1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.
2 And that day the salvation was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said that day how the king was grieved for his son.
3 And the people entered by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
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!
5 And Joab entering into the house of the king, said unto him, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy slaves, 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,
6 by loving those who hate thee and hating thy friends. For thou hast declared this day that thou dost not regard thy princes nor thy slaves. For this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived and we had all died today, then this would be right in thine eyes.
7 Now, therefore, arise, go forth and speak unto the heart of thy slaves, for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, not one of them will abide with thee tonight and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that has come upon thee from thy youth until now.
8 Then the king arose and sat in the gate. And it was declared unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people came before the king, but Israel had fled every man to his tent.
9 And all the people were in contention throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled out of the land for Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now, therefore, why are ye silent regarding bringing the king back?
11 And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why shall ye be the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing that the word of all Israel has come to the king, to return him to his house.
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh; why then are ye the last to bring back the king?
13 Likewise 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 place of Joab.
14 And he inclined the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou and all thy slaves.
15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over the Jordan.
16 And Shimei, the son of Gera, son of Jemini, who was of Bahurim, hastened and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him; likewise Ziba, the slave of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and his twenty slaves with him, who went over the Jordan before the king.
18 Then the ferry boat went over to carry over the king’s household and to do what he desired. Then Shimei, the son of Gera, fell down before the king, as he was passing the Jordan,
19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither retain the memory of the wickedness that thy slave did the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should guard it in his heart.
20 For I, thy slave, know that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
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?
22 Then David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? Shall anyone be put to death today in Israel? Do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?
23 And the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king swore unto him.
24 Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, also came down to meet the king and had neither washed his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.
25 And after he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said unto him, Why didst thou not go with me, Mephibosheth?
26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my slave deceived me, for thy slave said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride upon it and go to the king because thy slave is lame.
27 And he has slandered thy slave unto my lord the king, but my lord the king is as an angel of God; do therefore what is good in thine eyes.
28 For all of my father’s house were worthy of death before my lord the king; yet thou didst set thy slave among those that eat at thy own table. What righteousness, therefore, have I yet to cry any more unto the king?
29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more words? I have determined, Thou and Ziba divide the land.
30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Let him even take it all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.
31 Barzillai, the Gileadite, also came down from Rogelim and went over the Jordan with the king to conduct him over the Jordan.
32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, of eighty years, who had provided the king with sustenance while he was at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.
33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?
35 I am this day eighty years old, and shall I tell the difference between the good and the bad? Shall thy slave enjoy what I eat or what I drink? Shall I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should thy slave be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
36 Thy slave will go a little way over the Jordan with the king, and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?
37 Let thy slave, I pray thee, turn back 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 slave Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king, and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.
38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do with him that which shall seem good unto thee, and whatever thou shalt ask of me, that will I do for thee.
39 And all the people went over the Jordan. And when the king had also come over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned unto his own place.
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.
41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said unto the king, 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 the Jordan?
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 anything at the king’s cost? Or has he given us any gift?
43 Then 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 not take us into account? Did we not speak first about bringing back our king? But in the end words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.