2 Samuel 15:24–36

²⁴Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices^d until all the people had passed out of the city.

²⁵Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again. ²⁶But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.”

²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer?^e Return to the city in peace— you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan.^{f 28}See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

³¹Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.”

So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

³²When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

³³David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me. ³⁴But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’

³⁵Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace. ³⁶Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”