Ziba brings food to David
1David went up the hill and he was not far from the top when Ziba came to him. Ziba was a servant of Mephibosheth. He had 2 donkeys with him. On the saddles of the donkeys were 200 loaves of bread, 100 handfuls of raisins, 100 cakes of dried figs and a skin-bag full of wine. 2The king said to Ziba: ‘For whom did you bring all this food?’ Ziba said: ‘The donkeys are for the family of the king. They must ride on the donkeys. The bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is for anyone who gets tired in the desert.’
3Then the king asked Ziba: ‘Where is Mephibosheth, your master's grandson?’ Ziba said: ‘He is in Jerusalem because he said: “Today the Israelites will give back to me my grandfather's kingdom.” ’ 4The king said to Ziba: ‘Everything that was Mephibosheth's is now yours.’ Ziba answered: ‘Your_Majesty, I bow before you. I hope you will be pleased with me.’
Shimei curses King David
5When King David came into the town of Bahurim, someone from the family of Saul came out of the town. It was Shimei, son of Gera. While he was coming to David, Shimei cursed David. 6He threw stones at David and at all the officials of the king and all the people who walked with the king. 7Shimei cursed David and he said: ‘Go away, go away. You are a murderer and a bad man. 8The Lord is punishing you now because you killed all of Saul's family when you became king after him. Now the Lord has made your son Absalom king after you. He did it because you are a murderer.’
9Abishai, son of Zeruiah, asked the king: ‘Why is this man cursing you, Your_Majesty? He is as bad as a dead dog. Can I go and cut off his head?’ 10But the king said: ‘Sons of Zeruiah, you and I can do nothing when he curses me. It is God who told him to curse me. No one can ask him why he does it.’
11David said to Abishai and all the officials: ‘Remember, my son wants to kill me. Leave this man from the Benjamin tribe alone. He curses me because the Lord told him to do it. 12Maybe the Lord will see how I suffer, and maybe He will be good to me after this man has cursed me.’
13David and his men went on. But Shimei walked against the side of the mountain next to the road and he continued to curse David and throw stones and dust at them. 14The king and all the people with him were very tired when they came to the Jordan River and David rested there for a while.
David's friend Hushai goes to Absalom
15When Absalom and all the men of Israel came into Jerusalem, Ahithophel was with him. 16David's friend Hushai, from the Arkite family, went to Absalom and he said to him: ‘Long live the king. Long live the king.’
17Absalom asked Hushai: ‘Is this what you do to your friend David? Why didn't you go with your friend?’ 18Then Hushai said to Absalom: ‘No, I belong to you. The Lord and the people and all the men of Israel have chosen you and I want to stay with you. 19For whom will I work? In the past I have worked for your father, and now I will work for his son.’
20Absalom said to Ahithophel: ‘Come, you must tell me what we must do.’ 21Then Ahithophel said: ‘Your father left his concubines here to look after the palace. You must go and have sex with them. When all the people of Israel see how you humiliate your father, they will do what you say.’
22They put up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace and all the people of Israel saw how he had sex with his father's concubines. 23At that time people thought that Ahithophel was very wise, and they thought it was God who told him what to say to the king. That is what David and Absalom thought of Ahithophel.
