2 Samuel 19

1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.

2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people, for the people heard say that day, The king grieves for his son.

3 And the people slipped away that day into the city, as people who are ashamed sneak away when they flee in battle.

4 And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou have shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines,

6 in that thou love those who hate thee, and hate those who love thee. For thou have declared this day that rulers and servants are nothing to thee. For this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it would have pleased thee well.

7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak graciously to thy servants. For I swear by Jehovah, if thou do not go forth, there will not remain a man with thee this night. And that will be worse to thee than all the evil that has befallen thee from thy youth until now.

8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told to all the people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate. And all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.

9 And all the people were contending throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines. And now he fled out of the land from Absalom.

10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? Since the speech of all Israel has come to the king, to bring him to his house.

12 Ye are my brothers, ye are my bone and my flesh. Why then are ye the last to bring back the king?

13 And say ye to Amasa, Are thou not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou not be captain of the army before me continually in the place of Joab.

14 And he inclined the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent to the king, saying, Return thou, and all thy servants.

15 So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.

16 And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hastened and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him. And they went through the Jordan in the presence of the king.

18 And there went over a ferry-boat to bring over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he came over the Jordan.

19 And he said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to me, neither remember thou that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

20 For thy servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Jehovah's anointed?

22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?

23 And the king said to Shimei, Thou shall not die. And the king swore to him.

24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.

25 And it came to pass, when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why did thou not go with me, Mephibosheth?

26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said, I will saddle for me a donkey, that I may ride on it, and go with the king, because thy servant is lame.

27 And he has slandered thy servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is as an agent of God; do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

28 For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet thou set thy servant among those who ate at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the king?

29 And the king said to him, Why do thou speak any more of thy matters? I say, thou and Ziba divide the land.

30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, Yea, let him take all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.

31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim. And he went over the Jordan with the king to conduct him over the Jordan.

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old. And he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man of wealth.

33 And the king said to Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will sustain thee with me in Jerusalem.

34 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?

35 I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern between good and bad? Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?

36 Thy servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king, and why should the king recompense it to me with such a reward?

37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in my own city by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, thy servant Chimham, let him go over with my lord the king, and do to him what shall seem good to thee.

38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee. And whatever thou shall require of me, that I will do for thee.

39 And all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. And the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him, and he returned to his own place.

40 So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him. And all the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel.

41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen thee away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?

42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us. Why then are ye angry for this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's cost, or has he given us any gift?

43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye. Why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be had first in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.