New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him.
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Now after this, Absalom got for himself a carriage and horses, and fifty runners to go before him.
2 Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the road into the gate; and when anyone brought a suit before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out and say, "From what city are you?" When the person said, "Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,"
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And Absalom got up early, morning after morning, and took his place at the side of the public meeting-place: and when any man had a cause which had to come to the king to be judged, then Absalom, crying out to him, said, What is your town? and he would say, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
3 Absalom would say, "See, your claims are good and right; but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you."
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And Absalom would say to him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the king to give you a hearing.
4 Absalom said moreover, "If only I were judge in the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice."
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And more than this, Absalom said, If only I was made judge in the land, so that every man who has any cause or question might come to me, and I would give a right decision for him!
5 Whenever people came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of them, and kiss them.
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And if any man came near to give him honour, he took him by the hand and gave him a kiss.
6 Thus Absalom did to every Israelite who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.
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And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 At the end of four years Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the Lord.
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Now at the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, Let me go to Hebron and give effect to the oath which I made to the Lord:
8 For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram: If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will worship the Lord in Hebron."
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For while I was living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made an oath, saying, If ever the Lord lets me come back to Jerusalem, I will give him worship in Hebron.
9 The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he got up, and went to Hebron.
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And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he got up and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then shout: Absalom has become king at Hebron!"
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But Absalom at the same time sent watchers through all the tribes of Israel to say, At the sound of the horn you are to say, Absalom is king in Hebron.
11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom; they were invited guests, and they went in their innocence, knowing nothing of the matter.
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And with Absalom, at his request, went two hundred men from Jerusalem, who were completely unconscious of his designs.
12 While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.
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And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, one of David's helpers, from Giloh his town, while he was making the offerings. And the design against David became strong, for more and more people were joined to Absalom.
13 A messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the Israelites have gone after Absalom."
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And one came to David and said, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.
14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him at Jerusalem, "Get up! Let us flee, or there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Hurry, or he will soon overtake us, and bring disaster down upon us, and attack the city with the edge of the sword."
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And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Come, let us go in flight, or not one of us will be safe from Absalom: let us go without loss of time, or he will overtake us quickly and send evil on us, and put the town to the sword.
15 The king's officials said to the king, "Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king decides."
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And the king's servants said to the king, See, your servants are ready to do whatever the king says is to be done.
16 So the king left, followed by all his household, except ten concubines whom he left behind to look after the house.
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So the king went out, taking with him all the people of his house, but for ten of his women, who were to take care of the house.
17 The king left, followed by all the people; and they stopped at the last house.
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And the king went out, and all his servants went after him, and made a stop at the Far House.
18 All his officials passed by him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king.
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And all the people went on by his side; and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the men of Ittai of Gath, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, went on before the king.
19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why are you also coming with us? Go back, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile from your home.
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Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you coming with us? go back and keep with the king: for you are a man of another country, you are far from the land of your birth.
20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, while I go wherever I can? Go back, and take your kinsfolk with you; and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you."
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It was only yesterday you came to us; why then am I to make you go up and down with us? for I have to go where I may; go back then, and take your countrymen with you, and may the Lord's mercy and good faith be with you.
21 But Ittai answered the king, "As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be."
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And Ittai the Gittite in answer said, By the living Lord, and by the life of my lord the king, in whatever place my lord the king may be, for life or death, there will your servant be.
22 David said to Ittai, "Go then, march on." So Ittai the Gittite marched on, with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.
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And David said to Ittai, Go forward, then. And Ittai the Gittite went on, with all his men and all the little ones he had with him.
23 The whole country wept aloud as all the people passed by; the king crossed the Wadi Kidron, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.
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And there was great weeping in all the country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the olive-tree on the edge of the waste land.
24 Abiathar came up, and Zadok also, with all the Levites, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, until the people had all passed out of the city.
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Then Zadok came, and Abiathar, and with them the ark of God's agreement: and they put down the ark of God, till all the people from the town had gone by.
25 Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and the place where it stays.
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And the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back into the town: if I have grace in the eyes of the Lord, he will let me come back and see it and his House again:
26 But if he says, "I take no pleasure in you,' here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him."
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But if he says, I have no delight in you: then, here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him.
27 The king also said to the priest Zadok, "Look, go back to the city in peace, you and Abiathar, with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan son of Abiathar.
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The king said further to Zadok the priest, See, you and Abiathar are to go back to the town in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar.
28 See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me."
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See, I will be waiting at the way across the river, in the waste land, till I get news from you.
29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.
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So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and did not go away from there.
30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered and walking barefoot; and all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
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And David went up the slopes of the Mount of Olives weeping all the way, with his head covered and no shoes on his feet: and all the people who were with him, covering their heads, went up weeping.
31 David was told that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, "O Lord, I pray you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness."
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And word came to David, saying, Ahithophel is among those who are joined to Absalom. And David said, O Lord, let the wisdom of Ahithophel be made foolish.
32 When David came to the summit, where God was worshiped, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and earth on his head.
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Now when David had come to the top of the slope, where they gave worship to God, Hushai the Archite came to him in great grief with dust on his head:
33 David said to him, "If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.
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David said to him, If you go on with me, you will be a trouble to me:
34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, "I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,' then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
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But if you go back to the town and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as in the past I have been your father's servant, so now I will be yours: then you will be able to keep Ahithophel's designs against me from being put into effect.
35 The priests Zadok and Abiathar will be with you there. So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to the priests Zadok and Abiathar.
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And have you not there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? so whatever comes to your ears from the king's house, give word of it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
36 Their two sons are with them there, Zadok's son Ahimaaz and Abiathar's son Jonathan; and by them you shall report to me everything you hear."
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See, they have with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar; by them you may send word to me of everything which comes to your ears.
37 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.
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So Hushai, David's friend, went into the town, and Absalom came to Jerusalem.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.