King David (Samuel-Kings)

Chapter 1

¹After the death of Saul—David had already returned from defeating the Amalekites—David stayed two days in Ziklag. ²On the third day, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes rent and earth on his head; and as he approached David, he flung himself to the ground and bowed low. ³David said to him, “Where are you coming from?” He answered, “I have just escaped from the camp of Israel.” ⁴“What happened?” asked David. “Tell me!” And he told him how the troops had fled the battlefield, and that, moreover, many of the troops had fallen and died; also that Saul and his son Jonathan were dead. ⁵“How do you know,” David asked the young man who brought him the news, “that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶The young man who brought him the news answered, “I happened to be at Mount Gilboa, and I saw Saul leaning on his spear, and the chariots and horsemen closing in on him. ⁷He looked around and saw me, and he called to me. When I responded, ‘At your service,’ ⁸he asked me, ‘Who are you?’ And I told him that I was an Amalekite. ⁹Then he said to me, ‘Stand over me, and finish me off, for I am in agony and am barely alive.’ ¹⁰So I stood over him and finished him off, for I knew that he would never rise from where he was lying. Then I took the crown from his head and the armlet from his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹David took hold of his clothes and rent them, and so did all the men with him. ¹²They lamented and wept, and they fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the soldiers of the Lord and the House of Israel who had fallen by the sword. ¹³David said to the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴“How did you dare,” David said to him, “to lift your hand and kill the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵Thereupon David called one of the attendants and said to him, “Come over and strike him!” He struck him down and he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, “Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I put the Lord’s anointed to death.’” [ . . . ]

Chapter 4

¹When [Ish-bosheth] son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart and all Israel was alarmed. ²The son of Saul [had] two company commanders, one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite—Benjaminites, since Beeroth too was considered part of Benjamin. ³The Beerothites had fled to Gittaim, where they have sojourned to this day. (⁴Jonathan son of Saul had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse picked him up and fled; but as she was fleeing in haste, he fell and was lamed. His name was Mephibosheth.) ⁵Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rim-mon the Beerothite, started out, and they reached the home of Ish-bosheth at the heat of the day, when he was taking his midday rest. ⁶So they went inside the house, as though fetching wheat, and struck him in the belly. Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped by, ⁷and entered the house while he was asleep on his bed in his bedchamber; and they stabbed him to death. They cut off his head and took his head and made their way all night through the Arabah. ⁸They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron. “Here,” they said to the king, “is the head of your enemy, Ish-bosheth son of Saul, who sought your life. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king upon Saul and his offspring.”

⁹But David answered Rechab and his brother Baa-nah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has rescued me from every trouble: ¹⁰The man who told me in Ziklag that Saul was dead thought he was bringing good news. But instead of rewarding him for the news, I seized and killed him. ¹¹How much more, then, when wicked men have killed a blameless man in bed in his own house! I will certainly avenge his blood on you, and I will rid the earth of you.” ¹²David gave orders to the young men, who killed them; they cut off their hands and feet and hung them up by the pool in Hebron. And they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

Chapter 5

¹All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. ²Long before now, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel in war; and the Lord said to you: You shall shepherd My people Israel; you shall be ruler of Israel.” ³All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a pact with them in Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

⁶The king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the region. David was told, “You will never get in here! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back.” (They meant: David will never enter here.) ⁷But David captured the stronghold of Zion; it is now the City of David. ⁸On that occasion David said, “Those who attack the Jebusites shall reach the water channel and [strike down] the lame and the blind, who are hateful to David.” That is why they say: “No one who is blind or lame may enter the House.”

⁹David occupied the stronghold and renamed it the City of David; David also fortified the surrounding area, from the Millo inward. ¹⁰David kept growing stronger, for the Lord, the God of Hosts, was with him.

¹¹King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons; and they built a palace for David. ¹²Thus David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingship for the sake of His people Israel.

¹³After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon; ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, and Japhia; ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, the Philistines marched up in search of David; but David heard of it, and he went down to the fastness. ¹⁸The Philistines came and spread out over the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hands?” And the Lord answered David, “Go up, and I will deliver the Philistines into your hands.” ²⁰Thereupon David marched to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me as waters break through [a dam].” That is why that place was named Baal-perazim. ²¹The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

²²Once again the Philistines marched up and spread out over the Valley of Rephaim. ²³David inquired of the Lord, and He answered, “Do not go up, but circle around behind them and confront them at the baca trees. ²⁴And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baca trees, then go into action, for the Lord will be going in front of you to attack the Philistine forces.” ²⁵David did as the Lord had commanded him; and he routed the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.

Chapter 6

¹David again assembled all the picked men of Israel, thirty thousand strong. ²Then David and all the troops that were with him set out from Baalim of Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God to which the Name was attached, the name Lord of Hosts Enthroned on the Cherubim.

³They loaded the Ark of God onto a new cart and conveyed it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Abinadab’s sons, Uzza and Ahio, guided the new cart. ⁴They conveyed it from Abinadab’s house on the hill, [Uzzah walking] alongside the Ark of God and Ahio walking in front of the Ark. ⁵Meanwhile, David and all the House of Israel danced before the Lord to [the sound of] all kinds of cypress wood [instruments], with lyres, harps, timbrels, sistrums, and cymbals.

⁶But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and grasped it, for the oxen had stumbled. ⁷The Lord was incensed at Uzzah. And God struck him down on the spot for his indiscretion, and he died there beside the Ark of God. ⁸David was distressed because the Lord had inflicted a breach upon Uzzah; and that place was named Perez-uzzah, as it is still called.

⁹David was afraid of the Lord that day; he said, “How can I let the Ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰So David would not bring the Ark of the Lord to his place in the City of David; instead, David diverted it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹The Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole household.

¹²It was reported to King David: “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s house and all that belongs to him because of the Ark of God.” Thereupon David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David, amid rejoicing. ¹³When the bearers of the Ark of the Lord had moved forward six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. ¹⁴David whirled with all his might before the Lord; David was girt with a linen ephod. ¹⁵Thus David and all the House of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts and with blasts of the horn.

¹⁶As the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him for it.

¹⁷They brought in the Ark of the Lord and set it up in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. ¹⁸When David finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and the offerings of wellbeing, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts. ¹⁹And he distributed among all the people—the entire multitude of Israel, man and woman alike—to each a loaf of bread, a cake made in a pan, and a raisin cake. Then all the people left for their homes.

²⁰David went home to greet his household. And Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “Didn’t the king of Israel do himself honor today—exposing himself today in the sight of the slavegirls of his subjects, as one of the riffraff might expose himself!” ²¹David answered Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father and all his family and appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel! I will dance before the Lord ²²and dishonor myself even more, and be low in my own esteem; but among the slavegirls that you speak of I will be honored.” ²³So to her dying day Michal daughter of Saul had no children.

Chapter 7

¹When the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had granted him safety from all the enemies around him, ²the king said to the prophet Nathan: “Here I am dwelling in a house of cedar, while the Ark of the Lord abides in a tent!” ³Nathan said to the king, “Go and do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵“Go and say to My servant David: Thus said the Lord: Are you the one to build a house for Me to dwell in? ⁶From the day that I brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day I have not dwelt in a house, but have moved about in Tent and Tabernacle. ⁷As I moved about wherever the Israelites went, did I ever reproach any of the tribal leaders whom I appointed to care for My people Israel: Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?

⁸“Further, say thus to My servant David: Thus said the Lord of Hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be ruler of My people Israel, ⁹and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut down all your enemies before you. Moreover, I will give you great renown like that of the greatest men on earth. ¹⁰I will establish a home for My people Israel and will plant them firm, so that they shall dwell secure and shall tremble no more. Evil men shall not oppress them any more as in the past, ¹¹ever since I appointed chieftains over My people Israel. I will give you safety from all your enemies.

“The Lord declares to you that He, the Lord, will establish a house^a for you. ¹²When your days are done and you lie with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own issue, and I will establish his kingship. ¹³He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. ¹⁴I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will chastise him with the rod of men and the affliction of mortals; ¹⁵but I will never withdraw My favor from him as I withdrew it from Saul, whom I removed to make room for you. ¹⁶Your house and your kingship shall ever be secure before you; your throne shall be established forever.”

¹⁷Nathan spoke to David in accordance with all these words and all this prophecy. ¹⁸Then King David came and sat before the Lord, and he said, “What am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that You have brought me thus far? ¹⁹Yet even this, O Lord God, has seemed too little to You; for You have spoken of Your servant’s house also for the future. May that be the law for the people, O Lord God. ²⁰What more can David say to You? You know Your servant, O Lord God. ²¹For Your word’s sake and of Your own accord You have wrought this great thing, and made it known to Your servant. ²²You are great indeed, O Lord God! There is none like You and there is no other God but You, as we have always heard. ²³And who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation on earth, whom God went and redeemed as His people, winning renown for Himself and doing great and marvelous deeds for them [and] for Your land—[driving out] nations and their gods before Your people, whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt. ²⁴You have established Your people Israel as Your very own people forever; and You, O Lord, have become their God.

²⁵“And now, O Lord God, fulfill Your promise to Your servant and his house forever; and do as You have promised. ²⁶And may Your name be glorified forever, in that men will say, ‘The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷Because You, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed to Your servant that You will build a house for him, Your servant has ventured to offer this prayer to You. ²⁸And now, O Lord God, You are God and Your words will surely come true, and You have made this gracious promise to Your servant. ²⁹Be pleased, therefore, to bless Your servant’s house, that it abide before You forever; for You, O Lord God, have spoken. May Your servant’s house be blessed forever by Your blessing.” [ . . . ]

Chapter 11

¹At the turn of the year, the season when kings go out [to battle], David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him, and they devastated Ammon and besieged Rabbah; David remained in Jerusalem. ²Late one afternoon, David rose from his couch and strolled on the roof of the royal palace; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³and the king sent someone to make inquiries about the woman. He reported, “She is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam [and] wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴David sent messengers to fetch her; she came to him and he lay with her—she had just purified herself after her period—and she went back home. ⁵The woman conceived, and she sent word to David, “I am pregnant.” ⁶Thereupon David sent a message to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me”; and Joab sent Uriah to David.

⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab and the troops were faring and how the war was going. ⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.” When Uriah left the royal palace, a present from the king followed him. ⁹But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace, along with the other officers of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰When David was told that Uriah had not gone down to his house, he said to Uriah, “You just came from a journey; why didn’t you go down to your house?” ¹¹Uriah answered David, “The Ark and Israel and Judah are located at Succoth, and my master Joab and Your Majesty’s men are camped in the open; how can I go home and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As you live, by your very life, I will not do this!” ¹²David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you off.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. The next day, ¹³David summoned him, and he ate and drank with him until he got him drunk; but in the evening, [Uriah] went out to sleep in the same place, with his lord’s officers; he did not go down to his home.

¹⁴In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, which he sent with Uriah. ¹⁵He wrote in the letter as follows: “Place Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest; then fall back so that he may be killed.” ¹⁶So when Joab was besieging the city, he stationed Uriah at the point where he knew that there were able warriors. ¹⁷The men of the city sallied out and attacked Joab, and some of David’s officers among the troops fell; Uriah the Hittite was among those who died.

¹⁸Joab sent a full report of the battle to David. ¹⁹He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish reporting to the king all about the battle, ²⁰the king may get angry and say to you, ‘Why did you come so close to the city to attack it? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who struck down Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall at Thebez, from which he died? Why did you come so close to the wall?’ Then say: ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite was among those killed.’”

²²The messenger set out; he came and told David all that Joab had sent him to say. ²³The messenger said to David, “First the men prevailed against us and sallied out against us into the open; then we drove them back up to the entrance to the gate. ²⁴But the archers shot at your men from the wall and some of Your Majesty’s men fell; your servant Uriah the Hittite also fell.” ²⁵Where-upon David said to the messenger, “Give Joab this message: ‘Do not be distressed about the matter. The sword always takes its toll. Press your attack on the city and destroy it!’ Encourage him!”

²⁶When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she lamented over her husband. ²⁷After the period of mourning was over, David sent and had her brought into his palace; she became his wife and she bore him a son.

Chapter 12

But the Lord was displeased with what David had done, ¹and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich and one poor. ²The rich man had very large flocks and herds, ³but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He tended it and it grew up together with him and his children: it used to share his morsel of bread, drink from his cup, and nestle in his bosom; it was like a daughter to him. ⁴One day, a traveler came to the rich man, but he was loath to take anything from his own flocks or herds to prepare a meal for the guest who had come to him; so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵David flew into a rage against the man, and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶He shall pay for the lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and showed no pity.” ⁷And Nathan said to David, “That man is you! Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘It was I who anointed you king over Israel and it was I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. ⁸I gave you your master’s house and possession of your master’s wives; and I gave you the House of Israel and Judah; and if that were not enough, I would give you twice as much more. ⁹Why then have you flouted the command of the Lord and done what displeases Him? You have put Uriah the Hittite to the sword; you took his wife and made her your wife and had him killed by the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰There-fore the sword shall never depart from your House— because you spurned Me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite and making her your wife.’ ¹¹Thus said the Lord: ‘I will make a calamity rise against you from within your own house; I will take your wives and give them to another man before your very eyes and he shall sleep with your wives under this very sun. ¹²You acted in secret, but I will make this happen in the sight of all Israel and in broad daylight.’”

¹³David said to Nathan, “I stand guilty before the Lord!” And Nathan replied to David, “The Lord has remitted your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴However, since you have spurned the enemies of the Lord by this deed, even the child about to be born to you shall die.”

¹⁵Nathan went home, and the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and it became critically ill. ¹⁶David entreated God for the boy; David fasted, and he went in and spent the night lying on the ground. ¹⁷The senior servants of his household tried to induce him to get up from the ground; but he refused, nor would he partake of food with them. ¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell David that the child was dead; for they said, “We spoke to him when the child was alive and he wouldn’t listen to us; how can we tell him that the child is dead? He might do something terrible.” ¹⁹When David saw his servants talking in whispers, David understood that the child was dead; David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “Yes,” they replied.

²⁰Thereupon David rose from the ground; he bathed and anointed himself, and he changed his clothes. He went into the House of the Lord and prostrated himself. Then he went home and asked for food, which they set before him, and he ate. ²¹His courtiers asked him, “Why have you acted in this manner? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but now that the child is dead, you rise and take food!” ²²He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought: ‘Who knows? The Lord may have pity on me, and the child may live.’ ²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will never come back to me.”

²⁴David consoled his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and lay with her. She bore a son and she named him Solomon. The Lord favored him, ²⁵and He sent a message through the prophet Nathan; and he was named Jedidiah at the instance of the Lord.

²⁶Joab attacked Rabbah of Ammon and captured the royal city. ²⁷Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have attacked Rabbah and I have already captured the water city. ²⁸Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it; otherwise I will capture the city myself, and my name will be connected with it.” ²⁹David mustered all the troops and marched on Rab-bah, and he attacked it and captured it. ³⁰The crown was taken from the head of their king and it was placed on David’s head—it weighed a talent of gold, and [on it] were precious stones. He also carried off a vast amount of booty from the city. ³¹He led out the people who lived there and set them to work with saws, iron threshing boards, and iron axes, or assigned them to brickmak-ing; David did this to all the towns of Ammon. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

Chapter 13

¹This happened sometime afterward: Absalom son of David had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and Am-non son of David became infatuated with her. ²Amnon was so distraught because of his [half-]sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. ³Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimah; Jonadab was a very clever man. ⁴He asked him, “Why are you so dejected, O prince, morning after morning? Tell me!” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom!” ⁵Jona-dab said to him, “Lie down in your bed and pretend you are sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in front of me, so that I may look on, and let her serve it to me.’”

⁶Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. The king came to see him, and Amnon said to the king, “Let my sister Tamar come and prepare a couple of cakes in front of me, and let her bring them to me.” ⁷David sent a message to Tamar in the palace, “Please go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” ⁸Tamar went to the house of her brother Am-non, who was in bed. She took dough and kneaded it into cakes in front of him, and cooked the cakes. ⁹She took the pan and set out [the cakes], but Amnon refused to eat and ordered everyone to withdraw. After everyone had withdrawn, ¹⁰Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food inside and feed me.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them to her brother inside. ¹¹But when she served them to him, he caught hold of her and said to her, “Come lie with me, sister.” ¹²But she said to him, “Don’t, brother. Don’t force me. Such things are not done in Israel! Don’t do such a vile thing! ¹³Where will I carry my shame? And you, you will be like any of the scoundrels in Israel! Please, speak to the king; he will not refuse me to you.” ¹⁴But he would not listen to her; he overpowered her and lay with her by force.

¹⁵Then Amnon felt a very great loathing for her; indeed, his loathing for her was greater than the passion he had felt for her. And Amnon said to her, “Get out!” ¹⁶She pleaded with him, “Please don’t commit this wrong; to send me away would be even worse than the first wrong you committed against me.” But he would not listen to her. ¹⁷He summoned his young attendant and said, “Get that woman out of my presence, and bar the door behind her.”—¹⁸She was wearing an ornamented tunic, for maiden princesses were customarily dressed in such garments.—His attendant took her outside and barred the door after her. ¹⁹Tamar put dust on her head and rent the ornamented tunic she was wearing; she put her hands on her head, and walked away, screaming loudly as she went. ²⁰Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was it your brother Amnon who did this to you? For the present, sister, keep quiet about it; he is your brother. Don’t brood over the matter.” And Tamar remained in her brother Absalom’s house, forlorn. ²¹When King David heard about all this, he was greatly upset. ²²Absalom didn’t utter a word to Amnon, good or bad; but Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.

²³Two years later, when Absalom was having his flocks sheared at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, Absalom invited all the king’s sons. ²⁴And Absalom came to the king and said, “Your servant is having his flocks sheared. Would Your Majesty and your retinue accompany your servant?” ²⁵But the king answered Absalom, “No, my son. We must not all come, or we’ll be a burden to you.” He urged him, but he would not go, and he said good-bye to him. ²⁶Thereupon Absalom said, “In that case, let my brother Amnon come with us,” to which the king replied, “He shall not go with you.” ²⁷But Absalom urged him, and he sent with him Amnon and all the other princes.

²⁸Now Absalom gave his attendants these orders: “Watch, and when Amnon is merry with wine and I tell you to strike down Amnon, kill him! Don’t be afraid, for it is I who give you the order. Act with determination, like brave men!” ²⁹Absalom’s attendants did to Amnon as Absalom had ordered; whereupon all the other princes mounted their mules and fled. ³⁰They were still on the road when a rumor reached David that Absalom had killed all the princes, and that not one of them had survived. ³¹At this, David rent his garment and lay down on the ground, and all his courtiers stood by with their clothes rent. ³²But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimah, said, “My lord must not think that all the young princes have been killed. Only Am-non is dead; for this has been decided by Absalom ever since his sister Tamar was violated. ³³So my lord the king must not think for a moment that all the princes are dead; Amnon alone is dead.”

³⁴Meanwhile Absalom had fled.

The watchman on duty looked up and saw a large crowd coming from the road to his rear, from the side of the hill. ³⁵Jonadab said to the king, “See, the princes have come! It is just as your servant said.” ³⁶As he finished speaking, the princes came in and broke into weeping; and David and all his courtiers wept bitterly, too.

³⁷Absalom had fled, and he came to Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And [King David] mourned over his son a long time. ³⁸Absalom, who had fled to Geshur, remained there three years. ³⁹And King David was pining away for Absalom, for [the king] had gotten over Amnon’s death. [ . . . ]

Chapter 15

¹Sometime afterward, Absalom provided himself with a chariot, horses, and fifty outrunners. ²Absalom used to rise early and stand by the road to the city gates; and whenever a man had a case that was to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” And when he answered, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe in Israel,” ³Absalom would say to him, “It is clear that your claim is right and just, but there is no one assigned to you by the king to hear it.” ⁴And Absalom went on, “If only I were appointed judge in the land and everyone with a legal dispute came before me, I would see that he got his rights.” ⁵And if a man approached to bow to him, [Absalom] would extend his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶Absalom did this to every Israelite who came to the king for judgment. Thus Absalom won away the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷After a period of forty years had gone by, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow that I made to the Lord. ⁸For your servant made a vow when I lived in Geshur of Aram: If the Lord ever brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord.” ⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace”; and so he set out for Hebron.

¹⁰But Absalom sent agents to all the tribes of Israel to say, “When you hear the blast of the horn, announce that Absalom has become king in Hebron.” ¹¹Two hundred men of Jerusalem accompanied Absalom; they were invited and went in good faith, suspecting nothing. ¹²Absalom also sent [to fetch] Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his town, Giloh, when the sacrifices were to be offered. The conspiracy gained strength, and the people supported Absalom in increasing numbers.

¹³Someone came and told David, “The loyalty of the men of Israel has veered toward Absalom.” ¹⁴Where-upon David said to all the courtiers who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let us flee at once, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must get away quickly, or he will soon overtake us and bring down disaster upon us and put the city to the sword.” ¹⁵The king’s courtiers said to the king, “Whatever our lord the king decides, your servants are ready.” ¹⁶So the king left, followed by his entire household, except for ten concubines whom the king left to mind the palace.

¹⁷The king left, followed by all the people, and they stopped at the last house. ¹⁸All his followers marched past him, including all the Cherethites and all the Pele-thites; and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had accompanied him from Gath, also marched by the king. ¹⁹And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you too go with us? Go back and stay with the [new] king, for you are a foreigner and you are also an exile from your country. ²⁰You came only yesterday; should I make you wander about with us today, when I myself must go wherever I can? Go back, and take your kinsmen with you, [in] true faithfulness.” ²¹Ittai replied to the king, “As the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, there your servant will be, whether for death or for life!” ²²And David said to Ittai, “Then march by.” And Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the children who were with him marched by.

²³The whole countryside wept aloud as the troops marched by. The king crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the troops crossed by the road to the wilderness. ²⁴Then Zadok appeared, with all the Levites carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God; and they set down the Ark of God until all the people had finished marching out of the city. Abiathar also came up. ²⁵But the king said to Zadok, “Take the Ark of God back to the city. If I find favor with the Lord, He will bring me back and let me see it and its abode. ²⁶And if He should say, ‘I do not want you,’ I am ready; let Him do with me as He pleases.” ²⁷And the king said to the priest Zadok, “Do you understand? You return to the safety of the city with your two sons, your own son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. ²⁸Look, I shall linger in the steppes of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹Zadok and Abiathar brought the Ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they stayed there.

³⁰David meanwhile went up the slope of the [Mount of] Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he walked barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they went up. ³¹David [was] told that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom, and he prayed, “Please, O Lord, frustrate Ahithophel’s counsel!”

³²When David reached the top, where people would prostrate themselves to God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him, with his robe torn and with earth on his head. ³³David said to him, “If you march on with me, you will be a burden to me. ³⁴But if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; I was your father’s servant formerly, and now I will be yours,’ then you can nullify Ahithophel’s counsel for me. ³⁵You will have the priests Zadok and Abia-thar there, and you can report everything that you hear in the king’s palace to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. ³⁶Also, their two sons are there with them, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan; and through them you can report to me everything you hear.” ³⁷And so Hushai, the friend of David, reached the city as Absalom was entering Jerusalem. [ . . . ]

Chapter 18

¹David mustered the troops who were with him and set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds. ²David sent out the troops, one-third under the command of Joab, one-third under the command of Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and one-third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And David said to the troops, “I myself will march out with you.” ³But the troops replied, “No! For if some of us flee, the rest will not be concerned about us; even if half of us should die, the others will not be concerned about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore, it is better for you to support us from the town.” ⁴And the king said to them, “I will do whatever you think best.”

So the king stood beside the gate as all the troops marched out by their hundreds and thousands. ⁵The king gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “Deal gently with my boy Absalom, for my sake.” All the troops heard the king give the order about Absalom to all the officers.

⁶The troops marched out into the open to confront the Israelites, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷The Israelite troops were routed by David’s followers, and a great slaughter took place there that day—twenty thousand men. ⁸The battle spread out over that whole region, and the forest devoured more troops that day than the sword.

⁹Absalom encountered some of David’s followers. Absalom was riding on a mule, and as the mule passed under the tangled branches of a great terebinth, his hair got caught in the terebinth; he was held between heaven and earth as the mule under him kept going. ¹⁰One of the men saw it and told Joab, “I have just seen Absalom hanging from a terebinth.” ¹¹Joab said to the man who told him, “You saw it! Why didn’t you kill him then and there? I would have owed you ten shekels of silver and a belt.” ¹²But the man answered Joab, “Even if I had a thousand shekels of silver in my hands, I would not raise a hand against the king’s son. For the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai in our hearing, ‘Watch over my boy Absalom, for my sake.’ ¹³If I betrayed myself— and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have stood aloof.” ¹⁴Joab replied, “Then I will not wait for you.” He took three darts in his hand and drove them into Absalom’s chest. [Absalom] was still alive in the thick growth of the terebinth, ¹⁵when ten of Joab’s young arms-bearers closed in and struck at Absalom until he died. ¹⁶Then Joab sounded the horn, and the troops gave up their pursuit of the Israelites; for Joab held the troops in check. ¹⁷They took Absalom and flung him into a large pit in the forest, and they piled up a very great heap of stones over it. Then all the Israelites fled to their homes.—¹⁸Now Absalom, in his life-time, had taken the pillar which is in the Valley of the King and set it up for himself; for he said, “I have no son to keep my name alive.” He had named the pillar after himself, and it has been called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

¹⁹Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and report to the king that the Lord has vindicated him against his enemies.” ²⁰But Joab said to him, “You shall not be the one to bring tidings today. You may bring tidings some other day, but you’ll not bring any today; for the king’s son is dead!” ²¹And Joab said to a Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and ran off. ²²But Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “No matter what, let me run, too, behind the Cushite.” Joab asked, “Why should you run, my boy, when you have no news worth telling?” ²³“I am going to run anyway.” “Then run,” he said. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the Plain, and he passed the Cushite.

²⁴David was sitting between the two gates.^b The watchman on the roof of the gate walked over to the city wall. He looked up and saw a man running alone. ²⁵The watchman called down and told the king; and the king said, “If he is alone, he has news to report.” As he was coming nearer, ²⁶the watchman saw another man running; and he called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running alone.” And the king said, “That one, too, brings news.” ²⁷The watchman said, “I can see that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok”; to which the king replied, “He is a good man, and he comes with good news.” ²⁸Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “All is well!” He bowed low with his face to the ground and said, “Praised be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” ²⁹The king asked, “Is my boy Absalom safe?” And Ahimaaz answered, “I saw a large crowd when Your Majesty’s servant Joab was sending your servant off, but I don’t know what it was about.” ³⁰The king said, “Step aside and stand over there”; he stepped aside and waited.

³¹Just then the Cushite came up; and the Cushite said, “Let my lord the king be informed that the Lord has vindicated you today against all who rebelled against you!” ³²The king asked the Cushite, “Is my boy Absalom safe?” And the Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rose against you to do you harm fare like that young man!”

Chapter 19

^1cThe king was shaken. He went up to the upper chamber of the gateway and wept, moaning these words as he went,^d “My son Absalom! O my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

²Joab was told that the king was weeping and mourning over Absalom. ³And the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops, for that day the troops heard that the king was grieving over his son. ⁴The troops stole into town that day like troops ashamed after running away in battle. ⁵The king covered his face and the king kept crying aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁶Joab came to the king in his quarters and said, “Today you have humiliated all your followers, who this day saved your life, and the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines, ⁷by showing love for those who hate you and hate for those who love you. For you have made clear today that the officers and men mean nothing to you. I am sure that if Absalom were alive today and the rest of us dead, you would have preferred it. ⁸Now arise, come out and placate your followers! For I swear by the Lord that if^e you do not come out, not a single man will remain with you overnight; and that would be a greater disaster for you than any disaster that has befallen you from your youth until now.” ⁹So the king arose and sat down in the gateway; and when all the troops were told that the king was sitting in the gateway, all the troops presented themselves to the king.

Now the Israelites had fled to their homes. ¹⁰All the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing: Some said, “The king saved us from the hands of our enemies, and he delivered us from the hands of the Philistines; and just now he had to flee the country because of Absalom. ¹¹But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle; why then do you sit idle instead of escorting the king back?” ¹²The talk of all Israel reached the king in his quarters. So King David sent this message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Speak to the elders of Judah and say, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace? ¹³You are my kinsmen, my own flesh and blood! Why should you be the last to escort the king back?’ ¹⁴And to Amasa say this, ‘You are my own flesh and blood. May God do thus and more to me if you do not become my army commander permanently in place of Joab!’” ¹⁵So [Amasa] swayed the hearts of all the Judites as one man; and they sent a message to the king: “Come back with all your followers.”

¹⁶The king started back and arrived at the Jordan; and the Judites went to Gilgal to meet the king and to conduct the king across the Jordan. ¹⁷Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried down with the Judites to meet King David, ¹⁸accompanied by a thousand Benjaminites. ^fAnd Ziba, the servant of the House of Saul, together with his fifteen sons and twenty slaves, rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king ¹⁹while the crossing was being made, to escort the king’s family over, and to do whatever he wished. Shimei son of Gera flung himself before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan. ²⁰He said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty, and do not remember the wrong your servant committed on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; let Your Majesty give it no thought. ²¹For your servant knows that he has sinned; so here I have come down today, the first of all the House of Joseph, to meet my lord the king.” ²²Thereupon Abishai son of Zeruiah spoke up, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for that—insulting the Lord’s anointed?” ²³But David said, ^g“What has this to do with you,^gyou sons of Zeruiah, that you should cross me today? Should a single Israelite be put to death today? Don’t I^h know that today I am again king over Israel?” ²⁴Then the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die”; and the king gave him his oath.

²⁵Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul, also came down to meet the king. He had not pared his toenails, or trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day that the king left until the day he returned safe. ²⁶When he came [from] Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you come with me, Mephibosheth?” ²⁷He replied, “My lord the king, my own servant deceived me. Your servant planned to saddle his ass and ride on it and go with Your Majesty—for your servant is lame. ²⁸[Ziba] has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of the Lord; do as you see fit. ²⁹For all the members of my father’s family deserved only death from my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your table. What right have I to appeal further to Your Majesty?” ³⁰The king said to him, “You need not speak further. I decree that you and Ziba shall divide the property.” ³¹And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take it all, as long as my lord the king has come home safe.”

³²Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelin and passed on to the Jordan with the king, to see him off at the Jordan. ³³Barzillai was very old, eighty years of age; and he had provided the king with food during his stay at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. ³⁴The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you in Jerusalem at my side.” ³⁵But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years are left to me that I should go up with Your Majesty to Jerusalem? ³⁶I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between good and bad? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still listen to the singing of men and women? Why then should your servant continue to be a burden to my lord the king? ³⁷Your servant could barely cross the Jordan with your Majesty! Why should Your Majesty reward me so generously? ³⁸Let your servant go back, and let me die in my own town, near the graves of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross with my lord the king, and do for him as you see fit.” ³⁹And the king said, “Chimham shall cross with me, and I will do for him as you see fit; and anything you want me to do, I will do for you.”

⁴⁰All the troops crossed the Jordan; and when the king was ready to cross, the king kissed Barzillai and bade him farewell; and [Barzillai] returned to his home. ⁴¹The king passed on to Gilgal, with Chimham accompanying him; and all the Judite soldiers and part of the Israelite army escorted the king across.

⁴²Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why did our kinsmen, the men of Judah, steal you away and escort the king and his family across the Jordan, along with all David’s men?” ⁴³All the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “Because the king is our relative! Why should this upset you? Have we consumed anything that belongs to the king? Has he given us any gifts?” ⁴⁴But the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David, too, we have more than you. Why then have you slighted us? Were we not the first to propose that our king be brought back?” However, the men of Judah prevailed over the men of Israel.