2 Samuel 15

¹ After this, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

² Absalom would rise early and stand beside the road to the gate. Whenever anyone had a dispute to bring before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him and say, "What city are you from?" And he would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel."

³ Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are good and right, but there is no one appointed by the king to hear you."

⁴ And Absalom would say, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who had a dispute or case could come to me, and I would give him justice."

⁵ And whenever someone came near to bow down to him, he would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.

⁶ Absalom did this to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and fulfill my vow that I made to the LORD in Hebron."

⁸ "For your servant made a vow while I was living in Geshur in Aram, saying, 'If the LORD ever brings me back to Jerusalem, I will serve the LORD.'"

⁹ The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he got up and went to Hebron.

¹⁰ But Absalom sent messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the ram's horn, then say, 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'"

¹¹ Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited and went in their innocence, knowing nothing about the matter.

¹² While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.

¹³ A messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom."

¹⁴ David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, "Get up! Let us flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry and leave, or he will quickly overtake us and bring down disaster on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword."

¹⁵ The king's servants said to the king, "Whatever my lord the king decides, your servants are ready."

¹⁶ So the king went out with his entire household following him. But the king left ten concubines to care for the palace.

¹⁷ The king went out with all the people following him, and they stopped at the last house.

¹⁸ All his servants marched past him—all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath—they all marched past 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 "You came only yesterday. Should I make you wander with us today, when I am going wherever I may go? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you kindness and faithfulness."

²¹ But Ittai answered the king, "As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there your servant will be."

²² David said to Ittai, "Go then, march on." So Ittai the Gittite marched past with all his men and all the dependents who were with him.

²³ The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the road to the wilderness.

²⁴ Zadok was there too, and all the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up until all the people had finished passing out of the city.

²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place."

²⁶ "But if he says, 'I take no pleasure in you'—here I am. Let him do to me whatever seems good in his eyes."

²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, "Do you see? Return to the city in peace, with your two sons—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 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

³¹ Now David had been told, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." So David said, "O LORD, please turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness."

³² When David came to the summit where God was worshiped, Hushai the Arkite came to meet him with his robe torn and dirt on his head.

³³ David said to him, "If you go on with me, 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 formerly your father's servant, but now I will be your servant'—then you can frustrate Ahithophel's counsel for me."

³⁵ "Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? Report everything you hear from the king's palace to Zadok and Abiathar the priests."

³⁶ "Their two sons are with them there—Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar. Send me everything you hear through them."

³⁷ So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.