Study Desk

So David and his men continued down the road, and Shimei kept pace with them on a nearby hillside, cursing and throwing stones and dirt at David.

The king and all who were with him grew weary along the way, so they rested when they reached the Jordan River.

So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father's concubines.

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "Hushai's advice is better than Ahithophel's." For the Lord had determined to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, which really was the better plan, so that he could bring disaster on Absalom!

Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been staying at En-rogel so as not to be seen entering and leaving the city. Arrangements had been made for a servant girl to bring them the message they were to take to King David.

But a boy spotted them at En-rogel, and he told Absalom about it. So they quickly escaped to Bahurim, where a man hid them down inside a well in his courtyard.

The man's wife put a cloth over the top of the well and scattered grain on it to dry in the sun; so no one suspected they were there.

So David and all the people with him went across the Jordan River during the night, and they were all on the other bank before dawn.

"If you think that's the best plan, I'll do it," the king answered. So he stood alongside the gate of the town as all the troops marched out in groups of hundreds and of thousands.

So the battle began in the forest of Ephraim,

"Yes, but let me go anyway," he begged. Joab finally said, "All right, go ahead." So Ahimaaz took the less demanding route by way of the plain and ran to Mahanaim ahead of the Ethiopian.

"Wait here," the king told him. So Ahimaaz stepped aside.

So the king went out and took his seat at the town gate, and as the news spread throughout the town that he was there, everyone went to him. Meanwhile, the Israelites who had supported Absalom fled to their homes.

You are my relatives, my own tribe, my own flesh and blood! So why are you the last ones to welcome back the king?"

So the king started back to Jerusalem. And when he arrived at the Jordan River, the people of Judah came to Gilgal to meet him and escort him across the river.

Mephibosheth replied, "My lord the king, my servant Ziba deceived me. I told him, ‘Saddle my donkey so I can go with the king.' For as you know I am crippled.

Ziba has slandered me by saying that I refused to come. But I know that my lord the king is like an angel of God, so do what you think is best.

So all the people crossed the Jordan with the king. After David had blessed Barzillai and kissed him, Barzillai returned to his own home.

"But there are ten tribes in Israel," the others replied. "So we have ten times as much right to the king as you do. What right do you have to treat us with such contempt? Weren't we the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again?" The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel.

So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stayed with their king and escorted him from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.