[1] Now after this, Absalom got for himself a carriage and horses, and
fifty runners to go before him. [2] And Absalom got up early, morning after
morning, and took his place at the side of the public meeting-place: and
when any man had a cause which had to come to the king to be judged, then
Absalom, crying out to him, said, What is your town? and he would say, Your
servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. [3] And Absalom would say to
him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the
king to give you a hearing. [4] And more than this, Absalom said, If only I
was made judge in the land, so that every man who has any cause or question
might come to me, and I would give a right decision for him! [5] And if any
man came near to give him honour, he took him by the hand and gave him a
kiss. [6] And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king
to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of
the men of Israel. [7] Now at the end of four years, Absalom said to the
king, Let me go to Hebron and give effect to the oath which I made to the
Lord: [8] For while I was living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made an
oath, saying, If ever the Lord lets me come back to Jerusalem, I will give
him worship in Hebron. [9] And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he got
up and went to Hebron. [10] But Absalom at the same time sent watchers
through all the tribes of Israel to say, At the sound of the horn you are
to say, Absalom is king in Hebron. [11] And with Absalom, at his request,
went two hundred men from Jerusalem, who were completely unconscious of his
designs. [12] And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, one of David's
helpers, from Giloh his town, while he was making the offerings. And the
design against David became strong, for more and more people were joined to
Absalom. [13] And one came to David and said, The hearts of the men of
Israel have gone after Absalom. [14] And David said to all his servants who
were with him at Jerusalem, Come, let us go in flight, or not one of us
will be safe from Absalom: let us go without loss of time, or he will
overtake us quickly and send evil on us, and put the town to the sword.
[15] And the king's servants said to the king, See, your servants are ready
to do whatever the king says is to be done. [16] So the king went out,
taking with him all the people of his house, but for ten of his women, who
were to take care of the house. [17] And the king went out, and all his
servants went after him, and made a stop at the Far House. [18] And all the
people went on by his side; and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites
and all the men of Ittai of Gath, six hundred men who came after him from
Gath, went on before the king. [19] Then the king said to Ittai the
Gittite, Why are you coming with us? go back and keep with the king: for
you are a man of another country, you are far from the land of your birth.
[20] It was only yesterday you came to us; why then am I to make you go up
and down with us? for I have to go where I may; go back then, and take your
countrymen with you, and may the Lord's mercy and good faith be with you.
[21] And Ittai the Gittite in answer said, By the living Lord, and by the
life of my lord the king, in whatever place my lord the king may be, for
life or death, there will your servant be. [22] And David said to Ittai, Go
forward, then. And Ittai the Gittite went on, with all his men and all the
little ones he had with him. [23] And there was great weeping in all the
country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting
in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the
olive-tree on the edge of the waste land. [24] Then Zadok came, and
Abiathar, and with them the ark of God's agreement: and they put down the
ark of God, till all the people from the town had gone by. [25] And the
king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back into the town: if I have grace
in the eyes of the Lord, he will let me come back and see it and his House
again: [26] But if he says, I have no delight in you: then, here I am; let
him do to me what seems good to him. [27] The king said further to Zadok
the priest, See, you and Abiathar are to go back to the town in peace, with
your two sons, Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar. [28]
See, I will be waiting at the way across the river, in the waste land, till
I get news from you. [29] So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to
Jerusalem, and did not go away from there. [30] And David went up the
slopes of the Mount of Olives weeping all the way, with his head covered
and no shoes on his feet: and all the people who were with him, covering
their heads, went up weeping. [31] And word came to David, saying,
Ahithophel is among those who are joined to Absalom. And David said, O
Lord, let the wisdom of Ahithophel be made foolish. [32] Now when David had
come to the top of the slope, where they gave worship to God, Hushai the
Archite came to him in great grief with dust on his head: [33] David said
to him, If you go on with me, you will be a trouble to me: [34] But if you
go back to the town and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as
in the past I have been your father's servant, so now I will be yours: then
you will be able to keep Ahithophel's designs against me from being put
into effect. [35] And have you not there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? so
whatever comes to your ears from the king's house, give word of it to Zadok
and Abiathar the priests. [36] See, they have with them their two sons,
Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar; by them you may
send word to me of everything which comes to your ears. [37] So Hushai,
David's friend, went into the town, and Absalom came to Jerusalem.
