2 Samuel 19
Would That I Had Died Instead of You
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My Son Absalom!
19:1The king was shaken and went up to the upper chamber over the gate and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only my death had been granted instead of yours—I instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!”
19:2Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.”
19:3That day’s deliverance turned to mourning for all the people, because the people heard that day, “The king is grieving over his son.”
19:4That day the people slipped into the city as people slip away in shame when they flee in battle.
19:5The king hid his face and cried aloud, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son!”
Joab Rebukes the King
19:6Joab came to the king in the house and said, “Today you have shamed all your servants, who rescued you today and the lives of your sons, daughters, wives, and concubines,
19:7by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. Today you have declared that your officers and servants do not exist. I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us dead today, that would be right in your eyes.
19:8Now rise, go out, and speak to your servants’ hearts. I swear by the Lord: if you do not go out today, not one man will stay with you tonight. Understand this for yourself: this will be worse for you than all the calamity that has come upon you from your youth until now.”
19:9The king rose and sat in the gate. All the people announced, “The king is sitting in the gate,” and all the people came before the king. Israel had fled, each to his tents.
Judah Called to Bring the King Back
19:10All the people were disputing throughout all the tribes of Israel: “King David delivered us from all our enemies and rescued us from the hand of the foreigners. Now he has fled from the land and from his kingdom because of Absalom.
19:11Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Why are you silent now about bringing the king back?” The word of all Israel reached the king.
19:12King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar the priests: “Speak to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house? The word of all Israel has reached the king.
19:13You are my brothers, my bones and my flesh. Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house?’
19:14Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? Now may God do so to me, and more besides, if you are not commander of the army before me always in Joab’s place.’”
19:15He turned the heart of every man of Judah as one man, and they sent word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants.”
19:16The king returned and came as far as the Jordan. The men of Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and bring the king across the Jordan.
Shimei Meets the King
19:17Shimei son of Gera, son of the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David,
19:18with a thousand men from Benjamin beside him. Ziba, the servant of Saul’s house, was there, with his fifteen sons beside him and his twenty servants beside him. They made the Jordan ready before the king,
19:19and performed the service of bringing the king across. The ferry crossed to rouse the king’s household and do what was right in his eyes. Shimei son of Gera fell on his face before the king as he was crossing the Jordan.
19:20He said to the king, “Let my lord not reckon lawlessness. Do not remember your servant’s wrongs on the day my lord the king was leaving Jerusalem, so that the king takes them to heart.
19:21Your servant knows that I have sinned. See, I have come today ahead of all the house of Joseph, to come down and meet my lord the king.”
19:22Abishai son of Zeruiah answered, “Should Shimei not be put to death for this, since he cursed the Lord’s anointed?”
19:23David said, “What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should become a plotter against me today? No man of Israel will be put to death today, for I do not know whether I reign over Israel today.”
19:24The king said to Shimei, “You will certainly not die.” The king swore to him.
Mephibosheth Meets the King
19:25Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had not tended his feet, cut his nails, trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace.
19:26When he entered Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”
19:27Mephibosheth said to him, “My lord the king, my servant deceived me. Your servant had said to him, ‘Saddle the donkey for me, so that I may ride it and go with the king,’ for your servant is lame.
19:28He schemed against your servant before my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God; do what is good in your eyes.
19:29All my father’s house were nothing but men liable to death before my lord the king, yet you placed your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I to cry out again to the king?”
19:30The king said to him, “Why speak any further about your affairs? I have said: you and Ziba shall divide the land.”
19:31Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take it all, now that my lord the king has returned to his house in peace.”
Barzillai the Gileadite
19:32Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and crossed the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan.
19:33Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years of age. He had supported the king during his stay at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man.
19:34The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will support your old age beside me in Jerusalem.”
19:35Barzillai said to the king, “How many days remain in the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
19:36I am eighty years old today. Can I discern good from bad? Can your servant still taste what I eat or drink? Can I still hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king?
19:37Your servant will cross the Jordan with the king only a little way. Why should the king repay me with this repayment?
19:38Please let your servant remain, so that I may die in my own city beside my father’s and mother’s grave. Here is your servant Chimham; he will cross with my lord the king. Do for him what is good in your eyes.”
19:39The king said, “Let Chimham cross with me, and I will do for him what is good in your eyes. Whatever you choose to ask of me, I will do for you.”
19:40All the people crossed the Jordan, and the king crossed. The king warmly kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned to his own place.
19:41The king crossed on to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed with him. All the people of Judah crossed with the king, and also half the people of Israel.
The Quarrel Between Israel and Judah
19:42All the men of Israel came to the king and said, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king and his household across the Jordan, with all David’s men beside him?”
19:43All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “The king is close to us. Why are you so angry about this? Have we eaten at the king’s expense? Has he given us a gift, or carried a contribution to us?”
19:44The men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and we are firstborn compared with you. We also have a greater claim on David than you. Why have you insulted us? Was our proposal not considered first for bringing the king back to us?” But the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V2 · working draft awaiting specialist review.