< 2 Samuel 16 >
1 And whanne Dauid hadde passid a litil the cop of the hil, Siba, the child of Mysphobosech, apperide in to his comyng, with tweyne assis, that weren chargid with twei hundrid looues, and with an hundrid bundels of dried grapis, and with an hundrid gobetis of pressid figus, and with twei vessels of wyn.
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 kyng seide to Siba, What wolen these thingis to hem silf? And Siba answeride, My lord the kyng, the assis ben to the meyneals of the kyng, that thei sitte; the looues and `figis pressid ben to thi children to ete; forsothe the wyn is, that if ony man faile in deseert, he drynke.
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 kyng seide, Where is the sone of thi lord? And Siba answeride to the kyng, He dwellide in Jerusalem, `and seide, To dai the Lord of the hows of Israel schal restore to me the rewme of my fadir.
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 And the kyng seide to Siba, Alle thingis that weren of Mysphibosech ben thine. And Siba seide, Y preye, fynde Y grace bifor thee, my lord the kyng.
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 Therfor kyng Dauid cam `til to Bahurym, and lo! a man of the meynee of the hows of Saul, Semey bi name, sone of Gera, yede out fro thennus; he yede forth goynge out, and curside.
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 sente stoonys ayens Dauid, and ayens alle seruauntis of kyng Dauid; forsothe al the puple, and alle fiyteris yeden at the riytside and at the left side of the king.
Then he threw stones at David and his officials, even though the officials and David’s bodyguards surrounded David.
7 Sotheli Semey spak so, whanne he curside the kyng, Go out, go out, thou man of bloodis, and man of Belial!
Shimei cursed David and said to him, “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!
8 The Lord hath yolde to thee al the blood of the hows of Saul, for thou rauyschedist the rewme fro hym; and the Lord yaf the rewme in to the hond of Absolon, thi sone; and lo! thin yuels oppressen thee, for thou art a man of blodis.
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 Forsothe Abisay, the sone of Saruye, seide to the kyng, Whi cursith this dogge, that schal die, my lord the kyng? Y schal go, and Y schal girde of his heed.
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 kyng seide, Ye sones of Saruye, what is to me and to you? Suffre ye hym, that he curse; for the Lord comaundide to hym, that he schulde curse Dauid; and who is he that dare seie, Whi dide he 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 the kyng seide to Abysay, and to alle hise seruauntis, Lo! my sone, that yede out of my wombe, sekith my lijf; hou myche more now this sone of Gemyny? Suffre ye hym, that he curse bi comaundement of the Lord;
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 if in hap the Lord biholde my turmentyng, and yelde good to me for this `cursyng of this dai.
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 Therfor Dauid yede, and hise felowis, bi the weie with hym; forsothe Semey yede bi the slade of the hil `bi the side ayens hym; and curside, and sente stoonus ayens him, and spreynte erthe.
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 so `Dauid the king cam, and al the puple weery with hym, and thei weren refreischid there.
When David and those who were with him arrived at the Jordan [River], they were very tired. So they rested there.
15 Forsothe Absolon, and al the puple of Israel entriden in to Jerusalem, but also Achitofel with hym.
While that was happening, Absalom and all the Israeli people who were with him had arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel had also arrived there.
16 Sotheli whanne Chusi of Arath, the frend of Dauid, hadde come to Absolon, he spak to Absolon, Heil, kyng! heil, kyng!
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 To whom Absolon seide, This is thi grace to thi freend; whi yedist thou not with thi freend?
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 Chusi answeride to Absolon, Nay, for Y shal be seruaunt of hym, whom the Lord hath chose, and al this puple, and al Israel; and Y schal dwelle with him.
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 But that Y seie also this, to whom schal Y serue? whethir not to the sone of the kyng? as Y obeiede to thi fadir, so Y schal obeie to thee.
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 Forsothe Absolon seide to Achitofel, Take ye counsel, what we owen to do.
Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “What do you advise that we should do?”
21 And Achytofel seide to Absolon, Entre thou to the concubyns of thi fadir, whiche he lefte to kepe the hows; that whanne al Israel herith, that thou hast defoulid thi fadir, the hondis of hem be strengthid with thee.
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 Therfor thei tildeden Absolon a tabernacle in the soler, and he entride to the concubyns of his fadir bifor al 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 Sotheli the counsel of Achitofel, which he yaf in tho daies, was as if a man counselide God; so was al the counsel of Achitofel, bothe whanne he was with Dauid, and whanne he was with Absolon.
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.