16:1 And when David was a little past the top [of the hill],
behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple
of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred [loaves] of bread,
and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred of summer
fruits, and a bottle of wine.
16:2 And the king said to Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And
Ziba said, The asses [are] for the king's household to ride on;
and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and
the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.
16:3 And the king said, And where [is] thy master's son? And
Ziba said to the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he
said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore to me the
kingdom of my father.
16:4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine [are] all that
[pertained] to Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech
thee [that] I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.
16:5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came
out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was]
Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he
came.
16:6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of
king David: and all the people and all the mighty men [were] on
his right hand and on his left.
16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out,
thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
16:8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house
of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath
delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and
behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief, because thou [art] a
bloody man.
16:9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah to the king, Why
should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I
pray thee, and take off his head.
16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of
Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said to him,
Curse David. Who shall then say, Why hast thou done so?
16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants,
Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life:
how much more now [may this] Benjaminite [do it]? let him
alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and
that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
16:13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went
along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he
went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
16:14 And the king, and all the people that [were] with him,
came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
16:15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to
Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16:16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's
friend, had come to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, God
save the king, God save the king.
16:17 And Absalom said to Hushai, [Is] this thy kindness to thy
friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
16:18 And Hushai said to Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and
this people, and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be,
and with him will I abide.
16:19 And again, whom should I serve? [should I] not [serve] in
the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's
presence, so will I be in thy presence.
16:20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you
what we shall do.
16:21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to thy father's
concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all
Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred by thy father: then
shall the hands of all that [are] with thee be strong.
16:22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house;
and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of
all Israel.
16:23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those
days, [was] as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God: so
[was] all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with
Absalom.
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