Study Desk

When the king and all his people arrived at the Jordan, they were very tired, so they rested there.

In the past I served your father. So whom should I serve now? David's son! I will serve you as I served him."

So they put up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace where everyone in Israel could see it. And Absalom had sexual relations with his father's slave women.

I'll catch him while he is tired and weak, and I'll frighten him so all his people will run away. But I'll kill only King David.

But Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Arkite, so I can hear what he says."

We will go to David wherever he is hiding. We will fall on him as dew falls on the ground. We will kill him and all of his men so that no one will be left alive.

Absalom and all the Israelites said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel." (The Lord had planned to destroy the good advice of Ahithophel so the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.)

Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En Rogel. They did not want to be seen going into the city, so a servant girl would go out to them and give them messages. Then Jonathan and Ahimaaz would go and tell King David.

But a boy saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and told Absalom. So Jonathan and Ahimaaz left quickly and went to a man's house in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" She said to them, "They have already crossed the brook." Absalom's servants then went to look for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but they could not find them. So they went back to Jerusalem.

So David and all his people crossed the Jordan River. By dawn, everyone had crossed the Jordan.

The king said to his people, "I will do what you think is best." So the king stood at the side of the gate as the army went out in groups of a hundred and a thousand.

Then Absalom happened to meet David's troops. As Absalom was riding his mule, it went under the thick branches of a large oak tree. Absalom's head got caught in the tree, and his mule ran out from under him. So Absalom was left hanging above the ground.

Joab said, "I won't waste time here with you!" Absalom was still alive in the oak tree, so Joab took three spears and stabbed him in the heart.

Then Joab blew the trumpet, so the troops stopped chasing the Israelites.

When Absalom was alive, he had set up a pillar for himself in the King's Valley. He said, "I have no son to keep my name alive." So he named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom's Monument even today.

Ahimaaz answered, "No matter what happens, I will run." So Joab said to Ahimaaz, "Run!" Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the Jordan Valley and passed the Cushite.

The king said, "Step over here and wait." So Ahimaaz stepped aside and stood there.

So the king went to the city gate. When the news spread that the king was at the gate, everyone came to see him. All the Israelites who had followed Absalom had run away to their homes.

King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, that said, "Speak to the elders of Judah. Say, ‘Even in my house I have heard what all the Israelites are saying. So why are you the last tribe to bring the king back to his palace?