1 When David and the others had gone a little way past the top of the hill, Mephibosheth’s servant Ziba met him. He had with him two donkeys that were carrying 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches/clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of fresh fruit, and a leather bag full of wine.

2 The king said to Ziba, “What are these for?” Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for your family to ride on, the bread and the fruit are for your soldiers to eat, and the wine is for them to drink when they become exhausted in the desert.”

3 The king said, “Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your former master Saul?” Ziba deceived David by saying, “He stayed in Jerusalem, because he thinks that now the Israeli people will allow him to rule the kingdom that his grandfather Saul ruled.”

4 The king said to Ziba, “Okay, everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” Ziba replied, “Your Majesty, I will humbly serve you; and I desire/hope that you will always be pleased with me.”

5 When King David and those with him arrived at Bahurim town, a man named Shimei met him. Shimei, whose father was Gera, was one of Saul’s relatives. Shimei was cursing David as he approached. 6 Then he threw stones at David and his officials, even though the officials and David’s bodyguards surrounded David. 7 Shimei cursed David and said to him, “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel! 8 Yahweh is ◄getting revenge on/punishing► you all for murdering [MTY] many people in Saul’s family. And now he is giving Saul’s kingdom to your son Absalom. You murderer, you are being paid back for the many people that you have killed/murdered [MTY]!”

9 Then Abishai said to the king, “Your Majesty, this man is as worthless as [MET] a dead dog! ◄Why should he be allowed to curse you?/He should not be allowed to curse you.► [RHQ] Allow me to go over there and cut off his head!”

10 But the king replied, “You two sons of Zeruiah, ◄do not tell me what to do/this does not concern you► [RHQ]. If he is cursing me because Yahweh told him to do that, certainly no one should say ‘◄Why are you doing that?/You should not be doing that.► [RHQ]’ ”

11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his officials, “You know that my own son is trying to kill me. So it is not surprising that this man from the tribe of Benjamin is also trying to kill me. So ignore him, and allow him to curse me, because perhaps he thinks that Yahweh told him to do that. 12 Perhaps Yahweh will see that I am having all this trouble, and some day he will repay me by ◄blessing/doing good things for► me in return for this man cursing me today.” 13 Then David and those who were with him walked along the road, and Shimei continued walking along the hillside near him. While he walked along, he cursed David and threw stones and dirt at him. 14 When David and those who were with him arrived at the Jordan River, they were very tired. So they rested there.

15 While that was happening, Absalom and all the Israeli people who were with him had arrived in Jerusalem. Ahithophel had also arrived there. 16 When David’s friend Hushai came to Absalom, he said to Absalom, “I desire/hope that the king will live a long time! May you live for many years!”

17 Absalom said to Hushai, “You have been loyal [RHQ] to your friend David for a long time. So why did you not go with him instead of coming to me?”

18 Hushai replied, “I will serve the one whom Yahweh and these people and all the other people of Israel have chosen to be their king. So I will stay with you. 19 You are my master King David’s son; if I do not serve you, what other man should I serve [RHQ]? I will serve you as I served your father.”

20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “What do you advise that we should do?”

21 Ahithophel replied, “Your father left some of his slave wives in the palace to take care of it. Have sex [EUP] with them. When everyone in Israel hears that you have done that, they will realize that you are acting very contemptuously toward your father. Then all those who are with you will be very encouraged.” 22 So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. And Absalom went into the tent and had sex [EUP] with his father’s slave wives, one by one, and everyone [HYP] could see him going into the tent.

23 In those days, people accepted what Ahithophel recommended as though he were speaking the words of God. So just as David had always accepted what Ahithophel said, now Absalom did also.

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