4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine areall that pertainedunto Mephibosheth. And Ziba
said, I humbly beseech thee thatI may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.
5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the
house of Saul, whose name wasShimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he
came.
6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all
the mighty men wereon his right hand and on his left.
7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of
Belial:
8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast
reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold,
thou art takenin thy mischief, because thou arta bloody man.
9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the
king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because
the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my
bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may thisBenjamite do it? let him alone, and let
him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good
for his cursing this day.
13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against
him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
14 And the king, and all the people that werewith him, came weary, and refreshed themselves
there.
15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with
him.
16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that
Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king.
17 And Absalom said to Hushai, Isthis thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with
thy friend?
18 And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of
Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide.
19 And again, whom should I serve? should Inot servein the presence of his son? as I have
served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.
20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.
21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to
keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the
hands of all that arewith thee be strong.
22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his
father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, wasas if a man had
enquired at the oracle of God: so wasall the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with
Absalom.
1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I
will arise and pursue after David this night:
2 And I will come upon him while he isweary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and
all the people that arewith him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest isas if all

returned: soall the people shall be in peace.
4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.
6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath
spoken after this manner: shall we do afterhis saying? if not; speak thou.
7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given isnot good at this
time.
8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they bemighty men, and they be
chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father isa man of
war, and will not lodge with the people.
9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some otherplace: and it will come to pass, when some
of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter
among the people that follow Absalom.
10 And he also that isvaliant, whose heart isas the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all
Israel knoweth that thy father isa mighty man, and theywhich bewith him arevaliant men.
11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to
Beersheba, as the sand that isby the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own
person.
12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon
him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that arewith him there shall
not be left so much as one.
13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we
will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.
14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite isbetter than
the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel,
to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel
counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the
wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are
with him.
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the
city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.
18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly,
and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.
19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn
thereon; and the thing was not known.
20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where isAhimaaz
and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when
they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21 And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went
and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath
Ahithophel counselled against you.
22 Then David arose, and all the people that werewith him, and they passed over Jordan: by the
morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.
23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled hisass, and arose,
and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself,
and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel

with him.
25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa wasa man's son,
whose name wasIthra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to
Zeruiah Joab's mother.
26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.
27 And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of
Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the
Gileadite of Rogelim,
28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched
corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,
29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were
with him, to eat: for they said, The people ishungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.
1 And David numbered the people that werewith him, and set captains of thousands and
captains of hundreds over them.
2 And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under
the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai
the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.
3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for
us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now thou artworth ten thousand of us:
therefore now it isbetter that thou succour us out of the city.
4 And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate
side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Dealgently for my sake with the
young man, evenwith Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains
charge concerning Absalom.
6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of
Ephraim;
7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a
great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured
more people that day than the sword devoured.
9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went
under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up
between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that wasunder him went away.
10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
11 And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou
not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekelsof silver, and a
girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekelsof silver in mine
hand, yetwould I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king
charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touchthe young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid
from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and
thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he wasyet alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew
him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held
back the people.