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Friday, August 1st, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

2 Samuel 18:32

"Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king asked. The slave answered, "I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ahimaaz;   Cushi;   Readings, Select;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ahimaaz;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Vanity;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Cushite;   Holman Bible Dictionary - David;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Abishai;   Ahimaaz;   David;   Samuel, Books of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Cushi ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Absalom;   David;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ahim'a-Az;   Cu'shi;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cushi;   Cushite;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ahimaaz;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?”
Hebrew Names Version
The king said to the Kushite, Is it well with the young man Avshalom? The Kushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
King James Version
And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
Lexham English Bible
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it peace for the young man Absalom?" Then the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you be like the young man!"
English Standard Version
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man."
New Century Version
The king asked the Cushite, "Is young Absalom all right?" The Cushite answered, "May your enemies and all who come to hurt you be like that young man!"
New English Translation
The king asked the Cushite, "How is the young man Absalom?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you be like that young man!"
Amplified Bible
The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom [my son] safe?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all those who rise against you to do evil, be [dead] like that young man is."
New American Standard Bible
Then the king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man!"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the King saide vnto Cushi, Is the yong man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lorde the King, and all that rise against thee to doe thee hurt, be as that yong man is.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king said to the Cushite, "Is there peace with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be as that young man!"
Contemporary English Version
"Is my son Absalom all right?" David asked. The Ethiopian replied, "I wish that all Your Majesty's enemies and everyone who tries to harm you would end up like him!"
Complete Jewish Bible
The king asked the Ethiopian, "Is everything all right with young Avshalom?" The Ethiopian answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you in order to harm you be as that young man is."
Darby Translation
And the king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite said, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee for evil, be as that young man.
Easy-to-Read Version
The king asked the Ethiopian, "Is young Absalom all right?" The Ethiopian answered, "May your enemies, or whoever tries to hurt you, suffer the same as this young man did."
George Lamsa Translation
And the king said to Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, Let your enemies, my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil be as that young man is.
Literal Translation
And the king said to the Cushite, Peace to the young man, to Absalom? And the Cushite said, Let them be as the young man, the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against you for evil.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the kynge sayde vnto Chusi: Goeth it well with the yonge man Absalom? Chusi sayde: Euen so go it wt all the enemyes of my lorde the kynge, and with all them that ryse vp agaynst the to do euell, as it goeth with the yonge man.
American Standard Version
And the king said unto the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
Bible in Basic English
And the king said to the Cushite, Is the young man Absalom safe? And the Cushite said in answer, May all the king's haters and those who do evil against the king, be as that young man is!
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the king sayde vnto Chusi: Is the young man Absalom safe? Chusi aunswered: The enemies of my lorde the king, and all that ryse against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the king said unto the Cushite: 'Is it well with the young man Absalom?' And the Cushite answered: 'The enemies of my lord the king and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.'
King James Version (1611)
And the king said vnto Cushi, Is the yong man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to doe thee hurt, be as that yong man is.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king said to Chusi, Is it well with the young man Abessalom? and Chusi said, Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all whosoever have risen up against him for evil, be as that young man.
English Revised Version
And the king said unto the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
Berean Standard Bible
The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom all right?" And the Cushite replied, "May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and to all who rise up against you to harm you."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the kyng seide to Chusi, Whether pees is to the child Absolon? To whom Chusi answeride, and seide, The enemyes of my lord the kyng, and alle men that risiden ayens hym in to yuel, be maad as the child.
Young's Literal Translation
And the king saith unto the Cushite, `Peace to the youth -- to Absalom?' And the Cushite saith, `Let them be -- as the youth -- the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee for evil.'
Update Bible Version
And the king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the king said to Cushi, [Is] the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, May the enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that] young man [is].
World English Bible
The king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? The Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
New King James Version
And the king said to the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" So the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!"
New Living Translation
"What about young Absalom?" the king demanded. "Is he all right?" And the Ethiopian replied, "May all of your enemies, my lord the king, both now and in the future, share the fate of that young man!"
New Life Bible
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May those who hate my lord the king, all those who come to do bad things against you, be as that young man!"
New Revised Standard
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" The Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the king said unto the Cushite - Is it, well, with the young man - Absolom? Then said the Cushite - Be, like the young man, the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee, for harm.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.
Revised Standard Version
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Ab'salom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man."
THE MESSAGE
"But," said the king, "is the young man Absalom all right?" And the Cushite replied, "Would that all of the enemies of my master the king and all who maliciously rose against you end up like that young man."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be as that young man!"

Contextual Overview

19 Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab, "Let me run to the king with the good news that the Lord has saved him from his enemies." 20 "No," Joab said, "today you will not take any good news. Some other day you may do so, but not today, for the king's son is dead." 21 Then he said to his Ethiopian slave, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." The slave bowed and ran off. 22 Ahimaaz insisted, "I don't care what happens; please let me take the news also." "Why do you want to do it, my son?" Joab asked. "You will get no reward for it." 23 "Whatever happens," Ahimaaz said again, "I want to go." "Then go," Joab said. So Ahimaaz ran off down the road through the Jordan Valley, and soon he passed the slave. 24 David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates of the city. The lookout went up to the top of the wall and stood on the roof of the gateway; he looked out and saw a man running alone. 25 He called down and told the king, and the king said, "If he is alone, he is bringing good news." The runner kept coming closer. 26 Then the lookout saw another man running alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look! There's another man running!" The king answered, "This one also is bringing good news." 27 The lookout said, "I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz." "He's a good man," the king said, "and he is bringing good news." 28 Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king, threw himself down to the ground before him, and said, "Praise the Lord your God, who has given you victory over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The enemies: Thus Cushi obliquely and slowly informs David of the death of his son Absalom. Judges 5:31, Psalms 68:1, Psalms 68:2, Daniel 4:19

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:14 - see whether it be well with 1 Samuel 25:26 - now let Job 27:7 - General Psalms 109:20 - Let this

Cross-References

Genesis 18:6
Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread."
Genesis 18:7
Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready.
Genesis 18:9
Then they asked him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" "She is there in the tent," he answered.
Genesis 18:10
One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening.
Genesis 18:11
Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods.
Genesis 18:13
Then the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child when I am so old?'
Genesis 18:14
Is anything too hard for the Lord ? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son."
Genesis 18:15
Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said. "Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed."
Genesis 18:16
Then the men left and went to a place where they could look down at Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way.
Genesis 18:17
And the Lord said to himself, "I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king said unto Cushi, is the young man Absalom safe?.... The same question that was put to Ahimaaz, 2 Samuel 18:29; which shows what lay nearest his heart, and was uppermost in his mind,

and Cushi answered, the enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that] young man [is], which was tacitly saying he was dead, and so David understood it; and he expressed it in such a manner, that David could not be displeased with the messenger; though the message was grievous to him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 18:32. Is the young man Absalom safe? — This was the utmost of his solicitude, and it well merited the reproof which Joab gave him, 2 Samuel 19:5.


 
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