| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1After this, Absalom bought a chariot and horses, and he hired fifty bodyguards to run ahead of him. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2He got up early every morning and went out to the gate of the city. When people brought a case to the king for judgment, Absalom would ask where in Israel they were from, and they would tell him their tribe. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3Then Absalom would say, “You’ve really got a strong case here! It’s too bad the king doesn’t have anyone to hear it. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4I wish I were the judge. Then everyone could bring their cases to me for judgment, and I would give them justice!” |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5When people tried to bow before him, Absalom wouldn’t let them. Instead, he took them by the hand and kissed them. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Absalom did this with everyone who came to the king for judgment, and so he stole the hearts of all the people of Israel. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7After four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron to offer a sacrifice to the LORD and fulfill a vow I made to him. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8For while your servant was at Geshur in Aram, I promised to sacrifice to the LORD in Hebron if he would bring me back to Jerusalem.” |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9“All right,” the king told him. “Go and fulfill your vow.” So Absalom went to Hebron. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10But while he was there, he sent secret messengers to all the tribes of Israel to stir up a rebellion against the king. “As soon as you hear the ram’s horn,” his message read, “you are to say, ‘Absalom has been crowned king in Hebron.’” |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11He took 200 men from Jerusalem with him as guests, but they knew nothing of his intentions. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors who lived in Giloh. Soon many others also joined Absalom, and the conspiracy gained momentum. David Escapes from Jerusalem |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13A messenger soon arrived in Jerusalem to tell David, “All Israel has joined Absalom in a conspiracy against you!” |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14“Then we must flee at once, or it will be too late!” David urged his men. “Hurry! If we get out of the city before Absalom arrives, both we and the city of Jerusalem will be spared from disaster.” |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15“We are with you,” his advisers replied. “Do what you think is best.” |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16So the king and all his household set out at once. He left no one behind except ten of his concubines to look after the palace. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17The king and all his people set out on foot, pausing at the last house |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18to let all the king’s men move past to lead the way. There were 600 men from Gath who had come with David, along with the king’s bodyguard. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19Then the king turned and said to Ittai, a leader of the men from Gath, “Why are you coming with us? Go on back to King Absalom, for you are a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20You arrived only recently, and should I force you today to wander with us? I don’t even know where we will go. Go on back and take your kinsmen with you, and may the LORD show you his unfailing love and faithfulness. ” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21But Ittai said to the king, “I vow by the LORD and by your own life that I will go wherever my lord the king goes, no matter what happens—whether it means life or death.” |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22David replied, “All right, come with us.” So Ittai and all his men and their families went along. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23Everyone cried loudly as the king and his followers passed by. They crossed the Kidron Valley and then went out toward the wilderness. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24Zadok and all the Levites also came along, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until everyone had passed out of the city. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25Then the king instructed Zadok to take the Ark of God back into the city. “If the LORD sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26But if he is through with me, then let him do what seems best to him.” |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27The king also told Zadok the priest, “Look, here is my plan. You and Abiathar should return quietly to the city with your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28I will stop at the shallows of the Jordan River and wait there for a report from you.” |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29So Zadok and Abiathar took the Ark of God back to the city and stayed there. |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30David walked up the road to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the hill. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now backing Absalom, David prayed, “O LORD, let Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!” |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32When David reached the summit of the Mount of Olives where people worshiped God, Hushai the Arkite was waiting there for him. Hushai had torn his clothing and put dirt on his head as a sign of mourning. |
| 33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33But David told him, “If you go with me, you will only be a burden. |
| 34[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 34Return to Jerusalem and tell Absalom, ‘I will now be your adviser, O king, just as I was your father’s adviser in the past.’ Then you can frustrate and counter Ahithophel’s advice. |
| 35[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 35Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, will be there. Tell them about the plans being made in the king’s palace, |
| 36[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 36and they will send their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan to tell me what is going on.” |
| 37[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 37So David’s friend Hushai returned to Jerusalem, getting there just as Absalom arrived. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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