² Absalom would get up early and stand beside the road by the gatehouse. Absalom would call out to every man who had a legal issue to bring before the king for judgment, and he would say, “What city are you from?” The person would say, “Your servant is from such-and-such of the tribes of Israel.”

³ Absalom would say to him, “Your claims are good and valid, but there is no one from the king to listen to you.”