meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head. ^And David said unto him'" 'If thou passest on with me, then thou wilt be a burden unto me; wbut if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy servant, 0 king; as I have been thy father's servant in time past, so will I now be thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 35And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye shall hear.' 37So Hushai David's friend came into the city; and Absalom was at the point of coming into Jerusalem. •J £ And when David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two ^hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 2And 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 young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are [aint in the wilderness may drink/ 3And the king said: 'And where is thy master's son?' And Ziba said unto the king: 'Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said: To-day will the house of Israel restore me the [dngdom of my father.' 4Then said the long to Ziba: 'Behold, thine is all that pertameth unto Mephibosheth*' SECOND SAMUEL And Ziba said: 'I prostrate myself; let me find favour in thy sight, my lord, O king.'
5And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out, and kept on cursing as he came. 6And 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. 7And thus said Shimei when he cursed: ' Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and base fellow; ^he LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and, be- hold, thou art taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood.7 9Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah 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.' 10And the long said: 'What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, be- cause the LORD hath said unto him: Curse David; who then shall say: Wherefore hast thou done so?' uAnd David said to Abishai, and to all his servants: 'Behold, my son, who came forth of my body, seeketh my life; how much more this Benjamite now? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. wlt may be that the LORD will look on mine eye, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing of me this day.' wSo David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on the hill-side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. 14And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there.
15And Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom: 'Long live the king, long live the king.' 17And Absalom said to Hushai: 'Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?' 18And Hushai said unto Absalom: 'Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I abide. 19And 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.'
20Then said Absalom to Ahithophel: 'Give your counsel what we shall do.' 21And Ahithophel said unto Absalom: 'Go in unto thy father's concubines, that he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that thou art abhorred of thy father; then will the hands of all that are with thee be strong.' ^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. — ow the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man inquired of the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
"1 rr Moreover Ahithophel said unto •*• Absalom: 'Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night; 2and I will come upon him while SECOND SAMUEL 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; 3and I will bring back all the people unto thee; when all shall have re- turned, [save] the man whom thou seekest, all the people will be in peace.' 4And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
6Then said Absalom: 'Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.' 6And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying: 'Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner; shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou.' 7And Hushai said unto Absalom: "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given this time is not good.' 8Hushai said moreover: 'Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are embittered in their minds, 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. 9Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some place; and it will come to pass, when they fall upon them at the first, and whoso- ever heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom; 10then even he that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion; will utterly melt; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with Mm are valiant men. uBut I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee, from Dan even to Beer- sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. 12So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him we will not leave so much as one. "Moreover, if he withdraw himself into a city, then shall all Israel bring up ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the valley until there be not one small stone found there/ 14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said: 'The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of ^ Ahithophel. '—For the LOKD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
15Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests: 'Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled. 16Now there- fore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but in any wise pass over; lest the king be swal- lowed up, and all the people that are with him.' "Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; and a m^id-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. 18But a lad 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 hi his court; and they went down thither. 19And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed groats thereon; and noth- ing was known. 20And Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said: 'Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' And the woman said unto them: 'They are gone over the brook of water.' And when they had sought and could SECOND SAMUEL not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
aAnd it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said unto David. 'Arise ye, and pass quickly over the water; for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you. ' ^Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan.
^And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he sad- dled his ass, and arose, and got him home, unto his city, and set his house in order, and strangled himself; and he died, and was buried in the sepul- chre of his father.
24When David was come to Maha- naim, Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25And Absalom had set Amasa over the host instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Jesraelite, that went in to Abigal the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother. 26And Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.
27And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Kabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, 28brought beds, and basins, and earth- en vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, 29and honey, and curd, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat; for they said: ' The people is hungry, and faint, and thirsty, in the wilderness.'
•1 Q And David numbered the people •^ that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. 2And 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. And the king said unto the people: 'I will surely go forth with you myself also.' 8But the people said: 'Thou shalt 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 thou art worth ten thousand of us: there- fore now it is better that thou be ready to succour us out of the city.' 4And the king said unto them: 'What seemeth you best I will do.; And the king stood by the gate-side, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. 5And the king com- manded 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.
6So the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. 7And the people of Israel were smitten there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. 8For the battle was there spread over the face of all tbe country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
9And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom was riding upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth, and his head caught hold of the terebinth, and he was SECOND SAMUEL SECOND SAMUEL taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went on. 10And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said: 'Be- hold, I saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth/ uAnd Joab said unto the man that told him: 'And, be- hold, thou sawest it, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have had to give thee ten pieces of silver, and a girdle.' 12And the man said unto Joab: ' Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, yet would I 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 none touch the young man Absa- lom. 130therwise if I had dealt falsely against mine own ]ife—-and there is no matter hid from the king — then thou thyself wouldest have stood aloof/ 14Then said Joab: 'I may nbt tarry thus with thee/ And 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 terebinth. 15And ten young men that bore Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
16And Joab blew the horn, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for Joab held back the people. 17And 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 every one to his tent'. — 18Now Absalom in his life-time 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 remem- brance'; and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called Absa- lom's monument unto this day.
19Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok: 'Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies/ 20And Joab said unto him: "Thou shalt not be the bearer of tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings anoth- er day; but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, forasmuch as the king's son is dead/ aThen said Joab to the Cushite: 'Go tell the king what thou hast seen/ And the Cushite bowed down unto Joab, and ran. ^hen said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab: 'But come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite/ And Joab said: 'Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou wilt have no reward for the tid- ings?' ^'But come what may, [said he,] I will run/ And he said unto him: 'Run/ Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Flam, and overran the Cushite,, ^Now David sat between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone. ^And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said: ' If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth/ And he came apace, and drew near. 26And the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called un- to the porter, and said: 'Behold an- other man running alone/ A_nd the king said: 'He also bringeth tidings/ ^And the watchman said: ' I think the running of the foremost is like the nmniiig of Ahimaaz the &on of Zadok/ And the king said: 'He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings/ 28And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king: 'All is well/ And he bowed down before the long with his face to the earth, and said: 'Blessed SECOND SAMUEL be the LOED thy God, who hath de- livered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.' 29And the king said: 'Is it well with the young man Absalom?' And Ahimaaz answered: 'When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.' 30And the king said: 'Turn aside, and stand here.' And he turned aside, and stood still.
31And, behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said: 'Tidings for my lord the king; for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.' 32And the king said unto the Cushite: 'Is it well with the young man Absalom?' And the Cushite answered: 'The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.' -j Q And the king was much moved, -1-*7 and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, thus he said: 'O my son Ab- salom, my son, my son Absalom! would I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son, my son!'
2And it was told Joab: 'Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Ab- salom/ 3And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people; for the people heard say that day: 'The king grieveth for his son.' 4And the people got them by stealth that day into the city, as people that are ashamed steal ' away when they flee in battle. 5And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice: 'O my son Absalom, 0 Absalom, my son, my son!' 6And Joab came into the house to the king, and said: ' Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy hf e, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines; 7in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast de- clared this day, that princes and serv- ants are nought unto thee; for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. 8Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak to the heart of thy servants; for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry a man with thee this night; and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that hath befallen thee from thy youth until now.' 9Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying: 'Behold, the king doth sit in the gate'; and all the peo- ple came before the king.
Now Israel had fled every man to his tent. 10And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying: 'The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and, he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom. uAnd Ab- salom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?'
^And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying: 'Speak unto the elders of Judah, say- ing: Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? — For the speech of all Israel was come to the king, to bring him to his house. — 13Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and my flesh; wherefore then should ye be the last to bring back the king? 14And say ye to Amasa: Art thou not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captam of the host before me continually in SECOND SAMUEL the room of Joab.' 15And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent unto the king: ' Return thou, and all thy servants.'
16So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan. 17And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benja- mite, who was of Bahurim, made haste and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David. 18And there were & thousand men of Benja- min with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him. And they rushed into the Jordan be- fore the king. 19And the ferry-boat passed to and fro to bring over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he would go over the Jordan. 20And he said unto the king: 'Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did iniquitously the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. ^For thy servant doth know that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king/ ^But Abishaj the son of Zendah answered and said: 'Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LOKD'S anointed?' ^And David said: 'What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?' MAnd the king said unto Shimei: l Thou shalt notdie.' And the king swore unto him.
26And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king de- parted until the day he came home in peace. ^And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him: 'Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?' 27And he answered: 'My lord, O king, my servant de- ceived me; for thy servant said: I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go with the king; be- cause thy servant is lame. 28And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God; do therefore what is good in thine eyes. 29For all my father's house were deserving of death at the hand of my lord the king; yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet? or why should I cry any more unto the king?' 30And the king said unto him: 'Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I say: Thou and Ziba divide the land.' 81And Mephibosheth said unto the king: 'Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come in peace unto his own house.'
^And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he passed on to the Jordan with theking, to bring him onthewayovertheJordan. ^NowBar- zillai was a very aged man, even four- score years old; and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. ^And the king said unto Bar- zillai: 'Come thou over with me, and I will sustain thee with me in Jeru- salem.' S5And Barzillai said unto the king: 'How many are the days of the SECOND SAMUEL years of my life, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? 36I am this day fourscore years old; can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the long? 37Thy servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king; and why should the! it me with such a rewa servant, I pray thee, turn back, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.' 39And the king answered: ' Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee; and whatsoever thou It require of me, that will I do for thee.' 40And all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over; and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.
^So the king went over to Gilgal, and aChimham went over with him; and all the people of Judah brought over, and also half the people , behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king: 'Why have our breth- ren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?' ^And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel: ' Because the king is near of kin to us; wherefore then are ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath any gift been given us?' ^And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said: 'We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye; why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?' And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer' than the words of the men of Israel.
OQ Now there happened to be there a bas"e fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the horn, and said: 'We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, 0 Israel.' 2So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah did cleave unto their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
8And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and provided them with sus- tenance, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, in widowhood, with their husband ahve.
^hen said the king to Amasa: ' Call me the men of Judah together within three days, and be thou here present.' 5So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together; but he tarried longer than the set time which he had ap- pointed him. 6And David said to Abishai: 'Now will Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom; take thou thy lord's serv- ants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fortified cities, and escape out of our sight.' 7And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men; and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. 8When they » Heb. Chimhan.
SECOND SAMUEL were at the great stone which, is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. And Joab was girded with his ap- parel of war that he had put on, and thereon was a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell put. 9And Joab said to Amasa: 'Is it well with thee, my brother?' A-nd Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand; so he smote him. therewith in the groin, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died.
And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. uAnd there stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said: 'He that far voureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab/ ^And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he m carried Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a gar- ment over him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. ^When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth- maacah, and all the Berites; and they were gathered- together, and went in also after him. ^And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mound against the 6ity, and it stood in the moat; and all the people that were with Joab bat- tered the wall, to throw it down.
16Then cried a wise woman out of the city: 'Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab: Come near hither, that I may speak with thee/ 17And he came near unto her; and the woman said: 'Art thou Joab?' And he answered: 'I am/ Then she said unto him: 'Hear the words of thy handmaid/ And he answered: * I do hear/ 18Then she spoke, saying: 'They were wont to speak in old time, saying: They shall surely ask counsel at Abel; and so they ended the matter. 19We are of them that are peaceable and faith- ful in Israel; seekest thou to destroy a city and a mother in Israel? why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?' 20And Joab answered and said: 'Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or de- stroy. ^The matter is not so; but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city/ And the woman said unto Joab: 'Be- hold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall/ ^hen the woman went unto all the people in her wis- dom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the horn, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.
^Now Joab was over all the host of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoi- ada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites; "and Adoram was over the levy; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25and Sheva was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26and Ira also the Jairite was chief minister unto David.
O"j And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD SECOND SAMUEL