¹It happened after this that Absalom acquired for himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men who ran before him.

²Absalom rose early and stood beside the road of the gate; and it happened that for every man who had a dispute to come to the king for justice, Absalom called out to him and said, From which city are you? And he said, Your slave is from one of the tribes of Israel.

³And Absalom said to him, See, your words are good and just; but there is no one from the king who will hear you.

⁴And Absalom said, Who will set me as judge in the land, so that every man who has a strife and a matter of justice might come to me, and I will do him justice!

⁵And it happened, when a man came near to bow down to him, that he stretched out his hand and took hold of him and kissed him.

⁶And Absalom did according to this word to all Israel who came for justice to the king; so Absalom stole the heart of the men of Israel.

⁷And it happened at the end of forty years that Absalom said to the king, Please let me go, so that I may pay my vow which I vowed to Yahweh in Hebron.

⁸For your servant vowed a vow while I dwelt in Geshur in Aram, saying, If Yahweh will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh in Hebron.

⁹And the king said to him, Go in wholeness. So he rose and went to Hebron.

¹⁰And Absalom sent spies through all the tribes of Israel, saying, When you hear the sound of the ram's horn, then you shall say, Absalom has become king in Hebron.

¹¹And with Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem, those who were invited and who were going in their integrity, and they did not know any word of it.

¹²And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's adviser, from his city, from Giloh, while he was sacrificing the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, and the people were going and growing in number with Absalom.

¹³And a teller came to David, saying, The heart of the men of Israel is after Absalom.

¹⁴And David said to all his slaves who were with him in Jerusalem, Rise, and let us flee, for there will be no deliverance for us from the face of Absalom. Hurry to go, lest he hurry and overtake us, and thrust the evil upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.

¹⁵And the king's slaves said to the king, According to all that my lord the king chooses, here are your slaves.

¹⁶And the king went out, and all his household at his feet; but the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.

¹⁷And the king went out, and all the people at his feet, and they stood at the far house.

¹⁸And all his slaves were passing over beside his hand; and all the Kerethites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had come at his foot from Gath, were passing over before the face of the king.

¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why will you also go with us? Return and dwell with the king, for you are a foreigner, and also you are an exile from your place.

²⁰Yesterday was your coming, and today shall I make you wander with us, to go, when I am going to where I am going? Return, and take your brothers back with you, in loyal love and stability.

²¹And Ittai answered the king and said, By the life of Yahweh, and by the life of my lord the king, surely in the place where my lord the king will be, whether for death or for life, for there your slave will be.

²²And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. So Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the children who were with him.

²³And all the land was weeping with a great sound, and all the people were passing over; and the king was passing over the wadi of Kidron, and all the people were passing over on the face of the way to the wilderness.

²⁴And behold, also Zadok, and all the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God; and they set the ark of God firmly in place, and Abiathar went up, until all the people had finished passing out from the city.

²⁵And the king said to Zadok, Take back the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, then he will bring me back, and he will let me see it and his dwelling.

²⁶But if he says thus, I take no delight in you, here I am; let him do to me as is good in his eyes.

²⁷And the king said to Zadok the priest, Do you see? Return to the city in wholeness, and Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, the two of your sons, with you.

²⁸See, I will linger in the desert plains of the wilderness until a word comes from you to tell me.

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar took back the ark of God to Jerusalem, and they dwelt there.

³⁰And David was going up by the ascent of the olives, going up and weeping, with his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people who were with him each man covered his head, and they went up, going up and weeping.

³¹And it was told to David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness.

³²And it happened, when David came to the top, where he would bow down there to God, behold, Hushai the Arkite came to meet him, his garment torn and ground on his head.

³³And David said to him, If you pass over with me, then you will become a burden upon me.

³⁴But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, Your slave I will be, O king; I was your father's slave from then, and now I am your slave; then you will break for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

³⁵And are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? So it shall be that every word which you hear from the king's house, you shall tell to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests.

³⁶See, there with them are the two of their sons, Ahimaaz of Zadok and Jonathan of Abiathar; and by their hand you shall send to me every word which you hear.

³⁷So Hushai, David's friend, came to the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.