Bible in 90 Days

¹¹ “Thus says Adonai: Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² Indeed you have done it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and under the sun.”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Adonai.”

Nathan replied to David, “Adonai also has made your sin pass away—you will not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have made the enemies of Adonai greatly blaspheme, so even the child born to you will surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

Then Adonai struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David and he became very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore sought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the floor. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him in order to get him up from the floor but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he didn’t listen to our voice. So how can we tell him that the child is dead? He might do something terrible!”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?”

“He is dead,” they said.

²⁰ Then David got up from the floor, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the House of Adonai and worshipped. When he came back to his own palace, he asked for food, so they set food before him and he ate.

²¹ His servants asked him, “What is this thing you have done? You fasted and wept while the child was still alive, but as soon as the child died, you got up and ate food.”

²² He replied, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I thought, ‘Who knows? Adonai might be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now that he has died, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? It is I who will be going to him, but he will never return to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and lay with her, and she bore a son and called his name Solomon. Adonai loved him, ²⁵ and He sent word by the hand of the prophet Nathan. So he called his name Jedidiah^[a], for Adonai’s sake.

²⁶ Now Joab attacked Rabbah of the children of Ammon and captured the royal city. ²⁷ So Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have attacked Rabbah and captured the city’s water supply. ²⁸ So now gather the rest of the troops together, camp against the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the troops, went to Rabbah, attacked it and captured it. ³⁰ Then he took the crown of their king from off his head—its weight was a talent of gold and in it was a precious stone—and then it was placed on David’s head. He also brought a vast amount of spoils out of the city. ³¹ Then he brought out the people who were there and put them to work under saws, iron threshing boards and iron axes, and assigned them to brick making; and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

Amnon Attacks Tamar and Absalom’s Wrath

13 It came to pass after this that Absalom son of David had a beautiful sister named Tamar, so Amnon, son of David, fell in love with her. ² But Amnon was so frustrated that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin and it seemed impossible in Amnon to do anything to her. ³ However, Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, and Jonadab was a very shrewd man. ⁴ So he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, so miserable morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”

Amnon told him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

⁵ So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you are sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some bread to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may see it and eat from her hand.’”

⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick, and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in front of me so I may eat from her hand.”

⁷ Then David sent someone to the house for Tamar saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare bread for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house while he was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in front of him and baked the cakes. ⁹ Then she took the pan and poured them out in front of him but he refused to eat.

Then Amnon said, “Everyone, leave me!” So everyone left him. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the bread into the bedroom that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon. ¹¹ But when she brought them close to him to eat, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come lie with me, my sister.”

¹² “No!” she said to him. “Don’t, my brother! Don’t rape me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Don’t do this disgraceful deed! ¹³ I—where could I go with my shame? You—you will be as one of the disgraceful fools in Israel. Now, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

¹⁴ But he was unwilling to listen to her voice, so he overpowered her, forced her and lay with her. ¹⁵ Then Amnon loathed her with very intense revulsion—indeed, the hatred that he hated her with was greater than the love in which he had loved her. So Amnon said to her, “Get up, get out!”

¹⁶ But she said to him, “No! Sending me away is even a greater evil than the one you have already done to me!” But again he would not listen to her.

¹⁷ Then he called his servant that attended him and said, “Get this woman away from me now and bolt the door after her.”

¹⁸ Now she had on her a long-sleeved garment^[b] for with such robes the king’s virgin daughters used to be dressed. When his attendant took her outside and bolted the door after her, ¹⁹ Tamar put ashes on her head and rent her long-sleeved garment that was on her. She laid her hand on her head and was crying aloud as she went away.

²⁰ Then her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? So now, my sister, keep quiet. He is your brother—don’t take this thing to heart.” But Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

²¹ When King David heard about all these things, he was very angry. ²² Absalom did not say a word to Amnon, either good or bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had raped his sister Tamar.

²³ It came about, after two full years, that Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons. ²⁴ Then Absalom came to the king and said, “See now, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants come with your servant.”

²⁵ But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. Let’s not all go—we don’t want to be burdensome to you.” Though he urged him, he would not go, though he blessed him.

²⁶ Then Absalom said, “If not, then please let my brother Amnon go with us.”

“Why should he go with you?” the king said to him. ²⁷ But when Absalom pressed him, he let Amnon go with him, along with all the king’s sons.

²⁸ Then Absalom commanded his young men saying, “Now watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine. When I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon!’ then put him to death! Have no fear! Isn’t it I who commanded you? Be strong! Be sons of valor!” ²⁹ So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon as Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, each mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰ While they were on the way, a report came to David saying, “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons and not one of them is left!” ³¹ Then the king stood up, rent his clothes and lay on the ground, and all his courtiers were standing by with their clothes rent.

³² But Jonadab son of David’s brother Shimeah said in response, “My lord must not think that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons! For only Amnon has died. For from Absalom’s mouth this has been determined since the day he raped his sister Tamar. ³³ Now therefore, my lord the king must not take the report to his heart thinking that all the king’s sons are dead—for only Amnon is dead.”

³⁴ Meanwhile Absalom had fled. When the young watchman lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, there were many people coming down the road behind him on the hillside. ³⁵ Then Jonadab said to the king, “The king’s sons have just arrived! It’s just as your servant has said.” ³⁶ As soon as he finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons arrived. They lifted up their voices and wept, and also the king and all his courtiers wept very bitterly.

³⁷ But Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. David mourned for his son every day. ³⁸ So Absalom fled, went to Geshur and remained there three years. ³⁹ Then King David’s soul longed to go out to Absalom; for he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead.

Joab Brings Absalom to Jerusalem

14 Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was on Absalom. ² So Joab sent word to Tekoa and brought a wise woman from there. He said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning clothes. Do not anoint yourself with oil but be like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. ³ Then go to the king and speak to him these words.” Then Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴ When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, bowed down and said, “Help, O king!”

⁵ “What’s the matter with you?” the king said to her.

“Truly, I am a widow, my husband is dead,” she said. ⁶ “Your handmaid had two sons, but the two of them fought with each other in the field, where there was no one to separate them. So one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ Now behold, the whole clan has risen against your handmaid and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother so we may put him to death, for the life of his brother whom he slew.’ So they will also destroy the heir and extinguish my one remaining ember, leaving to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth!”

⁸ Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your home. I will issue an order concerning you.”

⁹ The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, let the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house but may the king and his throne be innocent.”

¹⁰ “Whoever speaks to you,” the king said, “bring him to me and he shall not touch you anymore.”

¹¹ “Please, let the king remember Adonai your God,” she said, “so that the avenger of blood does not destroy any more, so they won’t destroy my son.”

“As Adonai lives,” he said, “not one hair of your son will fall to the ground.”

¹² Then the woman said, “Please, let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king.”

“Say on,” he said.

¹³ The woman said, “Why have you devised a situation just like this against God’s people? For by speaking this word, the king is like the guilty one—by not bringing back the one he banished. ¹⁴ For we will all surely die and be like water spilt on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life but rather, He devises plans so that a banished person may not remain an outcast from Him. ¹⁵ Now the reason I came to speak this word to my lord the king is because the people have made me afraid. So your handmaid thought, ‘I must speak to the king—perhaps the king will fulfill the request of his maidservant. ¹⁶ Surely the king will hear, to deliver his maidservant from the hand of the one who would eliminate both me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷ Then your handmaid also thought, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring relief. For like an angel of God so is my lord the king to discern good and evil.’ So may Adonai your God be with you.”

¹⁸ Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide anything from me concerning what I am about to ask you.”

“Please let my lord the king speak,” the woman said.

¹⁹ Then the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”

“As your soul lives, my lord the king,” the woman answered, “no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab was the one who commanded me and put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid. ²⁰ Your servant Joab did this thing in order to bring about a change in the situation. But my lord is wise—like the wisdom of an angel of God—to know all that goes on in the land.”

²¹ Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I will do this thing. So go, bring the young man Absalom back.” ²² Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king. Then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, since the king has done the word of your servant.” ²³ So Joab got up, went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴ However, the king said, “He may go directly to his own house, but he may not see my face.” So Absalom went directly to his own house and did not see the king’s face.

²⁵ Now in all Israel there was none as handsome as Absalom—so highly praised. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶ When he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he would cut it because the hair got so heavy on him that he had to cut it. The weight of the hair from his head was 200 shekels by the royal weight^[c]. ²⁷ To Absalom were born three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar—she was a beautiful woman.

²⁸ Now Absalom had lived two full years in Jerusalem but he never saw the king’s face. ²⁹ Then Absalom sent for Joab, in order to send him to the king, but he was unwilling to come to him. So he sent word again a second time, but he still would not come. ³⁰ So he said to his servants, “See, Joab’s field is next to mine and he has barley there—go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹ Then Joab arose, came to Absalom at his house, and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”

³² “Look, I sent word to you,” Absalom said to Joab, “saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’” So now, let me see the king’s face and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death.” ³³ So Joab went to the king and told him. When he summoned Absalom, he came to the king and bowed down on his face to the ground before the king, and then, the king kissed Absalom.

Absalom’s Revolt

15 Now it came about after this that Absalom provided himself with a chariot, horses and 50 men as runners before him. ² Absalom used to rise up early and stand beside the road to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a suit to come to the king for justice, then Absalom would call to him and say, “What town are you from?” Should he answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” ³ Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no one assigned to you by the king to hear you.” ⁴ Moreover, Absalom would say, “If only I were appointed judge in the land, then every man who has any suit or case would come to me, and I would get him justice!” ⁵ Also, whenever anyone approached to bow to him, he would stretch his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. ⁶ So Absalom kept doing this to everyone of Israel who came to the king for judgment. Thus Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

⁷ At the end of 40 years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and pay my vow which I have vowed to Adonai. ⁸ For your servant vowed a vow while I was still living at Geshur in Aram saying, ‘If Adonai will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve Adonai.’”

⁹ So the king said to him, “Go in shalom.”

Then he rose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent spies to all the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the shofar, then you are to say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron!’” ¹¹ Now 200 men from Jerusalem went with Absalom, who were invited and were going innocently, knowing nothing of the situation. ¹² Also Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor from his town Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. So the conspiracy gained momentum for the people following Absalom continued to increase.

¹³ Then a messenger came to David saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are following Absalom.”

David’s Exodus from Jerusalem

¹⁴ Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Leave in haste or else he will overtake us quickly and bring disaster down on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

¹⁵ Then the king’s officials said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.” ¹⁶ So the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But the king left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace. ¹⁷ As the king went out and all the people after him, they paused at the last house. ¹⁸ All his servants passed on beside him: all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites and all the Gittites—600 men that had come after him from Gath—passed on before the king. ¹⁹ Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place. ²⁰ Your arrival was only yesterday—should I make you wander around with us today, to go wherever I may go? Go back and take your kinsmen back with you. Kindness and truth be with you!”

²¹ But Ittai answered the king and said, “As Adonai lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king will be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”^[d]

²² So David said to Ittai, “Go on and cross over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on, with all his men and all the little children who were with him. ²³ While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people were crossing over as the king was crossing over Kidron Valley. So all the people crossed over toward the road of the wilderness.

²⁴ Then behold, Zadok also came and all the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, then Abiathar came up, until all the people had passed by, out of the city. ²⁵ But the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in Adonai’s eyes, He will bring me back, and let me see it and His dwelling. ²⁶ But if He says thus, ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good in His eyes.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you not see? Return to the city in shalom with your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan son of Abiathar. ²⁸ See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me.” ²⁹ Therefore Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ Then David continued to go up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he ascended. He had his head covered and was walking barefoot. So all the people with him each covered his head as they went up, weeping as they ascended.

³¹ Then someone told David saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Adonai, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”

³² Then David went on until he reached the summit—where God was worshiped—and behold, Hushai the Archite met him with his coat rent and dust on his head. ³³ David said to him, “If you pass on with me then you will be a burden to me, ³⁴ but if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king—I was your father’s servant from then, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can thwart Ahithophel’s counsel for me. ³⁵ Won’t you have with you Zadok and Abiathar the kohanim there? So whatever you hear from the royal palace, you should report it to Zadok and Abiathar the kohanim. ³⁶ See, they have their two sons with them there, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan—by them you can send to me everything you hear.” ³⁷ So David’s friend Hushai reached the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

16 Now when David had passed a little beyond the summit, there was Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth to meet him with a pair of saddled donkeys, and on them 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 fig cakes and a bottle of wine. ² So the king asked Ziba, “What are you doing with these?”

Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and the figs are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for anyone who faints in the wilderness to drink.”

³ Then the king asked, “And where is your master’s son?”

“Well, he’s staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba said to the king, “for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore to me the kingdom of my father.”

⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.”

“I bow low,” Ziba said. “Let me find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”

⁵ When King David arrived at Bahurim, behold, just coming out from there was a man of the family of the house of Saul—his name was Shimei son of Gera. As he came out, he kept on cursing ⁶ and flinging stones at David and at all King David’s servants, while all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and on his left. ⁷ Thus Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out! The man of bloodshed, the good-for-nothing! ⁸ Adonai has returned on you all the blood of Saul’s house, in whose place you’ve reigned. Adonai has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom—so see, your own evil has overtaken you, because you are a man of bloodshed.”

⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why let this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and take off his head!”

¹⁰ But the king said, “What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, it’s because Adonai has said to him, ‘Curse David!’ So who should say, ‘Why did you do so?’” ¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and to all his officials, “Look, my son who came from my own body is seeking my life—how much more this Benjamite? Leave him alone and let him curse, since Adonai has told him. ¹² Perhaps Adonai will look on my affliction and return good to me for his cursing this day.” ¹³ So David and his men continued on the way, while Shimei kept walking alongside the hill parallel with him, cursing as he walked, casting stones at him and throwing dirt.

¹⁴ Finally the king and all the people that were with him arrived weary, so he refreshed himself there.

Counselors Divided

¹⁵ Meanwhile Absalom and all the people of the men of Israel arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ Now when David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷ But Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?”

¹⁸ “No!” said Hushai to Absalom. “For the one whom Adonai has chosen—as well as these people, all the men of Israel—his I will be and with him I will stay. ¹⁹ Besides, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I be in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What should we do?”

²¹ So Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go to your father’s concubines whom he has left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself abhorrent to your father and the hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened.”

²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom went to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. ²³ Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was like inquiring for the word of God—so was all of Ahithophel’s counsel both with David and with Absalom.

17 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose 12,000 men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. ² I will attack him while he is weary and weak-handed, and terrify him so that all the people that are with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king when he is alone. ³ Then I will bring all the people back to you—when all will have returned except the man you are seeking, then all the people will be at peace.”

⁴ Now the plan seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel. ⁵ Then Absalom said, “Call now Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.” ⁶ When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him saying, “This is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his counsel? If not, you will speak.”

⁷ So Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” ⁸ Hushai then added, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and they are embittered in their souls like a bear robbed of her cubs in the wild. Your father is an expert in warfare, and won’t spend the night with the troops. ⁹ Even now, he must be hiding in one of the caves or in some other place. So if he were to fall on them at first, whoever hears of it would say, ‘There’s a slaughter among the people following Absalom!’ ¹⁰ Then even one who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt away—for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty warrior and those who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹ Instead, I counsel that all Israel be gathered altogether to you—from Dan to Beersheba, as abundant as the sand by the sea—and that you personally go into the battle. ¹² Then we will come upon him in one of the places where he can be found and we’ll fall upon him as dew falls on the ground. None will be left of all the men who are with him—not even one. ¹³ Moreover if he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city and drag it into the valley until not even one small stone will be found there.”

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Adonai had ordained to thwart Ahithophel’s good counsel, so that Adonai might bring evil upon Absalom.

¹⁵ Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the kohanim, “This and that is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this and that is what I advised. ¹⁶ Now therefore send word quickly and tell David saying, ‘Don’t spend the night at the fords in the wilderness but by all means, cross over or else the king and all the people with him may be swallowed up.’” ¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a maidservant used to go and pass information along to them. Then they would go and inform King David for they could not be seen entering the city.

¹⁸ But a lad did see them and informed Absalom. So the two of them left quickly and arrived at the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard; so they went down into it. ¹⁹ Then the woman took the cover and spread it over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on top of it so that nothing was noticeable. ²⁰ When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” the woman said to them, “They crossed over the brook of water.” When they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had departed, they came up from the well, then went and informed King David, telling David, “Get up and cross over the water immediately, for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.” ²² Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed over the Jordan. By morning light, not even one of them was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, went to his home in his hometown set his house in order, and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

²⁴ David had reached Mahanaim by the time Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. ²⁵ Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. (Now Amasa was son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite^[e], who had gone to Abigal daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab’s mother.) ²⁶ Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ Now when David reached Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, Machir son of Ammiel of Lo-debar and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim ²⁸ brought beds, basins, clay pots, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, parched seeds, ²⁹ honey, curd, sheep and cheese from the herd for David and for the people who were with him to eat. For they said, “The people must be hungry, weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Absalom’s Demise

18 Then David mustered the people who were with him and set commanders of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. ² Then David 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. The king said to the troops, “I must certainly go out with you also.”

³ But the troops said, “You must not go out! For if we were to flee, they would not care about us, even if half of us die, they still wouldn’t care about us—but you are worth 10,000 of us. Therefore now, it is better that you be ready to support us from the city.”

⁴ Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate and all the troops went out by their hundreds and thousands. ⁵ Then the king charged Joab, Abishai and Ittai saying, “Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake.” Now all the troops heard the king’s charge to all the commanders concerning Absalom.

⁶ Then the troops went out to the field to confront Israel but the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷ The people of Israel were defeated there before the followers of David, and the slaughter that day was great—20,000 men. ⁸ For the battle there was spread over the face of the entire countryside and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

⁹ Now Absalom encountered some of David’s servants. When Absalom was riding on his mule, the mule went under the thick branches of the great oak, and his head got caught in the oak, so that he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. ¹⁰ Then a certain man saw it and told Joab saying, “Look, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.”

¹¹ Then Joab said to his informant, “Look here, you saw him, so why didn’t you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt!”

¹² But the man said to Joab, “Even if I had 1,000 pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged you, Abishai and Ittai saying, ‘Watch over the young man Absalom for me.’ ¹³ Otherwise, I would have betrayed his soul—and nothing stays hidden from the king—and you yourself would have stood aloof.”

¹⁴ “I won’t wait for you!” Joab said. So he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. ¹⁵ Then ten young men who were Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck and finished him off. ¹⁶ Then Joab blew the shofar and the troops returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab held back the troops. ¹⁷ They took Absalom and threw him into a deep pit in the forest and piled over him a very large heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.

¹⁸ (Now Absalom, in his lifetime, had taken and set up for himself a pillar, which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he called the pillar by his name and it has been called Absalom’s Monument to this day.)

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me now run and bring the king news that Adonai has vindicated him against the hand of his enemies.”

²⁰ But Joab said to him, “You are not to be the bearer of news today. You may do it another day, but today you shall bear no news—for the king’s son is dead.”

²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” So the Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

²² But Ahimaaz son of Zadok once again said to Joab, “Whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite.”

“Why should you run, my son,” Joab said, “since you would have no news worth telling?”

²³ “Whatever may come of it, I want to run!”

So he said to him, “Run!” Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and so passed the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David was sitting between the two gates. When the watchman on the roof over the gate walked over to the wall, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and all of a sudden, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman cried out and told the king. The king said, “If he is alone, there is good news in his mouth.” So he came closer and closer.

²⁶ Then the watchman saw another man running, so the watchman called out to the gatekeeper and said, “Look, another man is running alone.”

The king said, “He too is bringing good news.”

²⁷ Then the watchman said, “I can see that the running of the first one is like the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”

“This is a good man and he comes with good news,” the king replied.

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Shalom.” Then he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Blessed be Adonai your God, who has given over the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king.”

²⁹ Then the king asked, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?”

Ahimaaz answered, “I saw a great tumult when the king’s servant Joab sent me, your servant, but I did not know what it was about.”

³⁰ “Step aside and stand here,” the king said. So he stepped aside and stood still.

³¹ Then the Cushite arrived and said, “Let my lord the king receive good news for Adonai has vindicated you today against all who rose up against you.”

³² Then the king asked the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?”

The Cushite answered, “Let the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be as that young man!”

David Weeps Over Absalom

19 The king was shaken. So he went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. As he walked he cried, “My son Absalom! O my son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!”

² Then Joab was told, “Look, the king is weeping and mourning over Absalom!” ³ So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops, for the troops heard it said that day, “The king is grieving over his son.” ⁴ So the troops entered into the city stealthily that day, like troops who are ashamed after running away in battle.

⁵ The king covered his face and cried with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁶ Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have humiliated all your servants—who this day have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines— ⁷ by loving those who hate you, and hating those who love you! For you have shown today that officers and officials are nothing to you. For today I realize that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, then it would have pleased you well. ⁸ So now arise, go out, and speak to the heart of your servants! For I swear by Adonai that if you do not go out, not a single man will stay with you tonight, and that would be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.”

⁹ So the king arose and sat in the gate. When they told all the troops saying, “See, the king is sitting at the gate,” all the troops presented themselves before the king.

David’s Restoration and Grace

Meanwhile, Israel had fled each man to his tent. ¹⁰ All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were at strife saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and he saved us from the hand of the Philistines. Yet now he had to flee from the land because of Absalom, ¹¹ but Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why are we silent about restoring the king?”

¹² Then King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar the kohanim saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah saying, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace? The talk of all Israel had reached the king at his residence. ¹³ ‘You are my kinsmen, my bone and my flesh! Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’

¹⁴ “Also say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me and even more if you do not become my army commander before me continually, in place of Joab!’”

¹⁵ Thus he turned the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and then they sent word to the king, “Come back, you and all your servants.” ¹⁶ So the king returned and reached the Jordan. Meanwhile, Judah came to Gilgal in order to meet the king, to escort the king over the Jordan.

¹⁷ Then Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David ¹⁸ accompanied by 1,000 men of Benjamin. Also Ziba the servant of Saul’s household, with his 15 sons and 20 slaves, rushed to the Jordan ahead of the king. ¹⁹ They ferried across the ford to bring the king’s household and they did whatever seemed good in his eyes. Now, Shimei son of Gera fell down before the king when he was crossing over the Jordan, ²⁰ so he implored the king, “Let my lord not hold me guilty, and not remember the iniquity that your servant committed on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Let the king not take it to his heart. ²¹ For your servant knows that I have sinned. So behold, I have come today the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

²² But Abishai son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Adonai’s anointed?”

²³ But David said, “What have I to do with you sons of Zeruiah that you should be my adversary^[f] today? Should any man be put to death in Israel this day? Don’t I know that today I am king over Israel?” ²⁴ Then the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die,” and the king swore it to him.

²⁵ Then Mephibosheth son of Saul came down to meet the king. Now he had neither dressed his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came home in shalom. ²⁶ Now it came to pass when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why did you not go with me Mephibosheth?”

²⁷ “My lord the king, my own servant deceived me,” he answered. “For your servant had said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, ride on it and go with the king,’ because your servant is lame. ²⁸ However, he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God. So do what is good in your eyes. ²⁹ For all my father’s household deserved only death at the hand of my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those eating at your own table! What right do I have yet to cry to the king?”

³⁰ Then the king said to him, “Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have decreed, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the land.’”

³¹ “So let him take all,” Mephibosheth replied to the king, “as long as my lord the king has come back to his own home in shalom.”

³² Then Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and he approached the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan. ³³ Now Barzillai was a very aged man—80 years old—and he had provided for the king during his residence at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. ³⁴ The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.” ³⁵ But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years are left of my life that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁶ I am now 80 years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I listen any more to the voice of singing men and women? Why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king? ³⁷ Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. But why should the king reward me with such a reward? ³⁸ Please let your servant go back, and let me die in my own hometown, near the grave of my father and my mother. But look, here is your servant Chimham—let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good in your eyes.”

³⁹ The king answered, “Chimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good in your eyes. Whatever you ask of me, I will do for you.” ⁴⁰ When all the people had crossed over the Jordan and as the king was about to cross over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, so he returned to his own place.

⁴¹ Then the king crossed over to Gilgal, and Chimham and all the people of Judah crossed over with him, and also half the people of Israel escorted the king over. ⁴² Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to him, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal you away by escorting the king and his household over the Jordan, along with all David’s men that were with him?”

⁴³ Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative. So why are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s cost? Or has he given us any gifts?”

⁴⁴ Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “We have ten shares in the king, so in David we have even more than you. Why then did you despise us? Weren’t we the first to speak of restoring our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

Joab the Terminator

20 Now a worthless fellow happened to be there, a Benjamite named Sheba son of Bichri. He blew the shofar and said, “We have no portion in David, no inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, O Israel!” ² So all the men of Israel withdrew from following David and followed Sheba son of Bichri, but the men of Judah kept close to their king from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

³ Now when David arrived at his palace in Jerusalem, the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to take care of the palace, and put them in a guarded house. He provided for them but he did not cohabit with them. So they were confined until the day they died, living in widowhood.

⁴ Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon to me the men of Judah within three days and be here yourself.” ⁵ So Amasa went to summon Judah but he took longer than the set time that he had allotted him.

⁶ Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. So take your lord’s servants and pursue him lest he find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.” ⁷ So Joab’s men went after him, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, and set out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri. ⁸ When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military uniform, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his waist; and as he stepped forward, it fell out. ⁹ Then Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you my brother?” With his right hand Joab took Amasa by the beard to kiss him. ¹⁰ But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s other hand. So he stabbed him with it in the groin and poured out his entrails to the ground, and did not strike him again, for he died.

Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri. ¹¹ Meanwhile, one of Joab’s young men stood over Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” ¹² Yet Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the highway. So when the man saw that all the people stood still, he dragged Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him because he saw that everyone passing by him paused.  ¹³ Once he removed him from the highway, everyone passed on, following Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁴ Now he went through all the tribes of Israel, to Abel and Beth-Maacah. All the Berites gathered together and indeed followed him. ¹⁵ They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-Maacah and cast up a siege ramp against the city. It stood against the outer fortification and all the people with Joab battered the wall in order to topple it.

¹⁶ Then a wise woman cried out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come over here that I may speak with him.” ¹⁷ When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he answered.

Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your handmaid.”

“I’m listening,” he answered.

¹⁸ Then she spoke up saying, “They used to say in old time, ‘They shall surely seek counsel at Abel and that’s how they settled any dispute. ¹⁹ I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. Are you seeking to destroy a mother city in Israel? Why would you devour Adonai’s inheritance?”

²⁰ Joab replied saying, “Never! Far be it from me that I would devour up or ruin. ²¹ The matter is not so; but a fellow from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri his name, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give him up alone and I will withdraw from the city.”

So the woman replied to Joab, “Look here, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²² Then the woman approached all the people wisely. So they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it over to Joab. He then blew the shofar and they were dismissed from the city, each to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

²³ Now Joab remained over all the army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ²⁴ Adoram was over the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; ²⁵ Sheba was scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were kohanim; ²⁶ and Ira the Jairite also was a kohen to David.

Justice for the Gibeonites

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year, so David sought the face of Adonai. Adonai replied, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, for he put the Gibeonites to death.” ² So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of Bnei-Yisrael but a remnant of the Amorites; however, Bnei-Yisrael had sworn a covenant with them. Yet Saul had tried to eradicate them in his zeal for Bnei-Yisrael and Judah.) ³ David asked the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How may I make atonement so that you would bless the inheritance of Adonai?”

⁴ The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; nor is it our right to put any man to death in Israel.”

“Whatever you say, I will do for you,” he said.

⁵ Then they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and plotted against us to annihilate us from remaining in any of Israel’s territory, ⁶ let seven men of his sons be given over to us and we will hang them up before Adonai at Gibeah of Saul, Adonai’s chosen.”

“I will give them over,” the king said. ⁷ Now the king spared Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan son of Saul, because of Adonai’s oath that was between them, 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; also the five sons of Michal^[g] daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite, ⁹ and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites. So they hanged them on the hill before Adonai, so that all seven fell together. They were put to death during the days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹⁰ Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it on the rock for herself, from the beginning of harvest until the rain poured on them from the sky. She did not let the birds of the sky rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹² So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa. ¹³ He had the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan brought up from there, and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. ¹⁴ So they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of his father Kish. They did all of what the king commanded. Afterward, God was moved by prayer for the land.

¹⁵ Once again the Philistines made war with Israel, so David went down with his servants and fought against the Philistines. But David became weary. ¹⁶ So Ishbi-benob—who was a descendant of the Raphah, whose spear weighed 300 shekels of bronze, who was girded with new armor—thought to kill David. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You must not go out with us to battle anymore. You must not quench the lamp of Israel!”

¹⁸ Now it came to pass after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob, and Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of the Rapha. ¹⁹ Then there was war again with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Beth-lehemite killed Goliath the Gittite—his spear had a shaft like a weaver’s beam. ²⁰ Once again there was war at Gath, where there was a champion that had on every hand six fingers and on every foot six toes—a total of 24, and he also was a descendant of the Rapha. ²¹ When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of David’s brother Shimea killed him. ²² These four were born to the Rapha in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Songs of Valor and Last Words

22 David spoke to Adonai the words of this song in the day that Adonai delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. ² He said: