2 Samuel 19:40-20:2

New International Reader's Version

⁴⁰ After the king had gone across the river, he went to Gilgal. Kimham had gone across with him. All the troops of Judah and half of the troops of Israel had taken the king across.

⁴¹ Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king. They were saying to him, “Why did the men of Judah take you away from us? They are our relatives. What right did they have to bring you and your family across the Jordan River? What right did they have to bring all your men over with you?”

⁴² All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel. They said, “We did that because the king is our close relative. So why should you be angry about what happened? Have we eaten any of the king’s food? Have we taken anything for ourselves?”

⁴³ Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah. They said, “We have ten of the 12 tribes in the kingdom. So we have a stronger claim on David than you have. Why then are you acting as if you hate us? Weren’t we the first ones to talk about bringing back our king?”

But the men of Judah argued their side even more forcefully than the men of Israel.

Sheba Urges Israel Not to Follow David

20 An evil man who always stirred up trouble happened to be in Gilgal. His name was Sheba, the son of Bikri. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew his trumpet. Then he shouted,

² So all the men of Israel deserted David. They followed Sheba, the son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed with their king. They remained with him from the Jordan River all the way to Jerusalem.