19:1 And it was told to Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and
mourneth for Absalom.
19:2 And the victory that day was [turned] into mourning to all
the people: for the people heard it said that day how the king
was grieved for his son.
19:3 And the people withdrew by stealth that day into the city,
as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
19:4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a
loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
19:5 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 wives, and the lives of thy
concubines;
19:6 In that thou lovest thy enemies, and hatest thy friends.
For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither
princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom
had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased
thee well.
19:7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably to thy
servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou shalt not go forth,
there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be
worse to thee than all the evil that hath befallen thee from
thy youth until now.
19:8 Then the king rose, and sat in the gate. And they told to
all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate.
And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled
every man to his tent.
19:9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes
of Israel, saying, The king saved us from the hand of our
enemies, and he delivered us from the hand of the Philistines;
and now he hath fled out of the land for Absalom.
19:10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle.
Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king
back?
19:11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
saying, Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the
last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of
all Israel is come to the king, [even] to his house.
19:12 Ye [are] my brethren, ye [are] my bones and my flesh: why
then are ye the last to bring back the king?
19:13 And say ye to Amasa, [Art] thou not of my bone, and of my
flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain
of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.
19:14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as
[the heart of] one man; so that they sent [this word] to the
king, Return thou, and all thy servants.
19:15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came
to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over
Jordan.
19:16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, who [was] of
Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet
king David.
19:17 And [there were] 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 over Jordan before
the king.
19:18 And there went over a ferry-boat to carry over the king's
household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son
of Gera fell down before the king, as he came over Jordan;
19:19 And said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to
me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did
perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem,
that the king should take it to his heart.
19:20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore
behold, I have come the first this day of all the house of
Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall
not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the
LORD'S anointed?
19:22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of
Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to me? shall
there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I
know that I [am] this day king over Israel?
19:23 Therefore the king said to Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And
the king swore to him.
19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the
king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard,
nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until
the day he came [again] in peace.
19:25 And it came to pass, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet
the king, that the king said to him, Why didst thou not go with
me, Mephibosheth?
19:26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me:
for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride
on it, and go to the king; because thy servant [is] lame.
19:27 And he hath slandered thy servant to my lord the king; but
my lord the king [is] as an angel of God: do therefore [what
is] good in thy eyes.
19:28 For all [of] my father's house were but dead men before my
lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that
ate at thy own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry
any more to the king?
19:29 And the king said to him, Why speakest thou any more of
thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.
19:30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, Yes, let him take all,
forasmuch as my lord the king hath come again in peace to his
own house.
19:31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and
went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
19:32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, [even] eighty years
old: and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay
at Mahanaim: for he [was] a very great man.
19:33 And the king said to Barzillai, Come thou over with me,
and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
19:34 And Barzillai said to the king, How long have I to live,
that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
19:35 I [am] this day eighty years old: [and] can I discern
between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what
I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing-men and
singing-women? why then should thy servant be yet a burden to
my lord the king?
19:36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the
king: and why should the king recompense me with such a reward?
19:37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, return again, that I may die
in my own city, [and be buried] by the grave of my father and
of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over
with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to
thee.
19:38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and
I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee: and
whatever thou shalt require of me, [that] will I do for thee.
19:39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king had
come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he
returned to his own place.
19:40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with
him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also
half the people of Israel.
19:41 And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and
said to him, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee
away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all
David's men with him, over Jordan?
19:42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel,
Because the king [is] near of kin to us: why then are ye angry
for this matter? have we eaten at all at the king's [cost]? or
hath he given us any gift?
19:43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said,
We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more [right] in
David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice
should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the
words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the
men of Israel.
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