After this, ^aAbsalom provided for himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men as runners before him. 2 He would get up early and ^astand beside the road to the gate of the city, where court was held; and when any man who had a dispute came to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “^aSee, your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king’s agent to listen to you.” 4 Moreover Absalom would say, “^aOh, that I were appointed judge in the land! Then every man who had a dispute could come to me and I would get justice for him.” 5 And whenever a man approached to bow down before him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and ^akiss him. 6 This is how Absalom dealt with everyone in Israel who came to the king for judgment. ^aSo Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

7 And after ¹four years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the LORD at ^2aHebron my birthplace. 8 For your servant ^amade a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram (Syria) , ‘^bIf the LORD will in fact bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord by offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving.’” 9 And David the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall say, ‘^aAbsalom is king in Hebron.’” 11 Then two hundred men from Jerusalem ^awho were invited as guests to his sacrificial feast went with Absalom. They ^bwent innocently and knew nothing about his plan against David. 12 And Absalom sent for ^1aAhithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city ^bGiloh, while he was offering sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for ^cthe people with Absalom increased continually.

13 Then a messenger came to David, saying, “^aThe hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” 14 David said to all his ¹servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “^aArise, let us flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom! Go in haste, or he will overtake us quickly and bring disaster on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 The king’s servants said to him, “Listen, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” 16 So the king left, and all his household ¹with him. But ^athe king left behind ten women who were ²concubines to take care of the house (palace) . 2+@Sam 12:11; 20:3 17 The king left, and all the people with him, and they stopped at the last house. 18 All of David’s ¹servants passed on beside him, and ^aall the Cherethites, Pelethites and the Gittites, ^bsix hundred men who had come with him from Gath, passed on before the king.

19 Then the king said to ^aIttai the Gittite, “Why should you go with us, too? Go back and stay with the king of your own country, for you are a foreigner and an exile as well; return to your own place. 20 You came only yesterday, so should I make you wander with us today while ^aI go where I will? Return and take your brothers back with you also. May ^blovingkindness and faithfulness be with you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, most certainly ^awherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or life, there will your servant be also.” 22 So David said to Ittai, “Go on and cross over the Brook Kidron.” So Ittai the Gittite crossed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. 23 While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people crossed over. The king also crossed ^athe Brook Kidron, and all the people went on toward ^bthe way of the wilderness that lies between Jerusalem and the Jordan River.

24 Now ^aZadok also came, and all the Levites with him ^bcarrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ^cAbiathar the priest came up and officiated until all the people had finished passing from the city. 25 Then the king told Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to its rightful place in the city of Jerusalem, the capital. If I find favor in the LORD’S sight, ^aHe will bring me back again and let me see both it and ^bHis dwelling place (habitation) . 26 But if He should say, ‘^aI have no delight in you,’ then here I am; ^blet Him do to me what seems good to Him.” 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not ^aa seer? Return to the city in peace you and Abiathar, and your ^btwo sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I am going to wait ^aat the ¹fords of the Jordan in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar brought the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they stayed there.

30 And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with ^ahis head covered and walking ^bbarefoot in despair. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went. 31 David was told, “^aAhithophel your counselor is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “O LORD, I pray You, ^bturn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”

32 It happened when David came to the summit of the Mount of Olives, where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the ^aArchite came to meet him with his tunic torn and dust on his head as if in mourning. 33 David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be ^aa burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city, and ^asay to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in the past, so I will be your servant now;’ then you can thwart (make useless) the advice of Ahithophel for me. 35 Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So it shall be that ^aevery word you hear from the king’s palace, you shall report it to them. 36 ^aTheir two sons are there with them, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and ^bby them you shall send to me everything that you hear.” 37 So Hushai, ^aDavid’s friend, returned to the city, and at about the same time ^bAbsalom came into Jerusalem.

Now it came about after this that ^aAbsalom provided for himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men ¹to run ahead of him. 2 And Absalom used to rise early and ^astand beside the road to the gate; and when any man who had a lawsuit was to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him and say, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “See, ^ayour ¹claims are good and right, but you have no one to listen to you on the part of the king.” 4 Moreover, Absalom would say, “^aOh that someone would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has a lawsuit or claim could come to me, and I would give him justice!” 5 And whenever a man approached to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and ^akiss him. 6 Absalom dealt this way with all Israel who came to the king for judgment; ^aso Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

7 Now it came about at the end of ¹four years that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to the LORD, in ^aHebron. 8 For your servant ^amade a vow while I was living in Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘^bIf the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.’” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he got up and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘^aAbsalom is king in Hebron!’” 11 Then two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem, ^awho were invited and ^bwent ¹innocently, for they did not know anything. 12 And Absalom sent for ^aAhithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city ^bGiloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for ^cthe people continually increased with Absalom.

13 Then a messenger came to David, saying, “^aThe hearts of the people of Israel are ¹with Absalom.” 14 So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “^aArise and let’s flee, for otherwise none of us will escape from Absalom. Go quickly, or he will hurry and overtake us, and bring disaster on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants will do whatever my lord the king chooses.” 16 So the king left, and all his household ¹with him; but ^athe king left ten concubines behind to take care of the house. 17 The king left, and all the people ¹with him, and they stopped at the last house. 18 Now all of his servants passed by beside him, and ^aall the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, ^bsix hundred men who had come ¹with him from Gath, passed by before the king.

19 Then the king said to ^aIttai the Gittite, “Why should you go with us too? Return and stay with ¹your king, since you are a foreigner and an exile as well; return to your own place. 20 You came only yesterday, so should I make you wander with us today, while ^aI go wherever I go? Return and take your brothers back; ^bmercy and ¹truth be with you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, ^awherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there assuredly shall your servant be!” 22 Then David said to Ittai, “Go and cross over the brook Kidron.” So Ittai the Gittite crossed over with all his men and all the ¹little ones who were with him. 23 While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people were crossing over. The king was also crossing over ^athe brook Kidron, and all the people were crossing over toward ^bthe way of the wilderness.

24 Now behold, ^aZadok also came, and all the Levites with him, ^bcarrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ^cAbiathar came up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city. 25 And the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the LORD, then ^aHe will bring me back and show me both it and ^bHis habitation. 26 But if He says this: ‘^aI have no delight in you,’ then here I am, ^blet Him do to me as seems good ¹to Him.” 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not ^aa seer? Return to the city in peace, and your ^btwo sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I am going to wait ^aat the river crossing places of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there.

30 And David was going up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, and ^ahis head was covered, and he was walking ^bbarefoot. Then all the people who were with him each covered his own head, and they were going up, weeping as they went. 31 Now someone informed David, saying, “^aAhithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “LORD, please ^bmake the advice of Ahithophel foolish.”

32 It happened as David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, that behold, Hushai the ^aArchite met him with his ¹coat torn, and ²dust on his head. 33 And David said to him, “If you go over with me, then you will become ^aa burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and ^asay to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; even as I was your father’s servant in time past, so now I will also be your servant,’ then you can foil the advice of Ahithophel for me. 35 Are Zadok and Abiathar the priests not with you there? So it shall be that ^awhatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Behold ^atheir two sons are there with them, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and ^bby them you shall send me everything that you hear.” 37 So Hushai, ^aDavid’s friend, came into the city, and ^bAbsalom came into Jerusalem.