2 Samuel 15 — Read & Listen Online

Absalom Steals the Hearts of Israel

Chapter 15.

Some time after this, Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him. Absalom would rise early and stand beside the road to the gate. Whenever anyone with a dispute came to bring it to the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him and ask, "What city are you from?" And the man would answer, "I am from one of the tribes of Israel."

Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are good and right, but there is no one appointed by the king to hear you." And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone with a dispute or a case could come to me, and I would see that he got justice."

And whenever anyone came near to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for judgment, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to our Father." "For I made this vow while living at Geshur in Aram: 'If our Father will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will worship him.'"

The king said to him, "Go in peace." So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.

Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel with this word: "As soon as you hear the sound of the ram's horn, declare, 'Absalom reigns in Hebron!'"

Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited and went in all innocence, knowing nothing about the plot. While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, summoning him from his hometown of Giloh. The conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept growing.

David Flees from His Son Absalom

A messenger came to David and reported, "The hearts of the people of Israel have turned to Absalom."

So David said to all the servants who were with him in Jerusalem, "Get up! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry, or he will soon overtake us, bring disaster down on us, and put the city to the sword."

The king's servants answered him, "Whatever my lord the king decides, your servants are ready."

So the king set out, with his whole household following him, but he left ten concubines behind to take care of the palace. ¹ The king set out with all the people following him, and they stopped at the last house. All his servants marched past him, along with all the Cherethites and Pelethites; and all six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath marched on before the king. ²

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come along with us too? Go back and stay with the new king, for you are a foreigner, an exile far from your own home." You came only yesterday. Should I make you wander about with us today, when I do not even know where I am going? Go back, and take your brothers with you. May our Father show you steadfast love and faithfulness.

But Ittai answered the king, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there your servant will be."

David said to Ittai, "Go ahead, then; march on." So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.

Zadok was there too, and with him all the Levites, carrying the ark of the covenant of our Father. They set down the ark of our Father, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of our Father back into the city. If our Father is pleased with me, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, 'I take no delight in you,' then here I am — let him do to me whatever seems good to him."

The king also said to Zadok the priest, "Are you not a seer? Go back to the city in peace, and take your two sons with you — your own son Ahimaaz and Jonathan son of Abiathar. I will wait at the river crossings in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me."

So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of our Father back to Jerusalem and stayed there.

David Ascends the Mount of Olives Weeping

But David continued up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he climbed. His head was covered and he walked barefoot, and all the people with him covered their heads and went up weeping as they climbed. ³

Now David had been told, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." So David prayed, "our Father, please turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness."

When David reached the summit, where worship was offered to our Father, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. David said to him, "If you go on with me, you will only be a burden to me. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; I was your father's servant in the past, and now I will be your servant,' then you can frustrate Ahithophel's counsel for me.

Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you. Report to them everything you hear in the king's house. Their two sons are with them there — Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son. Send word to me through them about everything you hear.

So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

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