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Then David ^(F1)took a count of the people who were with him and ^(C1)appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.

And David sent the people out, ^(C1)a third ^(F1)under the command of Joab, a third ^(F1)under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third ^(F1)under the command of ^(C2)Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, "I myself will certainly go out with you also."

But the people said, "^(C1)You should not go out; for if in fact we flee, they will not care about us; and if half of us die, they will not care about us. But ^(F1)you are ^(F2)worth ten thousand of us; so now it is better that you will be ready to help us from the city."

Then the king said to them, "Whatever seems best to you I will do." So ^(C1)the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands.

But the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, "Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake." And ^(C1)all the people heard when the king commanded all the commanders regarding Absalom.

Then the people went out to the field against Israel, and the battle took place in ^(C1)the forest of Ephraim.

The people of Israel were ^(F1)defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, twenty thousand men.

For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

Now Absalom encountered the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the branches of a massive oak. Then ^(C1)his head caught firmly in the oak, and he was ^(F1)left hanging between the sky and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going.

When a certain man saw him, he informed Joab and said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak."

Then Joab said to the man who had informed him, "So behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And it would have been ^(F1)my duty to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt."

But the man said to Joab, "Even if I were to ^(F1)receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king's son; for ^(C1)in our hearing the king commanded you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, '^(F2)Protect the young man Absalom for me!'

"Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against ^(F1)his life (and ^(C1)there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have ^(F2)avoided me."

Then Joab said, "I will not ^(F1)waste time here with you." ^(C1)So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the ^(F2)midst of the oak.

And ten young men who carried Joab's armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.

Then ^(C1)Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people.

And they took Absalom and threw him into ^(F1)a deep pit in the forest, and ^(C1)erected over him a very large pile of stones. And ^(C2)all Israel fled, each to his own tent.

Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and ^(C1)set up for himself a memorial stone, which is in ^(C2)the King's Valley, for he said, "^(C3)I have no son to ^(F1)continue my name." So he named the memorial stone after his own name, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day.

Then ^(C1)Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, "Please let me run and bring the king news ^(C2)that the LORD has ^(F1)freed him from the hand of his enemies!"

But Joab said to him, "You are not the man to bring news this day, but you shall bring news another day; however, you shall bring no news this day, because the king's son is dead."

Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran.

However, Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said once more to Joab, "But whatever happens, please let me also run after the Cushite." And Joab said, "Why would you run, my son, since ^(C1)you will have no messenger's reward for going?"

"But whatever happens," he said, "I will run." So he said to him, "Run." Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and passed by the Cushite.

Now ^(C1)David was sitting between the two gates; and ^(C2)the watchman went to the roof of the gate by the wall, and raised his eyes and looked; and behold, a man was running by himself.

So the watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, "If he is by himself there is good news in his mouth." And he came nearer and nearer.

Then the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, "Behold, another man is running by himself." And the king said, "This one also is bringing good news."

The watchman said, "I ^(F1)think the running form of the first one ^(C1)is like the running form of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok." And the king said, "^(C2)This is a good man, and he is coming with good news."

Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, "^(F1)All is well." And ^(C1)he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground. And he said, "^(C2)Blessed is the LORD your God, who has turned over the men who raised their hands against my lord the king."

But the king said, "^(C1)Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And Ahimaaz answered, "When Joab sent the king's servant, and your servant, I saw a great commotion, but ^(C2)I did not know what it was."

Then the king said, "Turn aside and stand here." So he turned aside and stood still.

Then behold, the Cushite arrived, and the Cushite said, "Let my lord the king receive good news, for ^(C1)the LORD has ^(F1)freed you this day from the hand of all those who rose up against you."

Then the king said to the Cushite, "^(C1)Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "^(C2)May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man!"

^(F1)Then the king trembled and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And this is what he said as he walked: "^(C1)My son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! ^(C2)If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!"

^(F1)Then it was reported to Joab, "Behold, ^(C1)the king is weeping and he mourns for Absalom."

So the ^(F1)victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, "The king is in mourning over his son."

And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle.

And the king ^(C1)covered his face and ^(F1)cried out with a loud voice, "^(C2)My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!"

Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, "Today you have shamed ^(F1)all your servants, who have saved your life today and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines,

by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that ^(F1)commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right ^(F2)as far as you are concerned.

"Now therefore arise, go out and speak ^(F1)kindly to your servants, for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go out, ^(C1)no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has ^(F2)happened to you from your youth until now!"

So the king got up and sat at the gate. When they told all the people, saying, "Behold, the king is ^(C1)sitting at the gate," then all the people came before the king. Now ^(C2)Israel had fled, each to his tent.

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And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, "^(C1)The king rescued us from the ^(F1)hands of our enemies and ^(C2)saved us from the ^(F1)hands of the Philistines, but now ^(C3)he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

"However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?"

Then King David sent word to ^(C1)Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, 'Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house?

'You are my brothers; ^(C1)you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?'

"And say to ^(C1)Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh? ^(C2)May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be ^(C3)commander of the army ^(F1)for me continually, ^(C4)in place of Joab.'"

So he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah ^(C1)as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, "Return, you and all your servants."

The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to ^(C1)Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.

Then ^(C1)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and ^(C1)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

Then they crossed the shallow places repeatedly to bring over the king's household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan.

And he said to the king, "^(C1)May my lord not consider me guilty, nor call to mind what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would ^(F1)take it to heart.

"For your servant knows that I have sinned; so behold, I have come today, ^(C1)the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king."

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, "^(C1)Should Shimei not be put to death for this, ^(C2)the fact that he cursed the LORD'S anointed?"

David then said, "^(C1)What ^(F1)is there between you and me, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? ^(C2)Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?"

So the king said to Shimei, "^(C1)You shall not die." The king also swore to him.

Then ^(C1)Mephibosheth the ^(F1)grandson of Saul came down to meet the king; but ^(C2)he had neither ^(F2)tended to his feet, nor ^(F2)trimmed his mustache, nor ^(C3)washed his clothes since the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.

And it was when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, "^(C1)Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?"

So he said, "My lord the king, my servant betrayed me; for your servant said, 'I will ^(F1)saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride on it and go with the king,' ^(C1)since your servant cannot walk.

"Furthermore, ^(C1)he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is ^(C2)like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in your sight.

"For ^(C1)all my father's household was only people worthy of death to my lord the king; ^(C2)yet you placed your servant among those who ate at your own table. So what right do I still have, that I should ^(F1)complain anymore to the king?"

So the king said to him, "Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have ^(F1)decided, 'You and Ziba shall divide the land.'"

And Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house."

Now ^(C1)Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to ^(F1)escort him over the Jordan.

Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had ^(C1)provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.

So the king said to Barzillai, "You cross over with me, and I will provide you food in Jerusalem with me."

But Barzillai said to the king, "^(C1)How long ^(F1)do I still have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

"I am ^(F1)now ^(C1)eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear ^(C2)the voice of men and women singing? ^(C3)Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

"Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. So why should the king compensate me with this reward?

"Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant ^(C1)Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight."

And the king answered, "Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you ^(F1)require of me, I will do for you."

All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then ^(C1)kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also ^(C1)half the people of Israel ^(F1)accompanied the king.

And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, "^(C1)Why have our brothers, ^(C2)the men of Judah, abducted you and brought the king and his household and all David's men with him, over the Jordan?"

Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because ^(C1)the king is a close relative to ^(F1)us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all ^(F2)at the king's expense, or has anything been taken for us?"