2 Samuel

19 And it was told Joab,—Lo! the king is weeping and mourning over Absolom.

2 So the victory on that day was turned into mourning with all the people,—for the people heard on that day, saying, The king is distressed for his son.

3 And the people stole away on that day to go into the city,—as people steal away who are put to shame, when they flee in battle.

4 But the king muffled his face, and the king made outcry with a loud voice,—O my son Absolom, O Absolom, my son, my son!

5 Then came Joab unto the king in the house,—and said—Thou hast to-day covered with shame the faces of all thy servants who have rescued thy life to-day, and the lives of thy sons and thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

6 by loving them who hated thee, and hating them who loved thee,—for thou hast declared to-day that nothing to thee are princes or servants, for I perceive to-day that if Absolom had lived, and all we to-day had died, that, then, it had been right in thine eyes.

7 Now, therefore, rise—go forth and speak unto the heart of thy servants,—for by Yahweh have I sworn that, if thou do not go forth, not a man shall tarry with thee to-night, and this will be to thee a greater misfortune than all the misfortune that hath come upon thee from thy youth until now.

8 So the king arose and took his seat in the gate,—and to all the people was it told, saying—Lo! the king is sitting in the gate. Then came all the people before the king, but Israel had fled every man to his home.

9 And it came to pass that all the people were reproaching one another, throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying,—The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he rescued us out of the hand of the Philistines, but now he hath fled out of the land away from Absolom;

10 and Absolom, whom we anointed over us, hath died in the battle. Now, therefore, why are ye silent as to bringing back the king?

11 And King David sent unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak ye unto the elders of Judah, saying, Wherefore should ye be behindhand, in bringing back the king unto his home,—seeing that the speech of all Israel hath come unto the king regarding his home?

12 Mine own brethren are ye, my bone and my flesh are ye,—wherefore then should ye be behindhand in bringing back the king?

13 And unto Amasa shall ye say, Art not thou my bone and my flesh? So let God do to me, and so let him add, if thou become not prince of the army before me continually instead of Joab.

14 Thus bowed he the heart of all the men of Judah as one man,—and they sent unto the king, Return thou and all thy servants.

15 Then the king returned, and came as far as the Jordan,—and Judah came to Gilgal to go and meet the king, to escort the king over the Jordan.

16 Then hastened Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjamite who was of Bahurim,—and came down with the men of Judah, to meet King David.

17 And a thousand men were with him out of Benjamin, Ziba also, servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants with him,—and they went through the Jordan, before the king.

18 But the ferry-boat kept crossing to bring over the household of the king, and to do what was good in his eyes. And Shimei, son of Gera, fell down before the king, when he had passed over the Jordan;

19 and he said unto the king—Let not my lord impute to me iniquity, neither do thou remember the perverseness of thy servant, on the day that thou wentest out, my lord O king, from Jerusalem, that the king should lay it upon his heart.

20 For thy servant doth know, that I sinned,—lo! therefore I have arrived to-day as the first of all the house of Joseph, to come down to meet my lord the king.

21 Then responded Abishai, son of Zeruiah, and said, For this shall not Shimei be put to death, for that he cursed the Anointed of Yahweh?

22 But David said, What have I in common with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, for ye would become to me to-day a very traitor! Shall there to-day be put to death a man in Israel? for do I not know, that to-day I am king over Israel?

23 Then said the king unto Shimei—Thou shalt not die. And the king sware to him.

24 And Mephibosheth, son of Saul, came down to meet the king,—he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor his clothes had he washed, from the day the king departed, until the day that he entered in peace.

25 And it came to pass, when he entered Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest thou not with me, Mephibosheth?

26 And he said, My lord, O king, my servant betrayed me,—for thy servant said—I will even saddle me mine ass that I may ride thereon, and go with the king, for lame is thy servant.

27 And he hath slandered thy servant, unto my lord the king,—but my lord the king is as a messenger of God, do therefore what is good in thine own eyes.

28 For when all the house of my father were nothing better than dead men unto my lord the king, then didst thou set thy servant among them that used to eat at thy table,—what then have I further by way of right, or to cry out any further unto the king?

29 Then the king said unto him, Wherefore shouldst thou speak any further of thine affairs? I have said—Thou and Ziba shall share the land.

30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Even the whole let him take,—now that my lord the king hath entered in peace into his own house.

31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim,—and passed with the king over the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan.

32 Now Barzillai was very aged, eighty years old,—and he himself had sustained the king throughout his sojourn in Mahanaim, for he was an exceeding great man.

33 So then the king said unto Barzillai,—Thou come over with me, and I will sustain thee with me in Jerusalem.

34 But Barzillai said unto the king,—Like unto what are the days of the years of my life, that I should come up with the king to Jerusalem.

35 Eighty years old am I to-day—could I discern between good and bad? or could thy servant taste what I might eat and what I might drink? or could I hearken any more to the voice of singing men and singing women? Wherefore, then, should thy servant yet be a burden unto my lord the king?

36 Just a little way will thy servant pass over the Jordan with the king,—but wherefore should the king recompense me with this reward?

37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But here is thy servant Chimham—let him pass over with my lord the king, and do unto him that which may be good in thine eyes.

38 Then said the king, With me shall Chimham pass over, and I will do unto him that which shall be good in thine eyes,—and whatsoever thou shalt choose to lay upon me, I will do for thee.

39 And when all the people had passed over the Jordan, then the king passed over,—and the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned unto his own place.

40 And the king passed over to Gilgal, and Chimham passed over with him,—and all the people of Judah escorted the king, yea moreover half the people of Israel.

41 Then lo! all the men of Israel were coming unto the king,—and they said unto the king—Why did our brethren the men of Judah steal thee away, and escort the king and his household over the Jordan, and all the men of David with him?

42 And all the men of Judah made answer unto the men of Israel—Because the king is near of kin unto us, wherefore, then, is it that ye are angry over this matter? Have we eaten at the king’s cost? or hath he bestowed any gifts on us?

43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said—Ten parts have we in the king, therefore even in David have we more right than ye. Why, then, made ye light of us, so that our word was not heard first as to bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.