¹² They did not find me disputing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd either in the synagogues or throughout the city.^{(A) 13} Neither can they prove to you the charge that they now bring against me.^(B)

David and Mephibosheth Meet

²⁴ Mephibosheth grandson of Saul came down to meet the king; he had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his beard or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he came back in safety.^{(A) 25} When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”^{(B) 26} He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘Saddle a donkey for me^[a] so that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame.^{(C) 27} He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you.^(D)

David’s Adversaries

16 When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, carrying two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred bunches of raisins, one hundred of summer fruits, and one skin of wine.^{(A) 2} The king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who faint in the wilderness.”^{(B) 3} The king said, “And where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather’s kingdom.’ ”^(C)

⁵ We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.^{[a](A) 6} He even tried to profane the temple, so we seized him.^[b](B)