David Overthrown

15 Soon after this, Absalom acquired a chariot, horses, and 50 men to run ahead of him. ² Absalom used to get up early and stand by the road leading to the city gate. When anyone had a case to be tried by King David, Absalom would ask, “Which city are you from?”

After the person had told him which tribe in Israel he was from, ³ Absalom would say, “Your case is good and proper, but the king hasn’t appointed anyone to hear it.” ⁴ He would add, “I wish someone would make me judge in the land. Then anyone who had a case to be tried could come to me, and I would make sure that he got justice.” ⁵ When anyone approached him and bowed down, Absalom would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him. ⁶ This is what he did for all Israelites who came to the king to have him try their case. So Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

⁷ Four years later Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and keep the vow I made to the Lord. ⁸ I made a vow while I was living at Geshur in Aram. I said, ‘If the Lord will bring me back to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord.’ ”

⁹ “Go in peace,” the king told him.

So he went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent his loyal supporters to all the tribes of Israel and said, “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron.’ ”

¹¹ Two hundred men invited from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They went innocently, knowing nothing ⌞about Absalom’s plans⌟. ¹² While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel, David’s adviser, to come from his home in Giloh. Meanwhile, the conspiracy grew stronger, and the number of people siding with Absalom kept getting larger.

¹³ Someone came to tell David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”

David Flees Jerusalem

¹⁴ David told all his men who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let’s flee immediately, or none of us will escape from Absalom. Let’s leave right away, or he’ll catch up to us and bring disaster on us when he massacres the city.”

¹⁵ The king’s servants told him, “No matter what happens, we are Your Majesty’s servants.”

¹⁶ The king left on foot, and his whole household followed him except ten concubines ^[a] whom the king left behind to take care of the palace. ¹⁷ As the king and his troops were leaving the city on foot, they stopped at the last house. ¹⁸ All his mercenaries passed by him; all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, Ittai, and all 600 men who had followed him from Gath were marching past the king.

¹⁹ The king asked Ittai from Gath, “Why should you go with us? Go back, and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. ²⁰ You came to us just yesterday. Should I make you wander around with me when I don’t even know where I’m going? Go back, and take your countrymen with you. ⌞May the Lord⌟ always show you kindness.”

²¹ But Ittai answered the king, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord and the king live: Wherever you are, whether you’re dead or alive, I’ll be there.”

²² So David told Ittai, “Go ahead and keep marching.” So Ittai from Gath marched on with all his men and all the families who were with him.

²³ The whole country was crying loudly as all the troops were passing by. The king was crossing the Kidron Valley, and all the people were moving down the road toward the desert. ²⁴ Zadok and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of God’s promise. They set down the ark of God beside Abiathar until all the troops had withdrawn from the city.

²⁵ The king told Zadok, “Take God’s ark back to the city. If the Lord looks favorably on me, he will allow me to come back and see both it and its ^[b] dwelling place again. ²⁶ But if he says, ‘I’m not pleased with you,’ let him do to me what he considers right.”

²⁷ “Aren’t you a seer?” ^[c] the king asked Zadok the priest. “Go back to the city peacefully, and take your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan with you. ²⁸ I’ll wait at the river crossings in the desert until I receive a message from you.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰ David cried as he went up the Mount of Olives. He covered his head and walked barefoot. And all of the troops with him covered their heads and cried as they went.

³¹ Then David was told, “Ahithophel is among those conspiring with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Lord, make Ahithophel’s advice foolish.”

³² When David came to the top ⌞of the Mount of Olives⌟ where people worshiped God, Hushai from Archi’s family was there to meet him. His clothes were torn, and he had dirt on his head. ³³ David told him, “If you go with me, you will only be a burden to me. ³⁴ But if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I’ll be your servant. I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I’ll be your servant,’ then you’ll ⌞help me by⌟ undoing Ahithophel’s advice. ³⁵ The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be with you there. When you hear anything from the royal palace, tell it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar. ³⁶ They have two sons with them: Zadok has Ahimaaz, and Abiathar has Jonathan. Send them to report to me anything you hear.”

³⁷ So Hushai, David’s friend, went to the city as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

Absalom Pursues David

17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men and leave tonight to go after David. ² I’ll attack him while he’s tired and weak, and I’ll cause him to panic. All the people with him will flee, but I’ll kill only him. ³ I’ll return all the people to you as a bride is returned to her husband. Since you will be seeking the life of only one man, all the people will have peace.” ⁴ Absalom and all the leaders of Israel approved this plan.

⁵ Absalom said, “Please call Hushai, who is descended from Archi’s family, and let us hear what he, too, has to say.”

⁶ When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, “Ahithophel has told us his plan. Should we do what he says? If not, tell us.”

⁷ “This time Ahithophel’s advice is no good,” Hushai said to Absalom. ⁸ “You know your father and his men. They are warriors as fierce as a wild bear whose cubs have been stolen. Your father is an experienced soldier. He will not camp with the troops tonight. ⁹ He has already hidden in one of the ravines or some other place. If some of our soldiers are killed in the initial attack, others will definitely hear about it and say, ‘The troops that support Absalom have been defeated.’ ¹⁰ Even the bravest man with a heart like a lion would lose his courage, because all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and the men with him are brave. ¹¹ So my advice is to gather all Israel’s troops from Dan to Beersheba, since they are as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Lead them into battle yourself. ¹² Then we’ll attack him wherever we find him. We’ll fall on him as dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left ⌞alive⌟. ¹³ If he retreats into a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city and drag it into a valley so that not even a pebble will be found there.”

¹⁴ Absalom and all the people of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai from Archi’s family is better than Ahithophel’s advice.” (The Lord had commanded Ahithophel’s good advice to be defeated in order to ruin Absalom.)

¹⁵ Then Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Ahithophel advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do one thing, but I advised them to do something else. ¹⁶ Now send messengers quickly to tell David, ‘Don’t rest tonight in the river crossings in the desert, but make sure you cross ⌞the river⌟, or Your Majesty and all the troops with him will be wiped out.’ ”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En Rogel. They could not risk being seen coming into the city, so a servant girl was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David. ¹⁸ But a young man saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom. So both of them left quickly and came to the home of a man in Bahurim who had a cistern in his courtyard, and they went down into it. ¹⁹ The man’s wife took a cover, spread it over the top of the cistern, and scattered some grain over it so that no one could tell it was there.

²⁰ Absalom’s servants came to the woman at her home. “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” they asked.

The woman said, “They’ve crossed the stream.”

The servants looked for them but did not find them. So Absalom’s servants returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After Absalom’s servants left, both men came out of the cistern and went and told King David. “Leave right away,” they told David. “Cross the river quickly because this is what Ahithophel has advised against you. …”

²² David and all the troops with him left to cross the Jordan River. When the dawn came, everyone had crossed the Jordan River.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his advice hadn’t been followed, he saddled his donkey, left, and went home to his own city. He gave instructions to his family. Then he hanged himself, died, and was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴ David had ⌞already⌟ come to Mahanaim by the time Absalom and all the men of Israel with him crossed the Jordan River. ²⁵ Absalom appointed Amasa to take Joab’s place as commander of the army. (Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, a descendant of Ishmael.^[a] His mother was Abigail,^[b] the daughter of Nahash and sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah.) ²⁶ The Israelites and Absalom camped in the region of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi, son of Nahash from Rabbah in Ammon, and Machir, son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai from Rogelim in Gilead ²⁸ brought ⌞supplies⌟ and food for David and his troops: bedding, bowls, pots, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,^{[c] 29} honey, buttermilk, sheep, and calves. They brought these things because they thought, “The troops in the desert are hungry, exhausted, and thirsty.”

David Defeats Absalom

18 David called together the troops that were with him. He appointed commanders in charge of regiments and battalions. ² David put a third of the troops under Joab’s command, another third under Joab’s brother Abishai (Zeruiah’s son), and the last third under Ittai from Gath.

“I am going ⌞into battle⌟ with you,” the king said to the troops.

³ “You’re not going ⌞with us⌟,” the troops said. “If we flee, they won’t care about us, and if half of us die, they won’t care either. But you’re worth 10,000 of us. It’s better for you to be ready to send us help from the city.”

⁴ “I’ll do what you think best,” the king responded. So the king stood by the gate while all the troops marched out by battalions and regiments.

⁵ The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” All the troops heard him give all the commanders this order regarding Absalom.

⁶ So the troops went out to the country to fight Israel in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷ There David’s men defeated Israel’s army, and the massacre was sizable that day—20,000 men. ⁸ The fighting spread over the whole country. That day the woods devoured more people than the battle.

⁹ Absalom happened to come face to face with some of David’s men. He was riding on a mule, and the mule went under the tangled branches of a large tree. Absalom’s head became caught in the tree. So he was left hanging ^[d] in midair when the mule that was under him ran away. ¹⁰ A man who saw this told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree.”

¹¹ “What! You saw that!” Joab said to the man who told him. “Why didn’t you strike him to the ground? Then I would have felt obligated to give you four ounces of silver and a belt.”

¹² But the man told Joab, “Even if I felt the weight of 25 pounds of silver in my hand, I wouldn’t raise my hand against the king’s son. We heard the order the king gave you, Abishai, and Ittai: ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ^{[e] 13} If I had done something treacherous to him, would you have stood by me? Like everything else, it wouldn’t stay hidden from the king.”

¹⁴ Then Joab said, “I shouldn’t waste time with you like this.” He took three sharp sticks and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while he was still alive in the tree. ¹⁵ Then ten of Joab’s armorbearers surrounded Absalom, attacked him, and killed him.

¹⁶ Joab blew the ram’s horn to stop their ⌞fighting⌟, and the troops returned from pursuing Israel. ¹⁷ They took Absalom, threw him into a huge pit in the forest, and piled a large heap of stones over him. Meanwhile, all Israel fled and went back to their homes.

¹⁸ (⌞While he was still living,⌟ Absalom had taken a rock and set it up for himself in the king’s valley. He said, “I have no son to keep the memory of my name alive.” He called the rock by his name, and it is still called Absalom’s Monument today.)

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, said, “Let me run and bring the king the good news that the Lord has freed him from his enemies.”

²⁰ But Joab told him, “You won’t be the man carrying good news today. You can carry the news some other day. You must not deliver the news today because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹ Then Joab said to a man from Sudan, “Go, tell the king what you saw.” The messenger bowed down with his face touching the ground in front of Joab and then ran off.

²² Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, spoke to Joab again, “Whatever may happen, I also want to run after the Sudanese messenger.”

“Now, son, why should you deliver the message?” Joab asked. “You won’t be rewarded for this news.”

²³ “Whatever happens, I’d like to run,” ⌞replied Ahimaaz.⌟

“Run,” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran along the valley road and got ahead of the Sudanese messenger.

²⁴ David was sitting between the two gates while the watchman walked along the roof of the gate by the wall. As he looked, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman called and alerted the king.

“If he’s alone,” the king said, “he has good news to tell.” The runner continued to come closer.

²⁶ When the watchman saw another man running, the watchman called, “There’s ⌞another⌟ man running alone.”

The king said, “This one is also bringing good news.”

²⁷ The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son.”

“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He must be coming with good news.”

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz came up to the king, greeted him, and bowed down in front of him. Ahimaaz said, “May the Lord your God be praised. He has handed over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty.”

²⁹ “Is the young man Absalom alright?” the king asked.

Ahimaaz answered, “I saw a lot of confusion when Joab sent me away, but I didn’t know what it meant.”

³⁰ “Step aside, and stand here,” the king said. He stepped aside and stood there.

³¹ Then the Sudanese messenger came. “Good news for Your Majesty!” he said. “Today the Lord has freed you from all who turned against you.”

³² “Is the young man Absalom alright?” the king asked.

The Sudanese messenger answered, “May your enemies and all who turned against you be like that young man!” ^[f]

³³ The king was shaken ⌞by the news⌟. He went to the room above the gate and cried. “My son Absalom!” he said as he went. “My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!”