rsv 2Samuel:15-17 SEEK
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After this Ab '
salom got himself a chariot and horses ,
and fifty men to run before him .
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And Ab '
salom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate ;
and when any man had a suit to come before the king for judgment ,
Ab '
salom would call to him ,
and say , "
From what city are you ?"
And when he said , "
Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel ,"
*
Ab '
salom would say to him , "
See ,
your claims are good and right ;
but there is no man deputed by the king to hear you ."
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Ab '
salom said moreover , "
Oh that I were judge in the land !
Then every man with a suit or cause might come to me ,
and I would give him justice ."
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And whenever a man came near to do obeisance to him ,
he would put out his hand ,
and take hold of him ,
and kiss him .
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Thus Ab '
salom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment ;
so Ab '
salom stole the hearts of the men of Israel .
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And at the end of four years Ab '
salom said to the king , "
Pray let me go and pay my vow ,
which I have vowed to the LORD ,
in Hebron .
*
For your servant vowed a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Aram ,
saying , `
If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem ,
then I will offer worship to the LORD .'"
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The king said to him , "
Go in peace ."
So he arose ,
and went to Hebron .
*
But Ab '
salom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel ,
saying , "
As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet ,
then say , `
Ab '
salom is king at Hebron !'"
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With Ab '
salom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests ,
and they went in their simplicity ,
and knew nothing .
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And while Ab '
salom was offering the sacrifices ,
he sent for Ahith '
ophel the Gi '
lonite ,
David '
s counselor ,
from his city Giloh .
And the conspiracy grew strong ,
and the people with Ab '
salom kept increasing .
*
And a messenger came to David ,
saying , "
The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Ab '
salom ."
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Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem , "
Arise ,
and let us flee ;
or else there will be no escape for us from Ab '
salom ;
go in haste ,
lest he overtake us quickly ,
and bring down evil upon us ,
and smite the city with the edge of the sword ."
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And the king '
s servants said to the king , "
Behold ,
your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides ."
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So the king went forth ,
and all his household after him .
And the king left ten concubines to keep the house .
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And the king went forth ,
and all the people after him ;
and they halted at the last house .
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And all his servants passed by him ;
and all the Cher '
ethites ,
and all the Pel '
ethites ,
and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath ,
passed on before the king .
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Then the king said to It '
tai the Gittite , "
Why do you also go with us ?
Go back ,
and stay with the king ;
for you are a foreigner ,
and also an exile from your home .
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You came only yesterday ,
and shall I today make you wander about with us ,
seeing I go I know not where ?
Go back ,
and take your brethren with you ;
and may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you ."
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But It '
tai answered the king , "
As the LORD lives ,
and as my lord the king lives ,
wherever my lord the king shall be ,
whether for death or for life ,
there also will your servant be ."
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And David said to It '
tai , "
Go then ,
pass on ."
So It '
tai the Gittite passed on ,
with all his men and all the little ones who were with him .
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And all the country wept aloud as all the people passed by ,
and the king crossed the brook Kidron ,
and all the people passed on toward the wilderness .
*
And Abi '
athar came up ,
and lo ,
Zadok came also ,
with all the Levites ,
bearing the ark of the covenant of God ;
and they set down the ark of God ,
until the people had all passed out of the city .
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Then the king said to Zadok , "
Carry the ark of God back into the city .
If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD ,
he will bring me back and let me see both it and his habitation ;
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but if he says , `
I have no pleasure in you ,'
behold ,
here I am ,
let him do to me what seems good to him ."
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The king also said to Zadok the priest , "
Look ,
go back to the city in peace ,
you and Abi '
athar ,
with your two sons ,
Ahim '
a-az your son ,
and Jonathan the son of Abi '
athar .
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See ,
I will wait at the fords of the wilderness ,
until word comes from you to inform me ."
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So Zadok and Abi '
athar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem ;
and they remained there .
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But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives ,
weeping as he went ,
barefoot and with his head covered ;
and all the people who were with him covered their heads ,
and they went up ,
weeping as they went .
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And it was told David , "
Ahith '
ophel is among the conspirators with Ab '
salom ."
And David said , "
O LORD ,
I pray thee ,
turn the counsel of Ahith '
ophel into foolishness ."
*
When David came to the summit ,
where God was worshiped ,
behold ,
Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent and earth upon his head .
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David said to him , "
If you go on with me ,
you will be a burden to me .
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But if you return to the city ,
and say to Ab '
salom , `
I will be your servant ,
O king ;
as I have been your father '
s servant in time past ,
so now I will be your servant ,'
then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahith '
ophel .
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Are not Zadok and Abi '
athar the priests with you there ?
So whatever you hear from the king '
s house ,
tell it to Zadok and Abi '
athar the priests .
*
Behold ,
their two sons are with them there ,
Ahim '
a-az ,
Zadok '
s son ,
and Jonathan ,
Abi '
athar '
s son ;
and by them you shall send to me everything you hear ."
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So Hushai ,
David '
s friend ,
came into the city ,
just as Ab '
salom was entering Jerusalem .
*
When David had passed a little beyond the summit ,
Ziba the servant of Mephib '
osheth met him ,
with a couple of asses saddled ,
bearing two hundred loaves of bread ,
a hundred bunches of raisins ,
a hundred of summer fruits ,
and a skin of wine .
*
And the king said to Ziba , "
Why have you brought these ?"
Ziba answered , "
The asses are for the king '
s household to ride on ,
the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat ,
and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink ."
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And the king said , "
And where is your master '
s son ?"
Ziba said to the king , "
Behold ,
he remains in Jerusalem ;
for he said , `
Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father .'"
*
Then the king said to Ziba , "
Behold ,
all that belonged to Mephib '
osheth is now yours ."
And Ziba said , "
I do obeisance ;
let me ever find favor in your sight ,
my lord the king ."
*
When King David came to Bahu '
rim ,
there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul ,
whose name was Shim '
e-i ,
the son of Gera ;
and as he came he cursed continually .
*
And he threw 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 .
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And Shim '
e-i said as he cursed , "
Begone ,
begone ,
you man of blood ,
you worthless fellow !
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The LORD has avenged upon you all the blood of the house of Saul ,
in whose place you have reigned ;
and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Ab '
salom .
See ,
your ruin is on you ;
for you are a man of blood ."
*
Then Abi '
shai the son of Zeru '
iah said to the king , "
Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king ?
Let me go over and take off his head ."
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But the king said , "
What have I to do with you ,
you sons of Zeru '
iah ?
If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him , `
Curse David ,'
who then shall say , `
Why have you done so ?'"
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And David said to Abi '
shai and to all his servants , "
Behold ,
my own son seeks my life ;
how much more now may this Benjaminite !
Let him alone ,
and let him curse ;
for the LORD has bidden him .
*
It may be that the LORD will look upon my affliction ,
and that the LORD will repay me with good for this cursing of me today ."
*
So David and his men went on the road ,
while Shim '
e-i went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went ,
and threw stones at him and flung dust .
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And the king ,
and all the people who were with him ,
arrived weary at the Jordan ;
and there he refreshed himself .
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Now Ab '
salom and all the people ,
the men of Israel ,
came to Jerusalem ,
and Ahith '
ophel with him .
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And when Hushai the Archite ,
David '
s friend ,
came to Ab '
salom ,
Hushai said to Ab '
salom , "
Long live the king !
Long live the king !"
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And Ab '
salom said to Hushai , "
Is this your loyalty to your friend ?
Why did you not go with your friend ?"
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And Hushai said to Ab '
salom , "
No ;
for whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen ,
his I will be ,
and with him I will remain .
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And again ,
whom should I serve ?
Should it not be his son ?
As I have served your father ,
so I will serve you ."
*
Then Ab '
salom said to Ahith '
ophel , "
Give your counsel ;
what shall we do ?"
*
Ahith '
ophel said to Ab '
salom , "
Go in to your father '
s concubines ,
whom he has left to keep the house ;
and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father ,
and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened ."
*
So they pitched a tent for Ab '
salom upon the roof ;
and Ab '
salom went in to his father '
s concubines in the sight of all Israel .
*
Now in those days the counsel which Ahith '
ophel gave was as if one consulted the oracle of God ;
so was all the counsel of Ahith '
ophel esteemed ,
both by David and by Ab '
salom .
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Moreover Ahith '
ophel said to Ab '
salom , "
Let me choose twelve thousand men ,
and I will set out and pursue David tonight .
*
I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged ,
and throw him into a panic ;
and all the people who are with him will flee .
I will strike down the king only ,
*
and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband .
You seek the life of only one man ,
and all the people will be at peace ."
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And the advice pleased Ab '
salom and all the elders of Israel .
*
Then Ab '
salom said , "
Call Hushai the Archite also ,
and let us hear what he has to say ."
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And when Hushai came to Ab '
salom ,
Ab '
salom said to him , "
Thus has Ahith '
ophel spoken ;
shall we do as he advises ?
If not ,
you speak ."
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Then Hushai said to Ab '
salom , "
This time the counsel which Ahith '
ophel has given is not good ."
*
Hushai said moreover , "
You know that your father and his men are mighty men ,
and that they are enraged ,
like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field .
Besides ,
your father is expert in war ;
he will not spend the night with the people .
*
Behold ,
even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits ,
or in some other place .
And when some of the people fall at the first attack ,
whoever hears it will say , `
There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Ab '
salom .'
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Then even the valiant man ,
whose heart is like the heart of a lion ,
will utterly melt with fear ;
for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man ,
and that those who are with him are valiant men .
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But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you ,
from Dan to Beer-sheba ,
as the sand by the sea for multitude ,
and that you go to battle in person .
*
So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found ,
and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground ;
and of him and all the men with him not one will be left .
*
If he withdraws into a city ,
then all Israel will bring ropes to that city ,
and we shall drag it into the valley ,
until not even a pebble is to be found there ."
*
And Ab '
salom and all the men of Israel said , "
The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahith '
ophel ."
For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahith '
ophel ,
so that the LORD might bring evil upon Ab '
salom .
*
Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abi '
athar the priests , "
Thus and so did Ahith '
ophel counsel Ab '
salom and the elders of Israel ;
and thus and so have I counseled .
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Now therefore send quickly and tell David , `
Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness ,
but by all means pass over ;
lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up .'"
*
Now Jonathan and Ahim '
a-az were waiting at En-ro '
gel ;
a maidservant used to go and tell them ,
and they would go and tell King David ;
for they must not be seen entering the city .
*
But a lad saw them ,
and told Ab '
salom ;
so both of them went away quickly ,
and came to the house of a man at Bahu '
rim ,
who had a well in his courtyard ;
and they went down into it .
*
And the woman took and spread a covering over the well '
s mouth ,
and scattered grain upon it ;
and nothing was known of it .
*
When Ab '
salom '
s servants came to the woman at the house ,
they said , "
Where are Ahim '
a-az and Jonathan ?"
And the woman said to them , "
They have gone over the brook of water ."
And when they had sought and could not find them ,
they returned to Jerusalem .
*
After they had gone ,
the men came up out of the well ,
and went and told King David .
They said to David , "
Arise ,
and go quickly over the water ;
for thus and so has Ahith '
ophel counseled against you ."
*
Then David arose ,
and all the people who were with him ,
and they crossed the Jordan ;
by daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan .
*
When Ahith '
ophel saw that his counsel was not followed ,
he saddled his ass ,
and went off home to his own city .
And he set his house in order ,
and hanged himself ;
and he died ,
and was buried in the tomb of his father .
*
Then David came to Mahana '
im .
And Ab '
salom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel .
*
Now Ab '
salom had set Ama '
sa over the army instead of Jo '
ab .
Ama '
sa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ish '
maelite ,
who had married Ab '
igal the daughter of Nahash ,
sister of Zeru '
iah ,
Jo '
ab '
s mother .
*
And Israel and Ab '
salom encamped in the land of Gilead .
*
When David came to Mahana '
im ,
Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites ,
and Machir the son of Am '
miel from Lo-debar ,
and Barzil '
lai the Gileadite from Ro '
gelim ,
*
brought beds ,
basins ,
and earthen vessels ,
wheat ,
barley ,
meal ,
parched grain ,
beans and lentils ,
*
honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd ,
for David and the people with him to eat ;
for they said , "
The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness ."
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Then David mustered the men who were with him ,
and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds .