2 Samuel 15:1–18

¹Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. ²He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate.

Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” ³Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”

⁴And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

⁵Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. ⁶Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷After four^a years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD. ⁸For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’^b”

⁹“Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter. ¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh.

So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

¹³Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s servants replied, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

¹⁶Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

¹⁷So the king set out with all the people following him. He stopped at the last house, ¹⁸and all his servants marched past him — all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath.