Through My Bible Yr 01 – September 01
2 Samuel 15:1 – 16:14
Through My Bible – September 01
2 Samuel 15:1 – 16:14 (EHV)
See series: Through My Bible
Absalomās Rebellion
2 Samuel 15
1Ā After this, Absalom acquired for himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run in front of him. 2Ā Absalom would get up early and stand beside the road by the gatehouse. Absalom would call out to every man who had a legal issue to bring before the king for judgment, and he would say, āWhat city are you from?ā The person would say, āYour servant is from such-and-such of the tribes of Israel.ā 3Ā Absalom would say to him, āYour claims are good and valid, but there is no one from the king to listen to you.ā 4Ā Then Absalom would say, āI wish someone would make me a judge in the land. Then everyone who has a legal issue or needs a judgment could come to me, and I would give him justice.ā
5Ā Whenever someone approached to bow down to him, he would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him. 6Ā Absalom acted this way to everyone of Israel who came to the king for judgment. In this way Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7Ā After four [1] years Absalom said to the king, āPlease let me go to Hebron and fulfill my vow, which I have made to the Lord, 8Ā because when I was at Geshur in Aram, your servant vowed, āIf the Lord will really return me to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord.āā
9Ā The king said to him, āGo in peace.ā So he set out and went to Hebron.
10Ā But Absalom sent agents throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, āWhen you hear the sound of the ramās horn, you are to say, āAbsalom is king in Hebron.āā 11Ā Two hundred men from Jerusalem who had been invited went along with Absalom. They went innocently, since they did not know what was going on.
12Ā While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom summoned Davidās advisor, Ahithophel of Giloh, to come from Giloh, his hometown. The conspiracy gained strength as more and more people were going over to Absalom.
13Ā A messenger came to David and said, āThe hearts of the men of Israel are following Absalom.ā
14Ā So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, āGet ready. We must flee, or we will not escape from Absalom. Hurry up and go, so that he does not come quickly, overtake us, bring down disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.ā
15Ā The officials of the king said to him, āHere we are. We, your servants, will do everything our lord the king decides.ā 16Ā So the king set out with his entire household, but he left ten concubines [2] to watch over the house. 17Ā The king and all his people set out. They stopped at a house some distance away.
Davidās Flight
18Ā All his troops were passing by in front of David. All the Kerethites, Pelethites, and Gittitesāsix hundred men from Gath who had come under his commandāwere passing by in front of the king. 19Ā The king said to Ittai from Gath, āWhy are you going with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom, because you are a foreigner and an exile from your home. 20Ā You arrived just yesterday. Today should I cause you to wander with us, when I myself do not have a plan as to where I am going? Go back and take your fellow soldiers with you. May the Lordās mercy and faithfulness be with you.ā [3]
21Ā Ittai answered the king, āAs the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king will be, whether it leads to death or life, there your servant will be.ā
22Ā David said to Ittai, āGo ahead then. March on.ā So Ittai from Gath and all his men and all the dependents who were with them marched by.
23Ā All the people of the land wept loudly as all the troops were marching by. The king crossed over the stream bed of the Kidron. All the people kept marching by in the direction of the wilderness.
24Ā Next came Zadok and all the Levites with him, who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered up sacrifices until all the people finished passing by, as they left the city. 25Ā The king said to Zadok, āReturn the Ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see it in its proper dwelling place. 26Ā But if he says, āI have no pleasure in you,ā look, here I am. Let him do to me whatever is good in his eyes.ā
27Ā The king said to Zadok the priest, āArenāt you a seer? [4] Go back to the city in peace. You two priests, take your sons with youāyour son Ahimaāaz and Abiatharās son Jonathan. 28Ā Listen, I will be waiting at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.ā 29Ā So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.
30Ā David went up along the ascent to the top of the Mount of Olives. As he walked along with his head covered, he was weeping, and he was walking barefoot. All the people who were with him also covered their heads. As they went up, they were weeping as they walked along.
31Ā David had been told, āAhithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.ā So David said, āPlease, Lord, make the advice of Ahithophel foolish.ā
32Ā David arrived at the summit, where he worshipped God. [5]
Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him. His robe was torn, and he had dirt on his head. 33Ā David said to him, āIf you cross over with me, you will become a burden to me. 34Ā But if you return to the city and you say to Absalom, āLet me be your servant, O King. In the past I was a servant of your father. Now I will be your servant,ā then you can defeat the advice of Ahithophel for me. 35Ā Are not Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, with you there? Tell every word that you hear in the house of the king to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. 36Ā Their two sons, Zadokās son Ahimaāaz and Abiatharās son Jonathan, are there with them. Through those two, the three of you will be able to send me every word that you hear.ā 37Ā Hushai, the friend and advisor of David, went to the city, just as Absalom also was entering into Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 16
1Ā David moved a little beyond the summit. There Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a string of saddled donkeys. On them there were two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred cakes of raisins, one hundred cakes of summer fruit, and a container [6] of wine.
2Ā The king said to Ziba, āWhy do you have these?ā
Ziba said, āThe donkeys are for the household of the king to ride on. The bread and fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is to provide something to drink for those who become exhausted in the wilderness.ā
3Ā The king said, āSo where is the grandson of your master?ā
Ziba said to the king, āWell, he is staying in Jerusalem because he said, āToday the house of Israel will return the kingdom of my grandfather to me.āā
4Ā The king said to Ziba, āAll right then. Everything that was Mephiboshethās belongs to you.ā
Ziba said, āI bow down before you. May I find favor in your sight, my lord the king.ā
5Ā King David came to Bahurim. There he was confronted by a man from the family of the house of Saul. His name was Shimei son of Gera. He was rushing out and calling down curses. 6Ā He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, as well as at all the people and all the warriors on Davidās right and on his left. 7Ā This is what Shimei said as he cursed: āGet out! Get out, you bloody, worthless man! 8Ā The Lord has avenged upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, whom you replaced as king. The Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Just look at you now, sunk in disaster, because you are a bloody man.ā
9Ā Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, āWhy should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.ā
10Ā The king said, āWhat do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has told him, āCurse David,ā then who can say, āWhy have you done this?āā 11Ā Then David said to Abishai and to all his followers, āListen to me! My son, who came from my own body, is seeking my life. How much more now, this Benjaminite! Leave him alone. Let him curse. Perhaps the Lord has told him to do so. 12Ā Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and will return something good to me in exchange for his cursing this day.ā
13Ā So David and his men kept traveling down the road, and Shimei kept following along, on the side of the hill opposite him, walking along, cursing, throwing stones, and flinging dirt at him.
14Ā The king and all the people who were with him traveled until they became exhausted, and then they stopped in order to recover.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 15:7 The translation four years follows the ancient versions. The Hebrew text reads forty years, but it is not possible to fit that time span into the chronology of Davidās reign.
- 2 Samuel 15:16 Or wives of secondary status
- 2 Samuel 15:20 The last part of the verse is difficult.
- 2 Samuel 15:27 Or you are a seer. The exact implications of the statement are uncertain, and interpretations vary. Most likely it means that David needs men of war with him, not non-soldiers.
- 2 Samuel 15:32 The translation is literal. Many translations take it as a more general statement: where God is worshipped.
- 2 Samuel 16:1 Or wineskin
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage VersionĀ®, EHVĀ®, Ā© 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.