2 Samuel 15 And after this Absalom began to furnish himself with a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ And after this Absalom began to furnish himself with a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ² And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate. And it was so, if any man had a suit to come before the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him and said, What city are you from? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. ³ Absalom said to him, "Look, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you." ⁴ And Absalom would say, Oh, that I were made judge in the land, that everyone who has any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! ⁵ The man would approach Absalom and bow down before him. Then Absalom would reach out and hug and kiss him. ⁶ And Absalom acted this way to all Israel who came in to the king for judgment. And Absalom stole the heart of the men of Israel. ⁷ Now at the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, Let me go to Hebron and give effect to the oath which I made to the Lord: ⁸ "When I lived at Geshur in Syria (Aram), I promised the LORD that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron." ⁹ The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose, and went to Hebron. ¹⁰ But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you will say, Absalom is king in Hebron. ¹¹ Meanwhile, 200 men left Jerusalem with Absalom. They had been invited to go along, but were innocent, not knowing anything about what was happening. ¹² Absalom was offering sacrifices. He sent for Ahithophel, David's adviser, to come from his home in Giloh. Meanwhile, the conspiracy grew stronger. The number of people siding with Absalom kept getting larger. ¹³ A messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom." ¹⁴ And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Come, let us go in flight, or not one of us will be safe from Absalom: let us go without loss of time, or he will overtake us quickly and send evil on us, and put the town to the sword. ¹⁵ The king's servants said to the king, "Look, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses." ¹⁶ The king left on foot. His whole household followed him. The king left ten concubines behind to take care of the palace. ¹⁷ So the king went out with all the people following him, and they stopped at the last house. ¹⁸ All his mercenaries passed by him. The Cherethites, all the Pelethites, Ittai, and all six hundred men who had followed him from Gath marched past the king. ¹⁹ The king asked Ittai from Gath: "Why should you go with us? Go back, and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. ²⁰ "In fact you came to us just yesterday. Should I make you wander around with me when I do not even know where I am going? Go back and take your countrymen with you. May the LORD always show you kindness." ²¹ And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will your servant be. ²² Then said David unto Ittai—Go, and pass on. So Ittai the Gittite passed on, with all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. ²³ And all the land wept aloud as all the people went by. And the king also passed over the Kidron Valley, and all the people passed by on the Olive road into the wilderness. ²⁴ Suddenly Zadok was there, and all of the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people passed out of the city. ²⁵ And the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find grace in the eyes of the LORD, then He will bring me back and show it and His dwelling place to me. ²⁶ But if he says, I have no delight in you: then, here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him. ²⁷ Then the king said to Zadok the priest, "Are you a seer? Return to the city in peace, with Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, your two sons with you. ²⁸ Look, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me." ²⁹ And Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem. And they remained there. ³⁰ Now David was going up on the Ascent of the Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and going barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered their head and wept as they went. ³¹ Now David was told, "Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom." Then David said, "Please frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel, O LORD." ³² When David had come to the top, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his tunic torn, and earth on his head. ³³ David said to him, "If you move on with me, you will be a burden to me, ³⁴ But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; I have been your father's servant until now, and now I also will be your servant, then you may break down the advice of Ahithophel for me. ³⁵ "Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you. You can tell them everything you hear in the palace. ³⁶ Lo, there with them [are] their two sons, Ahimaaz to Zadok, and Jonathan to Abiathar, and you have sent by their hand unto me anything that you hear.. ³⁷ So David's friend Hushai went back to the city just as Absalom was arriving in Jerusalem.