2 Samuel 15 And after this, Abessalom procured for himself chariots, and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ And after this, Abessalom procured for himself chariots, and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ² And Abessalom rose early in the morning, and took his stand at the place where the road turned off to the gate. And when any man who had a controversy came to the king for judgment, Abessalom called to him, and said, Of what city art thou? And when he said, Thy servant is of such a one of the tribes of Israel, ³ Abessalom said to him, Behold thy cause is good, and easily determined, but there is none appointed by the king to hear thee. ⁴ Then would Abessalom say, that they would make me a judge in the land! In that case if any man had a defence to make, or a suit to prosecute, and would come to me, I would do him justice. ⁵ And when any man came to make obeisance to him, he stretched forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. ⁶ In this manner Abessalom acted to all Israel who were coming to the king for judgment, so that Abessalom won the hearts of the men of Israel. ⁷ And at the end of four years Abessalom said to his father, Let me I pray thee go and pay my vows at Chebron, which I vowed to the Lord. ⁸ For when I dwelt at Gedsur, in Syria, thy servant vowed a vow, saying, If the Lord will bring me back to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord. ⁹ And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose and went to Chebron. ¹⁰ Now Abessalom had sent spies through all the tribes of Israel, saying, When you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, Abessalom is king in Chebron. ¹¹ And there went with Abessalom two hundred chosen men out of Jerusalem. They indeed went in their simplicity, for they knew nothing. ¹² And Abessalom sent for Achitophel, the Thekonite, the counsellor of David, from his own city, namely, from Gola, while he was sacrificing. So the conspiracy became strong, and the people who came, and they were many, were with Abessalom. ¹³ And there came a messenger to David, saying, The heart of the men of Israel is gone after Abessalom. ¹⁴ Upon this David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise and let us flee, for there is no safety for us on account of Abessalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and throw the blame on us, when he shall smite the city with the edge of the sword. ¹⁵ And the king's servants said to the king, Whatever our lord the king chuseth, behold we thy servants are ready to do. ¹⁶ So the king and all his household, set out on foot, and the king left ten of his concubines to keep the house. ¹⁷ And when the king, with all his servants, on foot, had gone out, they halted at the farthest house, ¹⁸ and all his servants passed on by him, namely, all the Chelethites, and all the Phelethites, and they halted near the olive yard, in the wilderness. And all the people passed by near him. Now all that were around him; all the nobles, and all the warriors, were six hundred men, and while these stood by him, all the Chelethites, and all the Phelethites, and all the Gethites; the six hundred men who had come on foot from Geth, marched on before the king. ¹⁹ And the king said to Ethi the Gethite, Why shouldst thou go with us? Return and dwell with the king; for thou art a stranger, and hast come as an exile from thy own place. ²⁰ As thou art come but yesterday, shall I to-day cause thee to move with us, and change thy abode? As for me, I will go where I can; but return thou and take back thy brethren with thee; and the Lord will deal mercifully and truly with thee. ²¹ And Ethi answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, whithersoever my lord goeth, whether to death or to life, there shall thy servant be. ²² Whereupon the king said to Ethi, Come and march with me. So Ethi, the Gethite marched on with the king, and all his servants, and all the multitude who were with him. ²³ And all the country wept with a loud voice, while all the people were crossing the brook Kedron. And when the king had crossed the brook Kedron, all the people, and the king, continued their march by the way to the wilderness. ²⁴ Now behold Sadok, and all the Levites, were with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Baithar. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done coming out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Sadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I find favour in the sight of the Lord, he will bring me back, and shew me it and its comeliness. ²⁶ But if he should say, I have no pleasure in thee, behold here am I. Let him do to me as seemeth good in his sight. ²⁷ Then the king said to Sadok the priest, See! thou returnest to the city in peace; and Achimaas, thy son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar; your two sons are with you. ²⁸ See! I will encamp at Araboth of the wilderness, until a message come from you to give me intelligence. ²⁹ So Sadok and Abiathar carried back the ark of God to Jerusalem, and it abode there. ³⁰ And David went up by the ascent of the olive orchards, weeping as he went up, and having his head covered, and walking barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered, every one, his head, and went up weeping as they went. ³¹ And when it was told David that Achitophel was among the conspirators with Abessalom, David said, Confound, I beseech thee, Lord my God, the counsel of Achitophel. ³² And David continued his march till he came to Eos, where he worshipped God. And behold Chousi, an old companion of David, met him there, with his clothes rent, and earth on his head. ³³ And David said to him, If thou go with me, thou wilt be a burden to me: ³⁴ but if thou return to the city, and wilt say to Abessalom, Thy brothers are gone, and the king thy father is gone, and hath left me behind, now therefore, I am thy servant, king. Let me live. I have been thy father's servant hitherto; but now I am thy servant: thou mayst baffle for me the counsel of Achitophel. ³⁵ And behold there are there with thee, Sadok and Abiathar, the priests, so that whatever thou mayst hear from the king's household thou wilt tell to Sadok and Abiathar, the priests. ³⁶ And behold they have there with them their two sons Achimaas, son of Sadok, and Jonathan, son of Abiathar, so that by them you can send to me every thing you may hear. ³⁷ Accordingly, Chousi, David's companion, came to the city, just as Abessalom was entering Jerusalem.