Bible in 90 Days

¹¹ I vow that because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man, and he will go to bed with them in public view.^{[a] 12} You did it secretly, but I will do this to you openly, in the sight of all Israel.’”

¹³ “I have sinned against the Lord,” David confessed to Nathan.

Then Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. ¹⁴ But you have given great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to despise and blaspheme him, so your child shall die.”

¹⁵ Then Nathan returned to his home. And the Lord made Bathsheba’s baby deathly sick. ¹⁶ David begged him to spare the child and went without food, and lay all night before the Lord on the bare earth. ¹⁷ The leaders of the nation pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. ¹⁸ Then, on the seventh day, the baby died. David’s aides were afraid to tell him.

“He was so broken up about the baby being sick,” they said, “what will he do to himself when we tell him the child is dead?”

¹⁹ But when David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened.

“Is the baby dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is.” ²⁰ Then David got up off the ground, washed himself, brushed his hair, changed his clothes, and went into the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. Then he returned to the palace and ate. ²¹ His aides were amazed.

“We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the baby was still living, you wept and refused to eat; but now that the baby is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”

²² David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba; and when he slept with her, she conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. And the Lord loved the baby, ²⁵ and sent congratulations^[b] and blessings through Nathan the prophet. David nicknamed the baby Jedidiah (meaning, “Beloved of Jehovah”) because of the Lord’s interest. ^26-27 Meanwhile Joab and the Israeli army were successfully ending their siege of Rabbah the capital of Ammon. Joab sent messengers to tell David, “Rabbah and its beautiful harbor are ours!^{[c] 28} Now bring the rest of the army and finish the job, so that you will get the credit for the victory instead of me.”

^29-30 So David led his army to Rabbah and captured it. Tremendous amounts of loot were carried back to Jerusalem, and David took the king of Rabbah’s crown—a $50,000 treasure made from solid gold set with gems—and placed it on his own head. ³¹ He made slaves of the people of the city and made them labor with saws, picks, and axes and work in the brick kilns;^[d] that is the way he treated all of the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and the army returned to Jerusalem.

13 Prince Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister named Tamar. And Prince Amnon (her half brother) fell desperately in love with her. ² Amnon became so tormented by his love for her that he became ill. He had no way of talking to her, for the girls and young men were kept strictly apart.^{[e] 3} But Amnon had a very crafty friend—his cousin Jonadab (the son of David’s brother Shimeah).

⁴ One day Jonadab said to Amnon, “What’s the trouble? Why should the son of a king look so haggard morning after morning?”

So Amnon told him, “I am in love with Tamar, my half sister.”

⁵ “Well,” Jonadab said, “I’ll tell you what to do. Go back to bed and pretend you are sick; when your father comes to see you, ask him to let Tamar come and prepare some food for you. Tell him you’ll feel better if she feeds you.”

⁶ So Amnon did. And when the king came to see him, Amnon asked him for this favor—that his sister Tamar be permitted to come and cook a little something for him to eat. ⁷ David agreed and sent word to Tamar to go to Amnon’s quarters and prepare some food for him. ⁸ So she did and went into his bedroom so that he could watch her mix some dough; then she baked some special bread for him. ⁹ But when she set the serving tray before him, he refused to eat!

“Everyone get out of here,” he told his servants; so they all left the apartment.

¹⁰ Then he said to Tamar, “Now bring me the food again here in my bedroom and feed it to me.” So Tamar took it to him. ¹¹ But as she was standing there before him, he grabbed her and demanded, “Come to bed with me, my darling.”

¹² “Oh, Amnon,” she cried. “Don’t be foolish! Don’t do this to me! You know what a serious crime it is in Israel.^{[f] 13} Where could I go in my shame? And you would be called one of the greatest fools in Israel. Please, just speak to the king about it, for he will let you marry me.”

¹⁴ But he wouldn’t listen to her; and since he was stronger than she, he forced her. ¹⁵ Then suddenly his love turned to hate, and now he hated her more than he had loved her.

“Get out of here!” he snarled at her.

¹⁶ “No, no!” she cried. “To reject me now is a greater crime than the other you did to me.”

But he wouldn’t listen to her. ^17-18 He shouted for his valet and demanded, “Throw this woman out and lock the door behind her.”

So he put her out. She was wearing a long robe with sleeves, as was the custom in those days for virgin daughters of the king. ¹⁹ Now she tore the robe and put ashes on her head and with her head in her hands went away crying.

²⁰ Her brother Absalom asked her, “Is it true that Amnon raped you? Don’t be so upset, since it’s all in the family anyway. It’s not anything to worry about!”

So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in her brother Absalom’s quarters.

^21-24 When King David heard what had happened, he was very angry, but Absalom said nothing one way or the other about this to Amnon. However, he hated him with a deep hatred because of what he had done to his sister. Then, two years later, when Absalom’s sheep were being sheared at Baal-hazor in Ephraim, Absalom invited his father and all his brothers to come to a feast to celebrate the occasion.

²⁵ The king replied, “No, my boy; if we all came, we would be too much of a burden on you.”

Absalom pressed him, but he wouldn’t come, though he sent his thanks.

²⁶ “Well, then,” Absalom said, “if you can’t come, how about sending my brother Amnon instead?”

“Why Amnon?” the king asked.

²⁷ Absalom kept on urging the matter until finally the king agreed and let all of his sons attend, including Amnon.

²⁸ Absalom told his men, “Wait until Amnon gets drunk, then, at my signal, kill him! Don’t be afraid. I’m the one who gives the orders around here, and this is a command. Take courage and do it!”

^29-30 So they murdered Amnon. Then the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and fled. As they were on the way back to Jerusalem, the report reached David: “Absalom has killed all of your sons, and not one is left alive!”

³¹ The king jumped up, ripped off his robe, and fell prostrate to the ground. His aides also tore their clothes in horror and sorrow.

^32-33 But just then Jonadab (the son of David’s brother Shimeah) arrived and said, “No, not all have been killed! It was only Amnon! Absalom has been plotting this ever since Amnon raped Tamar. No, no! Your sons aren’t all dead! It was only Amnon.”

³⁴ Meanwhile Absalom escaped. Now the watchman on the Jerusalem wall saw a great crowd coming toward the city along the road at the side of the hill.

³⁵ “See!” Jonadab told the king. “There they are now! Your sons are coming, just as I said.”

³⁶ They soon arrived, weeping and sobbing, and the king and his officials wept with them. ^37-39 Absalom fled to King Talmai of Geshur^[g] (the son of Ammihud) and stayed there three years. Meanwhile David, now reconciled to Amnon’s death, longed day after day for fellowship with his son Absalom.

14 When General Joab realized how much the king was longing to see Absalom, ^2-3 he sent for a woman of Tekoa who had a reputation for great wisdom and told her to ask for an appointment with the king. He told her what to say to him.

“Pretend you are in mourning,” Joab instructed her. “Wear mourning clothes, and dishevel your hair as though you have been in deep sorrow for a long time.”

⁴ When the woman approached the king, she fell face downward on the floor in front of him, and cried out, “O king! Help me!”

^5-6 “What’s the trouble?” he asked.

“I am a widow,” she replied, “and my two sons had a fight out in the field, and since no one was there to part them, one of them was killed. ⁷ Now the rest of the family is demanding that I surrender my other son to them to be executed for murdering his brother. But if I do that, I will have no one left, and my husband’s name will be destroyed from the face of the earth.”

⁸ “Leave it with me,” the king told her. “I’ll see to it that no one touches him.”

⁹ “Oh, thank you, my lord,” she replied. “And I’ll take the responsibility if you are criticized for helping me like this.”

¹⁰ “Don’t worry about that!” the king replied. “If anyone objects, bring him to me; I can assure you he will never complain again!”

¹¹ Then she said, “Please swear to me by God that you won’t let anyone harm my son. I want no more bloodshed.”

“I vow by God,” he replied, “that not a hair of your son’s head shall be disturbed!”

¹² “Please let me ask one more thing of you!” she said.

“Go ahead,” he replied. “Speak!”

¹³ “Why don’t you do as much for all the people of God as you have promised to do for me?” she asked. “You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son. ¹⁴ All of us must die eventually; our lives are like water that is poured out on the ground—it can’t be gathered up again. But God will bless you with a longer life if you will find a way to bring your son back from his exile.^{[h] 15-16} But I have come to plead with you for my son because my life and my son’s life have been threatened, and I said to myself, ‘Perhaps the king will listen to me and rescue us from those who would end our existence in Israel. ¹⁷ Yes, the king will give us peace again.’ I know that you are like an angel of God and can discern good from evil. May God be with you.”

¹⁸ “I want to know one thing,” the king replied.

“Yes, my lord?” she asked.

¹⁹ “Did Joab send you here?”

And the woman replied, “How can I deny it? Yes, Joab sent me and told me what to say. ²⁰ He did it in order to place the matter before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of God, and you know everything that happens!”

²¹ So the king sent for Joab and told him, “All right, go and bring back Absalom.”

²² Joab fell to the ground before the king and blessed him and said, “At last I know that you like me! For you have granted me this request!”

²³ Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

²⁴ “He may go to his own quarters,” the king ordered, “but he must never come here. I refuse to see him.”

²⁵ Now no one in Israel was such a handsome specimen of manhood as Absalom, and no one else received such praise. ²⁶ He cut his hair only once a year—and then only because it weighed three pounds and was too much of a load to carry around! ²⁷ He had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who was a very beautiful girl.

²⁸ After Absalom had been in Jerusalem for two years and had not yet seen the king, ²⁹ he sent for Joab to ask him to intercede for him; but Joab wouldn’t come. Absalom sent for him again, but again he refused to come.

³⁰ So Absalom said to his servants, “Go and set fire to that barley field of Joab’s next to mine,” and they did.

³¹ Then Joab came to Absalom and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

³² And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me have an interview with the king; then if he finds that I am guilty of murder, let him execute me.”

³³ So Joab told the king what Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, and he came and bowed low before the king, and David kissed him.

15 Absalom then bought a magnificent chariot and chariot horses, and hired fifty footmen to run ahead of him. ² He got up early every morning and went out to the gate of the city; and when anyone came to bring a case to the king for trial, Absalom called him over and expressed interest in his problem.

³ He would say, “I can see that you are right in this matter; it’s unfortunate that the king doesn’t have anyone to assist him in hearing these cases. ⁴ I surely wish I were the judge; then anyone with a lawsuit could come to me, and I would give him justice!”

⁵ And when anyone came to bow to him, Absalom wouldn’t let him, but shook his hand instead!^{[i] 6} So in this way Absalom stole the hearts of all the people of Israel.

^7-8 After four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron to sacrifice to the Lord in fulfillment of a vow I made to him while I was at Geshur—that if he would bring me back to Jerusalem, I would sacrifice to him.”

⁹ “All right,” the king told him, “go and fulfill your vow.”

So Absalom went to Hebron.^{[j] 10} But while he was there, he sent spies to every part of Israel to incite rebellion against the king. “As soon as you hear the trumpets,” his message read, “you will know that Absalom has been crowned in Hebron.” ¹¹ He took two hundred men from Jerusalem with him as guests, but they knew nothing of his intentions. ¹² While he was offering the sacrifice, he sent for Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors who lived in Giloh. Ahithophel declared for Absalom, as did more and more others. So the conspiracy became very strong.

¹³ A messenger soon arrived in Jerusalem to tell King David, “All Israel has joined Absalom in a conspiracy against you!”

¹⁴ “Then we must flee at once or it will be too late!” was David’s instant response to his men. “If we get out of the city before he arrives, both we and the city of Jerusalem will be saved.”

¹⁵ “We are with you,” his aides replied. “Do as you think best.”

¹⁶ So the king and his household set out at once. He left no one behind except ten of his young wives to keep the palace in order. ^17-18 David paused at the edge of the city to let his troops move past him to lead the way—six hundred Gittites who had come with him from Gath, and the Cherethites and Pelethites.

^19-20 But suddenly the king turned to Ittai, the captain of the six hundred Gittites, and said to him, “What are you doing here? Go on back with your men to Jerusalem, to your king, for you are a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile. It seems but yesterday that you arrived, and now today should I force you to wander with us, who knows where? Go on back and take your troops with you, and may the Lord be merciful to you.”

²¹ But Ittai replied, “I vow by God and by your own life that wherever you go, I will go, no matter what happens—whether it means life or death.”

²² So David replied, “All right, come with us.” Then Ittai and his six hundred men and their families went along.

²³ There was deep sadness throughout the city as the king and his retinue passed by, crossed Kidron Brook, and went out into the country. ²⁴ Abiathar and Zadok and the Levites took the Ark of the Covenant of God and set it down beside the road until everyone had passed. ^25-26 Then, following David’s instructions, Zadok took the Ark back into the city. “If the Lord sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if he is through with me, well, let him do what seems best to him.”

²⁷ Then the king told Zadok, “Look, here is my plan. Return quietly to the city with your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. ²⁸ I will stop at the ford of the Jordan River and wait there for a message from you. Let me know what happens in Jerusalem before I disappear into the wilderness.”

²⁹ So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back into the city and stayed there.

³⁰ David walked up the road that led to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the mountain. ³¹ When someone told David that Ahithophel, his advisor, was backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, please make Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!” ³² As they reached the spot at the top of the Mount of Olives where people worshiped God, David found Hushai the Archite waiting for him with torn clothing and earth upon his head.

^33-34 But David told him, “If you go with me, you will only be a burden; return to Jerusalem and tell Absalom, ‘I will counsel you as I did your father.’ Then you can frustrate and counter Ahithophel’s advice. ^35-36 Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, are there. Tell them the plans that are being made to capture me, and they will send their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan to find me and tell me what is going on.”

³⁷ So David’s friend Hushai returned to the city, getting there just as Absalom arrived.

16 David was just past the top of the hill when Ziba, the manager of Mephibosheth’s household, caught up with him. He was leading two donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of grapes, and a small barrel of wine.

² “What are these for?” the king asked Ziba.

And Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for your people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat; the wine is to be taken with you into the wilderness for any who become faint.”

³ “And where is Mephibosheth?” the king asked him.

“He stayed at Jerusalem,” Ziba replied. “He said, ‘Now I’ll get to be king! Today I will get back the kingdom of my father, Saul.’”^[k]

⁴ “In that case,” the king told Ziba, “I give you everything he owns.”

“Thank you, thank you, sir,” Ziba replied.

⁵ As David and his party passed Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei, the son of Gera, a member of Saul’s family. ⁶ He threw stones at the king and the king’s officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded them!

^7-8 “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David. “The Lord is paying you back for murdering King Saul and his family; you stole his throne and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom! At last you will taste some of your own medicine, you murderer!”

⁹ “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?” Abishai demanded. “Let me go over and strike off his head!”

¹⁰ “No!” the king said. “If the Lord has told him to curse me, who am I to say no? ¹¹ My own son is trying to kill me, and this Benjaminite is merely cursing me. Leave him alone, for no doubt the Lord has told him to do it. ¹² And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses.”

¹³ So David and his men continued on, and Shimei kept pace with them on a nearby hillside, cursing as he went and throwing stones at David and tossing dust into the air. ¹⁴ The king and all those who were with him were weary by the time they reached Bahurim, so they stayed there awhile and rested.

¹⁵ Meanwhile, Absalom and his men arrived at Jerusalem, accompanied by Ahithophel. ¹⁶ When David’s friend, Hushai the Archite, arrived, he went immediately to see Absalom.

“Long live the king!” he exclaimed. “Long live the king!”

¹⁷ “Is this the way to treat your friend David?” Absalom asked him. “Why aren’t you with him?”

¹⁸ “Because I work for the man who is chosen by the Lord and by Israel,” Hushai replied. ¹⁹ “And anyway, why shouldn’t I? I helped your father and now I will help you!”

²⁰ Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and asked him, “What shall I do next?”

²¹ Ahithophel told him, “Go and sleep with your father’s wives, for he has left them here to keep the house. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted him beyond the possibility of reconciliation, and they will all close ranks behind you.”^[l]

²² So a tent was erected on the roof of the palace where everybody could see it, and Absalom went into the tent to lie with his father’s wives. ²³ (Absalom did whatever Ahithophel told him to, just as David had; for every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.)

17 “Now,” Ahithophel said, “give me twelve thousand men to start out after David tonight. ^2-3 I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged, and he and his troops will be thrown into a panic and everyone will run away; and I will kill only the king and let all those who are with him live, and restore them to you.”

⁴ Absalom and all the elders of Israel approved of the plan, ⁵ but Absalom said, “Ask Hushai the Archite what he thinks about this.”

⁶ When Hushai arrived, Absalom told him what Ahithophel had said.

“What is your opinion?” Absalom asked him. “Should we follow Ahithophel’s advice? If not, speak up.”

⁷ “Well,” Hushai replied, “this time I think Ahithophel has made a mistake. ⁸ You know your father and his men; they are mighty warriors and are probably as upset as a mother bear who has been robbed of her cubs. And your father is an old soldier and isn’t going to be spending the night among the troops; ⁹ he has probably already hidden in some pit or cave. And when he comes out and attacks and a few of your men fall, there will be panic among your troops and everyone will start shouting that your men are being slaughtered. ¹⁰ Then even the bravest of them, though they have hearts of lions, will be paralyzed with fear; for all Israel knows what a mighty man your father is and how courageous his soldiers are.

¹¹ “What I suggest is that you mobilize the entire army of Israel, bringing them from as far away as Dan and Beersheba, so that you will have a huge force. And I think that you should personally lead the troops. ¹² Then when we find him we can destroy his entire army so that not one of them is left alive. ¹³ And if David has escaped into some city, you will have the entire army of Israel there at your command, and we can take ropes and drag the walls of the city into the nearest valley until every stone is torn down.”

¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “Hushai’s advice is better than Ahithophel’s.” For the Lord had arranged to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel, which really was the better plan, so that he could bring disaster upon Absalom! ¹⁵ Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, what Ahithophel had said and what he himself had suggested instead.

¹⁶ “Quick!” he told them. “Find David and urge him not to stay at the ford of the Jordan River tonight. He must go across at once into the wilderness beyond; otherwise he will die, and his entire army with him.”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz had been staying at En-rogel so as not to be seen entering and leaving the city. Arrangements had been made for a servant girl to carry to them the messages they were to take to King David. ¹⁸ But a boy saw them leaving En-rogel to go to David, and he told Absalom about it. Meanwhile, they escaped to Bahurim where a man hid them inside a well in his backyard. ¹⁹ The man’s wife put a cloth over the top of the well with grain on it to dry in the sun; so no one suspected they were there.

²⁰ When Absalom’s men arrived and asked her if she had seen Ahimaaz and Jonathan, she said they had crossed the brook and were gone. They looked for them without success and returned to Jerusalem. ²¹ Then the two men crawled out of the well and hurried on to King David. “Quick!” they told him, “cross the Jordan tonight!” And they told him how Ahithophel had advised that he be captured and killed. ²² So David and all the people with him went across during the night and were all on the other bank before dawn.

²³ Meanwhile, Ahithophel—publicly disgraced when Absalom refused his advice—saddled his donkey, went to his hometown, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself; so he died and was buried beside his father.

²⁴ David soon arrived at Mahanaim. Meanwhile, Absalom had mobilized the entire army of Israel and was leading the men across the Jordan River. ²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa as general of the army, replacing Joab. (Amasa was Joab’s second cousin; his father was Ithra, an Ishmaelite, and his mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, who was the sister of Joab’s mother, Zeruiah.) ²⁶ Absalom and the Israeli army now camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David arrived at Mahanaim, he was warmly greeted by Shobi (son of Nahash of Rabbah, an Ammonite) and Machir (son of Ammiel of Lodebar) and Barzillai (a Gileadite of Rogelim). ^28-29 They brought him and those who were with him mats to sleep on, cooking pots, serving bowls, wheat and barley flour, parched grain, beans, lentils, honey, butter, and cheese. For they said, “You must be very tired and hungry and thirsty after your long march through the wilderness.”

18 David now appointed regimental colonels and company commanders over his troops. ² A third were placed under Joab’s brother, Abishai (the son of Zeruiah); and a third under Ittai, the Gittite. The king planned to lead the army himself, but his men objected strongly.

³ “You mustn’t do it,” they said, “for if we have to turn and run, and half of us die, it will make no difference to them—they will be looking only for you. You are worth ten thousand of us, and it is better that you stay here in the city and send us help if we need it.”

⁴ “Well, whatever you think best,” the king finally replied. So he stood at the gate of the city as all the troops passed by.

⁵ And the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “For my sake, deal gently with young Absalom.” And all the troops heard the king give them this charge.

⁶ So the battle began in the forest of Ephraim, ⁷ and the Israeli troops were beaten back by David’s men. There was a great slaughter and twenty thousand men laid down their lives that day. ⁸ The battle raged all across the countryside, and more men disappeared in the forest than were killed. ⁹ During the battle Absalom came upon some of David’s men and as he fled^[m] on his mule, it went beneath the thick boughs of a great oak tree, and his hair caught in the branches. His mule went on, leaving him dangling in the air. ¹⁰ One of David’s men saw him and told Joab.

¹¹ “What? You saw him there and didn’t kill him?” Joab demanded. “I would have rewarded you handsomely and made you a commissioned officer.”^[n]

¹² “For a million dollars I wouldn’t do it,” the man replied. “We all heard the king say to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, please don’t harm young Absalom.’ ¹³ And if I had betrayed the king by killing his son (and the king would certainly find out who did it), you yourself would be the first to accuse me.”

¹⁴ “Enough of this nonsense,” Joab said. Then he took three daggers and plunged them into the heart of Absalom as he dangled alive from the oak. ¹⁵ Ten of Joab’s young armor bearers then surrounded Absalom and finished him off. ¹⁶ Then Joab blew the trumpet, and his men returned from chasing the army of Israel. ¹⁷ They threw Absalom’s body into a deep pit in the forest and piled a great heap of stones over it. And the army of Israel fled to their homes.

¹⁸ (Absalom had built a monument to himself in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no sons to carry on my name.” He called it “Absalom’s Monument,” as it is still known today.)

¹⁹ Then Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said, “Let me run to King David with the good news that the Lord has saved him from his enemy Absalom.”

²⁰ “No,” Joab told him, “it wouldn’t be good news to the king that his son is dead. You can be my messenger some other time.”

²¹ Then Joab said to a man from Cush, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The man bowed and ran off.

²² But Ahimaaz pleaded with Joab, “Please let me go too.”

“No, we don’t need you now, my boy,” Joab replied. “There is no further news to send.”

²³ “Yes, but let me go anyway,” he begged.

And Joab finally said, “All right, go ahead.” Then Ahimaaz took a shortcut across the plain and got there ahead of the man from Cush. ²⁴ David was sitting at the gate of the city. When the watchman climbed the stairs to his post at the top of the wall, he saw a lone man running toward them.

²⁵ He shouted the news down to David, and the king replied, “If he is alone, he has news.”

As the messenger came closer, ²⁶ the watchman saw another man running toward them. He shouted down, “Here comes another one.”

And the king replied, “He will have more news.”

²⁷ “The first man looks like Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok,” the watchman said.

“He is a good man and comes with good news,” the king replied.

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed low with his face to the ground and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God who has destroyed the rebels who dared to stand against you.”

²⁹ “What of young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”

“When Joab told me to come, there was a lot of shouting; but I didn’t know what was happening,”^[o] Ahimaaz answered.

³⁰ “Wait here,” the king told him. So Ahimaaz stepped aside.

³¹ Then the man from Cush arrived and said, “I have good news for my lord the king. Today Jehovah has rescued you from all those who rebelled against you.”

³² “What about young Absalom? Is he all right?” the king demanded.

And the man replied, “May all of your enemies be as that young man is!”

³³ Then the king broke into tears, and went up to his room over the gate, crying as he went. “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom. If only I could have died for you! O Absalom, my son, my son.”

19 Word soon reached Joab that the king was weeping and mourning for Absalom. ² As the people heard of the king’s deep grief for his son, the joy of that day’s wonderful victory was turned into deep sadness. ³ The entire army crept back into the city as though they were ashamed and had been beaten in battle.

⁴ The king covered his face with his hands and kept on weeping, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom my son, my son!”

⁵ Then Joab went to the king’s room and said to him, “We saved your life today and the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and concubines; and yet you act like this, making us feel ashamed, as though we had done something wrong. ⁶ You seem to love those who hate you, and hate those who love you. Apparently we don’t mean anything to you; if Absalom had lived and all of us had died, you would be happy. ⁷ Now go out there and congratulate the troops, for I swear by Jehovah that if you don’t, not a single one of them will remain here during the night; then you will be worse off than you have ever been in your entire life.”

^8-10 So the king went out and sat at the city gates, and as the news spread throughout the city that he was there, everyone went to him.

Meanwhile, there was much discussion and argument going on all across the nation: “Why aren’t we talking about bringing the king back?” was the great topic everywhere. “For he saved us from our enemies, the Philistines; and Absalom, whom we made our king instead, chased him out of the country, but now Absalom is dead. Let’s ask David to return and be our king again.”

^11-12 Then David sent Zadok and Abiathar the priests to say to the elders of Judah, “Why are you the last ones to reinstate the king? For all Israel is ready, and only you are holding out. Yet you are my own brothers, my own tribe, my own flesh and blood!”

¹³ And he told them to tell Amasa, “Since you are my nephew, may God strike me dead if I do not appoint you as commander-in-chief of my army in place of Joab.” ¹⁴ Then Amasa convinced all the leaders of Judah, and they responded as one man. They sent word to the king, “Return to us and bring back all those who are with you.”

¹⁵ So the king started back to Jerusalem. And when he arrived at the Jordan River, it seemed as if everyone in Judah had come to Gilgal to meet him and escort him across the river! ¹⁶ Then Shimei (the son of Gera the Benjaminite), the man from Bahurim, hurried across with the men of Judah to welcome King David. ¹⁷ A thousand men from the tribe of Benjamin were with him, including Ziba, the servant of Saul, and Ziba’s fifteen sons and twenty servants; they rushed down to the Jordan to arrive ahead of the king. ¹⁸ They all worked hard ferrying the king’s household and troops across, and helped them in every way they could.

As the king was crossing, Shimei fell down before him, ¹⁹ and pleaded, “My lord the king, please forgive me and forget the terrible thing I did when you left Jerusalem; ²⁰ for I know very well how much I sinned. That is why I have come here today, the very first person in all the tribe of Joseph to greet you.”

²¹ Abishai asked, “Shall not Shimei die, for he cursed the Lord’s chosen king!”

²² “Don’t talk to me like that!” David exclaimed. “This is not a day for execution but for celebration! I am once more king of Israel!”

²³ Then, turning to Shimei, he vowed, “Your life is spared.”

^24-25 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, arrived from Jerusalem to meet the king. He had not washed his feet or clothes nor trimmed his beard since the day the king left Jerusalem.

“Why didn’t you come with me, Mephibosheth?” the king asked him.

²⁶ And he replied, “My lord, O king, my servant Ziba deceived me. I told him, ‘Saddle my donkey so that I can go with the king.’ For as you know I am lame. ²⁷ But Ziba has slandered me by saying that I refused to come.^[p] But I know that you are as an angel of God, so do what you think best. ²⁸ I and all my relatives could expect only death from you, but instead you have honored me among all those who eat at your own table! So how can I complain?”

²⁹ “All right,” David replied. “My decision is that you and Ziba will divide the land equally between you.”

³⁰ “Give him all of it,” Mephibosheth said. “I am content just to have you back again!”

^31-32 Barzillai, who had fed the king and his army during their exile in Mahanaim, arrived from Rogelim to conduct the king across the river. He was very old now, about eighty, and very wealthy.

³³ “Come across with me and live in Jerusalem,” the king said to Barzillai. “I will take care of you there.”

³⁴ “No,” he replied, “I am far too old for that. ³⁵ I am eighty years old today, and life has lost its excitement.^[q] Food and wine are no longer tasty, and entertainment is not much fun; I would only be a burden to my lord the king. ³⁶ Just to go across the river with you is all the honor I need! ³⁷ Then let me return again to die in my own city, where my father and mother are buried. But here is Chimham.^[r] Let him go with you and receive whatever good things you want to give him.”

³⁸ “Good,” the king agreed. “Chimham shall go with me, and I will do for him whatever I would have done for you.”

³⁹ So all the people crossed the Jordan with the king; and after David had kissed and blessed Barzillai, he returned home. ⁴⁰ The king then went on to Gilgal, taking Chimham with him. And most of Judah and half of Israel were there to greet him. ⁴¹ But the men of Israel complained to the king because only men from Judah had ferried him and his household across the Jordan.

⁴² “Why not?” the men of Judah replied. “The king is one of our own tribe. Why should this make you angry? We have charged him nothing—he hasn’t fed us or given us gifts!”

⁴³ “But there are ten tribes in Israel,” the others replied, “so we have ten times as much right in the king as you do; why didn’t you invite the rest of us? And, remember, we were the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again.”

The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah were very rough in their replies.

20 Then a hothead whose name was Sheba (son of Bichri, a Benjaminite) blew a trumpet and yelled, “We want nothing to do with David. Come on, you men of Israel, let’s get out of here. He’s not our king!”

² So all except Judah and Benjamin turned around and deserted David and followed Sheba! But the men of Judah stayed with their king, accompanying him from the Jordan to Jerusalem. ³ When he arrived at his palace in Jerusalem, the king instructed that his ten wives he had left to keep house should be placed in seclusion. Their needs were to be cared for, he said, but he would no longer sleep with them as his wives. So they remained in virtual widowhood until their deaths.

⁴ Then the king instructed Amasa to mobilize the army of Judah within three days and to report back at that time. ⁵ So Amasa went out to notify the troops, but it took him longer than the three days he had been given.

⁶ Then David said to Abishai, “That fellow Sheba is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my bodyguard and chase after him before he gets into a fortified city where we can’t reach him.”

⁷ So Abishai and Joab set out after Sheba with an elite guard from Joab’s army and the king’s own bodyguard. ^8-10 As they arrived at the great stone in Gibeon, they came face-to-face with Amasa. Joab was wearing his uniform with a dagger strapped to his side. As he stepped forward to greet Amasa, he stealthily slipped the dagger from its sheath. “I’m glad to see you, my brother,” Joab said, and took him by the beard with his right hand as though to kiss him. Amasa didn’t notice the dagger in his left hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it, so that his bowels gushed out onto the ground. He did not need to strike again, and he died there. Joab and his brother, Abishai, left him lying there and continued after Sheba.

¹¹ One of Joab’s young officers shouted to Amasa’s troops, “If you are for David, come and follow Joab.”

¹² But Amasa lay in his blood in the middle of the road, and when Joab’s young officers saw that a crowd was gathering around to stare at him, they dragged him off the road into a field and threw a garment over him. ¹³ With the body out of the way, everyone went on with Joab to capture Sheba.

¹⁴ Meanwhile Sheba had traveled across Israel to mobilize his own clan of Bichri at the city of Abel in Beth-maacah. ¹⁵ When Joab’s forces arrived, they besieged Abel and built a mound to the top of the city wall and began battering it down.

¹⁶ But a wise woman in the city called out to Joab, “Listen to me, Joab. Come over here so I can talk to you.”

¹⁷ As he approached, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”

And he replied, “I am.”

¹⁸ So she told him, “There used to be a saying, ‘If you want to settle an argument, ask advice at Abel.’ For we always give wise counsel. ¹⁹ You are destroying an ancient, peace-loving city, loyal to Israel. Should you destroy what is the Lord’s?”

²⁰ And Joab replied, “That isn’t it at all. ²¹ All I want is a man named Sheba from the hill country of Ephraim, who has revolted against King David. If you will deliver him to me, we will leave the city in peace.”

“All right,” the woman replied, “we will throw his head over the wall to you.”

²² Then the woman went to the people with her wise advice, and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet and called his troops back from the attack, and they returned to the king at Jerusalem.

²³ Joab was commander-in-chief of the army, and Benaiah was in charge of the king’s bodyguard.^{[s] 24} Adoram was in charge of the forced labor battalions, and Jehoshaphat was the historian who kept the records. ²⁵ Sheva was the secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were the chief priests. ²⁶ Ira the Jairite was David’s personal chaplain.

21 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted year after year for three years, and David spent much time in prayer about it. Then the Lord said, “The famine is because of the guilt of Saul and his family, for they murdered the Gibeonites.”

² So King David summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were what was left of the nation of the Amorites. Israel had sworn not to kill them; but Saul, in his nationalistic zeal, had tried to wipe them out.

³ David asked them, “What can I do for you to rid ourselves of this guilt and to induce you to ask God to bless us?”

⁴ “Well, money won’t do it,” the Gibeonites replied, “and we don’t want to see Israelites executed in revenge.”

“What can I do, then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”

^5-6 “Well, then,” they replied, “give us seven of Saul’s sons—the sons of the man who did his best to destroy us. We will hang them before the Lord in Gibeon, the city of King Saul.”

“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”

⁷ He spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath between himself and Jonathan. ⁸ But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five adopted sons of Michal that she brought up for Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel. ⁹ The men of Gibeon impaled them in the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹⁰ Then Rizpah, the mother of two of the men,^[t] spread sackcloth upon a rock and stayed there through the entire harvest season to prevent the vultures from tearing at their bodies during the day and the wild animals from eating them at night. ¹¹ When David learned what she had done, ^12-14 he arranged for the men’s bones to be buried in the grave of Saul’s father, Kish. At the same time he sent a request to the men of Jabesh-gilead, asking them to bring him the bones of Saul and Jonathan. They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth-shan where the Philistines had impaled them after they had died in battle on Mount Gilboa. So their bones were brought to him. Then at last God answered prayer and ended the famine.

¹⁵ Once when the Philistines were at war with Israel, and David and his men were in the thick of the battle, David became weak and exhausted. ¹⁶ Ishbi-benob, a giant whose speartip weighed more than twelve pounds and who was sporting a new suit of armor, closed in on David and was about to kill him. ¹⁷ But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his rescue and killed the Philistine. After that David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle again! Why should we risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

¹⁸ Later, during a war with the Philistines at Gob, Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another giant. ¹⁹ At still another time and at the same place, Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,^[u] whose spear handle was as huge as a weaver’s beam! ^20-21 And once when the Philistines and the Israelis were fighting at Gath, a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot defied Israel, and David’s nephew Jonathan—the son of David’s brother Shimei—killed him. ²² These four were from the tribe of giants in Gath and were killed by David’s troops.

22 David sang this song to the Lord after he had rescued him from Saul and from all his other enemies: