2Samuel:18-20
rsv@2Samuel:18:1 @ Then David mustered the men who were with him, and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
rsv@2Samuel:18:2 @ And David sent forth the army, one third under the command of Jo'ab, one third under the command of Abi'shai the son of Zeru'iah, Jo'ab's brother, and one third under the command of It'tai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, "I myself will also go out with you."
rsv@2Samuel:18:3 @ But the men said, "You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore it is better that you send us help from the city."
rsv@2Samuel:18:4 @ The king said to them, "Whatever seems best to you I will do." So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
rsv@2Samuel:18:5 @ And the king ordered Jo'ab and Abi'shai and It'tai, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Ab'salom." And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Ab'salom.
rsv@2Samuel:18:6 @ So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of E'phraim.
rsv@2Samuel:18:7 @ And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.
rsv@2Samuel:18:8 @ The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.
rsv@2Samuel:18:9 @ And Ab'salom chanced to meet the servants of David. Ab'salom was riding upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.
rsv@2Samuel:18:10 @ And a certain man saw it, and told Jo'ab, "Behold, I saw Ab'salom hanging in an oak."
rsv@2Samuel:18:11 @ Jo'ab said to the man who told him, "What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a girdle."
rsv@2Samuel:18:12 @ But the man said to Jo'ab, "Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not put forth my hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abi'shai and It'tai, `For my sake protect the young man Ab'salom.'
rsv@2Samuel:18:13 @ On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof."
rsv@2Samuel:18:14 @ Jo'ab said, "I will not waste time like this with you." And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Ab'salom, while he was still alive in the oak.
rsv@2Samuel:18:15 @ And ten young men, Jo'ab's armor-bearers, surrounded Ab'salom and struck him, and killed him.
rsv@2Samuel:18:16 @ Then Jo'ab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel; for Jo'ab restrained them.
rsv@2Samuel:18:17 @ And they took Ab'salom, and threw him into a great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones; and all Israel fled every one to his own home.
rsv@2Samuel:18:18 @ Now Ab'salom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar which is in the King's Valley, for he said, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance"; he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Ab'salom's monument to this day.
rsv@2Samuel:18:19 @ Then said Ahi'ma-az the son of Zadok, "Let me run, and carry tidings to the king that the LORD has delivered him from the power of his enemies."
rsv@2Samuel:18:20 @ And Jo'ab said to him, "You are not to carry tidings today; you may carry tidings another day, but today you shall carry no tidings, because the king's son is dead."
rsv@2Samuel:18:21 @ Then Jo'ab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed before Jo'ab, and ran.
rsv@2Samuel:18:22 @ Then Ahi'ma-az the son of Zadok said again to Jo'ab, "Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite." And Jo'ab said, "Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the tidings?"
rsv@2Samuel:18:23 @ "Come what may," he said, "I will run." So he said to him, "Run." Then Ahi'ma-az ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.
rsv@2Samuel:18:24 @ Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone.
rsv@2Samuel:18:25 @ And the watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, "If he is alone, there are tidings in his mouth." And he came apace, and drew near.
rsv@2Samuel:18:26 @ And the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gate and said, "See, another man running alone!" The king said, "He also brings tidings."
rsv@2Samuel:18:27 @ And the watchman said, "I think the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahi'ma-az the son of Zadok." And the king said, "He is a good man, and comes with good tidings."
rsv@2Samuel:18:28 @ Then Ahi'ma-az cried out to the king, "All is well." And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth, and said, "Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king."
rsv@2Samuel:18:29 @ And the king said, "Is it well with the young man Ab'salom?" Ahi'ma-az answered, "When Jo'ab sent your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was."
rsv@2Samuel:18:30 @ And the king said, "Turn aside, and stand here." So he turned aside, and stood still.
rsv@2Samuel:18:31 @ And behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, "Good tidings for my lord the king! For the LORD has delivered you this day from the power of all who rose up against you."
rsv@2Samuel:18:32 @ The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Ab'salom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man."
rsv@2Samuel:18:33 @ And the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, "O my son Ab'salom, my son, my son Ab'salom! Would I had died instead of you, O Ab'salom, my son, my son!"
rsv@2Samuel:19:1 @ It was told Jo'ab, "Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Ab'salom."
rsv@2Samuel:19:2 @ So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people heard that day, "The king is grieving for his son."
rsv@2Samuel:19:3 @ And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle.
rsv@2Samuel:19:4 @ The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, "O my son Ab'salom, O Ab'salom, my son, my son!"
rsv@2Samuel:19:5 @ Then Jo'ab came into the house to the king, and said, "You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines,
rsv@2Samuel:19:6 @ because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for today I perceive that if Ab'salom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased.
rsv@2Samuel:19:7 @ Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants; for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night; and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now."
rsv@2Samuel:19:8 @ Then the king arose, and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, "Behold, the king is sitting in the gate"; and all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his own home.
rsv@2Samuel:19:9 @ And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and saved us from the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land from Ab'salom.
rsv@2Samuel:19:10 @ But Ab'salom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:11 @ And King David sent this message to Zadok and Abi'athar the priests, "Say to the elders of Judah, `Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king?
rsv@2Samuel:19:12 @ You are my kinsmen, you are my bone and my flesh; why then should you be the last to bring back the king?'
rsv@2Samuel:19:13 @ And say to Ama'sa, `Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of my army henceforth in place of Jo'ab.'"
rsv@2Samuel:19:14 @ And he swayed the heart of all the men of Judah as one man; so that they sent word to the king, "Return, both you and all your servants."
rsv@2Samuel:19:15 @ So the king came back to the Jordan; and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan.
rsv@2Samuel:19:16 @ And Shim'e-i the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahu'rim, made haste to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David;
rsv@2Samuel:19:17 @ and with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king,
rsv@2Samuel:19:18 @ and they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household, and to do his pleasure. And Shim'e-i the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan,
rsv@2Samuel:19:19 @ and said to the king, "Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; let not the king bear it in mind.
rsv@2Samuel:19:20 @ For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king."
rsv@2Samuel:19:21 @ Abi'shai the son of Zeru'iah answered, "Shall not Shim'e-i be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD'S anointed?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:22 @ But David said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeru'iah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall any one be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:23 @ And the king said to Shim'e-i, "You shall not die." And the king gave him his oath.
rsv@2Samuel:19:24 @ And Mephib'osheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety.
rsv@2Samuel:19:25 @ And when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, "Why did you not go with me, Mephib'osheth?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:26 @ He answered, "My lord, O king, my servant deceived me; for your servant said to him, `Saddle an ass for me, that I may ride upon it and go with the king.' For your servant is lame.
rsv@2Samuel:19:27 @ He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you.
rsv@2Samuel:19:28 @ For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king; but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:29 @ And the king said to him, "Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land."
rsv@2Samuel:19:30 @ And Mephib'osheth said to the king, "Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home."
rsv@2Samuel:19:31 @ Now Barzil'lai the Gileadite had come down from Ro'gelim; and he went on with the king to the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan.
rsv@2Samuel:19:32 @ Barzil'lai was a very aged man, eighty years old; and he had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahana'im; for he was a very wealthy man.
rsv@2Samuel:19:33 @ And the king said to Barzil'lai, "Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem."
rsv@2Samuel:19:34 @ But Barzil'lai said to the king, "How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
rsv@2Samuel:19:35 @ I am this day eighty years old; can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
rsv@2Samuel:19:36 @ Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king recompense me with such a reward?
rsv@2Samuel:19:37 @ Pray let your servant return, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do for him whatever seems good to you."
rsv@2Samuel:19:38 @ And the king answered, "Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you; and all that you desire of me I will do for you."
rsv@2Samuel:19:39 @ Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over; and the king kissed Barzil'lai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home.
rsv@2Samuel:19:40 @ The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; all the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way.
rsv@2Samuel:19:41 @ Then all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, "Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:42 @ All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because the king is near of kin to us. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense? Or has he given us any gift?"
rsv@2Samuel:19:43 @ And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, "We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?" But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
rsv@2Samuel:20:1 @ Now there happened to be there a worthless fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, "We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!"
rsv@2Samuel:20:2 @ So all the men of Israel withdrew from David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
rsv@2Samuel:20:3 @ And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house, and put them in a house under guard, and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.
rsv@2Samuel:20:4 @ Then the king said to Ama'sa, "Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself."
rsv@2Samuel:20:5 @ So Ama'sa went to summon Judah; but he delayed beyond the set time which had been appointed him.
rsv@2Samuel:20:6 @ And David said to Abi'shai, "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Ab'salom; take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself fortified cities, and cause us trouble."
rsv@2Samuel:20:7 @ And there went out after Abi'shai, Jo'ab and the Cher'ethites and the Pel'ethites, and all the mighty men; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
rsv@2Samuel:20:8 @ When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Ama'sa came to meet them. Now Jo'ab was wearing a soldier's garment, and over it was a girdle with a sword in its sheath fastened upon his loins, and as he went forward it fell out.
rsv@2Samuel:20:9 @ And Jo'ab said to Ama'sa, "Is it well with you, my brother?" And Jo'ab took Ama'sa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
rsv@2Samuel:20:10 @ But Ama'sa did not observe the sword which was in Jo'ab's hand; so Jo'ab struck him with it in the body, and shed his bowels to the ground, without striking a second blow; and he died. Then Jo'ab and Abi'shai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.
rsv@2Samuel:20:11 @ And one of Jo'ab's men took his stand by Ama'sa, and said, "Whoever favors Jo'ab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Jo'ab."
rsv@2Samuel:20:12 @ And Ama'sa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And any one who came by, seeing him, stopped; and when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Ama'sa out of the highway into the field, and threw a garment over him.
rsv@2Samuel:20:13 @ When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Jo'ab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
rsv@2Samuel:20:14 @ And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-ma'acah; and all the Bichrites assembled, and followed him in.
rsv@2Samuel:20:15 @ And all the men who were with Jo'ab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-ma'acah; they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and they were battering the wall, to throw it down.
rsv@2Samuel:20:16 @ Then a wise woman called from the city, "Hear! Hear! Tell Jo'ab, `Come here, that I may speak to you.'"
rsv@2Samuel:20:17 @ And he came near her; and the woman said, "Are you Jo'ab?" He answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your maidservant." And he answered, "I am listening."
rsv@2Samuel:20:18 @ Then she said, "They were wont to say in old time, `Let them but ask counsel at Abel'; and so they settled a matter.
rsv@2Samuel:20:19 @ I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel; you seek to destroy a city which is a mother in Israel; why will you swallow up the heritage of the LORD?"
rsv@2Samuel:20:20 @ Jo'ab answered, "Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy!
rsv@2Samuel:20:21 @ That is not true. But a man of the hill country of E'phraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David; give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city." And the woman said to Jo'ab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall."
rsv@2Samuel:20:22 @ Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Jo'ab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Jo'ab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
rsv@2Samuel:20:23 @ Now Jo'ab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benai'ah the son of Jehoi'ada was in command of the Cher'ethites and the Pel'ethites;
rsv@2Samuel:20:24 @ and Ador'am was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehosh'aphat the son of Ahi'lud was the recorder;
rsv@2Samuel:20:25 @ and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abi'athar were priests;
rsv@2Samuel:20:26 @ and Ira the Ja'irite was also David's priest.
rsv@2Samuel:21:1 @ Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, "There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gib'eonites to death."
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