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2 Samuel 19:1-43 — David Returns to Jerusalem

2Sam.19.1-43

¹The king was deeply shaken, and he went up to the upper chamber of the city gate and wept. And as he went, he said this: “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!” ²Someone told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.” ³And the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieving over his son.” ⁴The people stole into the city that day, just as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. ⁵The king covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁶Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, "Today you have shamed the faces of all your servants, who today have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines. ⁷You love those who hate you, and you hate those who love you! For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you. For I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right in your eyes. ⁸Now therefore arise, go out, and speak to the heart of your servants. For I swear by the LORD, if you do not go out, not a man will stay with you tonight. And this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now." ⁹So the king arose and sat in the gate. And it was told to all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” Then all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled, each man to his tent. ¹⁰And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and he saved us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. ¹¹And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why are you silent about bringing the king back?" ¹²King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, 'Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house? For the word of all Israel has come to the king, to his house. ¹³You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh . Why then should you be the last to bring the king back?' ¹⁴And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God deal with me ever so severely if you are not the commander of the army before me continually in place of Joab.'" ¹⁵So he swayed the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your servants.” ¹⁶The king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal to go meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan. ¹⁷Then Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried and went down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁸There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him. They rushed to the Jordan before the king, ¹⁹and crossed the ford to bring over the king's household and to do what was good in his eyes. And Shimei son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan, ²⁰and he said to the king, "Let not my lord hold me guilty, and do not remember the wrong your servant did on the day my lord the king went out of Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart. ²¹For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king." ²²But Abishai son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the anointed of the LORD?” ²³David said, “What have I to do with you , you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” ²⁴The king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore an oath to him. ²⁵Now Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet , nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace. ²⁶And when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” ²⁷He answered, "My lord the king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, 'I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king,' because your servant is lame. ²⁸And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; therefore do what is good in your eyes. ²⁹For all my father's house were nothing but men deserving of death before my lord the king, yet you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right do I have, then, to cry out anymore to the king?" ³⁰The king said to him, “Why do you speak anymore of your affairs? I have said, you and Ziba shall divide the land.” ³¹Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.” ³²Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he crossed the Jordan with the king to escort him across the Jordan. ³³Barzillai was very old, eighty years of age. He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. ³⁴The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.” ³⁵But Barzillai said to the king, "How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁶I am eighty years old today. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? ³⁷Your servant will just cross the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? ³⁸Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your eyes." ³⁹The king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your eyes; and whatever you choose to ask of me, I will do for you.” ⁴⁰Then all the people crossed the Jordan, and the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own place. ⁴¹The king crossed over to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed over with him. All the people of Judah escorted the king across, and also half the people of Israel. ⁴²And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king and his household across the Jordan, and all David's men with him?” ⁴³Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense? Or has anything been taken as a gift for us?”

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4/11/2026

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