by Septuagint
Chapter 17
[1] And Achitophel said to Abessalom, Let me now choose out for myself twelve thousand men, and I will arise and follow after David this night: [2] and I will come upon him when he is weary and weak-handed, and I will strike him with terror; and all the people with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only of all. [3] And I will bring back all the people to thee, as a bride returns to her husband: only thou seekest the life of one man, and all the people shall have peace. [4] And the saying was right in the eyes of Abessalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
[5] And Abessalom said, Call now also Chusi the Arachite, and let us hear what is in his mouth, even in his also. [6] And Chusi went in to Abessalom, and Abessalom spoke to him, saying, After this manner spoke Achitophel: shall we do according to his word? but if not, do thou speak.
[7] And Chusi said to Abessalom, This counsel which Achitophel has counselled this one time is not good. [8] And Chusi said, Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are very mighty, and bitter in their spirit, as a bereaved bear in the field, [[and as a wild boar in the plain]]: and thy father is a man of war, and will not give the people rest. [9] For, behold, he is now hidden in one of the hills or in some other place: and it shall come to pass when he falls upon them at the beginning, that some one will certainly hear, and say, There has been a slaughter among the people that follow after Abessalom. [10] Then even he that is strong, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, — it shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that thy father is mighty, and they that are with him are mighty men. [11] For thus I have surely given counsel, that all Israel be generally gathered to thee from Dan even to Bersabee, as the sand that is upon the sea-shore for multitude: and that thy presence go in the midst of them. [12] And we will come upon him in one of the places where we shall find him, and we will encamp against him, as the dew falls upon the earth; and we will not leave of him and of his men so much as one. [13] And if he shall have taken refuge with his army in a city, then shall all Israel take ropes to that city, and we will draw it even into the river, that there may not be left there even a stone.
[14] And Abessalom, and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Chusi the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the Lord ordained to disconcert the good counsel of Achitophel, that the Lord might bring all evil upon Abessalom.
[15] And Chusi the Arachite said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus Achitophel counselled Abessalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled. [16] And now send quickly and report to David, saying, Lodge not this night in Araboth of the wilderness: even go and make haste, lest one swallow up the king, and all the people with him.
[17] And Jonathan and Achimaas stood by the well of Rogel, and a maid-servant went and reported to them, and they go and tell king David; for they might not be seen to enter into the city. [18] But a young man saw them and told Abessalom: and the two went quickly, and entered into the house of a man in Baurim; and he had a well in his court, and they went down into it. [19] And a woman took a covering, and spread it over the mouth of the well, and spread out ground corn upon it to dry, and the thing was not known. [20] And the servants of Abessalom came to the woman into the house, and said, Where are Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman said to them, They are gone a little way beyond the water. And they sought and found them not, and returned to Jerusalem. [21] And it came to pass after they were gone, that they came up out of the pit, and went on their way; and reported to king David, and said to David, Arise ye and go quickly over the water, for thus has Achitophel counselled concerning you.
[22] And David rose up and all the people with him, and they passed over Jordan till the morning light; there was not one missing who did not pass over Jordan.
[23] And Achitophel saw that his counsel was not followed, and he saddled his ass, and rose and departed to his house into his city; and he gave orders to his household, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
[24] And David passed over to Manaim: and Abessalom crossed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. [25] And Abessalom appointed Amessai in the room of Joab over the host. And Amessai was the son of a man whose name was Jether of Jezrael: he went in to Abigaia the daughter of Naas, the sister of Saruia the mother of Joab. [26] And all Israel and Abessalom encamped in the land of Galaad.
[27] And it came to pass when David came to Manaim, that Uesbi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and Machir son of Amiel of Lodabar, and Berzelli the Galaadite of Rogellim, [28] brought ten embroidered beds, (with double coverings,)and ten caldrons, and earthenware, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and meal, and beans, and pulse, [29] and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheeses of kine: and they brought them to David and to his people with him to eat; for one said, The people is faint and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.
Chapter 18
[1] And David numbered the people with him, and set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds. [2] And David sent away the people, the third part under the hand of Joab, and the third part under the hand of Abessa the son of Saruia, the brother of Joab, and the third part under the hand of Ethi the Gittite. And David said to the people, I also will surely go out with you. [3] And they said, Thou shalt not go out: for if we should indeed flee, they will not care for us; and if half of us should die, they will not mind us; for thou art as ten thousand of us: and now it is well that thou shalt be to us an aid to help us in the city. [4] And the king said to them, Whatsoever shall seem good in your eyes I will do. And the king stood by the side of the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.
[5] And the king commanded Joab and Abessa and Ethi, saying, Spare for my sake the young man Abessalom. And all the people heard the king charging all the commanders concerning Abessalom.
[6] And all the people went out into the wood against Israel; and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim. [7] And the people of Israel fell down there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter in that day, even twenty thousand men. [8] And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the land: and the wood consumed more of the people than the sword consumed among the people in that day. [9] And Abessalom went to meet the servants of David: and Abessalom was mounted on his mule, and the mule came under the thick boughs of a great oak; and his head was entangled in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth; and the mule passed on from under him.
[10] And a man saw it, and reported to Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Abessalom hanging in an oak. [11] And Joab said to the man who reported it to him, And, behold, thou didst see him: why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten pieces of silver, and a girdle. [12] And the man said to Joab, Were I even to receive a thousand shekels of silver, I would not lift my hand against the king’s son; for in our ears the king charged thee and Abessa and Ethi, saying, Take care of the young man Abessalom for me, [13] so as to do no harm to his life: and nothing of the matter will be concealed from the king, and thou wilt set thyself against me. [14] And Joab said, I will begin this; I will not thus remain with thee. And Joab took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Abessalom, while he was yet alive in the heart of the oak. [15] And ten young men that bore Joab’s armour compassed Abessalom, and smote him and slew him.
[16] And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab spared the people. [17] And he took Abessalom, and cast him into a great cavern in the wood, into a deep pit, and set up over him a very great heap of stones: and all Israel fled every man to his tent. [18] Now Abessalom while yet alive had taken and set up for himself the pillar near which he was taken, and set it up so as to have the pillar in the king’s dale; for he said he had no son to keep his name in remembrance: and he called the pillar, Abessalom’s hand, until this day.
[19] And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said, Let me run now and carry glad tidings to the
king, for the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies. [20] And Joab said to him, Thou shalt not be a messenger of glad tidings this day; thou shalt bear them another day; but on this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king’s son is dead. [21] And Joab said to Chusi, Go, report to the king all that thou hast seen. And Chusi did obeisance to Joab, and went out. [22] And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said again to Joab, Nay, let me also run after Chusi. And Joab said, Why wouldest thou thus run, my son? attend, thou hast no tidings for profit if thou go. [23] And he said, Why should I not run? and Joab said to him, Run. And Achimaas ran along the way of Kechar, and outran Chusi.
[24] And David was sitting between the two gates: and the watchman went up on the top of the gate of the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone before him. [25] And the watchman cried out, and reported to the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And the man came and drew near. [26] And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman cried at the gate, and said, And look, another man running alone. And the king said, He also brings glad tidings. [27] And the watchman said, I see the running of the first as the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said, He is a good man, and will come to report glad tidings.
[28] And Achimaas cried out and said to the king, Peace. And he did obeisance to the king with his face to the ground, and said, Blessed be the Lord thy God, who has delivered up the men that lifted up their hands against my lord the king. [29] And the king said, Is the young man Abessalom safe? and Achimaas said, I saw a great multitude at the time of Joab’s sending the king’s servant and thy servant, and I knew not what was there. [30] And the king said, Turn aside, stand still here. And he turned aside, and stood.
[31] And, behold, Chusi came up, and said to the king, Let my lord the king hear glad tidings, for the Lord has avenged thee this day upon all them that rose up against thee. [32] 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. [33] And the king was troubled, and went to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and thus he said as he went, My son Abessalom, my son, my son Abessalom; would God I had died for thee, even I had died for thee, Abessalom, my son, my son!
Chapter 19
[1] And they brought Joab word, saying, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Abessalom. [2] And the victory was turned that day into mourning to all the people, for the people heard say that day, The king grieves after his son. [3] And the people stole away that day to go into the city, as people steal away when they are ashamed as they flee in the battle. [4] And the king hid his face: and the king cried with a loud voice, My son Abessalom! Abessalom my son!
[5] And Joab went in to the king, into the house, and said, Thou hast this day shamed the faces of all thy servants that have delivered thee this day, and have saved the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and of thy concubines, [6] forasmuch as thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee; and thou hast this day declared, that thy princes and thy servants are nothing in thy sight: for I know this day, that if Abessalom were alive, and all of us dead to-day, then it would have been right in thy sight. [7] And now arise, and go forth, and speak comfortably to thy servants; for I have sworn by the Lord, that unless thou wilt go forth to-day, there shall not a man remain with thee this night: and know for thyself, this thing will indeed be evil to thee beyond all the evil that has come upon thee from thy youth until now. [8] Then the king arose, and sat in the gate: and all the people reported, saying, Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people went in before the king to the gate; for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
[9] And all the people disputed among all the tribes of Israel, saying, King David delivered us from all our enemies, and he rescued us from the hand of the Philistines: and now he has fled from the land, and from his kingdom, and from Abessalom. [10] And Abessalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle: and now why are ye silent about bringing back the king? And the word of all Israel came to the king.
[11] And king David sent to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Israel, saying, Why are ye the last to bring back the king to his house? whereas the word of all Israel is come to the king to his house. [12] Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: why are ye the last to bring back the king to his house? [13] And ye shall say to Amessai, Art thou not my bone and my flesh? and now God do so to me, and more also, if thou shalt not be commander of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. [14] And he bowed the heart of all the men of Juda as that of one man; and they sent to the king, saying, Return thou, and all thy servants. [15] And the king returned, and came as far s Jordan. And the men of Juda came to Galgala on their way to meet the king, to cause the king to pass over Jordan.
[16] And Semei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Baurim, hasted and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David. [17] And a thousand men of Benjamin were with him, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons with him, and his twenty servants with him: and they went directly down to Jordan before the king, [18] and they performed the service of bringing the king over; and there went over a ferry-boat to remove the household of the king, and to do that which was right in his eyes. And Semei the son of Gera fell on his face before the king, as he went over Jordan; [19] and said to the king, Let not my lord now impute iniquity, and remember not all the iniquity of thy servant in the day in which my lord went out from Jerusalem, so that the king should mind it. [20] For thy servant knows that I have sinned: and, behold, I am come to-day before all Israel and the house of Joseph, to go down and meet my lord the king.
[21] And Abessai the son of Saruia answered and said, Shall not Semei therefore be put to death, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed? [22] And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Saruia, that ye as it were lie in wait against me this day? to-day no man in Israel shall be put to death, for I know not if I this day reign over Israel. [23] And the king said to Semei, Thou shalt not die: and the king swore to him.
[24] And Memphibosthe the son of Saul’s son went down to meet the king, and had not dressed his feet, nor pared his nails, nor shaved himself, neither had he washed his garments, from the day that the king departed, until the day when he arrived in peace.
[25] And it came to pass when he went into Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why didst thou not go with me, Memphibosthe? [26] And Memphibosthe said to him, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me; for thy servant said to him, Saddle me the ass, and I will ride upon it, and go with the king; for thy servant is lame. [27] And he has dealt deceitfully with thy servant to my lord the king: but my lord the king is as an angel of God, and do thou that which is good in thine eyes. [28] For all the house of my father were but as dead men before my lord the king; yet thou hast set thy servant among them that eat at thy table: and what right have I any longer even to cry to the king? [29] And the king said to him, Why speakest thou any longer of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Siba shall divide the land. [30] And Memphibosthe said to the king, Yea, let him take all, since my lord the king has come in peace to his house.
[31] And Berzelli the Galaadite came down from Rogellim, and crossed over Jordan with the king, that he might conduct the king over Jordan. [32] And Berzelli was a very old man, eighty years old; and he had maintained the king when he dwelt in Manaim; for he was a very great man. [33] And the king said to Berzelli, Thou shalt go over with me, and I will nourish thine old age with me in Jerusalem. [34] And Berzelli said to the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? [35] I am this day eighty years old: can I then distinguish between good and evil? Can thy servant taste any longer what I eat or drink? can I any longer hear the voice of singing men or singing women? and wherefore shall thy servant any longer be
a burden to my lord the king? [36] Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why does the king return me this recompense? [37] Let, I pray thee, thy servant remain, and I will die in my city, by the tomb of my father and of my mother. And, behold, thy servant Chamaam shall go over with my lord the king; and do thou to him as it seems good in thine eyes. [38] And the king said, Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do to him what is good in my sight; and whatsoever thou shalt choose at my hand, I will do for thee.
[39] And all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over; and the king kissed Berzelli, and blessed him; and he returned to his place. [40] And the king went over to Galgala, and Chamaam went over with him: and all the men of Juda went over with the king, and also half the people of Israel.
[41] And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away, and caused the king and all his house to pass over Jordan, and all the men of David with him? [42] And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel, and said, Because the king is near of kin to us: and why were you thus angry concerning this matter? have we indeed eaten of the king’s food? or has he given us a gift, or has he sent us a portion? [43] And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are older than you, we have also an interest in David above you: and why have ye thus insulted us, and why was not our advice taken before that of Juda, to bring back our king? And the speech of the men of Juda was sharper than the speech of the men of Israel.
Chapter 20
[1] And there was a transgressor so called there, and his name was Sabee, a Benjamite, the son of Bochori: and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we any inheritance in the son of Jessae: to thy tents, O Israel, every one. [2] And all the men of Israel went up from following David after Sabee the son of Bochori: but the men of Juda adhered to their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.