Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah David's brother answered and said, "Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons: save Amnon only is dead. For that hath been ever in Absalom's mouth since he forced his sister Tamar.

But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked about. And behold, there came much people by a way that was behind his back along by a hill's side.

Then said Jonadab unto the king, "Behold, the king's sons are come; and as thy servant said, so it is."

he sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, "Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel. And anoint not thyself with oil. But be as a woman that had long time mourned for the death of somebody.

And when the wife of Tekoa was come to speak with the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said, "Help me, O king."

And the king said unto her, "What aileth thee?" And she answered, "I am a widow, and mine husband is dead.

And behold, the whole kindred arose against thy handmaid and said, 'Deliver us him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the soul of his brother whom he slew: for he will destroy the heir also.' And so they shall quench my sparkle which is left that he shall stir up neither name or issue upon the earth unto my husband."

And the king said unto the wife, "Go home to thine house, and I will give a charge for thee."

And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, "My lord king, the trespass be on me and on my father's house, and the king and his seat be guiltless."

And then said the king, "If any man say ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall no more trouble thee."

Then said she, "Let the king remember his LORD God, that the next of the blood gather not on heaps together to destroy, and that they slay not my son." And he said, "As sure as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son's head fall to the earth."

Then the woman said, "Let thine handmaid speak one word more unto my lord the king." And he said, "Say on."

And the woman said, "Wherefore then hast thou determined on this same manner against the people of God? - That the king should speak this thing and be faulty therein, so that the king should not fetch home again his banished.

Then thine handmaid said, 'I pray God that the word of my lord the king may be immutable. For my lord the king is as an angel of God, in hearing of good or bad.' And therefore the LORD thy God be with thee."

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 say on."

Then said the king, "Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this matter?" And the woman answered, and said, "As sure as thy soul liveth, my lord king, it is neither on the righthand nor on the left that my lord the king hath spoken. For thy servant Joab he bade me, and he put all these words even in the mouth of thine handmaid.

Then said the king to Joab, "Behold, I am content to do this thing. Go therefore fetch home the lad Absalom."

And Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself and blessed the king and said, "Now thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in the sight of my lord the king in that he hath fulfilled the request of his servant."

Then said the king, "Let him turn to his own house, but see that he come not in my presence." And so Absalom went to his own house, but came not in the king's presence.

Then he said unto his servants, "Behold, Joab hath a parcel of land fast by mine, and hath barley therein. Go and set it on fire." And Absalom's servants went and set it on fire.

Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house and said unto him, "Wherefore have thy servants burned my field with fire?"

And Absalom said to Joab, "Behold, I sent for thee desiring thee to come; because I would have sent thee to the king, for to say wherefore I am come from Geshur. It had been as good for me to have bidden there still. Now therefore let me come to the king's presence, or else if there be any trespass in me, kill me."

And thereto he used to rise up early in the mornings and to stand by the wayside that led to the gate of the city. And all the men of Israel that had complaints and came to the king for judgment, he called unto him, and said, "Of what city art thou?" And when the other answered, "thy servant is of such a tribe of Israel,"

then said Absalom unto him, "See, thy matter is good and righteous, and yet no man is deputed of the king to hear thee."

Then Absalom said moreover, "Oh, that I were a judge in the land, and that all men which have pleas and matter in the law, should come to me. For I would do them justice."

And at forty years' end Absalom said unto the king, "Let me go, I pray thee, to Hebron; and pay my vow which I have vowed unto the LORD.

And the king said, "Go in peace." And so he arose and went to Hebron.

And there came a messenger to David and said, "The hearts of the men of Israel are to follow Absalom."

Then said David unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, "Up, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart; lest he come suddenly and catch us and bring some mischief upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword."

And the king's servants said to him, "Behold, thy servants are ready to whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint."

And all his servants went by his side. And all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites, and all the Hittites, even six hundred men which were come afoot from Gath, went before the king.

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, "Wherefore shouldest thou go with us also? Return and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and art removed from thine own place.

And Ittai answered the king and said, "As surely as the LORD liveth, and as surely as my lord the king liveth: in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there will thy servant be."

Then said the king to Ittai, "Come and go forward." And Ittai the Gittite went forth - and all his men, and all the children that were with him.

Then said the king unto Zadok, "Carry the Ark of God again into the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and show me both it and the tabernacle thereof also.

The king said also unto Zadok the priest, "Thou art a seer; return therefore into the city in peace. And take your two sons with you: Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

And one told David, saying, "Ahithophel is one of them that have conspired with Absalom." Then said David, "O LORD, turn the counsel of Ahithophel unto foolishness."

Unto whom David said, "If thou go with me thou shalt be a burden unto me.

Then said the king to Ziba, "What hast thou there?" And Ziba said, "Asses for the king's household to ride on, and bread and fruit for the young men to eat, and wine to drink, if any man faint in the wilderness."

Then said the king, "Where is thy master's son?" and Ziba said unto the king, "Behold, he tarrieth still at Jerusalem. For he said, 'This day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.'"

Then said the king to Ziba, "Behold, thine are all that pertained to Mephibosheth." And Ziba answered, "I beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight my lord king."

And thus said this Shimei as he cursed, "Come forth, come forth thou blood shedder and thou unthrifty man!

Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, "Why doth this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go and take off the head of him."

And the king said, "What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse: for the LORD hath bid him curse David. And who dare presume to say wherefore doth he so?"

And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, "Behold, my son which came out of mine own bowels seeketh my life. How much more may this son of Benjamin do it? Suffer him therefore to curse, for the LORD hath bidden him.

And thus 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.

And as soon as he was come, Hushai the Archite went unto Absalom and said unto him, "God save the king, God save the king."

And Absalom said again to Hushai, "Is this the kindness thou owest to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with him?"

And Hushai said unto Absalom, "Nay, not so: but whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I dwell.

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Get thee in unto thy father's concubines which he hath left to keep the house. For when all Israel shall hear that thou hast made thy father to stink, then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong."

And so they pitched Absalom a tent upon the top of the house. And he went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Then Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me choose out, I pray thee, twelve thousand men. And I will up and follow after David by night.

Then said Absalom, "Call also Hushai the Archite and let us hear his sentence."

Then said Hushai to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and the men that are with him, how that they be strong men. And they be chafed in their minds, even as a bear robbed of her whelps. And thy father is a man practiced in war, and will not lie a nights among the common people.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said that the counsel of Hushai the Archite was better than the counsel of Ahithophel - For it was even the LORD's determination to destroy the counsel of Ahithophel, which was good, that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

Then said Hushai unto Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Of this and that manner did Ahithophel and the elders of Israel counsel Absalom. And thus and thus have I counseled.

And when Absalom's servants came to the wife to the house and asked where one Ahimaaz and Jonathan were, the wife said unto them, "They be gone over the little brook of water." And when they had sought them and could not find them, then they returned to Jerusalem.

And as soon as they were departed, the other came out of the well, and went and told King David and said unto him, "Up, and get you quickly over the water for such counsel hath Ahithophel given."

And the king numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and of hundreds over them.

And he sent one part of them with Joab, and another part with Abishai the son of Zeruiah Joab's brother, and the third part with Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, "Shall I go with you?"

Then said the king, "What seemeth you best, that will I do." And the king stood up by the Gate's side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.

And Joab said unto him that told him, "Lo, sawest thou him? And why didst thou not there smite him to the ground, that I should have given thee ten sicles of silver and a soldier's girdle?"

Then said Joab, "I may not stand tarrying with thee. And therewith he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive on the body of the tree.

And this Absalom, yet in his lifetime, took and reared up a pillar, which is yet in King's Dale. For he said, "I have no male child. And therefore, to keep my name in remembrance do I it." And he called the pillar after his own name. And it is called unto this day, Absalom's pillar.

Then said Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, "Let me run I pray thee, and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath judged him quite of the hands of all his enemies."

And Joab said unto him, "Thou art no man to bear tidings today. Thou shalt bear tidings another time: but today thou shalt bear none, because the king's son is dead.

Then said Joab to Cushi, "Go and tell the king what thou hast seen." And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab and ran.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again to Joab, "Come what will, let me run, I pray thee, after Cushi." And Joab said, "Wherefore shouldest thou run my son? For and thou run thou gettest no reward." He answered, "Well, come what will; let me run."

And he said unto him, "Run." Then Ahimaaz ran by the plain and overran Cushi.

And David sat between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes and saw: and behold, there came a man running alone.

And the watchman called and told the king. And the king said, "If he come alone, there is tidings in his mouth." And he came and drew nigh.

And the watchman saw another man running, and called unto the porter and said, "Behold, there cometh another running alone." And the king answered, "He is also a tidings bringer."

And the watchman said, "Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok." And the king said, "He is a good man and cometh with good tidings."

And Ahimaaz called and said to the king, "Good tidings," and bowed himself to the earth upon his face before the king and said, "Blessed be the LORD thy God which hath shut up all the men that lifted up their hands against my Lord the king."

And the king said, "Is the lad Absalom safe?" And Ahimaaz answered, "I saw a great ado, when the king's servant Joab sent me thy servant. But I know not what it was."

And the king said, "Turn and stand here." And he turned and stood.

And behold, Cushi came and said, "Tidings, my lord the king: the LORD hath quite thee this day out of the hands of all that rose against thee."

And the king said to Cushi, "Is the lad Absalom safe?" And Cushi answered, "The enemies of my lord the king and all that rise against thee, to have thee, be as thy lad is."

And the king was moved and went up to a chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went thus he said, "My son Absalom, my son, my son, my son Absalom, would to God I had died for thee Absalom, my son, my son."

And Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life and the lives of thy sons and daughters, and the lives of thy wives and concubines:

Then the king arose and sat down in the Gate. And it was told unto all the people, how the king sat in the Gate. And then all the people came before the king. But Israel fled every man to his tent.

and said unto him, "Let not my lord impute wickedness unto me, nor let him not remember the wickedness that thy servant did, when my lord the king departed out of Jerusalem that the king should take it to heart.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, "Shall Shimei not die for that cause: which cursed the LORD's anointed?"

And the king said, "What matter is between you and me ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? There shall no man die this day in Israel: for I know that I am this day king over Israel."

And the king said unto Shimei, "Thou shalt not die," and sware unto him.

And when he was come to Jerusalem toward the king, the king said unto him, "Wherefore went not thou with me Mephibosheth?"

And he said, "My lord king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said: that I would have mine ass saddled to ride thereon, for to go to the king, because thy servant is lame.

And the king said, "It needeth thee not to speak any more, for I have said that thou and Ziba shall divide the lands between you."

And Mephibosheth said unto the king, "Yea, let him take all: for so much as my lord the king is come in peace unto his own house."

And the king said unto Barzillai, "Come thou with me, that I may feed thee with me in Jerusalem."

But Barzillai said unto the king, "Of what age am I of, that I should go with the king into Jerusalem?

Wherefore all the men of Israel came to the king and said unto him, "Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king and his household and all David's men with him over Jordan?"

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, "We have ten parts in the king, and have thereto more right to David than ye. Why then did ye despise us, that our advice had not been first had in restoring our king again?" And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

And there happened to be an unthrifty fellow named Sheba, the son of Bichri a man of Benjamin which blew a trumpet and said, "We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse, O Israel.

Then said the king to Amasa, "Call me the men of Judah together within three days and present thyself here."

Wherefore the king said to Abishai, "Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri be worse to us than Absalom. Take thou therefore thy lord's servants and follow after him: lest he get him walled cities and escape us."

And Joab said to Amasa, "Are all things in rest and peace my brother?" And Joab took Amasa by the chin with the right hand, as though he would have kissed him.

And one of Joab's men that stood by him said, "What is he that he would be as Joab, and what is he that would be unto David instead of Joab?"

When Joab was come the woman said, "Art thou Joab?" And Joab answered, "That am I." And she said to him, "Hear the words of thy handmaid." And he said, "I am ready to hear."