King
David's son Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate.
And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom
would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your
servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3 Absalom would
say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man
designated by the king to hear you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “Oh
that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might
come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5 And whenever a man
came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him
and kiss him. 6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the
king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 And at the end of four [a] 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 lived
at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to
Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to [b] the Lord.’” 9 The
king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to
Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the
tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet,
then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” And the conspiracy grew
strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.
13 And a messenger came to David, saying, “The
hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” 14 Then
David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and
let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly,
lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with
the edge of the sword.”
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel,
and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7 And the men of
Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was
great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the
face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the
sword.9 And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was
riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great
oak,[a] and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between
heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 10 And a
certain man saw it and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.”
And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of
Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 15 And ten young men,
Joab's armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed
him.17 And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest
and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every one
to his own home.
31 And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said,
“Good news for my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from
the hand of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king said to the
Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite
answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against
you for evil be like that young man.” 33 [d] And the king was
deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went,
he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead
of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Footnotes:
2 Samuel 15:7 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew
forty
2 Samuel 15:8 Or will serve
2 Samuel 15:12 Or sent
2 Samuel 18:9 Or terebinth; also verses
10, 14
2 Samuel 18:13 Or at the risk of my life
2 Samuel 18:18 Or Absalom's hand
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers.
No comments:
Post a Comment