King James Version2 Samuel15

2 Samuel

1 And it came to pass af­ter this, that Ab­sa­lom pre­pared him char­i­ots and hors­es, and fifty men to run be­fore him. 2 And Ab­sa­lom rose up ear­ly, and stood be­side the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a con­tro­ver­sy came to the king for judg­ment, then Ab­sa­lom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy ser­vant is of one of the tribes of Is­rael. 3 And Ab­sa­lom said unto him, See, thy mat­ters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. 4 Ab­sa­lom said more­over, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that ev­ery man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him jus­tice! 5 And it was so, that when any man came nigh ­to him to do him obei­sance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. 6 And on this man­ner did Ab­sa­lom to all Is­rael that came to the king for judg­ment: so Ab­sa­lom stole the hearts of the men of Is­rael. 7 And it came to pass af­ter forty years, that Ab­sa­lom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in He­bron. 8 For thy ser­vant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syr­ia, say­ing, If the LORD shall bring me again in­deed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD. 9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to He­bron. 10 But Ab­sa­lom sent spies through­out all the tribes of Is­rael, say­ing, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trum­pet, then ye shall say, Ab­sa­lom reigneth in He­bron. 11 And with Ab­sa­lom went two hun­dred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their sim­plic­i­ty, and they knew not any thing. 12 And Ab­sa­lom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's coun­sel­lor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he of­fered sac­ri­fices. And the con­spir­a­cy was strong; for the peo­ple in­creased con­tin­u­al­ly with Ab­sa­lom. 13 And there came a mes­sen­ger to David, say­ing, The hearts of the men of Is­rael are af­ter Ab­sa­lom. 14 And David said unto all his ser­vants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else es­cape from Ab­sa­lom: make speed to de­part, lest he over­take us sud­den­ly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. 15 And the king's ser­vants said unto the king, Be­hold, thy ser­vants are ready to do what­so­ev­er my lord the king shall ap­point. 16 And the king went forth, and all his house­hold af­ter him. And the king left ten wom­en, which were con­cu­bines, to keep the house. 17 And the king went forth, and all the peo­ple af­ter him, and tar­ried in a place that was far off. 18 And all his ser­vants passed on be­side him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Git­tites, six hun­dred men which came af­ter him from Gath, passed on be­fore the king. 19 Then said the king to It­tai the Git­tite, Where­fore goest thou also with us? re­turn to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an ex­ile. 20 Where­as thou camest but yes­ter­day, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? see­ing I go whith­er I may, re­turn thou, and take back thy brethren: mer­cy and truth be with thee. 21 And It­tai an­swered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, sure­ly in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy ser­vant be. 22 And David said to It­tai, Go and pass over. And It­tai the Git­tite passed over, and all his men, and all the lit­tle ones that were with him. 23 And all the coun­try wept with a loud voice, and all the peo­ple passed over: the king also him­self passed over the brook Kidron, and all the peo­ple passed over, to­ward the way of the wilder­ness. 24 And lo Zadok al­so, and all the Levites were with him, bear­ing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abi­athar went up, un­til all the peo­ple had done pass­ing out of the city. 25 And the king said unto Zadok, Car­ry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habi­ta­tion: 26 But if he thus say, I have no de­light in thee; be­hold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. 27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? re­turn into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahi­maaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abi­athar. 28 See, I will tar­ry in the plain of the wilder­ness, un­til there come word from you to cer­ti­fy me. 29 Zadok there­fore and Abi­athar car­ried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tar­ried there. 30 And David went up by the as­cent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head cov­ered, and he went bare­foot: and all the peo­ple that was with him cov­ered ev­ery man his head, and they went up, weep­ing as they went up. 31 And one told David, say­ing, Ahithophel is among the con­spir­a­tors with Ab­sa­lom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the coun­sel of Ahithophel into fool­ish­ness. 32 And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he wor­shipped God, be­hold, Hushai the Ar­chite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head: 33 Unto whom David said, If thou pass­est on with me, then thou shalt be a bur­den unto me: 34 But if thou re­turn to the city, and say unto Ab­sa­lom, I will be thy ser­vant, O king; as I have been thy father's ser­vant hith­er­to, so will I now also be thy ser­vant: then mayest thou for me de­feat the coun­sel of Ahithophel. 35 And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abi­athar the priests? there­fore it shall be, that what thing so­ev­er thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abi­athar the priests. 36 Be­hold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahi­maaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me ev­ery thing that ye can hear. 37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Ab­sa­lom came into Jerusalem.