2 Samuel 17-21
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
17 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me choose 12,000 men and I will set out and pursue David this night.
2 I will come upon him while he is exhausted and weak, and cause him to panic; all the people with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king alone.
3 I will bring back all the people to you. [The removal of] the man whom you seek is the assurance that all will return; and all the people will be at peace.
4 And what he said pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel.
5 Absalom said, Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he says.
6 When Hushai came, Absalom said to him, Ahithophel has counseled thus. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.
7 And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.
8 For, said Hushai, you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are embittered and enraged like a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
9 Behold, he is hidden even now in some pit or other place; and when some of them are overthrown at the first, whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the followers of Absalom.
10 And even he who is brave, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and that those who are with him are brave men.
11 Therefore I counsel that all [the men of] Israel be gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in your own person.
12 So shall we come upon [David] some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew settles [unseen and unheard] on the ground; and of him and of all the men with him there shall not be left so much as one.
13 If he withdraws into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the ravine until not one pebble is left there.
14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel. For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.
15 Then said Hushai to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counseled.
16 Now send quickly and tell David, Lodge not this night at the fords [at the Jordan] of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up and all the people with him.
17 Now [the youths] Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed at En-rogel, for they must not be seen coming into the city. But a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David.
18 But a lad saw them and told Absalom; but they left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.
19 And the woman spread a covering over the well’s mouth and spread ground corn on it; and the thing was not discovered.
20 For when Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They went over the brook of water. When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After they had departed, the boys came up out of the well and went and told King David, and said, Arise and pass quickly over the river Jordan; for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.
22 David arose and all the people with him and passed over the Jordan. By daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed.
23 But when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, went home to his city, put his household in order, and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
25 Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of an [Ishmaelite] named Ithra, who married Abigail daughter of Nahash, [half sister of David and] sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.
26 So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash of Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim
28 Brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched [pulse—seeds of peas and beans],
29 Honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of cows for David and the people with him to eat; for they said, The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.
18 David numbered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
2 David sent forth the army, a third under command of Joab, a third under Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. [He] told the men, I myself will go out with you also.
3 But the men said, You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us; if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth 10,000 such as we are. So now it is better that you be able to help us from the city.
4 The king said to them, Whatever seems best to you I will do. So he stood beside the gate, and all the army came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
7 [Absalom’s] men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter that day of 20,000 men.
8 For the battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more men that day than did the sword.
9 Then Absalom [unavoidably] met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and Absalom’s head caught fast [in a fork] of the oak; and the mule under him ran away, leaving him hanging between the heavens and the earth.
10 A certain man saw it and told Joab, Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.
11 Joab said to the man, You saw him! Why did you not strike him down to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a girdle.
12 The man told Joab, Though I should receive 1,000 pieces of silver, yet I would not put forth my hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king charged you, Abishai, and Ittai, Have a care, whoever you be, for the young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise, if I had dealt falsely against his life—for nothing is hidden from the king—you yourself would have taken sides against me.
14 Joab said, I will not tarry thus with you. He took three darts in his hand and thrust them into the body of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded and struck Absalom and killed him.
16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained and spared them.
17 They took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest and raised a very great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled, everyone to his own home.
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had reared up for himself a pillar which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
19 Then said Ahimaaz son of Zadok, Let me now run and bear the king tidings of how the Lord has avenged David of his enemies.
20 Joab told him, You shall not carry news today, but another time. Today you shall bear no news, for the king’s son is dead.
21 Then said Joab to the Cushite [an Ethiopian], Go tell the king what you have seen. And the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.
22 Then said Ahimaaz son of Zadok again to Joab, But anyhow, let me, I pray you, also run after the Cushite. Joab said, Why should you run, my son, seeing you will have no reward, for you have not sufficient tidings?
23 But he said, Let me run anyhow. So Joab said to him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain and outran the Cushite.
24 Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate by the wall, and when he looked, he saw a man running alone.
25 The watchman called out and told the king. The king said, If he is alone, he has news to tell. And he came on and drew near.
26 Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper, Behold, another man running alone. The king said, He also brings news.
27 The watchman said, I think the man in front runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok. The king said, He is a good man and comes with good tidings.
28 And Ahimaaz called and said to the king, All is well! And he fell down to the ground on his face before the king and said, Blessed be the Lord your God, Who has shut up the men who lifted up their hands against my lord the king.
29 The king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant and me, your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.
30 The king told him, Turn aside; stand here. And he turned aside and stood still.
31 And behold, the Cushite (Ethiopian) came, and he said, News, my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from all who rose up against you.
32 The king said to the Cushite, Is the young man Absalom safe? The Cushite replied, May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise against you to do evil be like that young man is.
33 And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would to God I had died for you, O Absalom, my son, my son!
19 It was told Joab, Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.
2 So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for they heard it said, The king grieves for his son.
3 The people slipped into the city stealthily that day as humiliated people steal away when they flee in battle.
4 But the king covered his face and cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
5 And Joab came into the house to the king and said, You have today covered the faces of all your servants with shame, who this day have saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines.
6 For you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have declared today that princes and servants are nothing to you; for today I see that if Absalom had lived and all the rest of us had died, you would be well pleased.
7 So now arise, go out and speak kindly and encouragingly to your servants; for I swear by the Lord that if you do not go, not a man will remain with you this night. And this will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.
8 Then the king arose and sat in the gate. And all [his followers] were told, The king is sitting in the gate, and they all came before the king. Now Israel [Absalom’s troops] had fled, every man to his home.
9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us from the hands of our enemies, and he saved us from the hands of the Philistines. And now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. So now, why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?
11 And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Say to the elders of Judah, Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king, to bring him to his house?
12 You are my kinsmen; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?
13 And say to Amasa, Are you not of my bone and of my flesh? May God do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of my army hereafter in place of Joab.
14 He inclined the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so they sent word to [him], Return, you and all your servants.
15 So [David] returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king, to conduct him over the Jordan.
16 And Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, hastily came down with the men of Judah to meet King David,
17 And 1,000 men of Benjamin with him. And Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants with him, rushed to the Jordan and pressed quickly into the king’s presence.
18 And there went over a ferryboat to bring over the king’s household and to do what he thought good. And Shimei son of Gera fell down before the king as David came to the Jordan,
19 And said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to me and hold me guilty, nor remember what your servant did the day my lord went out of Jerusalem [when Shimei grossly insulted David]; may the king not take it to heart.
20 For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I am today the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.
21 But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?
22 David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? Shall anyone be put to death today in Israel? For do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
23 Therefore the king said to Shimei, You shall not die [at my hand]. And the king gave him his oath.(A)
24 Mephibosheth the son [grandson] of Saul came down to meet the king, and had not dressed his feet, trimmed his beard, or washed his clothes from the day the king left until he returned in peace and safety.
25 And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, David said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?
26 He said, My lord O king, my servant [Ziba] deceived me; for I said, Saddle me the donkey that I may ride on it and go to the king, for your servant is lame [but he took the donkey and left without me].
27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But the king is as an angel of God; so do what is good in your eyes.
28 For all of my father’s house were but doomed to death before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. What right therefore have I to cry any more to the king?
29 The king said to him, Why speak any more of your affairs? I say, You and Ziba divide the land.
30 Mephibosheth said to the king, Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has returned home in safety and peace.
31 Now Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and went on to the Jordan with the king to conduct him over the Jordan.
32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old; and he had provided the king with food while he remained at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.
33 And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.
34 And Barzillai said to the king, How much longer have I to live, that it would be worthwhile for me to go up with the king to Jerusalem?
35 I am this day eighty years old. Could I now [be useful as a counselor to] discern between good and evil? Can your servant appreciate what I eat or drink? Can I any longer enjoy the voices of singing men and women? Why then should your servant be still a burden to my lord the king?
36 Your servant will only go over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?
37 Let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city and be buried by the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king. And do to him what shall seem good to you.
38 The king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him what seems good to you; and whatever you ask of me I will do for you.
39 So all the people went over the Jordan. When the king had crossed over, he kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and [the great man] returned to his own place.
40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went with him; and all the people of Judah and also half the people of Israel escorted the king.
41 And all the men of Israel came to the king and said to him, Why have our kinsmen, the men of Judah, stolen you away and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?
42 But all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us. Why then be angry about it? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?
43 Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, We have ten [tribes’] shares in the king; and we have more right to David than you have. Why then did you despise and ignore us? Were we not the first to speak of our bringing back our king? But the words of the men of Judah were more violent than the charges of the men of Israel.
20 There happened to be there a base and contemptible fellow named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet and said, We have no portion in David and no inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, O Israel!
2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stayed faithfully with their king, from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
3 So David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them away under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble the men of Judah to me within three days, and you be present here.
5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he tarried longer than the set time which had been appointed him.
6 And David said to Abishai, Now will Sheba son of Bichri do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get for himself fenced cities and snatch away our very eyes.
7 And there went after him Joab’s men and [David’s bodyguards] the Cherethites and Pelethites and all the mighty men; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a sheathed sword fastened around his hips; and as he went forward, it fell out.
9 Joab said to Amasa, Are you well, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand [as if] to kiss him.
10 But Amasa did not notice the sword in Joab’s hand. So [Joab] struck him [who was to have been his successor] with it in the body, shedding his bowels to the ground without another blow; and [soon] he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab’s men stood by him and said, Whoever favors Joab and is for David, follow Joab!
12 And Amasa wallowed in his blood in the highway. And when the man saw that all the people who came by stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and spread a cloth over him.
13 When Amasa was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
14 Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Berites assembled and also went after [Sheba] ardently.
15 And they came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the men with Joab battered and undermined the wall to make it fall.
16 Then a wise woman of the city cried, Hear, hear! Say to Joab, Come here so I can speak to you.
17 And when he came near her, the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. He answered, I am listening.
18 Then she said, People used to say, Let them but ask counsel at Abel, and so they settled the matter.
19 I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city which is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?
20 Joab answered, Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy!
21 That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.
22 Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and cast it down to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his own home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.(B)
23 Joab was over the host of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over [the king’s bodyguards] the Cherethites and Pelethites;
24 Adoram was over the tribute; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;
25 Sheva was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests;
26 Also Ira the Jairite was chief minister to David.
21 There was a three-year famine in the days of David, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. The Lord replied, It is on account of Saul and his bloody house, for he put to death the Gibeonites.
2 So the king called the Gibeonites—now the Gibeonites were not Israelites but of the remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah had sought to slay the Gibeonites—
3 So David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? How can I make atonement that you may bless the Lord’s inheritance?
4 The Gibeonites said to him, We will accept no silver or gold of Saul or of his house; neither for us shall you kill any man in Israel. David said, I will do for you what you say.
5 They said to the king, The man who consumed us and planned to prevent us from remaining in any territory of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered to us and we will hang them up before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, [on the mountain] of the Lord. And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of [Merab] daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9 He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hung them up on the hill before the Lord, and all seven perished together. They were put to death in the first days of barley harvest.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them, and she did not allow either the birds of the air to come upon them by day or the beasts of the field by night.
11 It was told David what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa.
13 He brought from there the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son, and they gathered the bones of those who were hung up.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son they buried in the country of Benjamin in Zelah in the tomb of Kish, [Saul’s] father, and they did all that the king commanded. And after that, God heard and answered when His people prayed for the land.
15 The Philistines had war again with Israel. And David went down and his servants with him and fought against the Philistines, and David became faint.
16 Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giants, the weight of whose spear was 300 shekels of bronze, was girded with a new sword, and thought to kill David.
17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, and smote and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men charged him, You shall no more go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.
18 After this, there was again war with the Philistines at Gob (Gezer). Then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Saph (Sippai), who was a descendant of the giant.
19 There was again war at Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.
20 And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also was a descendant of the giants.
21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan son of Shimei, brother of David, slew him.
22 These four were descended from the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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