guiltless.
10 And the king said, Whosoever saith oughtunto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch
thee any more.
11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not
suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, Asthe
LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak oneword unto my lord the king.
And he said, Say on.
13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of
God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch
home again his banished.
14 For we must needs die, and areas water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up
again; neither doth God respect anyperson: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not
expelled from him.
15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it isbecause the
people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be
that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that woulddestroy
me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.
17 Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an
angel of God, so ismy lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be
with thee.
18 Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing
that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
19 And the king said, Is notthe hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered
and said, Asthy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from
ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these
words in the mouth of thine handmaid:
20 To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is
wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all thingsthat arein the earth.
21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young
man Absalom again.
22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab
said, To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the
king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.
23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom
returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the
sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the
hairwas heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred
shekels after the king's weight.
27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name wasTamar: she
was a woman of a fair countenance.
28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.
29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to
him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there;
31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto hishouse, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy
servants set my field on fire?
32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send
thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had beengood for me to have been
there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be anyiniquity in me, let him
kill me.
33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the
king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.
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 artthou? And he said, Thy servant isof one of the tribes of Israel.
3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters aregood and right; but there isno 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 himto 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 werecalled; 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, evenfrom
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 werewith him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee;
for we shall not elseescape 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 dowhatsoever
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
wereconcubines, 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 arta stranger, and also an exile.
20 Whereas thou camest butyesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us?
with thee.
21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, Asthe LORD liveth, and asmy 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 werewith 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 werewith 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 bothit, and his habitation:
26 But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here amI, let him do to me as seemeth
good unto him.
27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art notthou 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 mountOlivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head
covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that waswith him covered every man his head,
and they went up, weeping as they went up.
31 And onetold David, saying, Ahithophel isamong 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 whenDavid 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; asI have
beenthy father's servant hitherto, so willI now also bethy servant: then mayest thou for me
defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
35 And hast thounot 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 itto Zadok and
Abiathar the priests.
36 Behold, they havethere 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.
1 And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth
met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loavesof bread, and an
hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses befor the
king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the
wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.
3 And the king said, And where isthy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he
abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my
father.
