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2 SAM C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
19 Someone told Joab that the king was crying because he was so sad that Absalom had died. 2 All of David’s soldiers heard that he was unhappy that their army had killed Absalom. So even though they had won the battle against Absalom’s soldiers, they could not celebrate that day. 3 The soldiers came back into the city quietly that day, the way soldiers do so that no one will find out that they have run away from a battle. 4 The king covered his face with part of his cloak, and he kept crying loudly, “O, my son Absalom! Absalom, my dear son!”
5 Joab went to the house where the king was and told him, “Today your soldiers saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and wives and secondary wives. But you are making them feel shame for what they did! 6 You seem to love those who hate you and hate those who love you! It is as if you have said that you do not care about your own commanders and your soldiers. I can see that if Absalom were still alive and all of us were dead today, you would like that better. 7 So now you must go out and thank your soldiers for what they did. I swear by Yahweh that if you do not do that, they will all have abandoned you by tomorrow morning. Then you will be in more trouble than you have already had in your entire life!”
8 So the king went and sat at the city gate. People told the soldiers, “Look, the king is sitting at the gate!” So the soldiers came and gathered around him, and he thanked them. Meanwhile, all the remaining Israelite soldiers who had been supporting Absalom had run away back to their own homes.
9 Then people throughout the territory of Israel began to argue with each other about what they should do. Some of them said, “King David led our armies to defeat the Philistines and the other enemies who were oppressing us. But then he left Israel in order to escape from Absalom! 10 We appointed Absalom to be our king, but he died in the battle against David’s soldiers. So we should do something to bring King David back!”
11 King David learned what the people were saying, so he sent the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, to say to the leaders of Judah, “The king says that he has heard that the Israelite people want him to be king again. He says that you should not be the last ones to bring him back to his palace. 12 He says that you are his relatives. You and he have the same ancestor. So you should not be the last ones to bring him back!” 13 He also told them to say to Amasa, “You are one of my relatives. I swear that I am going to make you my army commander from now on instead of Joab. If I do not do that, then may God not make me the king again.”
14 After David sent that message to them, the people of Judah agreed that he should be their king again. So they sent him a message that said, “We would like you and all your officials to come back.” 15 So King David and his officials started back toward Jerusalem. When they arrived at the eastern shore of Jordan River, the leaders of the tribe of Judah met them. They had come to Gilgal on the western shore to escort the king and his officials across the river.
16 Shimei son of Gera, that man from the tribe of Benjamin who lived in Bahurim, hurried to the river with the leaders of Judah to meet King David. 17 There were 1,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin who came with him. Ziba, the servant of Saul, also hurried to the Jordan River. He brought his 15 sons and 20 servants with him. Shimei and Ziba quickly waded across the river to meet King David on the eastern shore. 18 The elders of Judah then crossed the river at the place where people could walk across it so that they could escort King David and his officials back to the other side. They wanted to do whatever the king wanted. Shimei came and bowed down in front of David.
19 He said to the king, “Your Majesty, please forgive me for the terrible thing that I did on the day that you left Jerusalem. I hope that you will not punish me for it, and I hope that you will not continue to feel hostile toward me. 20 I acknowledge that I have sinned against you. But please consider that I have been first one from the northern tribes to come here today to welcome you back, Your Majesty.”
21 But Abishai son of Zeruiah, told David, “Shimei cursed you, the man whom Yahweh appointed to be the king of Israel! So you should not forgive him. You should execute him for doing that!”
22 But David said, “I do not agree at all with what you two sons of Zeruiah want me to do. You are encouraging me to do something now that would not be good for me. I am not going to execute anyone in Israel today. I know confidently that the Israelites want me to be their king, so I do not need to execute this man to make my reign more secure.” 23 Then King David told Shimei, “I promise that I will not execute you,” and he swore an oath that he would not execute him.
24 Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, also came to the Jordan River to welcome King David back. To show his grief, Mephibosheth had not cut his toenails or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the time that the king left Jerusalem up to the time when he returned safely. 25 When he arrived from Jerusalem to welcome King David, he said to him, “Mephibosheth, why did you not go with me?”
26 He replied, “Your Majesty, when I heard that you were leaving Jerusalem, I told my servant Ziba, ‘Saddle my donkey so that I can ride on it and go with the king.’ But he deceived me and left without me. I could not follow him, because I am crippled. 27 He lied to you about me. But your Majesty, you are as wise as one of God’s angels. So do whatever seems right to you. 28 I consider that all of my grandfather’s family expected that you would execute us. But instead, you allowed me to eat my meals with your household! So I certainly do not have the right to ask you for anything further.”
29 King David replied, “You do not need to say anything more. I have decided that you and Ziba will equally divide the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul.”
30 Mephibosheth replied to the king, “Your Majesty, Ziba may have all of the land. All that matters to me is that you have returned safely.”
31 Barzillai the Gileadite had come down to the Jordan River from his home in Rogelim to escort the king across the river. 32 By this time Barzillai was elderly. He was 80 years old. But he was such a wealthy man that he had been able to provide all of the food that the king and his soldiers needed while they were at Mahanaim. 33 The king said to Barzillai, “Come across the Jordan River with me to Jerusalem, and I will take care of you there.”
34 But Barzillai replied, “I do not have many more years to live. So there is no reason for me to go with you to Jerusalem. 35 I am now 80 years old. I do not know what is enjoyable and what is not enjoyable. I cannot enjoy what I eat and what I drink. I cannot hear anymore the voices of men and women as they sing. You would have to make difficult arrangements for me. I do not want you to have to do that. 36 I will cross the Jordan River with you and walk a short distance with you toward Jerusalem. But you do not need to entertain me there in your royal court. 37 Instead, please allow me to return to my home. That is where I want to die, near my parents’ grave so people can bury me there. But here is my son Chimham. Your Majesty, please allow him to go with you and serve you, and do for him whatever seems right to you.”
38 The king replied, “Very well, Chimham may cross the river with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you. And I will also do for you whatever you want me to do.”
39 Then the leaders of Judah and the people who had been with David honored him by leading the way across the Jordan River. David followed them across. He kissed Barzillai on the cheek to show his affection and gratitude and asked God to do good things for him. Then Barzillai returned to his home.
40 But Chimham stayed with King David as he continued on to Gilgal. Now the leaders of the tribe of Judah had escorted David across the Jordan River. But only some of the leaders of the other tribes arrived in time to do that with them, since the leaders of Judah did not wait for them.
41 Then, when the rest of the Israelite leaders arrived, they complained to David, “It was not fair for our fellow Israelites, those leaders from the tribe of Judah, to take you away from us! We all wanted to escort you and your family and your soldiers across the Jordan River. But they did that without waiting for us!”
42 The leaders from Judah told the leaders of the other tribes, “We escorted the king because he is from our tribe of Judah. You should not be angry about this. The king never paid for our food, and he never gave us any gifts.”
43 The men of the other Israelite tribes replied, “We represent ten of the tribes that the Israelite king rules, and you represent only one. So you should not have treated us with disrespect by bringing the king back across the Jordan River without us. We were the first ones to talk about bringing David back to Jerusalem to be our king again.” But the leaders of Judah angrily disagreed with the leaders of the other tribes of Israel.
2 SAM C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24