Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. ¹  Let the king and his servants go with me.”

In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west ¹  on a road beside the hill.

But Absalom fled and went to King Talmai son of Ammihud of Geshur. And David ¹  grieved over his son every day.

Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I ¹  will do this thing! Go and bring back the young man Absalom!

After four ¹  years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.

So David said to Ittai, “Come along then.” ¹  So Ittai the Gittite went along, ²  accompanied by all his men and all the dependents ³  who were with him.

Absalom said to Hushai, “Do you call this loyalty to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it.

So the king returned and came to the Jordan River. ¹  Now the people of Judah ²  had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him ³  cross the Jordan.

When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”

and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ²  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³ 

The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” ¹ 

“Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.’”

Then Abner spoke privately ¹  with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately ²  of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to. ³ 

Now David’s soldiers ¹  and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David ²  had sent him away and he had left in peace.

David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!” Now King David followed ¹  behind the funeral bier.

They had entered ¹  the house while Ish-bosheth ²  was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him ³  and then cut off his head. ⁴  Taking his head, ⁵  they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night.

Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem ¹  against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites ²  said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

David and all the men who were with him traveled ¹  to ²  Baalah ³  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ⁴  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

David was told, ¹  “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.