The Covenant Box Is Moved from Kiriath Jearim^(A)

13 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men. ² Then he announced to all the people of Israel, “If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us. ³ Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king.” ⁴ The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it.

^5 (B)So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. ^6 (C)David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. ⁷ At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, ⁸ while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments—harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets.

⁹ As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. ¹⁰ At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, ¹¹ and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah^[a] ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

^12 (D)Then David was afraid of God and said, “How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?” ¹³ So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. ^14 (E)It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the Covenant Box back to the city. If the Lord is pleased with me, some day he will let me come back to see it and the place where it stays. ²⁶ But if he isn't pleased with me—well, then, let him do to me what he wishes.” ²⁷ And he went on to say to Zadok, “Look,^[a] take your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan and go back to the city in peace. ²⁸ Meanwhile, I will wait at the river crossings in the wilderness until I receive news from you.” ²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar took the Covenant Box back into Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰ David went on up the Mount of Olives crying; he was barefoot and had his head covered as a sign of grief. All who followed him covered their heads and cried also. ³¹ When David was told^[b] that Ahithophel had joined Absalom's rebellion, he prayed, “Please, Lord, turn Ahithophel's advice into nonsense!”

³² When David reached the top of the hill, where there was a place of worship, his trusted friend Hushai the Archite met him with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. ³³ David said to him, “You will be of no help to me if you come with me, ³⁴ but you can help me by returning to the city and telling Absalom that you will now serve him as faithfully as you served his father. And do all you can to oppose any advice that Ahithophel gives. ³⁵ The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be there; tell them everything you hear in the king's palace. ³⁶ They have their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan with them, and you can send them to me with all the information you gather.”

³⁷ So Hushai, David's friend, returned to the city just as Absalom was arriving.

David and Ziba

16 ^(A)When David had gone a little beyond the top of the hill, he was suddenly met by Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who had with him a couple of donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred bunches of fresh fruit, and a leather bag full of wine. ² King David asked him, “What are you going to do with all that?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for Your Majesty's family to ride, the bread and the fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is for them to drink when they get tired in the wilderness.”

^3 (B)“Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your master Saul?” the king asked him.

“He is staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba answered, “because he is convinced that the Israelites will now restore to him the kingdom of his grandfather Saul.”

⁴ The king said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is yours.”

“I am your servant,” Ziba replied. “May I always please Your Majesty!”

David and Shimei

⁵ When King David arrived at Bahurim, one of Saul's relatives, Shimei son of Gera, came out to meet him, cursing him as he came. ⁶ Shimei started throwing stones at David and his officials, even though David was surrounded by his men and his bodyguards.