June
24
2
Samuel 13-15
2Sa
13:1 It happened after this, that Absalom the son of David had a
beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David
loved her.
2Sa
13:2 Amnon was so troubled that he fell sick because of his sister
Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do
anything to her.
2Sa
13:3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of
Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
2Sa
13:4 He said to him, Why, son of the king, are you so sad from day
to day? Won't you tell me? Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my
brother Absalom's sister.
2Sa
13:5 Jonadab said to him, Lay down on your bed, and pretend to be
sick: and when your father comes to see you, tell him, Please let my
sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my
sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand.
2Sa
13:6 So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick: and when the king
was come to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let her sister
Tamar come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat
from her hand.
2Sa
13:7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to your brother
Amnon's house, and dress him food.
2Sa
13:8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid
down. She took dough, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight,
and did bake the cakes.
2Sa
13:9 She took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he
refused to eat. Amnon said, Have out all men from me. They went out
every man from him.
2Sa
13:10 Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber, that I
may eat from your hand. Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and
brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
2Sa
13:11 When she had brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of
her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.
2Sa
13:12 She answered him, No, my brother, do not force me; for no such
thing ought to be done in Israel. Don't you do this folly.
2Sa
13:13 I, where shall I carry my shame? and as for you, you will be
as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the
king; for he will not withhold me from you.
2Sa
13:14 However he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger
than she, he forced her, and lay with her.
2Sa
13:15 Then Amnon hated her with exceeding great hatred; for the
hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which
he had loved her. Amnon said to her, Arise, be gone.
2Sa
13:16 She said to him, Not so, because this great wrong in putting
me forth is worse
than the other that you did to me. But he would not listen to her.
2Sa
13:17 Then he called his servant who ministered to him, and said,
Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.
2Sa
13:18 She had a garment of various colors on her; for with such
robes were the king's daughters who were virgins dressed. Then his
servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.
2Sa
13:19 Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various
colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went
her way, crying aloud as she went.
2Sa
13:20 Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been
with you? but now hold your peace, my sister: he is your brother;
don't take this thing to heart. So Tamar remained desolate in her
brother Absalom's house.
2Sa
13:21 But when king David heard of all these things, he was very
angry.
2Sa
13:22 Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated
Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
2Sa
13:23 It happened after two full years, that Absalom had
sheepshearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom
invited all the king's sons.
2Sa
13:24 Absalom came to the king, and said, See now, your servant has
sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your
servant.
2Sa
13:25 The king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest
we be burdensome to you. He pressed him: however he would not go, but
blessed him.
2Sa
13:26 Then said Absalom, If not, please let my brother Amnon go with
us. The king said to him, Why should he go with you?
2Sa
13:27 But Absalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king's
sons go with him.
2Sa
13:28 Absalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark now, when Amnon's
heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, Smite Amnon, then kill
him; don't be afraid; haven't I commanded you? be courageous, and be
valiant.
2Sa
13:29 The servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded.
Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got him up on his mule,
and fled.
2Sa
13:30 It happened, while they were in the way, that the news came to
David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is
not one of them left.
2Sa
13:31 Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay on the
earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.
2Sa
13:32 Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered, Don't
let my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the
king's sons; for Amnon only is dead; for by the appointment of
Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his
sister Tamar.
2Sa
13:33 Now therefore don't let my lord the king take the thing to his
heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead; for Amnon only is
dead.
2Sa
13:34 But Absalom fled. The young man who kept the watch lifted up
his eyes, and looked, and behold, many people were coming by way of
the hillside behind him.
2Sa
13:35 Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons are come: as
your servant said, so it is.
2Sa
13:36 It happened, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that
behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up their voice, and wept:
and the king also and all his servants wept very sore.
2Sa
13:37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, king
of Geshur. David
mourned for his son every day.
2Sa
13:38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three
years.
2Sa
13:39 the soul of
king David longed to go forth to Absalom: for he was comforted
concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
2Sa
14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was
toward Absalom.
2Sa
14:2 Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched there a wise woman, and said to
her, please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, Please,
and don't anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has a long
time mourned for the dead:
2Sa
14:3 and go in to the king, and speak on this manner to him. So Joab
put the words in her mouth.
2Sa
14:4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face
to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
2Sa
14:5 The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, Of a truth I
am a widow, and my husband is dead.
2Sa
14:6 Your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the
field, and there was none to part them, but the one struck the other,
and killed him.
2Sa
14:7 Behold, the whole family has risen against your handmaid, and
they say, Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may kill him
for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir
also. Thus will they quench my coal which is left, and will leave to
my husband neither name nor remainder on the surface of the earth.
2Sa
14:8 The king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give a
command concerning you.
2Sa
14:9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, the
iniquity be on me, and on my father's house; and the king and his
throne be guiltless.
2Sa
14:10 The king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me,
and he shall not touch you any more.
2Sa
14:11 Then said she, Please let the king remember Yahweh your God,
that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my
son. He said, As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of your son
fall to the earth.
2Sa
14:12 Then the woman said, Please let your handmaid speak a word to
my lord the king. He said, Say on.
2Sa
14:13 The woman said, Why then have you devised such a thing against
the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one who
is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished
one.
2Sa
14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water split on the ground,
which can't be gathered up again; neither does God take away life,
but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from
him.
2Sa
14:15 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my
lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and your
handmaid said, I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king
will perform the request of his servant.
2Sa
14:16 For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand
of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the
inheritance of God.
2Sa
14:17 Then your handmaid said, Please let the word of my lord the
king be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king
to discern good and bad: and Yahweh your God be with you.
2Sa
14:18 Then the king answered the woman, Please don't hide anything
from me that I shall ask you. The woman said, Let my lord the king
now speak.
2Sa
14:19 The king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? The
woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn
to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king
has spoken; for your servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these
words in the mouth of your handmaid;
2Sa
14:20 to change the face of the matter has your servant Joab done
this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel
of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
2Sa
14:21 The king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go
therefore, bring the young man Absalom back.
2Sa
14:22 Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and
blessed the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have
found favor in your sight, my lord, king, in that the king has
performed the request of his servant.
2Sa
14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to
Jerusalem.
2Sa
14:24 The king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not
see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and didn't see the
king's face.
2Sa
14:25 Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as
Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown
of his head there was no blemish in him.
2Sa
14:26 When he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's
end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut
it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after
the king's weight.
2Sa
14:27 To Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose
name was Tamar: she was a woman of a beautiful face.
2Sa
14:28 Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem; and he didn't see
the king's face.
2Sa
14:29 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he
would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would
not come.
2Sa
14:30 Therefore he said to his servants, Behold, Joab's field is
near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. Absalom's
servants set the field on fire.
2Sa
14:31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to
him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?
2Sa
14:32 Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come
here, that I may send you to the king, to say, Why am I come from
Geshur? it were better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me
see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.
2Sa
14:33 So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called
for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to
the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
2Sa
15:1 It happened after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and
horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2Sa
15:2 Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate:
and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the
king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, What city
are you from? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of
Israel.
2Sa
15:3 Absalom said to him, Behold, your matters are good and right;
but there is no man deputized of the king to hear you.
2Sa
15:4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land,
that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I
would do him justice!
2Sa
15:5 It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance, he
put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
2Sa
15:6 In this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king
for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
2Sa
15:7 It happened at the end of forty years, that Absalom said to the
king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh,
in Hebron.
2Sa
15:8 For your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria,
saying, If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I
will serve Yahweh.
2Sa
15:9 The king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to
Hebron.
2Sa
15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel,
saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall
say, Absalom is king in Hebron.
2Sa
15:11 With Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, who were
invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn't know anything.
2Sa
15:12 Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor,
from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices.
The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with
Absalom.
2Sa
15:13 There came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men
of Israel are after Absalom.
2Sa
15:14 David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem,
Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from
Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring
down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.
2Sa
15:15 The king's servants said to the king, Behold, your servants
are ready to do whatever my lord the king shall choose.
2Sa
15:16 The king went forth, and all his household after him. The king
left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.
2Sa
15:17 The king went forth, and all the people after him; and they
stayed in Beth Merhak.
2Sa
15:18 All his servants passed on beside him; and all the
Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six
hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.
2Sa
15:19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you also go
with us? return, and stay with the king: for you are a foreigner, and
also an exile; return
to your own place.
2Sa
15:20 Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go
up and down with us, seeing I go where I may? return, and take back
your brothers; mercy and truth be with you.
2Sa
15:21 Ittai answered the king, and said, As Yahweh lives, and as my
lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be,
whether for death or for life, even there also will your servant be.
2Sa
15:22 David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. Ittai the Gittite
passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with
him.
2Sa
15:23 All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people
passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and
all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
2Sa
15:24 Behold, Zadok also came,
and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God;
and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the
people had done passing out of the city.
2Sa
15:25 The king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the
city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, he will bring me
again, and show me both it, and his habitation:
2Sa
15:26 but if he say thus, I have no delight in you; behold, here am
I, let him do to me as seems good to him.
2Sa
15:27 The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a
seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you,
Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
2Sa
15:28 Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word
comes from you to inform me."
2Sa
15:29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to
Jerusalem: and they abode there.
2Sa
15:30 David went up by the ascent of the Mount
of Olives, and wept as he went up; and
he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people who
were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping
as they went up.
2Sa
15:31 One told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators
with Absalom. David said, Yahweh, please turn the counsel of
Ahithophel into foolishness.
2Sa
15:32 It happened that when David had come to the top of
the ascent, where God was worshiped,
behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and
earth on his head.
2Sa
15:33 David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be a
burden to me:
2Sa
15:34 but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, I will be
your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time
past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the
counsel of Ahithophel.
2Sa
15:35 Don't you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you?
therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear out of the
king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
2Sa
15:36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz,
Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and by them you shall send
to me everything that you shall hear.
2Sa
15:37 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom
came into Jerusalem.
June
25
2
Samuel 16-18
2Sa
16:1 When David was a little past the top of
the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of
Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them
two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and
one hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
2Sa
16:2 The king said to Ziba, What do you mean by these? Ziba said,
The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread
and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as
are faint in the wilderness may drink.
2Sa
16:3 The king said, Where is your master's son? Ziba said to the
king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem; for he said, Today will the
house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
2Sa
16:4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, all that pertains to
Mephibosheth is yours. Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favor
in your sight, my lord, O king.
2Sa
16:5 When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of
the house of Saul came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera.
He came out, and cursed still as he came.
2Sa
16:6 He cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David:
and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and
on his left.
2Sa
16:7 Thus said Shimei when he cursed, Be gone, be gone, you man of
blood, and base fellow:
2Sa
16:8 Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of the house of Saul,
in whose place you have reigned; and Yahweh has delivered the kingdom
into the hand of Absalom your son; and behold, you are caught by your
own mischief, because you are a man of blood.
2Sa
16:9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah to the king, "Why
should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over
and take off his head."
2Sa
16:10 The king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of
Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because Yahweh has said to him, Curse
David; who then shall say, Why have you done so?
2Sa
16:11 David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my
son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life: how much more may
this Benjamite now do it?
let him alone, and let him curse; for Yahweh has invited him.
2Sa
16:12 It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and
that Yahweh will requite me good for his
cursing of me this day.
2Sa
16:13 So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on
the hillside over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw
stones at him, and cast dust.
2Sa
16:14 The king, and all the people who were with him, came weary;
and he refreshed himself there.
2Sa
16:15 Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to
Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
2Sa
16:16 It happened, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come
to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, Long
live the king, Long
live the king.
2Sa
16:17 Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness to your friend?
Why didn't you go with your friend?
2Sa
16:18 Hushai said to Absalom, No; but whom Yahweh, and this people,
and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him
will I abide.
2Sa
16:19 Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn't I serve in the presence
of his son? as I have served in your father's presence, so will I be
in your presence.
2Sa
16:20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give your counsel what we
shall do.
2Sa
16:21 Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines,
that he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you
are abhorred by your father: then the hands of all who are with you
will be strong.
2Sa
16:22 So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house; and
Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all
Israel.
2Sa
16:23 The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as
if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of
Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
2Sa
17:1 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out
twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this
night:
2Sa
17:2 and I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and
will make him afraid; and all the people who are with him shall flee;
and I will strike the king only;
2Sa
17:3 and I will bring back all the people to you: the man whom you
seek is as if all returned: so
all the people shall be in peace.
2Sa
17:4 The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
2Sa
17:5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us
hear likewise what he says.
2Sa
17:6 When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying,
Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we do after
his saying? if not, speak up.
2Sa
17:7 Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given
this time is not good.
2Sa
17:8 Hushai said moreover, You know your father and his men, that
they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, as a bear
robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and
will not lodge with the people.
2Sa
17:9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other
place: and it will happen, when some of them are fallen at the first,
that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people
who follow Absalom.
2Sa
17:10 Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion,
will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty
man, and those who are with him are valiant men.
2Sa
17:11 But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you,
from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for
multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.
2Sa
17:12 So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found,
and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him
and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one.
2Sa
17:13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel
bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until
there not be one small stone found there.
2Sa
17:14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai
the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For Yahweh had
ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that
Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.
2Sa
17:15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I
have counseled this way.
2Sa
17:16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Don't
lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means
pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are
with him.
2Sa
17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a
female servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king
David: for they might not be seen to come into the city.
2Sa
17:18 But a boy saw them, and told Absalom: and they went both of
them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had
a well in his court; and they went down there.
2Sa
17:19 The woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth,
and strewed bruised grain thereon; and nothing was known.
2Sa
17:20 Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they
said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? The woman said to them, They
have gone over the brook of water. When they had sought and could not
find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
2Sa
17:21 It happened, after they had departed, that they came up out of
the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, Arise
and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled
against you.
2Sa
17:22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and
they passed over the Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not
one of them who had not gone over the Jordan.
2Sa
17:23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he
saddled his donkey, and arose, and got him home, to his city, and set
his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried
in the tomb of his father.
2Sa
17:24 Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom passed over the Jordan,
he and all the men of Israel with him.
2Sa
17:25 Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was
the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to
Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
2Sa
17:26 Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
2Sa
17:27 It happened, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the
son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son
of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
2Sa
17:28 brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and
barley, and meal, and parched grain,
and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse,
2Sa
17:29 and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd, for
David, and for the people who were with him, to eat: for they said,
The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.
2Sa
18:1 David numbered the people who were with him, and set captains
of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
2Sa
18:2 David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand of
Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah,
Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite.
The king said to the people, I will surely go forth with you myself
also.
2Sa
18:3 But the people said, You shall not go forth: for if we flee
away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they
care for us: but you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it
is better that you are ready to help us out of the city.
2Sa
18:4 The king said to them, I will do what seems best to you. The
king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds
and by thousands.
2Sa
18:5 The king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal
gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. All the
people heard when the king commanded all the captains concerning
Absalom.
2Sa
18:6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the
battle was in the forest of Ephraim.
2Sa
18:7 The people of Israel were struck there before the servants of
David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty
thousand men.
2Sa
18:8 For the battle was there spread over the surface of all the
country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword
devoured.
2Sa
18:9 Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was
riding on his 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 sky and earth; and the mule that was under him went on.
2Sa
18:10 A certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw
Absalom hanging in an oak.
2Sa
18:11 Joab said to the man who told him, Behold, you saw it, and why
didn't you strike him there to the ground? and I would have given you
ten pieces of
silver, and a sash.
2Sa
18:12 The man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand
pieces of
silver in my hand, I still wouldn't put forth my hand against the
king's son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and
Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.
2Sa
18:13 Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there
is no matter hid from the king), then you yourself would have set
yourself against me.
2Sa
18:14 Then said Joab, I may not wait thus with you. He took three
darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom,
while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
2Sa
18:15 Ten young men who bore Joab's armor surrounded and struck
Absalom, and killed him.
2Sa
18:16 Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing
after Israel; for Joab held back the people.
2Sa
18:17 They took Absalom, and cast him into the great pit in the
forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones: and all
Israel fled everyone to his tent.
2Sa
18:18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for
himself the pillar, which is in the king's dale; for he said, I have
no son to keep my name in memory: and he called the pillar after his
own name; and it is called Absalom's monument, to this day.
2Sa
18:19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear
the king news, how that Yahweh has avenged him of his enemies.
2Sa
18:20 Joab said to him, You shall not be the bearer of news this
day, but you shall bear news another day; but this day you shall bear
no news, because the king's son is dead.
2Sa
18:21 Then said Joab to the Cushite, Go, tell the king what you have
seen. The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
2Sa
18:22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But come
what may, Please let me also run after the Cushite. Joab said, Why
will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the
news?
2Sa
18:23 But come what may, said he,
I will run. He said to him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the
Plain, and outran the Cushite.
2Sa
18:24 Now David was sitting between the two gates: and the watchman
went up to the roof of the gate to the wall, and lifted up his eyes,
and looked, and, behold, a man running alone.
2Sa
18:25 The watchman cried, and told the king. The king said, If he be
alone, there is news in his mouth. He came apace, and drew near.
2Sa
18:26 The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called
to the porter, and said, Behold, another
man running alone. The king said, He also brings news.
2Sa
18:27 The watchman said, I think the running of the foremost is like
the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. The king said, He is a good
man, and comes with good news.
2Sa
18:28 Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, All is well. He bowed
himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Blessed
be Yahweh your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their
hand against my lord the king.
2Sa
18:29 The king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? Ahimaaz
answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, even me your servant, I
saw a great tumult, but I don't know what it was.
2Sa
18:30 The king said, Turn aside, and stand here. He turned aside,
and stood still.
2Sa
18:31 Behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, News for my
lord the king; for Yahweh has avenged you this day of all those who
rose up against you.
2Sa
18:32 The king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man
Absalom? The Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and
all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
2Sa
18:33 The king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the
gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, my son Absalom, my son,
my son Absalom! would I had died for you, Absalom, my son, my son!
