2 Samuel 15

1Some time after this, Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, with fifty men to run ahead of him.

2Absalom would get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a dispute to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him and say, “What town are you from?” And when he answered, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

3Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are good and right, but there is no one from the king to hear you.”

4Absalom would also say, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who had a dispute or a case could come to me, and I would see that he got justice.”

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

6Absalom acted this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king for a decision. So Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

7At the end of forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and fulfill the vow I made to Yahweh.

8For your servant made a vow while I was living in Geshur in Aram: ‘If Yahweh will really bring me back to Jerusalem, I will worship Yahweh in Hebron.’”

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

10Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron!’”

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

12While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his town of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and the number of people with Absalom kept growing.

13A messenger came to David and said, “The hearts of the people of Israel have gone over to Absalom.”

14Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Get up, let us flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom! Leave at once, or he will quickly overtake us, bring disaster down on us, and put the city to the sword.”

15The king’s servants said to the king, “Your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.”

16So the king set out, and his whole household followed him. But the king left ten concubines to take care of the palace.

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

18All his servants marched past him, along with all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath marched past the king.

19The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you coming with us too? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner, and an exile from your own home as well.

20You came only yesterday, and today should I make you wander around with us, while I go wherever I can? Go back, and take your brothers with you. May kindness and faithfulness be with you.”

21But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether it means death or life, there your servant will be.”

22David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and all the little children who were with him.

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

24Zadok 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 leaving the city.

25Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in Yahweh’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see both it and the place where it stays.

26But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then here I am; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”

27The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Go back to the city in peace, and take your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan son of Abiathar.

28See, I will wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

29So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they stayed there.

30David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered, and he walked barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too, and they went up weeping as they went.

31David was told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David said, “Yahweh, please turn Ahithophel’s advice into foolishness.”

32When David reached the summit, where people worshiped God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him, with his robe torn and dust on his head.

33David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.

34But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; I was your father’s servant in the past, and now I will be your servant,’ then you can defeat Ahithophel’s advice for me.

35Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Whatever you hear from the king’s palace, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

36Their two sons are there with them, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar. Send them to me with everything you hear.”

37So David’s friend Hushai arrived at the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.