not put forth my hand against the king’s son, for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom.

¹³ Otherwise, I should have wrought falsehood against my own soul (for there is no matter hid from the king), and thou thyself would have set thyself against me.

¹⁴ Then Joab answered, I may not tarry thus with thee. And taking three darts in his hand, he thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

¹⁵ And ten young men that bore Joab’s armour surrounded and smote Absalom and slew him.

¹⁶ Then Joab blew the shofar, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people.

¹⁷ And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest and laid a very great heap of stones upon him; and all Israel fled each one to his tent.

¹⁸ Now Absalom, while he was alive, had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s valley; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. And he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s place. {Heb. hand}

¹⁹ ¶ Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, Let me now run and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD has vindicated him of his enemies.

²⁰ And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings today, but thou shalt bear tidings another day; but this day thou shalt bear no tidings because the king’s son is dead.

²¹ And Joab said to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab and ran.

²² Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said yet again unto Joab, Be what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Why wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou wilt receive no reward for the tidings?

²³ But, said he, let me run, be what may. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain and overran Cushi.

²⁴ And David sat between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall and lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold a man running alone.

²⁵ And the watchman cried and told the king. And the king said, If he is alone, he brings good news. And while he kept on drawing near,

²⁶ the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called unto the porter and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.

²⁷ And the watchman said, I think the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man and comes with good tidings.

²⁸ And Ahimaaz called and said unto the king peace. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, who has delivered up those men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

²⁹ And the king said, Is the young man Absalom at peace? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s slave, and me thy slave, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was.

³⁰ And the king said unto him, Turn aside and stand here. And he turned aside and stood still.

³¹ And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king, for the LORD has vindicated thee today of all those that rose up against thee.

³² And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom at peace? And Cushi answered, Let the enemies of my lord the king and all that rise against thee for evil, be as that young man.

³³ Then the king was much moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept; and as he went, he said this: O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! I would rather have died instead of thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!