Second Book of Samuel 15

¹ After this, Absalom procured a chariot and horses, with fifty men to run ahead of him.

² He would rise early and stand beside the road leading to the gate; and whenever a man with some lawsuit had to come before the king’s court, Absalom would call out to him and ask, ‘What town are you from?’ He would answer, ‘Your servant is from one of the tribes in Israel’.

³ Then Absalom would say, ‘Look, your case is sound and just, but there is not one deputy of the king’s who will listen to you’.

⁴ Absalom would go on to say, ‘Oh, who will appoint me judge in the land? Then anyone with a lawsuit or a plea could come to me and I would see he had justice.’

⁵ And whenever anyone came up to do homage to him, he would stretch out his hand and take him and kiss him.

⁶ Absalom acted in this way with all the Israelites who came to the king for justice, and so Absalom seduced the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ At the end of four years Absalom said to the king, ‘Allow me to go to Hebron[*a] to fulfil the vow I made to Yahweh;

⁸ for when I was at Geshur in Aram, your servant made this vow: “If Yahweh brings me back to Jerusalem,” I said “I will offer worship to Yahweh in Hebron”.’

⁹ The king said to him, ‘Go in peace’. So he set off and went to Hebron.

¹⁰ Absalom sent couriers throughout the tribes of Israel saying, ‘When you hear the trumpet sound you are to say, “Absalom is king at Hebron!”‘

¹¹ With Absalom there went two hundred men from Jerusalem; they were invited guests and came in all innocence, quite unaware.

¹² Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from Giloh his town, and had him with him while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy grew in strength and Absalom’s supporters grew in number.

¹³ A messenger came to tell David, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.’

¹⁴ So David said to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem, ‘Let us be off, let us fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom. Leave as quickly as you can in case he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us and puts the city to the sword.’

¹⁵ The king’s officers answered, ‘Whatever my lord the king decides, we are at your service’.

¹⁶ The king left on foot with all his household, leaving ten concubines to look after the palace.

¹⁷ The king left on foot with all the people and stopped at the last house.

¹⁸ All his officers stood at his side. All the Cherethites and all the Pelethites, with Ittai and all the six hundred Gittites who had come in his retinue from Gath, marched past the king.

¹⁹ The king said to Ittai the Gittite, ‘You, why are you coming with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner, an exile too from your homeland.

²⁰ You came only yesterday; should I take you wandering today with us, when I do not know myself where I am going? Go back, take your fellow countrymen with you, and may Yahweh show you kindness and faithfulness.’

²¹ But Ittai answered the king, ‘As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, for death or life, there will your servant be too’.

²² So David said to Ittai, ‘Go then, pass on’. And Ittai of Gath passed on with all his men and retinue.

²³ All the people wept aloud. The king took his stand in the wadi Kidron, and all the people marched past him towards the wilderness.

²⁴ Zadok was there too and all the Levites carrying the ark of God. They set down the ark of God beside Abiathar until the people had all passed out of the city.

²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, ‘Take the ark of God back to the city. Should I win the favour of Yahweh, he will bring me back and permit me to see it and its dwelling place again.

²⁶ But should he say, “I take no pleasure in you”, then here I am, let him deal with me as he likes.’

²⁷ The king said to Zadok the priest, ‘Look, you and Abiathar go back in peace to the city, with your two sons, your own son and Jonathan son of Abiathar.

²⁸ I intend to wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you bringing me news.’

²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.

³⁰ David then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up, weeping as they went.

³¹ Then David was told that Ahitophel was among the conspirators with Absalom. David said, ‘Yahweh, turn Ahithophel’s counsels to folly’.

³² As David reached the summit, where God is worshipped, he saw Hushai the Archite, the companion of David, coming to meet him with his tunic torn and with earth on his head.

³³ David said, ‘If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.

³⁴ But if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, “I will be your servant, my lord king; once I was in your father’s service, but now I will serve you”, you will be able to thwart the counsels of Ahithophel for me.

³⁵ Will not the priests Zadok and Abiathar be with you? Anything you hear from the palace you must report to the priests Zadok and Abiathar.

³⁶ With them, you will find, are their two sons, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan; through them you are to send me word of all you hear.’

³⁷ Hushai, the companion of David, re-entered the city just as Absalom was reaching Jerusalem.