2 Samuel 18

2 Samuel 18:1 David reviewed his people and appointed commanders of thousands and of hundreds over them.

2 Samuel 18:2 He then sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai of Gath. The king said to the troops, “I must also march out with you.”

2 Samuel 18:3 “You must not go!” the people pleaded. “If we have to flee, they will not take us to heart. Even if half of us die, they will not take us to heart because you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore, it is better if you support us from the city.”

2 Samuel 18:4 “I will do whatever you think is best,” the king replied to them. So he stood beside the city gate while all the people marched out by hundreds and thousands.

2 Samuel 18:5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the boy Absalom gently for my sake.” All the people heard the king’s orders to all the commanders about Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:6 Then David’s forces marched into the field to engage Israel in battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim.

2 Samuel 18:7 Israel’s army was defeated by David’s soldiers, and the slaughter there was vast that day– twenty thousand dead.

2 Samuel 18:8 The battle spread over the entire area, and that day the forest claimed more people than the sword.

2 Samuel 18:9 Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David’s soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended between the sky[1] and the ground.

2 Samuel 18:10 One of the men saw him and informed Joab. He said, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

2 Samuel 18:11 “You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten silver pieces and a belt!”

2 Samuel 18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if I had the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Protect the boy Absalom for me.’

2 Samuel 18:13 If I had risked my own throat– and nothing is hidden from the king– you would have abandoned me.”

2 Samuel 18:14 Joab said, “I’m not going to waste time with you!” He then took three spears in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s heart. While Absalom was still alive in heart of the oak tree,

2 Samuel 18:15 ten boys who were Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.

2 Samuel 18:16 Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the people broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab restrained them.

2 Samuel 18:17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and raised up a huge mound of stones over him. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.

2 Samuel 18:18 When he was alive, Absalom had taken a pillar and raised it up for himself in the King’s Valley, since he thought, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself. It is still called Absalom’s Monument today.

2 Samuel 18:19 Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that Yahveh has vindicated him by freeing him from his enemies.”

2 Samuel 18:20 Joab replied to him, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but today you aren’t taking good news, because the king’s son is dead.”

2 Samuel 18:21 Joab then said to a Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

2 Samuel 18:22 However, Ahimaaz son of Zadok persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to run since you won’t get a reward?”

2 Samuel 18:23 “No matter what, I want to run!” “Then run!” Joab said to him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

2 Samuel 18:24 David was sitting between the city gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the city gate and over to the wall. The watchman looked out and saw a man running alone.

2 Samuel 18:25 He called out and told the king. The king said, “If he’s alone, he bears good news.” As the first runner came closer,

2 Samuel 18:26 the watchman saw another man running. He called out to the gatekeeper, “Look! Another man is running alone!” “This one is also bringing good news,” said the king.

2 Samuel 18:27 The watchman said, “The way the first man runs looks to me like the way Ahimaaz son of Zadok runs.” “This is a good man; he comes with good news,” the king commented.

2 Samuel 18:28 Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well,” and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. He continued, “Blessed be Yahveh your God! He delivered up the men who rebelled against my lord the king.”

2 Samuel 18:29 The king asked, “Is the boy Absalom all right?” Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a big disturbance, but I don’t know what it was.”

2 Samuel 18:30 The king said, “Move aside and stand here.” So he stood to one side.

2 Samuel 18:31 Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Yahveh has vindicated you today by freeing you from all who rise against you!”

2 Samuel 18:32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the boy Absalom all right?” The Cushite replied, “I wish that the enemies of my lord the king, along with all who rise up against you with evil intent, would become like that young man.”

2 Samuel 18:33 The king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber above the city gate and wept. As he walked, he cried, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!”

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[1] שָׁמַיִם = sky. 2 Samuel 18:9; 21:10; 22:8, 10, 14.

links:

a costly deliverance
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, September 28, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, September 29, 2021

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 17

+2 Samuel 17:1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out in pursuit of David tonight.

2 Samuel 17:2 I will attack him while he is weary and discouraged, throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will scatter. I will strike down only the king

2 Samuel 17:3 and bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you’re looking for, all the people will be at peace.”

2 Samuel 17:4 This proposal seemed right to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

2 Samuel 17:5 Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.”

2 Samuel 17:6 So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him: “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say?”

2 Samuel 17:7 Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given this time is not good.”

2 Samuel 17:8 Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors and have bitter throats like a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier who won’t spend the night with the people.

2 Samuel 17:9 He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves or some other place. If some of our people fall first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

2 Samuel 17:10 Then, even a brave man with the heart of a lion will lose heart because all Israel knows that your father and the valiant men with him are warriors.

2 Samuel 17:11 Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba– as numerous as the sand by the sea– be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle.

2 Samuel 17:12 Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left– neither he nor any of the men with him.

2 Samuel 17:13 If he gathers to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

2 Samuel 17:14 Since Yahveh had decreed that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

2 Samuel 17:15 Hushai then told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “This is what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I advised.

2 Samuel 17:16 Now send someone quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the wilderness ford, but be sure to cross over the Jordan, or the king and all the people with him will be devoured.'”

2 Samuel 17:17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, because they dared not be seen entering the city.

2 Samuel 17:18 However, a boy did see them and informed Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

2 Samuel 17:19 Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

2 Samuel 17:20 Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They passed by toward the water,” the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 17:21 After they had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well and went and informed King David. They told him, “Get up and immediately ford the river, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”

2 Samuel 17:22 So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one who had not crossed the Jordan.

2 Samuel 17:23 When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

2 Samuel 17:24 David had arrived at Mahanaim by the time Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 17:25 Now Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite; Ithra had married Abigail daughter of Nahash. Abigail was a sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

2 Samuel 17:26 And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

2 Samuel 17:27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim

2 Samuel 17:28 brought beds, basins, and pottery items. They also brought wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,

2 Samuel 17:29 honey, curds, sheep, goats, and cheese from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. They had reasoned, “The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

links:

a costly deliverance
ending it all
two counselors

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 15

2 Samuel 15:1 It happened after this, Absalom got himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run before him.

2 Samuel 15:2 He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for settlement, Absalom called out to him and asked, “What city are you from?” If he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

2 Samuel 15:3 Absalom said to him, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king does not have anyone to listen to you.”

2 Samuel 15:4 He added, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land. Then anyone who had a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would make sure he received justice.”

2 Samuel 15:5 When a person approached to pay homage to him, Absalom reached out his hand, took hold of him, and kissed him.

2 Samuel 15:6 Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for a settlement. So, Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 15:7 When four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I made to the Lord.

2 Samuel 15:8 For your servant made a vow when I lived in Geshur of Aram, saying: If Yahveh really brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship Yahveh in Hebron.”

2 Samuel 15:9 “Go in peace,” the king said to him. So, he went to Hebron.

2 Samuel 15:10 Then Absalom sent agents throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron! ‘”

2 Samuel 15:11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited and were going innocently, because they did not know the whole situation.

2 Samuel 15:12 While he was offering the sacrifices, Absalom sent for David’s adviser Ahithophel the Gilonite, from his city of Giloh. So, the conspiracy grew strong, and the people supporting Absalom continued to increase.

2 Samuel 15:13 Then an messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

2 Samuel 15:14 David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Get up. We must flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! Leave quickly, or he will overtake us quickly, heap disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

2 Samuel 15:15 The king’s servants said to the king, “Whatever my lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

2 Samuel 15:16 Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

2 Samuel 15:17 So the king set out, and all the people followed him. They stopped at the last house

2 Samuel 15:18 while all his servants marched past him. Then all the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and those from Gath — six hundred men who came with him from there — marched past the king.

2 Samuel 15:19 The king said to Ittai of Gath, “Why are you also going with us? Go back and stay with the new king since you’re both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

2 Samuel 15:20 Besides, you only arrived yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I go wherever I can? Go back and take your brothers with you. May Yahveh show you kindness and faithfulness.”

2 Samuel 15:21 But in response, Ittai vowed to the king, “As Yahveh lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether it means life or death, your servant will be there!”

2 Samuel 15:22 “March on,” David replied to Ittai. So Ittai of Gath marched past with all his men and the dependents who were with him.

2 Samuel 15:23 Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly while all the people were marching out of the city. As the king was crossing the Kidron Valley, all the people were marching past on the road that leads to the wilderness.

2 Samuel 15:24 Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had finished marching past.

2 Samuel 15:25 Then the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor with Yahveh, he will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its dwelling place.

2 Samuel 15:26 However, if he should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am — he can do with me whatever pleases him.”

2 Samuel 15:27 The king also said to the priest Zadok, “Look, return to the city in peace and your two sons with you: your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan.

2 Samuel 15:28 Remember, I’ll wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

2 Samuel 15:29 So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

2 Samuel 15:30 David was climbing the slope of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he ascended. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they ascended.

2 Samuel 15:31 Then someone reported to David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” “Yahveh,” David pleaded, “please turn the advice of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

2 Samuel 15:32 When David came to the summit where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

2 Samuel 15:33 David said to him, “If you go away with me, you’ll be a burden to me,

2 Samuel 15:34 but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, Your Majesty! Previously, I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can counteract Ahithophel’s advice for me.

2 Samuel 15:35 Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Report everything you hear from the palace to the priests Zadok and Abiathar.

2 Samuel 15:36 Take note: their two sons are there with them– Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. Send them to tell me everything you hear.”

2 Samuel 15:37 So Hushai, David’s personal adviser, entered Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

links:

kissing conspiracy
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, September 26, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, September 27, 2023
seeing the devil
the best and the worst
transition

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 14

2 Samuel 14:1 Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was on Absalom.

2 Samuel 14:2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.

2 Samuel 14:3 Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say.

2 Samuel 14:4 When the woman from Tekoa came to the king, she fell facedown to the ground, paid homage, and said, “Help me, O king!”

2 Samuel 14:5 “What’s the matter?” the king asked her. “Sadly, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.

2 Samuel 14:6 “Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

2 Samuel 14:7 Now the whole clan has revolted against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down so we may put him to death for the throat of the brother he murdered. We will exterminate[1] the heir! ‘ They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on the land.”

2 Samuel 14:8 The king told the woman, “Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf.”

2 Samuel 14:9 Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and my father’s family, and may the king and his throne be innocent.”

2 Samuel 14:10 “Whoever speaks to you,” the king said, “bring him to me. He will not trouble you again!”

2 Samuel 14:11 She replied, “Please, may the king invoke Yahveh your God, so that the avenger of blood will not keep putting an end to them, and they will not exterminate my son!” “As Yahveh lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”

2 Samuel 14:12 Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied.

2 Samuel 14:13 The woman asked, “Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one.

2 Samuel 14:14 We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be gathered again. But God would not take away a life; he would devise plans so that the one banished from him does not remain banished.

2 Samuel 14:15 “Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request.

2 Samuel 14:16 The king will surely listen to keep his servant from the grasp of this man who would exterminate both me and my son from God’s inheritance.

2 Samuel 14:17 Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the angel of God. May Yahveh your God be with you.”

2 Samuel 14:18 Then the king answered the woman, “I’m going to ask you something; don’t conceal it from me!” “Let my lord the king speak,” the woman replied.

2 Samuel 14:19 The king asked, “Did Joab put you up to all this?” The woman answered. “As your throat lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say.

2 Samuel 14:20 Joab your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, knowing everything on land.”

2 Samuel 14:21 Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the boy Absalom.”

2 Samuel 14:22 Joab fell with his face to the ground in homage and blessed the king. “Today,” Joab said, “your servant knows I have found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant.”

2 Samuel 14:23 So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 14:24 However, the king added, “He may return to his house, but he may not see my face.” So, Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.

2 Samuel 14:25 No man in all Israel was as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.

2 Samuel 14:26 When he shaved his head — he shaved it at the end of every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off– he would weigh the hair from his head, and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.

2 Samuel 14:27 Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.

2 Samuel 14:28 Absalom resided in Jerusalem two years but never saw the king.

2 Samuel 14:29 Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come to him. So, he sent again, a second time, but he still would not come.

2 Samuel 14:30 Then Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!” So, Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

2 Samuel 14:31 Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

2 Samuel 14:32 “Look,” Absalom explained to Joab, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I’d be better off if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me.”

2 Samuel 14:33 Joab went to the king and told him. So, David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and paid homage with his face to the ground before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

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[1] שָׁמַד = exterminate. 2 Samuel 14:7, 11, 16; 21:5; 22:38.

links:

changing the course of things
Life is…
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, September 28, 2021
partial fix
seeing the devil

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 13

2 Samuel 13:1 After this, David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David’s son Amnon loved with her.

2 Samuel 13:2 Amnon was frustrated to the point of making himself sick over his sister Tamar because she was a virgin, but it seemed impossible to do anything to her.

2 Samuel 13:3 Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, a son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

2 Samuel 13:4 and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so miserable every morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

2 Samuel 13:5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you’re sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare a meal in my presence so I can watch and eat from her hand.'”

2 Samuel 13:6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my presence so I can eat from her hand.”

2 Samuel 13:7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Please go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare a meal for him.”

2 Samuel 13:8 Then Tamar went to his house while Amnon was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his presence, and baked them.

2 Samuel 13:9 She brought the pan and set it down in front of him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, “Everyone leave me!” And everyone left him.

2 Samuel 13:10 “Bring the meal to the bedroom,” Amnon told Tamar, “so I can eat from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon’s bedroom.

2 Samuel 13:11 When she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come sleep with me, my sister!”

2 Samuel 13:12 “Don’t, my brother!” she cried. “Don’t disgrace me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Don’t commit this outrage!

2 Samuel 13:13 Where could I ever go with my humiliation? And you– you would be like one of the outrageous fools in Israel! Please, speak to the king, for he won’t keep me from you.”

2 Samuel 13:14 But he refused to listen to her, and because he was stronger than she was, he disgraced her by raping her.

2 Samuel 13:15 So Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that the hatred he hated her with was greater than the love he had loved her with. “Get out of here!” he said.

2 Samuel 13:16 “No,” she cried, “sending me away is much worse than the great wrong you’ve already done to me!” But he refused to listen to her.

2 Samuel 13:17 Instead, he called to the boy who waited on him: “Get this away from me, throw her out, and bolt the door behind her!”

2 Samuel 13:18 Amnon’s servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved garment, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore.

2 Samuel 13:19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long-sleeved garment she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away crying out.

2 Samuel 13:20 Her brother Absalom said to her: “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” So, Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.

2 Samuel 13:21 When King David heard about all these things, he was furious.

2 Samuel 13:22 Absalom didn’t say anything to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon since he disgraced his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 13:23 Two years later, Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

2 Samuel 13:24 Then he went to the king and said, “Your servant has just hired sheepshearers. Will the king and his servants please come with your servant?”

2 Samuel 13:25 The king replied to Absalom, “No, my son, we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he wasn’t willing to go, though he did bless him.

2 Samuel 13:26 “If not,” Absalom said, “please let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?”

2 Samuel 13:27 But Absalom urged him, so he sent Amnon and all the king’s sons.

2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom commanded his boys, “Watch Amnon until he is in a good heart from the wine. When I order you to strike Amnon, then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Am I not the one who has commanded you? Be strong and valiant!”

2 Samuel 13:29 So Absalom’s boys did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the rest of the king’s sons got up, and each fled on his mule.

2 Samuel 13:30 While they were on the way, a report reached David: “Absalom struck down all the king’s sons; not even one of them survived!”

2 Samuel 13:31 In response the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

2 Samuel 13:32 But Jonadab, son of David’s brother Shimeah, spoke up: “My lord must not think they have killed all the boys, the king’s sons, because only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this ever since the day Amnon disgraced his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 13:33 So now, my lord the king, don’t take to heart the report that says all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

2 Samuel 13:34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the boy who was standing watch looked up, there were many people coming from the road west of him from the side of the mountain.

2 Samuel 13:35 Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the king’s sons have come! It’s exactly like your servant said.”

2 Samuel 13:36 Just as he finished speaking, the king’s sons entered and wept loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.

2 Samuel 13:37 But Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.

2 Samuel 13:38 After Absalom had fled to Geshur and had been there three years,

2 Samuel 13:39 King David longed to go to Absalom, for David had finished grieving over Amnon’s death.

links:

a spiraling world
page from Daddy’s playbook
results of indiscretion

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library