But my servant<n id="1" /> has slandered me<n id="2" /> to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God. Do whatever seems appropriate to you.

Mephibosheth said to the king, &#8220;Let him have<n id="1" /> the whole thing! My lord the king has returned safely<n id="2" /> to his house!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Barzillai replied to the king, &#8220;How many days do I have left to my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

I will cross the Jordan with the king and go a short distance.<n id="1" /> Why should the king reward me in this way?

When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham<n id="1" /> crossed over with him. Now all the soldiers<n id="2" /> of Judah along with half of the soldiers of Israel had helped the king cross over.<n id="3" />p>

The king replied to him, &#8220;Go in peace.&#8221; So Absalom<n id="1" /> got up and went to Hebron.p>

The king and all the people set out on foot, pausing<n id="1" /> at a spot<n id="2" /> some distance away.

The king said, &#8220;Turn aside and take your place here.&#8221; So he turned aside and waited.p>

<p class="bodytext">Ziba said to the king, &#8220;Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.&#8221; So Mephibosheth was a regular guest<n id="1" /> at David&#8217;s table,<n id="2" /> just as though he were one of the king&#8217;s sons.p>

I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful.<n id="1" /> But your servant said, &#8216;I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant<n id="2" /> asks.

Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked<n id="1" /> the king. Joab said, &#8220;Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your<n id="2" /> servant!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">But Ittai replied to the king, &#8220;As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether dead or alive,<n id="1" /> there I<n id="2" /> will be as well!&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">So the king got up and sat at the city gate. When all the people were informed that the king was sitting at the city gate, they<n id="1" /> all came before him.p><t /><p class="bodytext">But the Israelite soldiers<n id="2" /> had all fled to their own homes.<n id="3" />

He said to the king, &#8220;Don&#8217;t think badly of me, my lord, and don&#8217;t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left<n id="1" /> Jerusalem!<n id="2" /> Please don&#8217;t call it to mind!

<p class="bodytext">Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, &#8220;Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan &#8211; and not only him but all of David&#8217;s men as well?&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">

<p class="bodytext">Joab replied to the king, &#8220;May the <sc>Lordsc> your God make the army a hundred times larger right before the eyes of my lord the king! But why does my master the king want to do this?&#8221;p>

The king said, &#8220;Did Joab put you up to all of this?&#8221;<n id="1" /> The woman answered, &#8220;As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant&#8217;s mouth.

The king chanted the following lament for Abner:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Should Abner have died like a fool?p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The king settled into his palace,<n id="1" /> for the <sc>Lordsc> gave him relief<n id="2" /> from all his enemies on all sides.<n id="3" />

Nathan replied to the king, &#8220;You should go<n id="1" /> and do whatever you have in mind,<n id="2" /> for the <sc>Lordsc> is with you.&#8221;