Bible in 90 Days

¹¹ Thus says the Lord: I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives before your very eyes, and will give them to your neighbor: he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.^{[a](A) 12} You have acted in secret, but I will do this in the presence of all Israel, in the presence of the sun itself.”

David’s Repentance. ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan answered David: “For his part, the Lord has removed your sin. You shall not die,^{(B) 14} but since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you will surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan returned to his house.

The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became desperately ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God on behalf of the child. He kept a total fast, and spent the night lying on the ground clothed in sackcloth. ¹⁷ The elders of his house stood beside him to get him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor would he take food with them. ¹⁸ On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said: “When the child was alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to what we said. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do some harm!” ¹⁹ But David noticed his servants whispering among themselves and realized that the child was dead. He asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “Yes.” ²⁰ Rising from the ground, David washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. He returned to his own house and asked for food; they set it before him, and he ate. ²¹ His servants said to him: “What is this you are doing? While the child was living, you fasted and wept and kept vigil; now that the child is dead, you rise and take food.” ²² He replied: “While the child was living, I fasted and wept, thinking, ‘Who knows? The Lord may grant me the child’s life.’ ²³ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”^{(C) 24} Then David consoled Bathsheba his wife. He went and slept with her; and she conceived and bore him a son, who was named Solomon. The Lord loved him ²⁵ and sent the prophet Nathan to name him Jedidiah,^[b] on behalf of the Lord.

End of the Ammonite War. ^26 (D)Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured that royal city. ²⁷ He sent messengers to David to say: “I have fought against Rabbah and have taken the water-city. ²⁸ Therefore, assemble the rest of the soldiers, join the siege against the city, and capture it, lest I be the one to capture the city and mine be the name people mention, not yours.” ²⁹ So David assembled the rest of the soldiers, went to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured it. ³⁰ He took the crown of Milcom from the idol’s head, a talent^[c] of gold in weight, with precious stones; this crown David wore on his own head. He also brought out a great amount of spoil from the city. ³¹ He deported the people of the city and set them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, or put them to work at the brickmold. He dealt thus with all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and his whole army returned to Jerusalem.

Chapter 13

Amnon’s Rape of Tamar. ¹ After this, the following occurred. David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David’s son Amnon loved her.^{(E) 2} He was in such anguish over his sister Tamar that he became sick; she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible to do anything to her. ³ Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, son of David’s brother Shimeah, who was very clever.^{[d](F) 4} He asked him, “Prince, why are you so dejected morning after morning? Why not tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” ⁵ Then Jonadab replied, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. When your father comes to visit you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and encourage me to take food. If she prepares something in my presence, for me to see, I will eat it from her hand.’” ⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to visit him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and prepare some fried cakes before my eyes, that I may take food from her hand.”

⁷ David then sent home a message to Tamar, “Please go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” ⁸ Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was in bed. Taking dough and kneading it, she twisted it into cakes before his eyes and fried the cakes. ⁹ Then she took the pan and set out the cakes before him. But Amnon would not eat; he said, “Have everyone leave me.” When they had all left him, ¹⁰ Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may have it from your hand.” So Tamar picked up the cakes she had prepared and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom. ¹¹ But when she brought them close to him so he could eat, he seized her and said to her, “Come! Lie with me, my sister!” ¹² But she answered him, “No, my brother! Do not force me! This is not done in Israel. Do not commit this terrible crime.^{(G) 13} Where would I take my shame? And you would be labeled a fool in Israel.^[e] So please, speak to the king; he will not keep me from you.”^{(H) 14} But he would not listen to her; he was too strong for her: he forced her down and raped her. ¹⁵ Then Amnon felt intense hatred for her; the hatred he felt for her far surpassed the love he had had for her. Amnon said to her, “Get up, leave.” ¹⁶ She replied, “No, brother, because sending me away would be far worse than this evil thing you have done to me.” He would not listen to her, ¹⁷ but called the youth who was his attendant and said, “Send this girl outside, away from me, and bar the door after her.” ¹⁸ Now she had on a long tunic, for that is how virgin princesses dressed in olden days. When his attendant put her out and barred the door after her, ¹⁹ Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long tunic in which she was clothed. Then, putting her hands to her head, she went away crying loudly. ²⁰ Her brother Absalom said to her: “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Keep still now, my sister; he is your brother. Do not take this so to heart.” So Tamar remained, devastated, in the house of her brother Absalom. ²¹ King David, when he heard of the whole affair, became very angry. He would not, however, antagonize Amnon, his high-spirited son; he loved him, because he was his firstborn. ²² And Absalom said nothing, good or bad, to Amnon; but Absalom hated Amnon for having humiliated his sister Tamar.

Absalom’s Plot. ²³ Two years went by. It was sheep-shearing time for Absalom in Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons. ²⁴ Absalom went to the king and said: “Your servant has hired the shearers. Please, may the king come with all his servants to your servant.” ²⁵ But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, all of us should not go lest we be a burden to you.” And though Absalom urged him, he would not go but began to bid him good-bye. ²⁶ Absalom then said, “If not you, then please let my brother Amnon come with us.” The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷ But at Absalom’s urging, the king sent Amnon and with him all his other sons. Absalom prepared a banquet fit for a king. ^28 (I)But Absalom had instructed his attendants: “Now watch! When Amnon is merry with wine and I say to you, ‘Kill Amnon,’ put him to death. Do not be afraid, for it is I who order you to do it. Be strong and act like warriors.”

Death of Amnon. ²⁹ When the attendants did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded, all the king’s other sons rose up, mounted their mules, and fled. ³⁰ While they were still on the road, a report reached David: “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons and not one of them is left.” ³¹ The king stood up, tore his garments, and lay on the ground. All his servants standing by him also tore their garments.^{(J) 32} But Jonadab, son of David’s brother Shimeah, spoke up: “Let not my lord think that all the young men, the king’s sons, have been killed! Amnon alone is dead, for Absalom was set on this ever since Amnon humiliated his sister Tamar. ³³ Now let my lord the king not take so to heart that report, ‘All the king’s sons are dead.’ Amnon alone is dead.” ³⁴ Meanwhile, Absalom had taken flight. Then the servant on watch looked out and saw a large group coming down the slope from the direction of Bahurim. He came in and reported this to the king: “I saw some men coming down the mountainside from the direction of Bahurim.” ³⁵ So Jonadab said to the king: “There! The king’s sons have come. It is as your servant said.” ³⁶ No sooner had he finished speaking than the king’s sons came in, weeping aloud. The king, too, and all his servants wept very bitterly. ³⁷ But Absalom, who had taken flight, went to Talmai, son of Ammihud, king of Geshur,^{(K) 38} and stayed in Geshur for three years. ³⁹ All that time the king continued to mourn his son; but his intention of going out against Absalom abated as he was consoled over the death of Amnon.

Chapter 14

The Wise Woman of Tekoa. ¹ Now Joab, son of Zeruiah, knew how the king felt toward Absalom. ² Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman, to whom he said: “Pretend to be in mourning. Put on mourning apparel and do not anoint yourself with oil, that you may appear to be a woman who has long been mourning someone dead. ³ Then go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” And Joab told her what to say.

⁴ So the woman of Tekoa went to the king and fell to the ground in homage, saying, “Help, O king!” ^5 (L)The king said to her, “What do you want?” She replied: “Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶ Your servant had two sons, who quarreled in the field, with no one to part them, and one of them struck his brother and killed him. ⁷ Then the whole clan confronted your servant and demanded: ‘Give up the one who struck down his brother. We must put him to death for the life of his brother whom he has killed; we must do away with the heir also.’ Thus they will quench my remaining hope^[f] and leave my husband neither name nor posterity upon the earth.”^{(M) 8} The king then said to the woman: “Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf.” ⁹ The woman of Tekoa answered him, “Upon me and my family be the blame, my lord king; the king and his throne are innocent.” ¹⁰ Then the king said, “If anyone says a word to you, have him brought to me, and he shall not touch you again.” ¹¹ But she said, “Please, let the king remember the Lord your God, that the avenger of blood may not go too far in destruction and that my son may not be done away with.” He replied, “As the Lord lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹² But the woman continued, “Please let your servant say still another word to my lord the king.” He replied, “Speak.” ¹³ So the woman said: “Why, then, do you think the way you do against the people of God? In pronouncing as he has, the king shows himself guilty, in not bringing back his own banished son. ¹⁴ We must indeed die; we are then like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up. Yet, though God does not bring back to life, he does devise means so as not to banish^[g] anyone from him.^{(N) 15} And now, if I have presumed to speak to the king of this matter, it is because the people have given me cause to fear. And so your servant thought: ‘Let me speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the petition of his servant. ¹⁶ For the king must surely listen and rescue his servant from the grasp of one who would destroy both me and my son from the heritage of God.’ ¹⁷ And your servant says, ‘Let the word of my lord the king lead to rest;^[h] indeed, my lord the king is like an angel of God, discerning good and evil. The Lord your God be with you.’”^(O)

¹⁸ The king answered the woman, “Now do not conceal from me anything I may ask you!” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” ¹⁹ So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered: “As you live, my lord the king, it is just as my lord has said, and not otherwise. It was your servant Joab who instructed me and told your servant all these things she was to say. ²⁰ Your servant Joab did this in order to approach the matter in a roundabout way. But my lord is wise with the wisdom of an angel of God, knowing all things on earth.”

Absalom’s Return. ²¹ Then the king said to Joab: “I am granting this request. Go and bring back young Absalom.” ²² Falling to the ground in homage and blessing the king, Joab said, “This day your servant knows that I am in good favor with you, my lord king, since the king has granted the request of your servant.” ²³ Joab then went off to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴ But the king said, “Let him go off to his own house; he shall not appear before^[i] me.” So Absalom went off to his house and did not appear before the king.

²⁵ In all Israel there was no man more praised for his beauty than Absalom, flawless from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ²⁶ When he shaved his head—as he used to do at the end of every year, because his hair became too heavy for him—the hair weighed two hundred shekels according to the royal standard. ²⁷ Absalom had three sons born to him, besides a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.^(P)

Absalom Is Pardoned. ²⁸ Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without appearing before the king. ²⁹ Then he sent a message asking Joab to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. Although he asked him a second time, Joab would not come. ³⁰ He therefore instructed his servants: “You see Joab’s field that borders mine, where he has barley. Go, set it on fire.” And so Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.^(Q) Joab’s farmhands came to him with torn garments and told him, “Absalom’s servants set your field on fire.” ³¹ Joab went to Absalom in his house and asked him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” ³² Absalom answered Joab: “I sent you a message: Come here, that I may send you to the king to say: ‘Why did I come back from Geshur? I would be better off if I were still there!’ Now, let me appear before the king. If I am guilty, let him put me to death.” ³³ Joab went to the king and reported this. The king then called Absalom; he came to him and in homage fell on his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.

Chapter 15

Absalom’s Ambition. ¹ After this, Absalom provided himself with chariots, horses, and a retinue of fifty.^{(R) 2} Moreover, Absalom used to rise early and stand alongside the road leading to the gate. If someone had a lawsuit to be decided by the king, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he replied, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe of Israel,” ³ Absalom would say to him, “Your case is good and just, but there is no one to hear you in the king’s name.” ⁴ And he would continue: “If only I could be appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a lawsuit to be decided might come to me and I would render him justice.” ⁵ Whenever a man approached him to show homage, he would extend his hand, hold him, and kiss him. ⁶ By behaving in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king for judgment, Absalom was stealing the heart of Israel.

Conspiracy in Hebron. ⁷ After a period of four years, Absalom said to the king: “Please let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. ⁸ For while living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made this vow: ‘If the Lord ever brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship him in Hebron.’”^{(S) 9} The king said to him, “Go in peace,” and he went off to Hebron. ¹⁰ Then Absalom sent agents throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “When you hear the sound of the horn, say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’” ¹¹ Two hundred men had accompanied Absalom from Jerusalem. They had been invited and went in all innocence, knowing nothing. ¹² Absalom also sent to Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, an invitation to come from his town, Giloh, for the sacrifices he was about to offer. So the conspiracy gained strength, and the people with Absalom increased in numbers.^(T)

David Flees Jerusalem. ¹³ An informant came to David with the report, “The Israelites have given their hearts to Absalom,^(U) and they are following him.” ¹⁴ At this, David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem: “Get up, let us flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. Leave at once, or he will quickly overtake us, and then bring disaster upon us, and put the city to the sword.” ¹⁵ The king’s servants answered him, “Whatever our lord the king chooses to do, we are your servants.” ¹⁶ Then the king set out, accompanied by his entire household, except for ten concubines whom he left behind to care for the palace.^{(V) 17} As the king left the city, with all his officers accompanying him, they halted opposite the ascent of the Mount of Olives, at a distance, ¹⁸ while the whole army marched past him.

David and Ittai. As all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and the six hundred Gittites who had entered his service from that city, were passing in review before the king,^{(W) 19} 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 you, too, are an exile from your own country. ²⁰ You came only yesterday, and today shall I have you wander off with us wherever I have to go? Return and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show you kindness and fidelity.” ²¹ But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, your servant shall be wherever my lord the king is, whether for death or for life.”^{(X) 22} So the king said to Ittai, “Go, then, march on.” And Ittai the Gittite, with all his men and all the dependents that were with him, marched on. ²³ The whole land wept aloud as the last of the soldiers went by, and the king crossed the Wadi Kidron with all the soldiers moving on ahead of him by way of the ascent of the Mount of Olives, toward the wilderness.

David and the Priests. ²⁴ Zadok, too, and all the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of God set down the ark of God until the whole army had finished marching out of the city; and Abiathar came up. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok: “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor with the Lord, he will bring me back and permit me to see it and its lodging place. ²⁶ But if he should say, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ I am ready; let him do to me as he sees fit.”^{(Y) 27} The king also said to Zadok the priest: “Look, you and Abiathar return to the city in peace, and both your sons with you, your own son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. ²⁸ Remember, I shall be waiting at the fords near the wilderness until a report from you comes to me.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.

³⁰ As David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, he wept without ceasing. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All those who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went.^{(Z) 31} When David was told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom,” he said, “O Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel to folly!”^(AA)

David and Hushai. ³² When David reached the top, where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him, with garments torn and dirt upon his head.^{(AB) 33} David said to him: “If you come with me, you will be a burden to me; ³⁴ but if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Let me be your servant, O king; I was formerly your father’s servant, but now I will be yours,’ you will thwart for me the counsel of Ahithophel.^{(AC) 35} You will have the priests Zadok and Abiathar there with you. If you hear anything from the king’s house, you shall report it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, ³⁶ who have there with them their two sons, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Through them you shall send on to me whatever you hear.” ³⁷ So David’s friend Hushai went into the city, Jerusalem, as Absalom was about to enter it.

Chapter 16

David and Ziba. ¹ David went a little beyond the top and Ziba, the servant of Meribbaal, was there to meet him with saddled donkeys laden with two hundred loaves of bread, an ephah of cakes of pressed raisins, an ephah of summer fruits, and a skin of wine.^{(AD) 2} The king said to Ziba, “What are you doing with all this?” Ziba replied: “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on. The bread and summer fruits are for your servants to eat, and the wine to drink when they grow weary in the wilderness.” ³ Then the king said, “And where is your lord’s son?” Ziba answered the king, “He is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore to me my father’s kingdom.’”^{(AE) 4} The king therefore said to Ziba, “So! Everything Meribbaal had is yours.” Then Ziba said: “I pay you homage, my lord the king. May I find favor with you!”^(AF)

David and Shimei. ⁵ As King David was approaching Bahurim, there was a man coming out; he was of the same clan as the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, son of Gera. He kept cursing as he came out,^{(AG) 6} and throwing stones at David and at all King David’s officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard, were on David’s right and on his left. ⁷ Shimei was saying as he cursed: “Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you scoundrel! ⁸ The Lord has paid you back for all the blood shed from the family of Saul,^[j] whom you replaced as king, and the Lord has handed over the kingdom to your son Absalom. And now look at you: you suffer ruin because you are a man of blood.” ⁹ Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king: “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”^{(AH) 10} But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’”^{(AI) 11} Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants: “If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.^{(AJ) 12} Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and repay me with good for the curses he is uttering this day.” ¹³ David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept up with them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.^{(AK) 14} The king and all the soldiers with him arrived at the Jordan tired out, and stopped there to rest.

Absalom’s Counselors. ¹⁵ In the meantime Absalom, with all the Israelites, entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, he said to him: “Long live the king! Long live the king!”^{(AL) 17} But Absalom asked Hushai: “Is this your devotion to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ Hushai replied to Absalom: “On the contrary, I am his whom the Lord and all this people and all Israel have chosen, and with him I will stay. ¹⁹ Furthermore, as I was in attendance upon your father, so will I be before you. Whom should I serve, if not his son?”^(AM)

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Offer your counsel on what we should do.” ²¹ Ahithophel replied to Absalom: “Go to your father’s concubines, whom he left behind to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears how odious you have made yourself to your father, all those on your side will take courage.”^{(AN) 22} So a tent was pitched on the roof for Absalom, and Absalom went to his father’s concubines in view of all Israel.^(AO)

Counsel of Ahithophel. ²³ Now the counsel given by Ahithophel at that time was as though one sought the word of God. Such was all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and to Absalom.^(AP)

Chapter 17

¹ Ahithophel went on to say to Absalom: “Let me choose twelve thousand men and be off in pursuit of David tonight. ² If I come upon him when he is weary and discouraged, I shall cause him panic, and all the people with him will flee, and I shall strike down the king alone. ³ Then I can bring back the rest of the people to you, as a bride returns to her husband. It is the death of only one man you are seeking; then all the people will be at peace.” ⁴ This plan sounded good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

Counsel of Hushai. ⁵ Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also; let us hear what he too has to say.” ⁶ When Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him: “This is Ahithophel’s plan. Shall we follow his plan? If not, give your own.” ⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “This time Ahithophel has not given good counsel.” ⁸ And he went on to say: “You know that your father and his men are warriors, and that they are as fierce as a bear in the wild robbed of her cubs. Moreover, since your father is a skilled fighter, he will not spend the night with the army.^{(AQ) 9} Even now he lies hidden in one of the caves or in one of his other places. And if some of our soldiers should fall at the first attack, whoever hears of it will say, ‘Absalom’s followers have been slaughtered.’ ¹⁰ Then even the brave man with the heart of a lion—his heart will melt. For all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and those who are with him are brave. ¹¹ This is what I counsel: Let all Israel be assembled, from Dan to Beer-sheba, as numerous as the sands by the sea, and you yourself go with them. ¹² We can then attack him wherever we find him, settling down upon him as dew alights on the ground. None shall survive—neither he nor any of his followers. ¹³ And if he retires into a city, all Israel shall bring ropes to that city and we can drag it into the gorge, so that not even a pebble of it can be found.” ¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the Israelites said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had commanded that Ahithophel’s good counsel should be thwarted, so that he might bring Absalom to ruin.^(AR)

David Told of the Plan. ¹⁵ Then Hushai said to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “This is the counsel Ahithophel gave Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I counseled. ¹⁶ So send a warning to David immediately: ‘Do not spend the night at the fords near the wilderness, but cross over without fail. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be destroyed.’” ¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel. A maidservant was to come with information for them, and they in turn were to go and report to King David. They could not risk being seen entering the city, ¹⁸ but an attendant did see them and informed Absalom. They hurried on their way and reached the house of a man in Bahurim who had a cistern in his courtyard. They let themselves down into it, ¹⁹ and the woman took the cover and spread it over the mouth of the cistern, strewing crushed grain on the cover so that nothing could be noticed. ²⁰ When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied, “They went by a short while ago toward the water.” They searched, but found no one, and so returned to Jerusalem. ²¹ As soon as they left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan came up out of the cistern and went on to report to King David. They said to him: “Leave! Cross the water at once, for Ahithophel has given such and such counsel in regard to you.” ²² So David and all his people moved on and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not acted upon, he saddled his donkey and departed, going to his home in his own city. Then, having left orders concerning his household, he hanged himself. And so he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.^(AS)

²⁴ Now David had arrived at Mahanaim while Absalom crossed the Jordan accompanied by all the Israelites. ²⁵ Absalom had put Amasa in command of the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of an Ishmaelite named Ithra, who had married Abigail, daughter of Jesse and sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah.^{(AT) 26} Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi, son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir, son of Ammiel from Lodebar, and Barzillai, the Gileadite from Rogelim,^{(AU) 28} brought beds and covers, basins and pottery, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, ²⁹ honey, and butter and cheese from the flocks and herds, for David and those who were with him to eat; for they said, “The people will be hungry and tired and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Chapter 18

Preparation for Battle. ¹ After mustering the troops he had with him, David placed officers in command of units of a thousand and units of a hundred. ² David then divided the troops three ways, a third under Joab, a third under Abishai, son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, “I intend to go out with you myself.” ³ But they replied: “You must not come out with us. For if we flee, no one will care; even if half of us die, no one will care. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that we have you to help us from the city.” ⁴ The king said to them, “I will do what you think best.” So the king stood by the gate as all the soldiers marched out in units of a hundred and a thousand. ⁵ But the king gave this command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “Be gentle with young Absalom for my sake.” All the soldiers heard as the king gave commands to the various leaders with regard to Absalom.

Defeat of Absalom’s Forces. ⁶ David’s army then took the field against Israel, and a battle was fought in the forest near Mahanaim. ⁷ The forces of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the casualties there that day were heavy—twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread out over that entire region, and the forest consumed more combatants that day than did the sword.

Death of Absalom. ⁹ Absalom unexpectedly came up against David’s servants. He was mounted on a mule, and, as the mule passed under the branches of a large oak tree, his hair caught fast in the tree. He hung between heaven and earth while the mule under him kept going. ¹⁰ Someone saw this and reported to Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree.” ¹¹ Joab said to the man who told him this: “If you saw him, why did you not strike him to the ground on the spot? Then it would have been my duty to give you fifty pieces of silver and a belt.” ¹² But the man replied to Joab: “Even if I already held a thousand pieces of silver in my two hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son, for in our hearing the king gave you and Abishai and Ittai a command: ‘Protect the youth Absalom for my sake.’ ¹³ Had I been disloyal and killed him, it would all have come out before the king, and you would stand aloof.” ¹⁴ Joab replied, “I will not waste time with you in this way.” And taking three pikes in hand, he thrust for the heart of Absalom. He was still alive in the tree.^{(AV) 15} When ten of Joab’s young armor-bearers closed in on Absalom, and killed him with further blows, ¹⁶ Joab then sounded the horn, and the soldiers turned back from the pursuit of the Israelites, because Joab called them to halt. ¹⁷ They took Absalom and cast him into a deep pit in the forest, and built up a very large mound of stones over him. And all the Israelites fled to their own tents.^(AW)

¹⁸ During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and set it up for himself in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to perpetuate my name.” The pillar which he named for himself is called Absalom’s Monument to the present day.^(AX)

David Told of Absalom’s Death. ¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, said, “Let me run to take the good news to the king that the Lord has set him free from the power of his enemies.” ²⁰ But Joab said to him: “You are not the man to bring the news today. On some other day you may take the good news, but today you would not be bringing good news, for in fact the king’s son is dead.” ²¹ Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and ran off. ²² But Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, said to Joab again, “Come what may, permit me also to run after the Cushite.” Joab replied: “Why do you want to run, my son? You will receive no reward.” ²³ But he insisted, “Come what may, I want to run.” Joab said to him, “Run.” Ahimaaz took the way of the Jordan plain and outran the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David was sitting between the two gates, and a lookout mounted to the roof of the gate above the city wall, where he looked out and saw a man running all alone. ²⁵ The lookout shouted to inform the king, who said, “If he is alone, he has good news to report.” As he kept coming nearer, ²⁶ the lookout spied another runner. From his place atop the gate he cried out, “There is another man running by himself.” And the king responded, “He, too, is bringing good news.” ²⁷ Then the lookout said, “I notice that the first one runs like Ahimaaz, son of Zadok.” The king replied, “He is a good man; he comes with good news.”^{(AY) 28} Then Ahimaaz called out and greeted the king. With face to the ground he paid homage to the king and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who rebelled against my lord the king.” ²⁹ But the king asked, “Is young Absalom safe?” And Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great disturbance when the king’s servant Joab sent your servant on, but I do not know what it was.” ³⁰ The king said, “Step aside and remain in attendance here.” So he stepped aside and remained there. ³¹ When the Cushite came in, he said, “Let my lord the king receive the good news that this day the Lord has freed you from the power of all who rose up against you.” ³² But the king asked the Cushite, “Is young Absalom all right?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you with evil intent be as that young man!”

Chapter 19

¹ The king was shaken, and went up to the room over the city gate and wept. He said as he wept, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

Joab Reproves David. ² Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom,” ³ and that day’s victory was turned into mourning for the whole army when they heard, “The king is grieving for his son.” ⁴ The soldiers stole into the city that day like men shamed by flight in battle. ⁵ Meanwhile the king covered his face and cried out in a loud voice, “My son Absalom! Absalom! My son, my son!”^{(AZ) 6} So Joab went to the king’s residence and said: “Though they saved your life and your sons’ and daughters’ lives, and the lives of your wives and your concubines, you have put all your servants to shame today ⁷ by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. For you have announced today that officers and servants are nothing to you. Indeed I am now certain that if Absalom were alive today and all of us dead, that would be fine with you. ⁸ Now then, get up! Go out and speak kindly to your servants. I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, not a single man will remain with you overnight, and this will be a far greater disaster for you than any that has come upon you from your youth until now.” ⁹ So the king got up and sat at the gate. When all the people were told, “The king is sitting at the gate,” they came into his presence.

The Reconciliation. Now the Israelites had fled to their separate tents, ¹⁰ but throughout the tribes of Israel all the people were arguing among themselves, saying to one another: “The king delivered us from the grasp of our enemies, and it was he who rescued us from the grasp of the Philistines. Now, he has fled the country before Absalom, ¹¹ but Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Why, then, should you remain silent about restoring the king to his palace?” When the talk of all Israel reached the king, ¹² David sent word to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Say to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be last to restore the king to his palace? ¹³ You are my brothers, you are my bone and flesh. Why should you be last to restore the king?’ ¹⁴ Also say to Amasa: ‘Are you not my bone and flesh? May God do thus to me, and more, if you do not become commander of my army permanently in place of Joab.’”^{(BA) 15} He won the hearts of the Judahites all together, and so they sent a message to the king: “Return, with all your servants.”

David and Shimei. ¹⁶ So the king returned, and when he reached the Jordan, Judah had come to Gilgal to meet him and to bring him across the Jordan. ¹⁷ Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried down with the Judahites to meet King David,^{(BB) 18} accompanied by a thousand men from Benjamin. Ziba, too, the servant of the house of Saul, accompanied by his fifteen sons and twenty servants, hastened to the Jordan before the king.^{(BC) 19 (BD)}They crossed over the ford to bring the king’s household over and to do whatever he wished. When Shimei, son of Gera, crossed the Jordan, he fell down before the king ²⁰ and said to him: “May my lord not hold me guilty; do not remember or take to heart the wrong that your servant did the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. ²¹ For your servant knows that I have done wrong. But I now am the first of the whole house of Joseph to come down today to meet my lord the king.” ²² But Abishai, son of Zeruiah, countered: “Shimei must be put to death for this. He cursed the anointed of the Lord.” ²³ David replied: “What has come between you and me, sons of Zeruiah, that you would become my adversaries this day? Should anyone die today in Israel? Am I not aware that today I am king over Israel?”^{(BE) 24} Then the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.

David and Meribbaal. ²⁵ Meribbaal, son of Saul, also went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet nor trimmed his mustache nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until he returned safely. ²⁶ When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why did you not go with me, Meribbaal?”^{(BF) 27} He replied: “My lord king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said to him, ‘Saddle the donkey for me, that I may ride on it and go with the king’; your servant is lame.^{(BG) 28} But he slandered your servant before my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God. Do whatever seems good to you. ²⁹ For though my father’s entire house deserved only death from my lord the king, yet you placed your servant among those who eat at your table. What right do I still have to make further appeal to the king?”^{(BH) 30} But the king said to him: “Why do you go on talking? I say, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the property.’”^{(BI) 31} Meribbaal answered the king, “Indeed let him take it all, now that my lord the king has returned safely to his house.”

David and Barzillai. ³² Barzillai the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim and escorted the king to the Jordan for his crossing, taking leave of him at the Jordan.^{(BJ) 33} It was Barzillai, a very old man of eighty, who had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim; he was a very great man. ³⁴ The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for your old age as my guest in Jerusalem.” ³⁵ But Barzillai answered the king: “How much longer have I to live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? ³⁶ I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and evil? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks, or still hear the voices of men and women singers? Why should your servant be any further burden to my lord the king? ³⁷ In escorting the king across the Jordan, your servant is doing little enough! Why should the king give me this reward? ³⁸ Please let your servant go back to die in my own city by the tomb of my father and mother. Here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever seems good to you.” ³⁹ Then the king said to him, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and for him I will do whatever seems good to you. And anything else you would like me to do for you, I will do.” ⁴⁰ Then all the people crossed over the Jordan but the king remained; he kissed Barzillai and bade him farewell as he returned to his own place. ⁴¹ Finally the king crossed over to Gilgal, accompanied by Chimham.

Israel and Judah Quarrel. All of the people of Judah and half of the people of Israel had escorted the king across. ⁴² But then all these Israelites began coming to the king and saying, “Why did our brothers the Judahites steal you away and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, along with all David’s men?” ⁴³ All the Judahites replied to the men of Israel: “Because the king is our relative. Why are you angry over this? Have we had anything to eat at the king’s expense? Or have portions from his table been given to us?” ⁴⁴ The Israelites answered the Judahites: “We have ten shares in the king. Also, we are the firstborn^[k] rather than you. Why do you slight us? Were we not first to speak of restoring our king?” Then the Judahites in turn spoke even more fiercely than the Israelites.^(BK)

Chapter 20

Sheba’s Rebellion. ¹ Now a scoundrel named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He sounded the horn and cried out,

² So all the Israelites left David to follow Sheba, son of Bichri. But the Judahites, from the Jordan to Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king. ³ David came to his house in Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left behind to care for the palace and placed them under guard. He provided for them, but never again saw them. And so they remained shut away to the day of their death, lifelong widows.^(BM)

Amasa’s Death. ⁴ Then the king said to Amasa: “Summon the Judahites for me within three days. Then present yourself here.”^{(BN) 5} Accordingly Amasa set out to summon Judah, but delayed beyond the time set for him. ⁶ Then David said to Abishai: “Sheba, son of Bichri, may now do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find fortified cities and take shelter while we look on.” ⁷ So Joab and the Cherethites and Pelethites and all the warriors marched out behind Abishai from Jerusalem to campaign in pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri.^{(BO) 8 [l]}They were at the great stone in Gibeon when Amasa met them. Now Joab had a belt over his tunic, from which was slung a sword in its sheath at his thigh; the sword would slide out downwards.^{(BP) 9} Joab asked Amasa, “Is everything all right, my brother?” and with his right hand held Amasa’s beard as if to kiss him. ¹⁰ And since Amasa was not on his guard against the sword in Joab’s other hand, Joab stabbed him in the abdomen with it, so that his entrails burst forth to the ground, and he died; there was no second thrust. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba, son of Bichri.^{(BQ) 11} One of Joab’s attendants stood by Amasa and said, “Let him who favors Joab and is for David follow Joab.” ¹² Amasa lay covered with blood in the middle of the highroad, and the man noticed that all the soldiers were stopping. So he rolled Amasa away from the road to the field and spread a garment over him, because he saw how all who came upon him were stopping. ¹³ When he had been removed from the road, everyone went on after Joab in pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri.

Joab Pursues Sheba. ¹⁴ Sheba had passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth-maacah. Then all the Bichrites assembled and they too entered the city after him. ¹⁵ So all Joab’s troops came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah. They built up a mound against the city, so that it stood against the rampart, and were battering the wall to knock it down. ¹⁶ Then a wise woman from the city called out, “Listen, listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, so I can speak with you.’” ¹⁷ When Joab had come near her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he replied, “Yes.” She said to him, “Listen to what your servant has to say.” He replied, “I am listening.” ¹⁸ Then she went on to say: “There is a saying from long ago,^[m] ‘Let them ask if they will in Abel or in Dan whether loyalty is finished ¹⁹ or ended in Israel.’ You are seeking to batter down a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you wish to swallow up the heritage of the Lord?”^{(BR) 20} Joab answered, “Not at all, not at all! I do not wish to swallow or batter anything. ²¹ That is not the case at all. A man from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name is Sheba, son of Bichri, has rebelled against King David. Give him up, just him, and I will withdraw from the city.” Then the woman said to Joab, “His head shall be thrown to you across the wall.” ²² In her wisdom, the woman went to all the people, and they cut off the head of Sheba, son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He then sounded the horn, and they scattered from the city to their own tents, while Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

David’s Officials. ²³ Joab was in command of the whole army of Israel. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherethites and Pelethites.^{(BS) 24} Adoram was in charge of the forced labor. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was the chancellor. ²⁵ Shawsha was the scribe. Zadok and Abiathar were priests.^{(BT) 26} Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest.

V. Appendixes

Chapter 21

Gibeonite Vengeance. ¹ In David’s time there was a famine for three years, year after year. David sought the presence of the Lord, who said: There is bloodguilt on Saul and his family because he put the Gibeonites to death.^{(BU) 2} So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but survivors of the Amorites; and although the Israelites had given them their oath, Saul had sought to kill them off in his zeal for the Israelites and for Judah.)^{(BV) 3} David said to the Gibeonites, “What must I do for you and how must I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?” ⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no claim against Saul and his house for silver or gold, nor is it our place to put anyone to death in Israel.” Then he said, “I will do for you whatever you propose.” ⁵ They said to the king, “As for the man who was exterminating us and who intended to destroy us that we might have no place in all the territory of Israel, ⁶ let seven men from among his descendants be given to us, that we may execute them before the Lord in Gibeon, on the Lord’s mountain.” The king replied, “I will give them up.” ⁷ The king, however, spared Meribbaal, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that formed a bond between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.^{(BW) 8} But the king took Armoni and Meribbaal, the two sons that Aiah’s daughter Rizpah had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merob that she had borne to Adriel, son of Barzillai the Meholathite,^{(BX) 9} and delivered them into the power of the Gibeonites, who then executed them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven fell at the one time; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest—that is, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹⁰ Then Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock from the beginning of the harvest until rain came down on them from the heavens, fending off the birds of the heavens from settling on them by day, and the wild animals by night.^{(BY) 11} When David was informed of what Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, the concubine of Saul, had done, ¹² he went and obtained the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them away secretly from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them at the time they defeated Saul on Gilboa.^{(BZ) 13} When he had brought up from there the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan, the bones of those who had been executed were also gathered up. ¹⁴ Then the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan were buried in the land of Benjamin, at Zela, in the tomb of his father Kish. After all that the king commanded had been carried out, God granted relief to the land.^(CA)

Exploits in Philistine Wars. ¹⁵ There was another battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his servants and fought the Philistines, but David grew tired. ¹⁶ Dadu, a descendant of the Rephaim, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels, was about to take him captive. Dadu was girt with a new sword and thought he would kill David, ¹⁷ but Abishai, son of Zeruiah, came to help him, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must not go out to battle with us again, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”^(CB)

^18 (CC)After this, there was another battle with the Philistines, in Gob. On that occasion Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, a descendant of the Rephaim.^{(CD) 19 (CE)}There was another battle with the Philistines, in Gob, and Elhanan, son of Jair from Bethlehem, killed Goliath of Gath, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam. ²⁰ There was another battle, at Gath, and there was a giant, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from the Rephaim. ²¹ And when he insulted Israel, Jonathan, son of David’s brother Shimei, struck him down.^{(CF) 22} These four were descended from the Rephaim in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his servants.

Chapter 22

Song of Thanksgiving.^{[n] 1} David proclaimed the words of this song to the Lord when the Lord had rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul.^{(CG) 2} He said:^(CH)