28 and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse, 29 and honey, and curds, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat; for they said: The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

1

AND David numbered the people that were with him; and he set over them captains of thousands and captains of hun2 dreds. And David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I 3 will surely go forth with you myself also. And the people said: Thou shalt not go forth. For if we flee away, they will not care for us; nor if half of us die, will they care for us; for now thou art as ten thousand of us. And now it is better that thou succor us out of the city. And the king said to them: What seems to you best I will do. And the king stood by the side of the gate; and all the people came 5 out by hundreds and by thousands. And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying: Deal gently for my sake with the young man, with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

6 So the people went out into the field against Israel; and 7 the battle was in the forest of Ephraim. And there the people of Israel were smitten before the servants of David; and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thou8 sand men. For the battle there spread over the face of all the country; and the wood devoured more of the people that day than the sword devoured.

9

And Absalom came by chance in presence of David's servants. And Absalom was riding on the mule; and the

V. 9. The mule. On which David himself rode, on state occasions; and now used by Absalom as a part of the royal prerogative. Hence the definite article, (1 Kings 1: 33).

mule went under the thick branches of the great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was taken between the heaven and the earth, and the mule that was under him 10 went on. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab. And 11 he said: Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in the oak. And Joab said to the man that told him: And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the earth? And I would have given thee ten pieces of silver, 12 and a girdle. And the man said to Joab: Though I might weigh a thousand pieces of silver into my hand, I would not put forth my hand against the king's son. For in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying: 13 Have care, every one, for the young man, for Absalom. Or had I, against my own life, dealt deceitfully, for no matter is hidden from the king,-then thou wouldst have set thy14 self against me. And Joab said: And Joab said: I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the 15 midst of the oak. And ten young men, that bore Joab's 16 armor, surrounded and smote Absalom, and slew him. And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursu17 ing after Israel; for Joab held back the people. And they took Absalom, and cast him into the great pit in the forest, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him. And all Israel fled, every one to his tent.

18

19

Now Absalom, in his lifetime, had taken and reared up for himself the pillar, which is in the king's dale; for he said: I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. And he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called to this day, Absalom's monument.

And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said: Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, that Jehovah has defended him 20 from the hand of his enemies. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be bearer of tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day. But this day thou shalt bear no tidings, 21 because the king's son is dead. Then said Joab to the Cushite Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And the

22 Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran. And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab: However it be, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said: Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no 23 welcome tidings? However it be, said he, let me run. And

he said to him: Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the 24 plain, and he passed by the Cushite. And David was sitting between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof of the gate on the wall, and lifted ыр his eyes and saw, 25 and behold a man running alone. And the watchman called, and told it to the king. And the king said: If he be alone, there are tidings in his mouth. And he came nearer and 26 nearer. And the watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the porter, and said: Behold a man running alone. And the king said: He also brings tidings. 27 And the watchman said: Methinks the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said: He is a good man, and comes with good tidings. 28 And Ahimaaz called, and said to the king: All is well. And he bowed down to the king with his face to the earth, and said: Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who has delivered up the men that lifted their hand against my lord the king. 29 And the king said: Is it well with the young man, with Absalom? And Ahimaaz said: I saw the great tumult, when Joab sent the king's servant, and thy servant, but I 30 knew not what it was. And the king said: Turn aside, and 31 stand here. And he turned aside, and stood there. And, behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said: My lord, the king, receive the tidings! for Jehovah has defended thee 32 this day from all them that rose up against thee. And the king said to the Cushite: Is it well with the young man, with Absalom? And the Cushite said: The enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise up against thee for evil, be as the young man.

33

And the king was greatly moved; and he went up to the

V. 21. The Cushite; the Ethiopian, as the Hebrew word is translated elsewhere. See, for example, Num. 12:1; 2 Chron. 12: 3, and 14:9. He was Joab's Ethiopian servant, and well suited to be employed on such an errand.

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chamber over the gate, and wept. And thus he said, as he went: My son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son!

AND it was told Joab: Behold, the king weeps and mourns 2 for Absalom. And the deliverance that day was turned into mourning to all the people; for the people heard it said that 3 day: The king is grieved for his son. And the people came stealthily into the city that day, as people steal away ashamed 4 when they flee in battle. And the king covered his face. And the king cried with a loud voice: My son Absalom! 5 Absalom, my son, my son! And Joab came into the house to the king, and said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy 6 wives, and the lives of thy concubines; in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast shown this day, that princes and servants are nothing to thee. For this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. And now arise, go forth, and speak to the heart of thy servants. For I swear by Jehovah, if thou go not forth, there will not remain one with thee this night; that will be worse to thee than all the evil that befell thee 8 from thy youth until now. Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying: Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people came before the king.

and

And Israel had fled every man to his tent. And all the people strove together in all the tribes of Israel, saying: The king rescued us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he 10 has fled out of the land from Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. And now why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

11

And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying: Speak to the elders of Judah, and say: Why will

ye be the last to bring the king back to his house, seeing that 12 the word of all Israel is come to the king, to his house. Ye

are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh; and why 13 will ye be the last to bring back the king? And to Amasa shall ye say Art thou not my bone, and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host 14 before me continually, in place of Joab. And he inclined the heart of all the men of Judah, as of one man; and they sent word to the king: Return thou, and all thy servants. 15 So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go and meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.

16

And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to 17 meet king David; and a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went 18 over the Jordan to meet the king. And the ferry-boat went over to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before 19 the king, when he passed over the Jordan. And he said to the king: Let not my lord impute iniquity to me, and remember not that which thy servant did perversely, on the day that my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, that 20 the king should lay it to heart. For thy servant knows that I have sinned; and, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph, to go down to meet my lord, the 21 king. And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, answered and said : Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, that he cursed the 22 anointed of Jehovah? And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye will be adversaries to me this day? Shall any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do not I know that I am this day king over 23 Israel? And the king said to Shimei: Thou shalt not die. And the king swore to him.

24

And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, went down to meet the king. And he had not dressed his feet, nor trimmed his