2Samuel:16-18
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*
And when David was passed a little beyond the top ,
behold ,
Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth came toward him ,
with a couple of asses saddled ,
and upon them two hundred loaves of bread ,
and a hundred bunches of raisins ,
and a hundred of dried figs ,
and a bottle of wine .
*
And the king said unto Ziba ,
What meanest thou with these ?
And Ziba said ,
The asses are for the king
s household to ride on ;
and the bread and the dried figs for the young men to eat ;
and the wine to drink for such as may be faint in the wilderness .
*
And the king said ,
And where is thy master
s son ?
And Ziba said unto the king ,
Behold ,
he remaineth at Jerusalem ;
for he said ,
Today will the house of Israel restore unto me the kingdom of my father .
*
Then said the king to Ziba ,
Behold ,
thine shall be all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth .
And Ziba said ,
I prostrate myself ;
let me but find grace in thy eyes ,
my Lord ,
O king .
*
And when King David came as far as Bachurim ,
behold ,
there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul ,
whose name was Shim
i ,
the son of Gera ,
coming forth ,
and cursing .
*
And 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 and on his left .
*
And thus said Shim
i as he cursed ,
Away ,
away ,
thou man of blood ,
and thou worthless man !
*
The Lord hath brought back upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul ,
in whose stead thou didst reign ;
and the Lord hath placed the kingdom into the hand of Abshalom thy son ;
and ,
behold ,
thou art now in thy misfortune ,
because a man of blood art thou .
*
Then said Abishai the son of Zeruyah unto the king ,
Why should this dead dog curse my Lord the king ?
let me go over ,
I pray thee ,
and remove his head .
*
And the king said ,
What have I to do with you ,
ye sons of Zeruyah ?
so let him curse ;
because the Lord hath said unto him ,
Curse David .
Who shall then say ,
Wherefore hast thou done so ?
*
And David said to Abishai ,
and to all his servants ,
Behold ,
my son ,
who hath come forth out of my own body ,
seeketh my life :
how much more now this Benjamite ?
let him alone ,
and let him curse ;
for the Lord hath said it to him .
*
Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction ,
and the Lord will requite me good instead of his cursing this day .
*
And David and his men went on the way .
And Shim
i went on the side of the mount opposite to him ,
and cursed as he went ,
and threw stones toward him ,
and cast dust .
*
And the king ,
and all the people that were with him ,
arrived weary ,
and refreshed themselves there .
*
And Abshalom ,
and all the people the men of Israel ,
came to Jerusalem ,
and Achithophel with him .
*
And it came to pass ,
when Chushai the Arkite ,
David
s friend ,
was come unto Abshalom ,
that Chushai said unto Abshalom ,
Long live the king !
Long live the king !
*
And Abshalom said to Chushai ,
Is this thy kindness for thy friend ?
why art thou not gone with thy friend ?
*
And Chushai said unto Abshalom ,
No ;
but whom the Lord ,
and this people ,
and all the men of Israel have chosen ,
his will I be ,
and with him will I remain .
*
And secondly ,
who is it whom I shall serve ?
is it not in the presence of his son ?
as I have served in thy father
s presence ,
so will I be in thy presence .
*
Then said Abshalom to Achithophel ,
Hold counsel among yourselves as to what we shall do .
*
And Achithophel said unto Abshalom ,
Go in unto thy father
s concubines ,
whom he hath left to guard the house ;
and all Israel will hear that thou art in bad odor with thy father :
and then will the hands of all that are with thee become strong .
*
So they spread for Abshalom a tent upon the roof ;
and Abshalom went in unto his father
s concubines before the eyes of all Israel .
*
And the counsel of Achithophel ,
which he counseled in those days ,
was as if a man had asked advice of the word of God :
so was all the counsel of Achithophel both with David and with Abshalom .
*
Moreover Achithophel said unto Abshalom ,
Do let me now select twelve thousand men ,
and I will arise and pursue after David this night ;
*
And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak
handed ,
and will terrify him ;
so that all the people that are with him will flee ;
and I will smite the king alone ;
*
And I will bring back all the people unto thee :
when all return the man whom thou seekest ,
all the people will be in peace .
*
And the thing was pleasing in the eyes of Abshalom ,
and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel .
*
Then said Abshalom ,
Do call now also Chushai the Arkite ,
and let us hear what he likewise beareth in his mouth .
*
And when Chushai was come to Abshalom ,
Abshalom said unto him ,
as followeth ,
Such words as these hath Achithophel spoken :
shall we do after his words ?
if not ,
do thou speak .
*
And Chushai said unto Abshalom ,
The counsel that Achithophel hath given at this time is not good .
*
And Chushai said ,
Thou well knowest thy father and his men ,
that they are mighty men ,
and are of an embittered spirit ,
as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field :
and thy father is also a man of war ,
and will not lodge with the people .
*
Behold ,
he is now hidden in some one of the pits ,
or in some one of the places :
and it will come to pass ,
when some of them should fall at the first onset ,
that whosoever heareth it would say ,
There hath been slaughter among the people that follow Abshalom .
*
And he also that is most valiant ,
whose heart is as the heart of the lion ,
would become quite discouraged ;
for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man ,
and they who are with him are valiant persons .
*
But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee ,
from Dan even to Beer
sheba ,
like the sand that is by the sea in multitude :
while thou in thy own person goest into the fight .
*
And when we come upon him in some one of the places where he may be found ,
we will encamp around him as the dew falleth on the earth :
and there shall not be left of him and of all the men that are with him so much as one .
*
And if he should withdraw into a city ,
then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city ,
and we will drag it into the stream ,
until there be not found there even one small stone .
*
And Abshalom and all the men of Israel said ,
The counsel of Chushai the Arkite is better than the counsel of Achithophel .
But the Lord had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Achithophel ,
to the intent that the Lord might bring the evil upon Abshalom .
*
Then said Chushai unto Zadok and to Ebyathar the priests ,
Thus and thus did Achithophel counsel Abshalom and the elders of Israel ;
and thus and thus have I counseled .
*
Now therefore send quickly ,
and tell David ,
saying ,
Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness ,
but rather pass over at once ;
lest the king be entirely ruined ,
and all the people that are with him .
*
Now Jonathan and Achima
az were staying by
En
rogel ;
and a maid
servant had to go and tell them ,
that they should go and tell king David ;
for they dared not be seen to come into the city .
*
Nevertheless a lad saw them ,
and told it to Abshalom ;
but they went ,
both of them ,
quickly away ,
and came to the house of a man in Bachurim ,
who had a well in his court ;
and they went down thither .
*
And the wife took and spread a covering over the well
s mouth ,
and scattered ground corn thereupon ;
so that nothing was perceived .
*
And Abshalom
s servants came to the woman into the house ,
and they said ,
Where are Achima
az and Jonathan ?
And the woman said unto them ,
They are passed over the brook of water .
And they sought ,
but could not find them ;
and they returned to Jerusalem .
*
And it came to pass ,
after they were gone ,
that they came up out of the well ,
and went and told it to king David ,
and they said unto David ,
Arise ,
and pass quickly over the water ;
for thus hath Achithophel counseled against you .
*
Then did David arise ,
and all the people that were with him ,
and they passed over the Jordan :
by the time the morning was light ,
not even one was lacking who had not passed over the Jordan .
*
And when Achithophel saw that his counsel was not followed ,
he saddled the ass ,
and arose ,
and went home to his house ,
to his city ,
and gave his charge to his household ,
and hanged himself ;
and he died ,
and was buried in the sepulchre of his father .
*
Then came David to Machanayim :
and Abshalom passed over the Jordan ,
he and all the men of Israel with him .
*
And Abshalom placed
Amassa instead of Joab as captain over the army :
and
Amassa was the son of a man ,
whose name was Yithra the Israelite ,
who had gone in to Abigal the daughter of Nachash ,
the sister of Zeruyah Joab
s mother .
*
And Israel and Abshalom encamped in the land of Gil
ad .
*
And it came to pass ,
when David was come to Machanayim ,
that Shobi the son of Nachash of Rabbah of the children of
Ammon ,
and Machir the son of
Ammiel of Lo
debar ,
and Barzillai the Gil
adite of Rogelim ,
*
Brought beds ,
and bowls ,
and earthen vessels ,
and wheat ,
and barley ,
and flour ,
and parched corn ,
and beans ,
and lentils ,
and parched pulse ,
*
And honey ,
and cream ,
and sheep ,
and cow
s cheese ,
for David ,
and for the people that were with him ,
to eat ;
for they said ,
The people are hungry ,
and weary ,
and thirsty ,
in the wilderness .
*
And David numbered the people that were with him ,
and he set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds .
*
And David sent forth the people a third part under the command of Joab ,
and a third part under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruyah ,
Joab
s brother ,
and a third part under the command of Ittai the Gittite .
And the king said unto the people ,
I myself also will without fail go forth with you .
*
But the people said ,
Thou shalt not go forth ;
for if we should have to flee away ,
they will not care for us ;
and if half of us die ,
they will not care for us ;
for now thou art worth ten thousand of us :
therefore now it is better that thou shouldst be a succor to us out of the city .
*
And the king said unto them ,
What seemeth good in your eyes will I do .
And the king placed himself by the side of the gate ,
and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands .
*
And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai ,
saying ,
Deal gently for my sake with the young man ,
with Abshalom .
And all the people heard when the king charged all the captains with respect to Abshalom .
*
So the people went out into the field against Israel :
and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim .
*
And the people of Israel were smitten there before David
s servants ,
and the slaughter was great there on that day
twenty thousand men .
*
And the battle became extended there over the face of all the country :
and the forest devoured yet more of the people than the sword had devoured on that day .
*
And Abshalom happened to come before the servants of David .
And Abshalom was riding upon a mule ,
and the mule came under the thick boughs of a great oak ,
and his head caught hold of the oak ,
and he was left hanging between the heaven and the earth :
and the mule that was under him passed on .
*
And a certain man saw ,
and told it to Joab ,
and said ,
Behold ,
I have seen Abshalom hanging on an oak .
*
And Joab said unto the man that told him ,
And ,
behold ,
thou sawest him :
why then didst thou not smite him there to the ground ?
and it would have been obligatory on me to give thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle .
*
And the man said unto Joab ,
And though I should weigh on my hands a thousand shekels of silver ,
I would not stretch forth my hand against the king
s son ;
for before our ears did the king charge thee and Abishai and Ittai ,
saying ,
Take heed ,
whoever it be ,
of the young man ,
of Abshalom .
*
Or should I even have acted with falsehood against my own life ,
since there is no matter which can be hidden from the king ;
thou wouldst surely have placed thyself aloof .
*
Then said Joab ,
I will not wait thus before thee .
And he took three darts in his hand ,
and thrust them into the heart of Abshalom ,
who was yet alive in the midst of the oak .
*
And ten young men ,
Joab
s armor
bearers ,
encompassed and smote Abshalom ,
and slew him .
*
And Joab blew the cornet ,
and the people returned from pursuing after Israel ;
for Joab restrained the people .
*
And they took Abshalom ,
and cast him down in the forest ,
into the large pit ,
and erected upon him a very great heap of stones :
and all Israel fled ,
every one ,
to his tents .
*
Now Abshalom had taken and reared up for himself in his lifetime ,
the pillar ,
which is in the king
s dale ;
for he said ,
I have no son ,
so as to keep my name in remembrance ;
and he called the pillar after his own name :
and it was called Abshalom
s monument ,
even until this day .
*
And Achima
az the son of Zadok said ,
Do let me run ,
I pray thee ,
and bear the king tidings ,
that the Lord hath done him justice from the power of his enemies .
*
And Joab said unto him ,
Thou art not the man to bear tidings this day ,
and thou shalt bear tidings another day ;
but this day thou shalt bear no tidings ,
because the king
s son is dead .
*
Then said Joab to the Cushi ,
Go tell the king what thou hast seen ,
And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab ,
and ran .
*
Then said Achima
az the son of Zadok yet again to Joab ,
Be it as it may ,
let me ,
I pray thee ,
run also after the Cushi .
And Joab said ,
Wherefore is it that thou wilt run ,
my son ,
seeing that thou hast no profitable tidings ?
*
But be it as it may ,
let me run .
And he said unto him ,
Run .
And Achima
az ran by the way of the plain ,
and passed the Cushi .
*
And David was sitting between the two gates :
and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate ,
upon the wall ,
and as he lifted up his eyes ,
he saw ,
and behold ,
a man was running alone .
*
And the watchman cried ,
and told it to the king .
And the king said ,
If he be alone ,
there are tidings in his mouth .
And he came nearer and nearer continually .
*
And the watchman saw another man running :
and the watchman called unto the gate
keeper ,
and said ,
Behold ,
here is a man running alone .
And the king said ,
Also this one bringeth tidings .
*
And the watchman said ,
I regard the running of the foremost as the running of Achima
az the son of Zadok .
And the king said ,
That is a good man ,
and with good tidings must he come .
*
And Achima
az called ,
and said unto the king ,
Peace .
And he prostrated himself to the king with his face to the earth ,
and said ,
Blessed be the Lord thy God ,
who hath surrendered the men that had lifted up their hand against my Lord the king .
*
And the king said ,
Is the young man Abshalom safe ?
And Achima
az answered ,
I saw the greatest crowd when Joab sent off the king
s servant ,
and thy servant ;
but I know not what hath happened .
*
And the king said ,
Turn aside ,
place thyself here .
And he turned aside ,
and remained standing .
*
And ,
behold ,
the Cushi came ;
and the Cushi said ,
Let my lord the king receive the tidings ,
that the Lord hath done thee justice this day from the power of all those that had risen up against thee .
*
And the king said unto the Cushi ,
Is the young man Abshalom safe ?
And the Cushi answered ,
May like the young man be the enemies of my Lord the king ,
and all that have risen up against thee for evil .
*
*
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