Study Desk

We will catch David wherever he is hiding and attack him with so many soldiers that they will be like the dew that covers the ground. We will kill David and all of his men—no one will be left alive.

"Send a message to David now! Tell him not to spend the night at the places where people cross into the desert. Tell him to go across the Jordan River at once. If he crosses the river, the king and all his people will not be caught."

But a boy saw Jonathan and Ahimaaz and ran to tell Absalom. Jonathan and Ahimaaz ran away quickly. They arrived at a man's house in Bahurim. The man had a well in his courtyard. Jonathan and Ahimaaz went down into this well.

So David and his people crossed over the Jordan River. By sunrise, all of David's people had crossed the Jordan River. No one was left behind.

When Ahithophel saw that the Israelites did not do what he suggested, he saddled his donkey and went back to his hometown. He made plans for his family and then hanged himself. They buried him in his father's tomb.

Absalom and the Israelites made their camp in the land of Gilead. Absalom had made Amasa the new captain of the army. He took Joab's place. Amasa was the son of Ithra the Ishmaelite. His mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Joab's mother, Zeruiah.

David counted his men and chose captains over 1000 and captains over 100 to lead them.

It so happened that David's officers found Absalom. Absalom jumped on his mule and tried to escape, but the mule went under the branches of a large oak tree. The branches were thick, and Absalom's head got caught in the tree. His mule ran out from under him, so Absalom was left hanging above the ground.

Joab said, "I will not waste my time here with you!" Absalom was still alive and hanging in the oak tree. Joab took three sticks in his hand and hit him in the heart.

Ahimaaz called to the king, "All is well!" Ahimaaz bowed with his face to the ground in front of the king and said, "Praise the Lord your God! The Lord has defeated the men who were against you, my lord and king."

So the joy of victory turned to sadness for everyone. It was a very sad day because the people heard, "The king is mourning for his son."

The king had covered his face and was crying loudly, "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

About 1000 people from the tribe of Benjamin came with Shimei. Ziba the servant from Saul's family also came. Ziba brought his 15 sons and 20 servants with him. All these people hurried to the Jordan River to meet King David.

Saul's grandson, Mephibosheth, came down to meet King David. Mephibosheth had not cared for his feet, trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes since the day the king left Jerusalem.

Barzillai of Gilead came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan River with King David and send him on his way home.

David went back to his house in Jerusalem. He had left ten of his slave women to take care of the house. He put these women in a special house. Then he put guards around the house. They stayed in this house until they died. David took care of the women and gave them food, but he did not have sexual relations with them. They lived like widows until they died.

When Joab and the army came to Big Rock at Gibeon, Amasa came out to meet them. Joab was wearing his uniform with a belt that held a knife. As he walked toward Amasa, the knife on the belt came out.

Joab asked Amasa, "How are you doing, brother?" Joab reached out with his right hand and grabbed Amasa by the beard to greet him with a kiss.

Amasa didn't see the knife that was now in Joab's other hand. Joab stabbed him in the belly, and Amasa's intestines spilled out on the ground. There was no need for Joab to stab him again; he was already dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai resumed the chase after Sheba son of Bicri.

Amasa was there in the middle of road, lying in his own blood. The young soldier noticed that all the people kept stopping to look at the body, so he rolled the body off the road and into the field and covered it with a cloth.