Lectionary Calendar
Monday, November 24th, 2025
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

2 Samuel 18:32

The king asked the Ethiopian, "Is young Absalom all right?" The Ethiopian answered, "May your enemies, or whoever tries to hurt you, suffer the same as this young man did."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ahimaaz;   Cushi;   Readings, Select;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ahimaaz;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Vanity;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Cushite;   Holman Bible Dictionary - David;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Abishai;   Ahimaaz;   David;   Samuel, Books of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Cushi ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Absalom;   David;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ahim'a-Az;   Cu'shi;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cushi;   Cushite;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ahimaaz;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?”
Hebrew Names Version
The king said to the Kushite, Is it well with the young man Avshalom? The Kushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
King James Version
And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
Lexham English Bible
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it peace for the young man Absalom?" Then the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you be like the young man!"
English Standard Version
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man."
New Century Version
The king asked the Cushite, "Is young Absalom all right?" The Cushite answered, "May your enemies and all who come to hurt you be like that young man!"
New English Translation
The king asked the Cushite, "How is the young man Absalom?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you be like that young man!"
Amplified Bible
The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom [my son] safe?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all those who rise against you to do evil, be [dead] like that young man is."
New American Standard Bible
Then the king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man!"
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the King saide vnto Cushi, Is the yong man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lorde the King, and all that rise against thee to doe thee hurt, be as that yong man is.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king said to the Cushite, "Is there peace with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be as that young man!"
Contemporary English Version
"Is my son Absalom all right?" David asked. The Ethiopian replied, "I wish that all Your Majesty's enemies and everyone who tries to harm you would end up like him!"
Complete Jewish Bible
The king asked the Ethiopian, "Is everything all right with young Avshalom?" The Ethiopian answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you in order to harm you be as that young man is."
Darby Translation
And the king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite said, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee for evil, be as that young man.
George Lamsa Translation
And the king said to Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, Let your enemies, my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil be as that young man is.
Good News Translation
"Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king asked. The slave answered, "I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you."
Literal Translation
And the king said to the Cushite, Peace to the young man, to Absalom? And the Cushite said, Let them be as the young man, the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against you for evil.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the kynge sayde vnto Chusi: Goeth it well with the yonge man Absalom? Chusi sayde: Euen so go it wt all the enemyes of my lorde the kynge, and with all them that ryse vp agaynst the to do euell, as it goeth with the yonge man.
American Standard Version
And the king said unto the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
Bible in Basic English
And the king said to the Cushite, Is the young man Absalom safe? And the Cushite said in answer, May all the king's haters and those who do evil against the king, be as that young man is!
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the king sayde vnto Chusi: Is the young man Absalom safe? Chusi aunswered: The enemies of my lorde the king, and all that ryse against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the king said unto the Cushite: 'Is it well with the young man Absalom?' And the Cushite answered: 'The enemies of my lord the king and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.'
King James Version (1611)
And the king said vnto Cushi, Is the yong man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to doe thee hurt, be as that yong man is.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king said to Chusi, Is it well with the young man Abessalom? and Chusi said, Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all whosoever have risen up against him for evil, be as that young man.
English Revised Version
And the king said unto the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
Berean Standard Bible
The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom all right?" And the Cushite replied, "May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and to all who rise up against you to harm you."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the kyng seide to Chusi, Whether pees is to the child Absolon? To whom Chusi answeride, and seide, The enemyes of my lord the kyng, and alle men that risiden ayens hym in to yuel, be maad as the child.
Young's Literal Translation
And the king saith unto the Cushite, `Peace to the youth -- to Absalom?' And the Cushite saith, `Let them be -- as the youth -- the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee for evil.'
Update Bible Version
And the king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the king said to Cushi, [Is] the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, May the enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that] young man [is].
World English Bible
The king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? The Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.
New King James Version
And the king said to the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" So the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do harm, be like that young man!"
New Living Translation
"What about young Absalom?" the king demanded. "Is he all right?" And the Ethiopian replied, "May all of your enemies, my lord the king, both now and in the future, share the fate of that young man!"
New Life Bible
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "May those who hate my lord the king, all those who come to do bad things against you, be as that young man!"
New Revised Standard
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" The Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the king said unto the Cushite - Is it, well, with the young man - Absolom? Then said the Cushite - Be, like the young man, the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee, for harm.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.
Revised Standard Version
The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Ab'salom?" And the Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man."
THE MESSAGE
"But," said the king, "is the young man Absalom all right?" And the Cushite replied, "Would that all of the enemies of my master the king and all who maliciously rose against you end up like that young man."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the Cushite answered, "Let the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be as that young man!"

Contextual Overview

19 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said to Joab, "May I run and take the news to King David? I'll tell him the Lord has destroyed the enemy for him." 20 Joab answered Ahimaaz, "No, you will not carry the message today. You can do it some other time, but not today because it is the king's son who is dead." 21 Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." So the Ethiopian bowed to Joab and ran to tell David. 22 But Ahimaaz son of Zadok begged Joab again, "No matter what happens, please let me also run after the Ethiopian!" Joab said, "Son, why do you want to carry the news? You will not get any reward for the news you bring." 23 Ahimaaz answered, "No matter what happens, I will run to David." Joab said to Ahimaaz, "All right, run to David!" Then Ahimaaz ran through Jordan Valley and passed the Ethiopian. 24 David was sitting between the two gates of the city. The watchman went up to the roof over the gate walls and saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman shouted to tell King David. King David said, "If the man is alone, he is bringing news." The man came closer and closer to the city. 26 But then the watchman saw another man running. He called to the gatekeeper, "Look! Another man is running alone." The king said, "He is also bringing news." 27 The watchman said, "I think the first man runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." The king said, "Ahimaaz is a good man, he must be bringing good news." 28 Ahimaaz called to the king, "All is well!" Ahimaaz bowed with his face to the ground in front of the king and said, "Praise the Lord your God! The Lord has defeated the men who were against you, my lord and king."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The enemies: Thus Cushi obliquely and slowly informs David of the death of his son Absalom. Judges 5:31, Psalms 68:1, Psalms 68:2, Daniel 4:19

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:14 - see whether it be well with 1 Samuel 25:26 - now let Job 27:7 - General Psalms 109:20 - Let this

Cross-References

Genesis 18:6
Abraham hurried to the tent. He said to Sarah, "Quickly, prepare enough flour for three loaves of bread."
Genesis 18:7
Then Abraham ran to his cattle. He took his best young calf and gave it to the servant there. He told the servant to quickly kill the calf and prepare it for food.
Genesis 18:9
Then the men said to Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?" Abraham said, "She is there, in the tent."
Genesis 18:10
Then one of them said, "I will come again in the spring. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening in the tent and heard these things.
Genesis 18:11
Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the right age for women to have children.
Genesis 18:13
Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Sarah laughed and said she was too old to have a baby.
Genesis 18:14
But is anything too hard for the Lord ? I will come again in the spring, just as I said I would, and your wife Sarah will have a son."
Genesis 18:15
Sarah said, "I didn't laugh!" (She said this because she was afraid.) Then the Lord said, "No, I know that is not true. You did laugh!"
Genesis 18:16
Then the men got up to leave. They looked toward Sodom and began walking in that direction. Abraham walked with them to send them on their way.
Genesis 18:17
The Lord said to himself, "Should I tell Abraham what I am going to do now?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king said unto Cushi, is the young man Absalom safe?.... The same question that was put to Ahimaaz, 2 Samuel 18:29; which shows what lay nearest his heart, and was uppermost in his mind,

and Cushi answered, the enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that] young man [is], which was tacitly saying he was dead, and so David understood it; and he expressed it in such a manner, that David could not be displeased with the messenger; though the message was grievous to him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 18:32. Is the young man Absalom safe? — This was the utmost of his solicitude, and it well merited the reproof which Joab gave him, 2 Samuel 19:5.


 
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