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Then your handmaid said, Please let the word of my lord the king be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: and the LORD your God be with you.

The king said, Is the hand of Yo'av with you in all this? The woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Yo'av, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid;

Now in all Yisra'el there was none to be so much praised as Avshalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

Then Avshalom sent for Yo'av, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come.

Avshalom answered Yo'av, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it were better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.

So Yo'av came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Avshalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Avshalom.

Avshalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Avshalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Yisra'el.

In this manner Avshalom did to all Yisra'el who came to the king for judgment: so Avshalom stole the hearts of the men of Yisra'el.

For your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Aram, saying, If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Yerushalayim, then I will serve the LORD.

Avshalom sent for Achitofel the Giloni, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Avshalom.

David said to all his servants who were with him at Yerushalayim, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Avshalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why go you also with us? return, and abide with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile; [return] to your own place.

Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will your servant be.

but if you return to the city, and tell Avshalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Achitofel.

The king said to Tziva, What do you mean by these? Tziva said, The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.

The king said, Where is your master's son? Tziva said to the king, Behold, he abides at Yerushalayim; for he said, Today will the house of Yisra'el restore me the kingdom of my father.

David said to Avishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life: how much more [may] this Binyamini now [do it]? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has invited him.

It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will requite me good for [his] cursing of me this day.

Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Yisra'el knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

But I counsel that all Yisra'el be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.