Top of Page
Page Style
this, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 Absalom would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” And when he answered, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king does not have a representative to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed a judge in the land! Then everyone who has a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I see that he gets justice.”
5 Also, whenever a person approached him to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, and take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom did this to every Israelite who came to the king asking for justice, and so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 When four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfil a vow that I made to the Lord. 8 For your servant made this vow when I lived at Gesher in Aram: ‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will worship the Lord in Hebron’.”
9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes in Israel to say: “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then you will say, ‘Absalom has become king at Hebron’.” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went along innocently, suspecting nothing. 12 While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy grew in strength, and the people supporting Absalom continually increased.
13 A messenger came to David and told him, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”
14 Then David said to all of his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Arise quickly! We have to flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry, leave immediately, or he will rapidly overtake us and bring down disaster on us, and strike down the city with the sword.”
15 Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”
16 So the king set out, and all his household followed him. But he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. 17 So the king set out, with all the people following him. They stopped at the last house 18 while all his servants marched past him. Then all of the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him when he returned from Gath, marched before the king.
19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also coming with us? Go back and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own homeland. 20 You came only yesterday, and should I today make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your brothers back with you. May kindness and faithfulness be with you.”
21 But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king will be, whether in death or life, there your servant will also be.”
22 David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march past.” So Ittai the Gittite marched by, with all his men and all the children who were with him.
23 Everyone in the whole countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. The king also crossed over the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.
24 Zadok was also there, and all the Levites who were with him carried the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered up sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.
25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the Ark of God back into the city. If I find favour in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and allow me to see it again in the place where He dwells. 26 But if He says, ‘I do not delight in you’, then I am ready; let Him do to me what seems good to Him.”
27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace with your two sons—your own son Ahimaaz, and Jonathan son of Abiathar. 28 Look, I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.
30 David ascended up the slope of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and he walked barefoot. 31 Now it was reported to David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed,
“O Lord, I pray of You,
turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
32 When David arrived at the summit, where God was worshipped, Hushai the Archite came to meet him, with his robe torn and dust on his head. 33 David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in the past, so I will now also be your servant’, then you can help me by counteracting Ahithophel’s advice. 35 Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar also be there with you? So tell them anything you hear in the king’s palace. 36 Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathon son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to tell me anything you hear.”
37 So Hushai, David’s friend, arrived at Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.