2 Samuel 19

¹And it was told Joab, Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.

²And the victory on that day turned to mourning for all the people; for the people heard on that day, saying, 'The king is grieving over his son.'

³And the people stole into the city that day, as the people steal away who are ashamed in their flight from battle.

⁴But the king covered his face and cried out with a great voice, 'My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!'

⁵And Joab came to the king at the house and said, 'You have shamed today all your servants who rescued your life today, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines,'

⁶by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you; for you have made clear today that commanders and servants mean nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right in your eyes.

⁷Now arise, go out, and speak to the heart of your servants, for the LORD has sworn that if not one man stays with you tonight, that will be worse for you than all the harm that has come upon you from your youth until now.

⁸Then the king arose and sat at the gate, and they told all the people, saying, 'Look, the king is sitting at the gate.' And all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled, each man to his tent.

⁹And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, 'The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us from the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled from the land on account of Absalom.'

¹⁰Now Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. So now why are you silent about bringing the king back?

¹¹And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, 'Speak to the elders of Judah, saying: Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace? For the talk of all Israel has come to the king, to his palace.'

¹²You are my brothers, you are my bone and my flesh. Why should you be the last to bring back the king?

¹³And to Amasa you shall say, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of the army before me continually, in place of Joab.'

¹⁴And he inclined the heart of every man of Judah as one man, and they sent to the king, saying, 'Return, you and all your servants.'

¹⁵And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan. And Judah had come to Gilgal to go to meet the king, to bring him across the Jordan.

¹⁶And Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite, who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

¹⁷And a thousand men of Benjamin were with him, and Ziba, the servant of Saul's household, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed through the Jordan before the king.

¹⁸And a ford was crossed to bring over the king's household, and to do what was good in his eyes. And Shimei son of Gera fell before the king as he crossed the Jordan.

¹⁹And he said to the king, 'Do not let my lord count iniquity against me, or remember what your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem, or take it to heart.

²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned; and behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph, to go down to meet my lord the king.

²¹And Abishai son of Zeruiah answered and said, 'Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of the LORD?'

²²And David said, What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? Shall any man be put to death in Israel today? For I know that today I am king over Israel.

²³The king said to Shimei, 'You shall not die.' And the king swore an oath to him.

²⁴And Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul, had come down to meet the king; he had not attended to his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, and he had not washed his clothes, from the day the king left until the day he came back in peace.

²⁵And it was, when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, 'Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?'

²⁶He said, 'My lord the king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said, Let me saddle the donkey for myself that I may ride on it and go with the king, for your servant is lame.'

²⁷And he slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God; do what is good in your eyes.

²⁸For all the house of my father were nothing but men deserving death before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to appeal yet again to the king?

²⁹And the king said to him, 'Why do you still speak your words? I say you and Ziba shall divide the field.'

³⁰Mephibosheth said to the king, 'Let him take everything, since my lord the king has come safely home.'

³¹And Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he crossed the Jordan with the king to escort him across the Jordan.

³²Now Barzillai was very old; he was eighty years old, and he had provided for the king during his sojourn in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

³³And the king said to Barzillai, 'You, cross over with me, and I will sustain you with me in Jerusalem.'

³⁴Barzillai said to the king, 'How many more years of my life remain, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?'

³⁵I am eighty years old today. Can I tell the difference between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I still hear the voice of singers and female singers? Why should your servant be any longer a burden to my lord the king?

³⁶Your servant will cross the Jordan with the king just a short distance; and why should the king repay me with such a reward as this?

³⁷Let your servant return, please, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him whatever seems good to you.

³⁸The king said, 'Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you. And whatever you choose of me I will do for you.'

³⁹And all the people crossed the Jordan, and the king crossed. And the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

⁴⁰And the king crossed over to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed over with him; and all the people of Judah brought the king across, and also half the people of Israel.

⁴¹And behold, all the men of Israel were coming to the king, and they said to the king, 'Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king and his household across the Jordan, along with all the men of David?'

⁴²All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, 'Because the king is near to me — why are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at the king's expense? Or has anything been lifted for us?'

⁴³And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, I have ten shares in the king, and also in David I have more than you. Why then have you treated me with contempt? Was it not I whose word was first to bring back my king? But the word of the men of Judah was fiercer than the word of the men of Israel.