2 Samuel 15:13-37 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

2 Samuel 15:13-37

David Flees Jerusalem

13 Then an informant came to David, saying, “^aThe hearts of the men of Israel ¹have followed Absalom.” 14 So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “^aArise and let us flee, for otherwise there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go in haste, lest he overtake us hastily and drive calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15 Then the king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” 16 So the king went out and all his household ¹with him. But ^athe king left ten concubines to keep the house. 17 And the king went out and all the people ¹with him, and they stopped at the last house. 18 Now all his servants passed on beside him, ^aall the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, ^bsix hundred men who had come ¹with him from Gath, passed on before the king.
19 Then the king said to ^aIttai the Gittite, “Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place. 20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander with us, going about, while ^aI go where I go? Return and cause your brothers to return; ^blovingkindness and ¹truth be with you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king and said, “As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely ^awherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.” 22 So David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. 23 While all the country was weeping with a loud voice, all the people passed over. The king also passed over ^athe brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward ^bthe way of the wilderness.
24 Now behold, ^aZadok also came, and all the Levites with him ^bcarrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and ^cAbiathar came up until all the people had finished passing from the city. 25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of Yahweh, then ^aHe will cause me to return and show me both it and ^bHis habitation. 26 But if He should say thus, ‘^aI have no delight in you,’ behold, here I am, ^blet Him do to me as seems good in His sight.” 27 The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Are you not ^aa seer? Return to the city in peace and your ^btwo sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I am going to wait ^aat the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there.
30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and ^ahis head was covered and he was walking ^bbarefoot. And all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they went. 31 Now David informed them, saying, “^aAhithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Yahweh, I pray, ^bmake the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.”
32 Then it happened that as David was coming to the summit, where he used to worship God, that behold, Hushai the ^aArchite met him with his ¹coat torn and ²dust on his head. 33 And David said to him, “If you pass over with me, then you will be ^aa burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city, and ^asay to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant,’ then you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me. 35 Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So it shall be that ^awhatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall inform Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Behold, ^atheir two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and ^bby their hand you shall send me everything that you hear.” 37 So Hushai, ^aDavid’s friend, came into the city, and ^bAbsalom came into Jerusalem.