any more. Then said she: I pray thee, let the king remember Yahweh thy God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said: As Yahweh liveth, there shall not a hair of thy son fall to the ground.

Then the woman said: Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word more to the king. And he said: Say on. And the woman said: Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty; in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished son. For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person; but let him devise means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him. Now then, seeing that I am come to speak this word unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid; and thy handmaid said: I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. Then thine handmaid said: The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable; for as a messenger of God, so is the king to discern good and bad; therefore Yahweh thy God will be with thee.

Hide not, I

Then the king answered and said unto the woman: pray, from me the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said: Let my lord the king now speak. And the king said: Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said: As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab, he bade me and he put all these words in the mouth of thy handmaid; to change the face of the matter hath thy servant Joab done this thing; and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

Then the king said unto Joab: Behold now, I have granted this request; go, therefore, bring the young man Absalom back. And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and prostrated himself, and blessed the king; and Joab said: To-day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath performed the request of thy servant. So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. And the king said: Let him turn to his own house but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and saw not the face of the king.

So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and he saw not the king's face. Then Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; and he sent a second time, but he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants: See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him: Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab: Behold, I sent unto thee, saying: Come hither that I may send thee unto the king, to say: Wherefore am I come from Geshur? It were better for me to be there still. Now therefore, let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me. So Joab came to the king and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.

Now it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom used to rise up early and stand beside the way of the gate; and it was so, that when any man came to the king for judgment, that Absalom called unto him and said: Of what city art thou? And if he said: Thy servant is of such a one of the tribes of Israel, Absalom would say unto him: See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. He said moreover: O that I were made judge in the land, that every man who hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to prostrate himself before him, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment. Thus Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

And it came to pass, at the end of his fortieth year, that Absalom said unto the king: I pray thee, let me go and pay the vow which I have vowed unto Yahweh, in Hebron. For thy servant did vow a vow while I abode at Geshur in Aram, saying: If Yahweh will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh. And the king said: Go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying: As soon as ye hear the sound of the horn, then ye shall say: Absalom is king in Hebron. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they knew not anything. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gileadite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

And there came a messenger to David, saying: The hearts of the men of Israel are gone after Absalom. And David said unto all the servants that were with him in Jerusalem: Arise and let us flee, for else none of us shall escape from Absalom; make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And the king's servants said unto the king: Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever the king my lord shall choose. And the king went forth, and all his household with him. And the king left ten women that were concubines to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him; and they tarried in Beth-merhak. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men that came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then said the king to Ittai, the Gittite: Wherefore goest thou also with us? return and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and also an exile from thine own place. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may? Return thou and take back thy brethren with thee in kindness and truth. And Ittai answered the king, and said: As Yahweh liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will thy servant be. And David said to Ittai: Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. And all the country wept with a loud voice as all the people passed over; and as the king passed over the brook Kidron, all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.

And lo, Zadok also came, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God until all the people had done passing out

of the city. And the king said unto Zadok: Carry back the ark of God into the city; if I shall find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, He will bring me back, and show me both it and His habitation; but if He say thus: I have no delight in thee, behold, here am I; let Him do as seemeth good unto Him. The king also said unto Zadok the priest: Seest thou? return into the city in peace and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz, thy son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar. See, I will tarry in the plains of the wilderness until there cometh word from you to announce to Zadok therefore, and Abiathar, carried the ark back to Jerusalem, and they abode there.

me.

And David went up by the ascent of Olivet and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot; and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. And one told David, saying: Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said: O Yahweh, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the ascent, where he was wont to worship God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent and earth upon his head. And David said unto him: If thou passest on with me, then thou wilt be a burden unto me; but if thou will return to the city, and say unto Absalom: I will be thy servant, O king; then thou wilt defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar, the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me everything that ye shall hear. So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom was at the point of entering Jerusalem.

And where is thy master's son? he abideth in Jerusalem; for he restore me the kingdom of my Behold, thine is all that pertaineth I prostrate myself; let me find

And when David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto Ziba: What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said: The asses are for the king's household to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said: And Ziba said unto the king: Behold, said, To-day will the house of Israel father. Then said the king to Ziba: to Mephibosheth. And Ziba said: favor in thy sight, my lord O king. And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out and kept on cursing as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed: Begone, begone, thou bloody man and base fellow! Yahweh hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and Yahweh hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and behold, thou art taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood. Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah to the king: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head. And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye

sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse because Yahweh hath said unto him: Curse David; who then shall say: Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants: Behold! my son, who came forth of my body, seeketh my life; how much more this Benjamite now? Let him alone, and let him curse, for Yahweh hath bidden him. It may be that Yahweh will look into my eye, and that Yahweh will requite me with good for his cursing this day. So David and his men went by the road, and Shimei went along on the hillside over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him and cast dust. And the king and all the people that were with him became weary, and refreshed themselves there.

Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom: Long live the king, Long live the king! And Absalom said unto Hushai: Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend? And Hushai said unto Absalom: Nay, but whom Yahweh and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I abide. And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.

Then said Absalom to Ahithophel: Give your counsel what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom: Go in unto thy father's concubines, that he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that thou art abhorred of thy father; then will the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. Now the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days was as if a man inquired of the word of God; so was the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom: Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and course after David this night; and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people that are with him shall flee, and I will smite the king only; and I will bring back all the people unto thee; when all the people shall have returned save the man whom thou seekest, all the people will be at peace. And the saying pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel.

Then said Absalom: Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says. And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying: Ahithophel hath spoken after this fashion; shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou. And Hushai said unto Absalom: The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good. Hushai said moreover: Thou knowest thy father and his men that they are mighty men, and they are embittered in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with his people. Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place; and it will come to pass, when they fall upon them at the first, whosoever heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom. Then even he that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and mighty men are with him. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. So shall

we come upon him in some place where he shall be found; and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him we will not leave so much as one. Moreover, if he withdraw himself into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the valley until there be not one small stone found there. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said: The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil upon Absalom.

Then said Hushai to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests: Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and thus have I counselled. Now, therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying: Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but in any wise pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by Enrogel, that they might not be seen coming into the city; and a maid went out and told them; and they went and told king David. Nevertheless, a lad saw them and told Absalom; but they went away both of them quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim which had a well in its court, into which they went down. And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known. And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house they said: Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them: they are gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass after they were departed, that they came up out of the well and went and told David, and they said unto him: Arise, and pass quickly over the water, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you. Then David arose, and all the people which were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan.

Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose and gat him home to his city, and set his house in order and strangled himself; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

When David was come to Mahanaim, Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. And Absalom had set Amasa over the host instead of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Jezreelite, who married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.) And Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

And it came to pass that when David was come to Mahanaim, Shob, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, brought beds and basins and earthen vessels, and wheat and barley and meal, and parched corn and beans and parched pulse, and honey and curd and cheese of kine and sheep for David, and for the people that were with him to eat; for they said: The people is hungry and faint and thirsty in the wilderness.

And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. And David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto