2 Samuel 19

1 And the king was shaken, and he went up to the room over the gate and wept. And this is what he said as he went: “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! Who would give me to die in your place — I in your place? Absalom, my son, my son.” [a] 2 And word was brought to Joab: “Look, the king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.”

3 And the rescue of that day turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day that the king was grieving over his son. [b] 4 And the people stole into the city that day, the way people steal away when they are ashamed of running from a battle. 5 And the king covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice: “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son!”

6 And Joab came in to the king, into the house, and said, “Today you have shamed the faces of all your slaves, who today rescued you, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines — 7 by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. Today you have made it plain that your commanders and your servants are nothing to you. For I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us dead today, then that would have been right in your eyes. 8 So now get up, go out, and speak to the heart of your slaves. For I have sworn by the Lord that if you will not go out today, not one man will stay the night with you. And know this for yourself: it will be worse for you than every evil that has come on you from your youth until now.”

9 And the king got up and sat in the gate. And all the people brought word, saying, “Look, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came in before the king. And Israel had fled, every man to his tent. 10 And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “King David delivered us from all our enemies, and he himself rescued us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled the land and his kingdom, away from Absalom. 11 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in the battle. So now, why are you silent about bringing the king back?” And the word of all Israel came to the king.

12 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah and say: Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? — and the word of all Israel has already come to the king. [c] 13 You are my brothers, you are my bones and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring the king back to his house? 14 And to Amasa you shall say: Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more, if you are not commander of the army before me all my days, in place of Joab.” [d]

15 And he bent the heart of every man of Judah as the heart of one man, and they sent to the king, saying, “Come back, you and all your slaves.” 16 And the king came back and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to Gilgal, going to meet the king, to bring the king across the Jordan.

17 And Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite, from Bahurim, hurried and went down with the men of Judah to meet king David, [e] 18 and a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons with him and his twenty slaves with him. And they went straight down to the Jordan ahead of the king, 19 and they did the work of bringing the king across. And the crossing went back and forth to carry over the king’s household, and to do what was right in his eyes. And Shimei son of Gera fell on his face before the king as the king was crossing the Jordan, [f]

20 and he said to the king, “Do not let my lord charge me with lawlessness, and do not remember all the wrong your servant did on the day my lord the king went out from Jerusalem. Do not let the king take it to heart. 21 For your slave knows that I have sinned. And look, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph, to go down and meet my lord the king.” [g]

22 And Abishai son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Should Shimei not be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed one?” 23 And David said, “What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah, that today you turn into a plotter against me? Today no man in Israel will be put to death — for I do not know whether I am king over Israel today.” [h] 24 And the king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” And the king swore it to him.

25 And Memphibosthe son of Jonathan, son of Saul, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet, or cut his nails, or trimmed his moustache, and he had not washed his clothes, from the day the king went away until the day he came back in peace. [i] 26 And when he came into Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Memphibosthe?”

27 And Memphibosthe said to him, “My lord the king, my slave tricked me. For your servant said to him, Saddle the donkey for me and I will ride on it and go with the king — because your slave is lame. 28 And he went behind your slave’s back to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like a messenger of God; do what is good in your eyes. [j] 29 For all my father’s house were nothing but men under sentence of death before my lord the king, and you set your slave among those who eat at your table. What claim have I left, that I should go on crying out to the king?”

30 And the king said to him, “Why go on speaking your words? I have said it: you and Ziba will divide the land.” 31 And Memphibosthe said to the king, “Let him take it all, now that my lord the king has come home in peace.”

32 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and crossed the Jordan with the king, to see him on his way over the Jordan. [k] 33 And Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years old; and he had kept the king fed while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. 34 And the king said to Barzillai, “You will cross over with me, and I will keep you in your old age with me in Jerusalem.”

35 And Barzillai said to the king, “How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 36 I am eighty years old today. Can I still tell good from bad? Can your slave still taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I still hear the voice of men singing and women singing? Why should your slave be a burden any longer to my lord the king? 37 Your slave will cross the Jordan only a little way with the king. Why should the king pay me back with a reward like this? 38 Please let your slave stay behind, and let me die in my own city, by the tomb of my father and my mother. But here is your slave Chimham: let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your eyes.” [l]

39 And the king said, “Let Chimham cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your eyes; and whatever you choose from me, I will do for you.” [m] 40 And all the people crossed the Jordan, and the king crossed. And the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai went back to his own place. 41 And the king crossed over to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed with him; and all the people of Judah were crossing with the king, and also half the people of Israel.

42 And there were all the men of Israel, come to the king, and they said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?” 43 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel and said, “Because the king is close kin to me. And why are you so angry over this? Have we eaten anything at the king’s expense? Has he given us a gift, or carried a share to us?” [n] 44 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “I have ten shares in the king, and I am the firstborn, not you; and in David too I am more than you. So why did you insult me? Was my word not counted first, to bring my king back to me?” And the word of the men of Judah was harder than the word of the men of Israel. [o]