Read the Bible

¹ After this, Absalom prepared him charets & horses, and fiftie men to runne before him.² And Absalom rose vp early, & stoode hard by the entring in of the gate: and euery man that had any matter, & came to the King for iudgement, him did Absalom call vnto him, and sayde, Of what citie art thou? And he answered, Thy seruant is of one of the tribes of Israel.³ Then Absalom said vnto him, See, thy matters are good and righteous, but there is no man deputed of the King to heare thee.⁴ Absalom sayd moreouer, Oh that I were made Iudge in the lande, that euery man which hath any matter of controuersie, might come to me, that I might do him iustice.⁵ And when any man came neere to him, and did him obeisance, he put forth his hand, & tooke him, and kissed him.⁶ And on this maner did Absalom to al Israel, that came to the King for iudgement: so Absalom stale the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ And after fourtie yeeres, Absalom sayd vnto the King, I pray thee, let me go to Hebron, and render my vowe which I haue vowed vnto the Lorde.⁸ For thy seruant vowed a vowe when I remayned at Geshur, in Aram, saying, If the Lorde shal bring me againe in deede to Ierusalem, I will serue the Lord.⁹ And the King sayd vnto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.¹⁰ Then Absalom sent spyes throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, When yee heare the sound of the trumpet, Ye shal say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.¹¹ And with Absalom went two hundreth men out of Ierusalem, that were called: & they went in their simplicitie, knowing nothing.¹² Also Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite Dauids counseller, from his citie Giloh, while he offred sacrifices: & the treason was great: for the people encreased still with Absalom.

¹³ Then came a messenger to Dauid, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are turned after Absalom.¹⁴ Then Dauid sayd vnto all his seruants that were with him at Ierusalem, Vp, and let vs flee: for we shall not escape from Absalom: make speede to depart, lest he come suddenly and take vs, and bring euill vpon vs, and smite the citie with the edge of the sworde.¹⁵ And the Kings seruants sayd vnto him, Behold, thy seruants are ready to do according to all that my lord the King shal appoynt.¹⁶ So the King departed and all his houshold after him, and the King left ten concubines to keepe the house.¹⁷ And the King went forth & all the people after him, and taried in a place farre off.¹⁸ And all his seruants went about him, & all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites & all the Gittites, euen sixe hudreth men which were come after him from Gath, went before the King.¹⁹ Then sayde the King to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore commest thou also with vs? Returne aud abide with the King, for thou art a stranger: depart thou therefore to thy place.²⁰ Thou camest yesterday, and should I cause thee to wander to day and go with vs? I will goe whither I can: therefore returne thou and cary againe thy brethren: mercy & trueth be wt thee.²¹ And Ittai answered the King, and sayde, As the Lorde liueth, and as my lord the King liueth, in what place my lord the King shalbe, whether in death or life, euen there surely will thy seruant bee.²² Then Dauid sayd to Ittai, Come, & go forward. And Ittai the Gittite went, and all his men, and all the children that were with him.²³ And all the countrey wept with a loude voyce, and all the people went forward, but the King passed ouer the brooke Kidron: and all the people went ouer toward the way of ye wildernes.

²⁴ And lo, Zadok also was there, and all the Leuites with him, bearing the Arke of the couenant of God: and they set downe the Arke of God, and Abiathar went vp vntill the people were all come out of the citie.²⁵ Then the King said vnto Zadok, Carie the Arke of God againe into the citie: if I shall finde fauour in the eyes of the Lorde, he will bring me againe, and shewe me both it, and the Tabernacle thereof.²⁶ But if he thus say, I haue no delite in thee, behold, here am I, let him doe to me as seemeth good in his eyes.²⁷ The King sayde againe vnto Zadok the Priest, Art not thou a Seer? returne into the citie in peace, and your two sonnes with you: to wit, Ahimaaz thy sonne, and Ionathan the sonne of Abiathar.²⁸ Behold, I wil tarie in the fieldes of the wildernesse, vntill there come some worde from you to be tolde me.²⁹ Zadok therefore and Abiathar caried the Arke of God againe to Ierusalem, and they taried there.³⁰ And Dauid went vp the mount of oliues and wept as he went vp, and had his head couered, and went barefooted: and al the people that was with him, had euery man his head couered, and as they went vp, they wept.

³¹ Then one tolde Dauid, saying, Ahithophel is one of them that haue cospired with Absalom: and Dauid sayde, O Lorde, I pray thee, turne the counsell of Ahithophel into foolishnesse.³² Then Dauid came to the toppe of the mount where he worshipped God: and beholde, Hushai the Archite came against him with his coate torne, and hauing earth vpon his head.³³ Vnto whom Dauid sayd, If thou goe with me, thou shalt be a burthen vnto me.³⁴ But if thou returne to the citie, and say vnto Absalom, I wil be thy seruant, O King, (as I haue bene in time past thy fathers seruant, so will I now be thy seruant) then thou mayest bring me the counsell of Ahithophel to nought.³⁵ And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the Priests? therefore what so euer thou shalt heare out of the Kings house, thou shalt shew to Zadok and Abiathar the Priests.³⁶ Beholde, there are with them their two sonnes: Ahimaaz Zadoks sonne, and Ionathan Abiathars sonne: by them also shall ye send me euery thing that ye can heare.³⁷ So Hushai Dauids friend went into the citie: and Absalom came into Ierusalem.