4 Absalom said moreover, “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!”
5 It was so, that when any man came near to bow down to him, he stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
6 Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 At the end of forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron.
8 For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’”
9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.”So he arose, and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the shofar, then you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’”