Chronological
Chapter 19
Joab Reproves David. 1 Word was brought to Joab: “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 Therefore, that day’s victory was turned into one of mourning for the entire army when the troops heard the report: “The king is grieving for his son.”
3 The troops stole furtively into the city that day, much as soldiers steal in who are ashamed when they flee from a battle. 4 Meanwhile the king covered his face and cried out in a loud voice: “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
5 Then Joab came to the king’s house and said to him: “Today you have caused all of your officers and servants to feel ashamed, humiliating those who saved your life today, and the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines, 6 by showing love for those who hate you and hatred for those who love you.
“You have made it perfectly clear that your commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. I feel certain that if Absalom were still alive and all the rest of us were dead, then you would be pleased. 7 Therefore, get up, come out, and reassure your servants. I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, not one man will be left with you by nightfall, and that will be worse for you than all the calamities you have endured from your youth until now.”
8 On hearing these words, the king arose and took his seat at the gate. When it was announced to the troops: “The king is sitting at the gate,” they all assembled there before him.
The Reconciliation. Meanwhile all the Israelites had fled to their homes. 9 However, throughout all the tribes of Israel, there was great dissension, and the people were arguing among themselves, saying: “The king delivered us from the clutches of our enemies and rescued us from the hands of the Philistines. But now he has fled from the country to escape from Absalom. 10 However, Absalom, whom we anointed to reign over us, has fallen in battle. Why, then, does no one offer the suggestion that we should restore the king to his palace?”
11 When King David learned of the debate that was ensuing throughout Israel, he sent this message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Say to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be the last to bring back the king to his palace? 12 You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. Why then should you be the last to bring the king home?’
13 “And say to Amasa: ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh?[a] May God deal with me in the most severe way possible if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab.’ ” 14 With those words, David won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man, and they sent this message to the king: “Return, both you and all who serve you.”
15 David and Shimei. When the king on his return reached the Jordan, the men of Judah came to Gilgal to greet him and escort him across the river. 16 Shimei, the son of Gera the Benjaminite, from Horonaim, hurried down with the men of Judah to welcome King David.
17 Accompanying Shimei were one thousand men from Benjamin. Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, together with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, hastened to the Jordan ahead of the king. 18 They crossed at the ford to transport the king’s household and to do whatever the king requested.
When Shimei, the son of Gera, crossed the Jordan, he threw himself down before the king, 19 and he said: “I entreat my lord not to hold me guilty or to remember how shamefully I behaved on the day my lord the king departed from Jerusalem. I beg you not to hold my guilt against me. 20 I humbly admit that I have sinned. Today I am the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”
21 However, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, objected, saying: “Should not Shimei be put to death because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” 22 David replied: “Of what concern are my decisions to you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you have become my adversary? Should anyone be put to death this day in Israel? Am I not fully aware that today I am king of Israel?” 23 Then the king said to Shimei: “You shall not die,” and he confirmed that with an oath.
24 David and Meribbaal. Meribbaal, the grandson of Saul, also came down to greet the king. He had not bathed his feet or trimmed his beard or washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he returned safely.
25 When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him: “Why did you not go with me, Meribbaal?” 26 He said: “My lord the king, my servant betrayed me. Since your servant is lame, I said to him: ‘Saddle a donkey for me so that I may ride on it and accompany the king.’
27 “However, he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But I well know that your majesty is like an angel of God. Do what you judge to be best. 28 Although my father’s entire family deserved to die at your majesty’s hands, you placed me, your servant, among those who eat at your table. What right do I have to make any further appeals to the king?”
29 However, the king said to him: “There is no necessity for you to say anything further. I have decided that you and Ziba shall divide the property equally.” 30 Meribbaal replied to the king: “Let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has arrived home safely.”
31 David and Barzillai. Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he accompanied the king to the Jordan, where he then planned to take leave of him. 32 Barzillai was quite elderly, eighty years old. He was the one who had provided for the king during David’s stay at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.
33 The king said to Barzillai: “Cross over with me and stay with me as my guest, and I will provide for you in Jerusalem.” 34 But Barzillai replied to the king: “How many more years do I have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35 I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still hear the voices of men and women singing? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
36 “Your servant will go a short distance across the Jordan with the king. That hardly makes me worthy to receive such a generous reward. 37 Please allow your servant to return to his own town and end his days there, near the graves of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king, and then do for him whatever you think is right.”
38 The king replied: “Chimham shall cross over with me. I shall do for him whatever you wish, and whatever you request from me, I will do for you.” 39 Thereupon all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king also crossed over. After the king had kissed Barzillai and blessed him, Barzillai returned to his home. 40 Then the king continued on his journey to Gilgal, accompanied by Chimham.
Israel and Judah Quarrel. All the people of Judah and half the people of Israel had escorted the king across the river. 41 Before long, all the men of Israel came to the king and complained: “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen you away and joined with all David’s men in escorting the king and his household across the Jordan?” 42 Then all the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel: “We did so because the king is our close relative. What right do you have to complain about this? Have we eaten anything at the king’s expense? Have we received any gifts from him?”
43 The men of Israel retorted to the men of Judah: “We have ten shares in the king. In addition, we have a greater claim than you do. Why do you continue to slight us? Were we not the first ones to suggest the possibility of bringing back the king?” However, the words of the men of Judah were even more vitriolic than the words of the men of Israel.
Chapter 20
Sheba’s Rebellion. 1 A trouble-making scoundrel named Sheba, the son of Bichri and a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and cried out:
“We have no share in David,
nor any portion in the son of Jesse.
Every man to his tent, O Israel!”
2 When they heard this, all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba, the son of Bichri. However, the people of Judah maintained their loyalty to the king and followed him steadfastly all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
3 When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines whom he had left behind to look after the palace, and he put them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he did not engage in relations with them. They were shut up in confinement until the day of their death, living as if they were widows.
Amasa’s Death. 4 Then the king said to Amasa: “Summon the men of Judah and order them to appear before me within three days.” 5 Amasa set out to summon the men of Judah, but his mission took longer than the time specified by the king.
6 Then David said to Abishai: “Sheba, son of Bichri, may very well prove to do greater damage to us than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him before he can reach any fortified towns and escape from us.” 7 Therefore, Joab’s forces, the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all of the most skilled warriors marched out under the command of Abishai and left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, son of Bichri.
8 When they arrived at the large stone in Gibeon, Amasa came forth from the opposite direction to meet them. Joab was wearing his tunic, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at his waist. As he moved forward, the sword fell loose from his sheath. 9 Then Joab said to Amasa: “I trust that you are well, my brother.” Having said that, Joab grasped Amasa’s beard with his right hand as if to kiss him.
10 Amasa was not on his guard and failed to notice the sword in Joab’s left hand. Joab struck him with it in the belly so that his entrails poured forth to the ground. He did not find it necessary to strike a second blow, since Amasa had died instantaneously. Then Joab set forth with his brother Abishai in pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri.
11 One of Joab’s men stood on guard next to the body of Amasa, and he shouted: “Follow Joab, all those of you who favor Joab and support David!” 12 Meanwhile Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and the man who had exhorted all of his fellow soldiers to follow Joab saw that everyone was stopping to stare at the body. Therefore, he carried Amasa’s body from the road and placed it in a field, with a garment covering the corpse. 13 Once the body had been removed from the road, all the men moved on and followed Joab in pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri.
14 Joab Pursues Sheba. Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel until he arrived at Abel-beth-maacah.[b] Shortly afterward, all of the Bichrites assembled and followed him into the town. 15 Joab’s forces then arrived and besieged him in Abel-beth-maacah. After they threw up a siege ramp against the town, all of Joab’s forces began to batter the wall to throw it down.
16 [c]Suddenly a wise woman stood on the rampart and shouted from the town: “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.” 17 When Joab approached her, the woman asked: “Are you Joab?” He answered: “I am.” She continued: “Listen to what your maidservant has to say.” He replied: “I am listening.”
18 She then spoke as follows: “In the old days they used to say: ‘Go to Abel if you wish to find the answer,’ and in that way a matter would be settled. 19 This town prides itself on being one of the most peaceful and loyal in Israel. She is like a faithful mother, and yet you are seeking to destroy her. Why do you seek to devour the inheritance of the Lord?”
20 Joab replied: “Not at all! Far be it from me to devour or to destroy anything. 21 That is not the case at all. However, a man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba, son of Bichri, has rebelled against King David. If you surrender to us just this one man, I will withdraw from the town.” The woman said to Joab: “His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”
22 Then the woman went to confer with all the people, and they followed her advice, cutting off the head of Sheba, son of Bichri, and throwing it to Joab. Thereupon he sounded the trumpet, and all of his forces withdrew from the town, each to his own home while Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
23 David’s Officials. Joab was the commander of the entire army in Israel. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites. 24 Adoram was in charge of the forced labor. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was the recorder. 25 Sheva was the secretary. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. 26 Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest.
Appendices[d]
Chapter 21
Gibeonite Vengeance.[e] 1 During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years. Therefore, David consulted the Lord, who said: “Saul and his family have incurred bloodguilt because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 Thereupon the king summoned the Gibeonites and conferred with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites; rather they were a remnant of the Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to exterminate them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3 David said to the Gibeonites: “What can I do for you? How shall I atone for our treatment of you so that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?” 4 The Gibeonites replied: “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul and his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone to death.” “Then what do you want me to do for you?” asked David.
5 They said to the king: “We cannot forget that man who destroyed us and planned to annihilate us so that we would never be able to have a place in the territory of Israel. 6 Please hand over to us seven of his male descendants, so that we may dismember them before the Lord at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord.” The king replied: “I will hand them over to you.”
7 However, the king spared Meribbaal, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord that bound together David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 But the king took Armoni and Meribbaal, the two sons that Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab whom she had borne to Adriel, the son of Barzillai of Meholah. 9 He surrendered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, who dismembered them on the mountain before the Lord. All seven of them perished together. They were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.
10 Then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and spread it out on a rock for herself, from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell from the heavens upon the bodies. She kept the birds of the sky away from the bodies by day and the wild beasts by night.
11 When David was informed about what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 he went forth and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the people of Jabesh-gilead, who had absconded with them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up after they had killed Saul on Gilboa.
13 After David had removed from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, he also gathered up the bones of those who had been slain and dismembered. 14 The bones of Saul and his son Jonathan were buried at Zela, in the territory of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After all of the king’s commands had been carried out, God answered prayers that were offered up on behalf of the country.
15 Exploits in Philistine Wars.[f] Once again the Philistines went to war against Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, but he began to grow weary. 16 Ishbi-benob one of the descendants of the Rephaim, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was wielding new weapons, boasted that he would have no difficulty in slaying David.
17 However, Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to David’s rescue, attacking the Philistine and slaying him. Then David’s men swore to him this oath: “Never again must you go forth with us to engage in battle, lest the lamp of Israel be extinguished.”
18 After this, war again broke out with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion, Sibbecai of Husha killed Saph, one of the Rephaim. 19 Shortly afterward there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan, the son of Jair from Bethlehem killed Goliath of Gath, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20 There was yet another battle which took place at Gath, where a giant appeared with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from the Rephaim. 21 When he started to taunt Israel, Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him.
22 These four giants were descendants of the Rephaim in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his servants.
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