2 Samuel 16
1 And when David was passed a little beyond the top [of the mount], behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth came toward him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred [cakes] of dried figs, and a bottle of wine.
When David [and the others] had gone a little way past the top of the hill, Mephibosheth’s servant Ziba met him. He had with him two donkeys that were carrying 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches/clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of fresh fruit, and a leather bag full of wine.
2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou with these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and the dried figs for the young men to eat; and the wine to drink for such as may be faint in the wilderness.
The king said to Ziba, “What are these for?” Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for your family to ride on, the bread and the fruit are for your soldiers to eat, and the wine is for them to drink when they become exhausted in the desert.”
3 And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he remaineth at Jerusalem; for he said, Today will the house of Israel restore unto me the kingdom of my father.
The king said, “Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your [former] master [Saul]?” Ziba [deceived David by] saying, “He stayed in Jerusalem, because he thinks that now the Israeli people will allow him to rule the kingdom that his grandfather Saul ruled.”
4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine shall be all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I prostrate myself; let me but find grace in thy eyes, my Lord, O king.
The king said to Ziba, “Okay, everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” Ziba replied, “Your Majesty, I will humbly serve you; and I desire/hope that you will always be pleased with me.”
5 And when King David came as far as Bachurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shim'i, the son of Gera, coming forth, and cursing.
When King David [and those with him] arrived at Bahurim [town], a man named Shimei met him. Shimei, whose father was Gera, was one of Saul’s relatives. Shimei was cursing David as he approached.
6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right and on his left.
Then he threw stones at David and his officials, even though the officials and David’s bodyguards surrounded David.
7 And thus said Shim'i as he cursed, Away, away, thou man of blood, and thou worthless man!
Shimei cursed David and said to him, “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!
8 The Lord hath brought back upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou didst reign; and the Lord hath placed the kingdom into the hand of Abshalom thy son; and, behold, thou art now in thy misfortune, because a man of blood art thou.
Yahweh is (getting revenge on/punishing) you all for murdering [MTY] many people in Saul’s family. And now he is giving Saul’s kingdom to your son Absalom. You murderer, you are being paid back for the many people that you have killed/murdered [MTY]!”
9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruyah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my Lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and remove his head.
Then Abishai said to the king, “Your Majesty, this man is [as worthless as] [MET] a dead dog! (Why should he be allowed to curse you?/He should not be allowed to curse you.) [RHQ] Allow me to go over there and cut off his head!”
10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruyah? so let him curse; because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
But the king replied, “You two sons of Zeruiah, (do not tell me what to do/this does not concern you) [RHQ]. If he is cursing me because Yahweh told him to do that, certainly no one should say ‘(Why are you doing that?/You should not be doing that.) [RHQ]’”
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who hath come forth out of my own body, seeketh my life: how much more now this Benjamite? let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath said it to him.
Then David said to Abishai and to all his officials, “You know that my own son is trying to kill me. So [it is not surprising that] this man from the tribe of Benjamin is also trying to kill me. So ignore him, and allow him to curse me, because [perhaps he thinks that] Yahweh told him to do that.
12 Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction, and the Lord will requite me good instead of his cursing this day.
Perhaps Yahweh will see that I am having all this trouble, and [some day he will repay me by] (blessing/doing good things for) me in return for this man cursing me today.”
13 And David and his men went [thus] on the way. And Shim'i went on the side of the mount opposite to him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones toward him, and cast dust.
Then David and those who were with him walked along the road, and Shimei continued walking along the hillside near him. While he walked along, he cursed David and threw stones and dirt at him.
14 And the king, and all the people that were with him, arrived weary, and refreshed themselves there.
When David and those who were with him arrived at the Jordan [River], they were very tired. So they rested there.
15 And Abshalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Achithophel [also] with him.
While that was happening, Absalom and all the Israeli people who were with him had arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel had also arrived there.
16 And it came to pass, when Chushai the Arkite, David's friend, was come unto Abshalom, that Chushai said unto Abshalom, Long live the king! Long live the king!
When David’s friend Hushai came to Absalom, he said to Absalom, “I desire/hope that the king will live a long time! May you live for many years!”
17 And Abshalom said to Chushai, Is this thy kindness for thy friend? why art thou not gone with thy friend?
Absalom said to Hushai, “You have been loyal [RHQ] to your friend [David for a long time]. So why did you not go with him [instead of coming to me]?”
18 And Chushai said unto Abshalom, No; but whom the Lord, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I remain.
Hushai replied, “I will serve the one whom Yahweh and these people and all the other people of Israel have chosen [to be their king]. So I will stay with you.
19 And secondly, who is it whom I shall serve? is it not in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.
You are my master [King David’s] son; if I do not serve you, what other man should I serve [RHQ]? I will serve you as I served your father.”
20 Then said Abshalom to Achithophel, Hold counsel among yourselves as to what we shall do.
Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “What do you advise that we should do?”
21 And Achithophel said unto Abshalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, whom he hath left to guard the house; and all Israel will hear that thou art in bad odor with thy father: and then will the hands of all that are with thee become strong.
Ahithophel replied, “Your father left some of his slave wives in the palace to take care of it. Have sex [EUP] with them. When everyone in Israel hears that you have done that, they will realize that you are acting very contemptuously toward your father. Then all those who are with you will be very encouraged.”
22 So they spread for Abshalom a tent upon the roof; and Abshalom went in unto his father's concubines before the eyes of all Israel.
So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof [of the palace]. And Absalom went into the tent and had sex [EUP] with his father’s slave wives, [one by one, ] and everyone [HYP] could see [him going into the tent].
23 And the counsel of Achithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had asked advice of the word of God: so was all the counsel of Achithophel both with David and with Abshalom.
In those days, people accepted what Ahithophel recommended as though he were speaking the words of God. So just as David had always accepted what Ahithophel said, now Absalom did also.
