[1] And word was given to Joab that the king was weeping and sorrowing for
Absalom. [2] And the salvation of that day was changed to sorrow for all
the people: for it was said to the people, The king is in bitter grief for
his son. [3] And the people made their way back to the town quietly and
secretly, as those who are shamed go secretly when they go in flight from
the war. [4] But the king, covering his face, gave a great cry, O my son
Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! [5] And Joab came into the house to the
king and said, Today you have put to shame the faces of all your servants
who even now have kept you and your sons and your daughters and your wives
and all your women safe from death; [6] For your haters, it seems, are dear
to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that
captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was
living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your
eyes. [7] So get up now, and go out and say some kind words to your
servants; for, by the Lord, I give you my oath, that if you do not go out,
not one of them will keep with you tonight; and that will be worse for you
than all the evil which has overtaken you from your earliest years. [8]
Then the king got up and took his seat near the town-door. And word was
given to all the people that the king was in the public place: and all the
people came before the king. Now all the men of Israel had gone back in
flight to their tents. [9] And through all the tribes of Israel the people
were having arguments, saying, The king made us safe from the hands of
those who were against us and made us free from the hands of the
Philistines; and now he has gone in flight from the land, because of
Absalom. [10] And Absalom, whom we made a ruler over us, is dead in the
fight. So now why do you say nothing about getting the king back? And word
of what all Israel was saying came to the king. [11] And King David sent
word to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, Say to the responsible men of
Judah, Why are you the last to take steps to get the king back to his
house? [12] You are my brothers, my bone and my flesh; why are you the last
to get the king back again? [13] And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and
my flesh? May God's punishment be on me, if I do not make you chief of the
army before me at all times in place of Joab! [14] And the hearts of the
men of Judah were moved like one man; so that they sent to the king,
saying, Come back, with all your servants. [15] So the king came back, and
came as far as Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, meeting the king there, to
take him back with them over Jordan. [16] And Shimei, the son of Gera, the
Benjamite from Bahurim, got up quickly and went down with the men of Judah
for the purpose of meeting King David; [17] And with him a thousand men of
Benjamin, and Ziba, the servant of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty
servants, came rushing to Jordan before the king, [18] And kept going
across the river to take the people of the king's house over, and to do
whatever was desired by the king. And Shimei, the son of Gera, went down on
his face in the dust before the king, when he was about to go over Jordan,
[19] And said to him, Let me not be judged as a sinner in your eyes, O my
lord, and do not keep in mind the wrong I did on the day when my lord the
king went out of Jerusalem, or take it to heart. [20] For your servant is
conscious of his sin: and so, as you see, I have come today, the first of
all the sons of Joseph, for the purpose of meeting my lord the king. [21]
But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said, Is not death the right fate for
Shimei, because he has been cursing the one marked by the holy oil? [22]
And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you
put yourselves against me today? is it right for any man in Israel to be
put to death today? for I am certain today that I am king in Israel. [23]
So the king said to Shimei, You will not be put to death. And the king gave
him his oath. [24] And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son, came down for
the purpose of meeting the king; his feet had not been cared for or his
hair cut or his clothing washed from the day when the king went away till
the day when he came back in peace. [25] Now when he had come from
Jerusalem to see the king, the king said to him, Why did you not come with
me, Mephibosheth? [26] And he said in answer, Because of the deceit of my
servant, my lord king: for I, your servant, said to him, You are to make
ready an ass and on it I will go with the king, for your servant has not
the use of his feet. [27] He has given you a false account of me: but my
lord the king is like the angel of God: do then whatever seems good to you.
[28] For all my father's family were only dead men before my lord the king:
and still you put your servant among those whose place is at the king's
table. What right then have I to say anything more to the king? [29] And
the king said, Say nothing more about these things. I say, Let there be a
division of the land between Ziba and you. [30] And Mephibosheth said, Let
him take it all, now that my lord the king has come back to his house in
peace! [31] And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went
on as far as Jordan with the king to take him across Jordan. [32] Now
Barzillai was a very old man, as much as eighty years old: and he had given
the king everything he had need of, while he was at Mahanaim, for he was a
very great man. [33] And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and
I will take care of you in Jerusalem. [34] And Barzillai said to the king,
How much of my life is still before me, for me to go up to Jerusalem with
the king? [35] I am now eighty years old: good and bad are the same to me;
have meat and drink any taste for me now? am I able to take pleasure in the
voices of men or women in song? why then am I to be a trouble to my lord
the king? [36] Your servant's desire was only to take the king over Jordan;
why is the king to give me such a reward? [37] Let your servant now go back
again, so that when death comes to me, it may be in my town and by the
resting-place of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham:
let him go with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.
[38] And the king said in answer, Let Chimham go over with me, and I will
do for him whatever seems good to you: and whatever your desire is, I will
do it for you. [39] Then all the people went over Jordan, and the king went
over: and the king gave Barzillai a kiss, with his blessing; and he went
back to his place. [40] So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went
with him: and all the people of Judah, as well as half the people of
Israel, took the king on his way. [41] Then the men of Israel came to the
king and said, Why have our countrymen of Judah taken you away in secret
and come over Jordan with the king and all his family, because all his
people are David's men? [42] And all the men of Judah gave this answer to
the men of Israel, Because the king is our near relation: why then are you
angry about this? have we taken any of the king's food, or has he given us
any offering? [43] And in answer to the men of Judah, the men of Israel
said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are the first in order of
birth: why did you make nothing of us? and were we not the first to make
suggestions for getting the king back? And the words of the men of Judah
were more violent than the words of the men of Israel.

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