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¹ After this Ab'salom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.² And Ab'salom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate; and when any man had a suit to come before the king for judgment, Ab'salom would call to him, and say, "From what city are you?" And when he said, "Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,"³ Ab'salom would say to him, "See, your claims are good and right; but there is no man deputed by the king to hear you."⁴ Ab'salom said moreover, "Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice."⁵ And whenever a man came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand, and take hold of him, and kiss him.⁶ Thus Ab'salom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Ab'salom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷ And at the end of four years Ab'salom said to the king, "Pray let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron.⁸ For your servant vowed a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Aram, saying, 'If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the LORD.'"⁹ The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose, and went to Hebron.¹⁰ But Ab'salom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, 'Ab'salom is king at Hebron!'"¹¹ With Ab'salom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their simplicity, and knew nothing.¹² And while Ab'salom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahith'ophel the Gi'lonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Ab'salom kept increasing.

¹³ And a messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Ab'salom."¹⁴ Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, "Arise, and let us flee; or else there will be no escape for us from Ab'salom; go in haste, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword."¹⁵ And the king's servants said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides."¹⁶ So the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house.¹⁷ And the king went forth, and all the people after him; and they halted at the last house.¹⁸ And all his servants passed by him; and all the Cher'ethites, and all the Pel'ethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.¹⁹ Then the king said to It'tai the Gittite, "Why do you also go with us? Go back, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile from your home.²⁰ You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, seeing I go I know not where? Go back, and take your brethren with you; and may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you."²¹ But It'tai answered the king, "As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be."²² And David said to It'tai, "Go then, pass on." So It'tai the Gittite passed on, with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.²³ And all the country wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people passed on toward the wilderness.

²⁴ And Abi'athar came up, and lo, Zadok came also, with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God, until the people had all passed out of the city.²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his habitation;²⁶ but if he says, 'I have no pleasure in you,' behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him."²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, "Look, go back to the city in peace, you and Abi'athar, with your two sons, Ahim'a-az your son, and Jonathan the son of Abi'athar.²⁸ See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me."²⁹ So Zadok and Abi'athar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem; and they remained there.³⁰ But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered; and all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.

³¹ And it was told David, "Ahith'ophel is among the conspirators with Ab'salom." And David said, "O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahith'ophel into foolishness."³² When David came to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent and earth upon his head.³³ David said to him, "If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.³⁴ But if you return to the city, and say to Ab'salom, 'I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,' then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahith'ophel.³⁵ Are not Zadok and Abi'athar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to Zadok and Abi'athar the priests.³⁶ Behold, their two sons are with them there, Ahim'a-az, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abi'athar's son; and by them you shall send to me everything you hear."³⁷ So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Ab'salom was entering Jerusalem.