VIN(i)
1 And after this Absalom began to furnish himself with a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2 And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate. And it was so, if any man had a suit to come before the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him and said, What city are you from? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
3 Absalom said to him, "Look, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you."
4 And Absalom would say, Oh, that I were made judge in the land, that everyone who has any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
5 The man would approach Absalom and bow down before him. Then Absalom would reach out and hug and kiss him.
6 And Absalom acted this way to all Israel who came in to the king for judgment. And Absalom stole the heart of the men of Israel.
7 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 "When I lived at Geshur in Syria (Aram), I promised the LORD that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron."
9 The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose, and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you will say, Absalom is king in Hebron.
11 Meanwhile, 200 men left Jerusalem with Absalom. They had been invited to go along, but were innocent, not knowing anything about what was happening.
12 Absalom was offering sacrifices. He sent for Ahithophel, David's adviser, to come from his home in Giloh. Meanwhile, the conspiracy grew stronger. The number of people siding with Absalom kept getting larger.
13 A messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom."
14 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 servants said to the king, "Look, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses."
16 The king left on foot. His whole household followed him. The king left ten concubines behind to take care of the palace.
17 So the king went out with all the people following him, and they stopped at the last house.
18 All his mercenaries passed by him. The Cherethites, all the Pelethites, Ittai, and all six hundred men who had followed him from Gath marched past the king.