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He would get up early and stand by the road leading to the city gate; and if someone had a case that was to come before the king for judgment, Avshalom would call to him and ask, "What city are you from?" and he would answer, "Your servant is from the such-and-such tribe in Isra'el."

This is how Avshalom behaved toward anyone in Isra'el who came to the king for judgment, and in this way Avshalom stole the hearts of the people of Isra'el.

Avshalom sent for Achitofel the Giloni, David's counselor, to come from his town Giloh and be with him while offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy grew strong, because the number of people favoring Avshalom kept increasing.

So the king set out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women who were concubines to care for the palace.

for all his servants to pass by him in review; all the K'reti and P'leti and all the Gittim (600 men who had accompanied him from Gat) passed in review before the king.

But Ittai answered the king, "As Adonai lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there too."

Tzadok also came, accompanied by all the L'vi'im bearing the ark for the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, but Evyatar went up until all the people had finished leaving the city.

But if you go back to the city and tell Avshalom, ‘King, I will be your servant; just as I was your father's servant in the past, so I will now be your servant' — then you will be able to frustrate Achitofel's advice for me.

The king said to Tziva, "What do you mean by these?" Tziva replied, "The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on; the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat; and the wine is for those who collapse in the desert to drink."

When Shim‘i cursed, he said, "Get out of here! Get out of here, you killer, you good-for-nothing!

So they set up a tent for Avshalom on the roof of the palace; and Avshalom went in to sleep with his father's concubines in the sight of all Isra'el.

then even the strongest among them, someone whose courage is that of a lion, will completely collapse! For all Isra'el knows that your father is a powerful man, and those with him are powerful men.

Avshalom and all the men of Isra'el said, "The advice of Hushai the Arki is better than the advice of Achitofel" — for Adonai had determined to frustrate the good advice of Achitofel, so that Adonai could bring disaster on Avshalom.

Y'honatan and Achima‘atz were staying at ‘Ein-Rogel; a female servant was to go and tell them, and they in turn were to go and tell King David — for it would not do to have them seen entering the city.

honey, curdled milk, sheep and cheese made of cow's milk for David and the people with him to eat; because they said, "These people are hungry, tired and thirsty from the desert."

The king gave orders to Yo'av, Avishai and Ittai, "For my sake, deal gently with young Avshalom." All the people were listening when the king gave all the commanders this order concerning Avshalom.

For the battle there was spread all over the countryside; the forest devoured more people that day than did the sword.

Or, if I had pretended that I didn't know, the king would have known otherwise anyway; and you wouldn't have interceded for me either."

In his own lifetime Avshalom had taken and raised for himself the pillar which stands in the King's Valley; because he said, "I don't have a son to preserve the memory of my name." So he named the pillar after himself, and it's called Avshalom's Monument to this day.

But Achima‘atz the son of Tzadok said again to Yo'av, "Come what may, please let me also run after the Ethiopian." Yo'av answered, "Why do you want to run, my son? You won't receive any reward for bringing the news."