2Samuel:19
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And it was told to Joab ,
Behold ,
the king weeps and mourns for Absalom .
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And the victory that day was [
turned ]
into mourning to all the people .
For the people heard it said that day how the king was grieved for his son .
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And the people went up secretly into the city that day ,
as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle .
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But the king covered his face ,
and the king cried [
with ]
a loud voice ,
O my son Absalom ,
O Absalom ,
my son ,
my son !
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And Joab came into the house to the king and said ,
You have today shamed the faces of all your servants .
For they have saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters today ,
the lives of your wives ,
and the lives of your concubines .
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By loving your enemies and hating those who love you ,
you have declared today that there are neither commanders nor servants to you .
For I know that today if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today ,
then it would have pleased you very much !
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And now get up and go out .
Speak to the heart of your servants .
For I swear by the LORD [
if ]
you do not go out ,
not a man shall stay with you tonight .
And that will be worse to you than all the evil which has come to you from your youth until now .
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Then the king arose and sat in the gate .
And they told it to the people ,
saying ,
Behold ,
the king sits in the gate !
And all the people came before the king . (
For Israel had fled ,
every one to his tent .)
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And it happened ,
all the people quarreled throughout all the tribes of Israel ,
saying ,
The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies ,
and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines .
And now he has fled out of the land from Absalom .
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And Absalom ,
whom we anointed over us , [
is ]
dead in battle .
And now why do you not speak a word about bringing the king back ?
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And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests ,
saying ,
Speak to the elders of Judah ,
saying ,
Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house ?
For the word of all Israel has come to the king ,
to his house .
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You [
are ]
my brothers ,
and my flesh and my bone .
Why then are you the last to bring back the king ?
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And you say to Amasa , [
Are ]
you not of my bone and of my flesh ?
May God do so to me ,
and more also ,
if you are not commander of the army before me all the days instead of Joab .
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And he bowed [
the heart of ]
all the men of Judah ,
even as one man ,
so that they sent to the king ,
saying ,
Return ,
you and all your servants .
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And the king returned and came to Jordan .
And Judah came to Gilgal to go to meet the king ,
to conduct the king over Jordan .
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And Shimei the son of Gera ,
the Benjamite from Bahurim ,
hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David .
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And a thousand men of Benjamin were with him ,
and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul ,
and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him .
And they went over Jordan before the king .
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And they had crossed over the ford to carry over the king '
s household ,
and to do what he thought good .
And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he had come over Jordan .
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And [
he ]
said to the king ,
Let not my lord charge iniquity to me .
Do not remember the perverse way your servant acted in the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem ,
for the king to take it to his heart .
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For your servant knows that I have sinned .
And ,
behold ,
I come today ,
the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king .
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But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said ,
Shall not Shimei be put to death for this ,
because he cursed the LORD '
s anointed ?
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And David said ,
What do I have to do with you ,
you sons of Zeruiah ,
that you should be my foes today ?
Shall there be [
any ]
man put to death today in Israel ?
For do I not know that I [
am ]
king over Israel today ?
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And the king said to Shimei ,
You shall not die .
And the king swore to him .
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And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king .
And he had neither dressed his feet ,
nor trimmed his moustache ,
nor washed his clothes ,
from the day the king departed until he came in peace .
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And it happened when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king ,
the king said to him ,
Why did you not go with me ,
Mephibosheth ?
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And he answered ,
My lord ,
O ,
king ,
my servant deceived me .
For your servant said ,
I will saddle me an ass so that I may ride on it and go to the king ,
because your servant [
is ]
lame .
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And he spoke slander against your servant to my lord the king .
But my lord the king [
is ]
as an angel of God .
And do [
what is ]
good in your eyes .
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For all my father '
s house were but dead men before my lord the king .
And you set your servant among those eating at your own table .
What right then have I to cry to the king any more ?
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And the king said to him ,
Why do you speak any more of your matters ?
I have said ,
You and Ziba divide the land .
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And Mephibosheth said to the king ,
Yes ,
let him take all ,
because my lord the king has come in peace to his own house .
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And Barzillai of Gilead came down from Rogelim ,
and went over Jordan with the king to conduct him over Jordan .
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And Barzillai was a very aged man ,
eighty years old .
And he had provided food for the king while he abode at Mahanaim ,
for he [
was ]
a very great man .
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And the king said to Barzillai ,
Come over with me and I will sustain you with me in Jerusalem .
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And Barzillai said to the king ,
How long do I have to live ,
that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem ?
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I [
am ]
eighty years old today , [
and ]
can I discern between good and evil ?
Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink ?
Can I any more hear the voice of singing men and singing women ?
Why then should your servant be still a burden to my lord the king ?
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Your servant will go a little [
way ]
over Jordan with the king .
And why should the king repay me with such a reward ?
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Please let your servant return so that I may die in my own city by the grave of my father and of my mother .
But behold your servant Chimham ,
let him go over with my lord the king .
And do to him what shall seem good to you .
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And the king answered ,
Chimham shall go over with me ,
and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you .
And whatever you shall ask of me ,
that I will do for you .
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And all the people went over Jordan .
And when the king had come over ,
the king kissed Barzillai ,
and blessed him .
And he returned to his place .
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And the king went on to Gilgal ,
and Chimham went on with him .
And all the people of Judah were bringing the king ,
and also half the people of Israel .
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And ,
behold ,
all the men of Israel came to the king ,
and said to the king ,
Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away ,
and have brought the king and his household ,
and all David '
s men with him ,
over Jordan ?
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And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel ,
Because the king [
is ]
near to us .
Why then are you angry for this matter ?
Have we eaten at all at the king '
s [
cost ]?
Or has he given us any gift ?
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And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said ,
We have ten parts in the king ,
and we also have more [
right ]
in David than you .
Why then did you despise us ,
so that our advice should not be sought first in bringing back our king ?
And the words of the men of Judah were more fierce than the words of the men of Israel .