said to Siba, What meanest thou by these? To which Siba replied, The asses are for the king's family to ride on, and the loaves and the dates for the young men to eat, and the wine for 3 such as are fainty in the wilderness, to drink. Then the king said, But where is thy master's son? And Siba said to the king, Behold he abideth in Jerusalem; for he said, Now will the 4 house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. Thereupon the king said to Siba, Behold all that belong to Memphibosthe are thine. And Siba having bowed down said, Let 5 me find favour in thy sight, O my lord the king. And when king David was going to Baurim, behold there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Se6 mei, son of Gera. He came out, cursing David as he came, and throwing stones at David, and at all the servants of king David. Now all the people, even all the mighty men, were on the 7 right and left of the king. And in this manner Semei expressed himself when he cursed him, Out! Out! thou man of blood! 8 thou miscreant! The Lord hath retorted on thee all the blood of the house of Saul. Because thou hast reigned in his stead, therefore the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hands of Abessalom thy son. And behold thou art in distress, be9 cause thou art a bloody man. Whereupon Abessa, son of Saruia said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, and I will take off his head. 10 But the king said, What is it to me and you, O sons of Sa

ruia? Let him alone, and let him curse on; for the Lord hath told him to curse David, and who shall say, Why hast thou 11 done so? Then David said to Abessa, and to all his servants,

Behold my own son, who is descended from my loins, seeketh my life, and how much more then may this Jeminite do it! Let 12 him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. Perhaps the Lord

may look on my affliction, and return me good for his cursing 13 this day. So David and all his men proceeded on their march, and Semei went along the side of the mountain near him, cursing as he went, and throwing stones from the side of it, 14 and casting up dust. And when the king arrived, and all the people with him, being fatigued, they refreshed themselves there. Now Abessalom and all Israel had come to Jerusalem, and 16 Achitophel with him. And when Chousi, the old companion of

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David, came to Abessalom, Chousi said to Abessalom, God 17 save the king! Whereupon Abessalom said to Chousi, Is this thy kindness for thy friend? Why hast thou not gone with 18 thy friend? And Chousi said to Abessalom, shall I not follow

him whom the Lord hath chosen, and this his people-even all 19 Israel? For him I will be; and with him I will abide. And

in the next place whom should I serve? Must it not be before 20 his son? As I have served before thy father, so will I be before

thee. Then Abessalom said to Achitophel, Consult among 21 yourselves what we shall do. Thereupon Achitophel said to Abessalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, whom he hath left to keep his house; and all Israel will hear that thou hast dishonoured thy father, and the hands of all who are with 22 thee will be strengthened. So they fixed up a tent for Abessa

lom on the top of the house, and Abessalom went in unto his 23 father's concubines, in the sight of all Israel. Now the advice

which Achitophel gave in those first days, was as if one had consulted the oracle of God. Such was every advice of Achitophel both with David and with Abessalom.

XVII. Then Achitophel said to Abessalom, Let me, I pray

thee, chuse out for myself twelve thousand men; and I will arise 2 and pursue David this very night. And I will come upon him while he is weary, and weak handed, and surprise him; so that all the people who are with him will flee. And I will smite the 3 king alone, and bring all the people back to thee, as a bride re

turneth to her husband. Thou seekest only the life of one man, 4 therefore all the people may be at peace. Though this reason

ing seemed good in the sight of Abessalom, and in the sight 5 of all the elders of Israel, yet Abessalom said, Call, I pray you, 6 Chousi the Arachite, and let us hear also what he saith. And when Chousi came to Abessalom, Abessalom spoke to him saying, In this manner Achitophel has spoken; shall we do as he 7 adviseth? If not, speak thou. Upon this Chousi said to Abessalom, The counsel which Achitophel hath given, is, for this 8 once, not good. Thou thyself, said Chousi, knowest thy father and his men, that they are very brave, and chafed in their minds like a bear bereaved of her whelps in the fields; or like a wild boar in the plain. And thy father is a man of war, and 9 will not let the people rest. For behold he is now hid in one of

the mountains, or in some secure place, and it shall be that ́ when he shall sally out on them at the first, every one who heareth will say, There hath been a slaughter among them 10 who follow Abessalom: in which case the son of valour himself, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will assuredly be dismayed. For all Israel know that thy father is a mighty man, 11 and that they who are with him are sons of valour. This therefore is the counsel which I would give; Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, like the sand which is on the sea shore for multitude: and let thy presence go forth in the 12 midst of them. And when we shall come upon him in one of the places where we may find him, we will encamp around him as the dew falleth on the ground. And we will not leave with 13 him or the men who are with him so much as one man. And if he be shut up in any city, all Israel will take ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the ditch, so that there shall not be left so much as a stone.

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And Abessalom, and all Israel, said, The counsel of Chousi the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the Lord had determined to defeat the counsel of Achitophel, which was good, that the Lord might bring upon Abessalom all the consequent evils.

Then Chousi, the Arachite, said to Sadok, and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Achitophel advise Abessalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus I have counselled. 16 Now therefore send speedily, and tell David and say, Lodge not to night at Araboth of the wilderness, but cross with all speed. Perhaps he may prevail with the king and all the peo17 ple who are with him. Now Jonathan and Achimaas had taken their station at the fountain Rogel, and a girl went out, and gave them intelligence, and they went and told David, for they 18 might not be seen entering the city. But a servant saw them and told Abessalom. Now they two had set out with speed, and got to the house of a man at Bakurim, who had a well in 19 his court and they went down into it, and the woman took and

spread a covering over the mouth of the well, and laid thereon balls of dough to dry; so that the thing was not known. 20 And when the servants of Abessalom came to the woman, into the house and said, Where are Achimaas and Jonathan?

The woman said, They went a little while ago over the water. And when they had sought, but did not find them, they re. 21 turned to Jerusalem. And when they were gone, Achimaas and Jonathan came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said to him, Arise and cross the water with all speed: for thus hath Achitophel counselled concerning you. 22 Whereupon David arose, and the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan till the morning light, till there 23 was not one left, who had not crossed the Jordan. Now when Achitophel saw that his advice was not taken, he saddled his ass, and arose, and went to his house to his own city, and having given orders to his household he strangled himself, and died, and was buried in his father's tomb.

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And David continued his march to Manaim, and Abes25 salom crossed the Jordan, he and all Israel with him. Now Abessalom had set Amessai over the army in the room of Joab. Amessai was the son of a man whose name was Jether. He was a Jezraelite, and had married Abigaia, a daughter 26 of Naas, and a sister of Saruia the mother of Joab. And all Israel with Abessalom encamped in the land of Galaad.

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Now when David came to Manaim, Ovesbi, son of Naas, of Rabbath of the Ammonites, and Machir, son of Amiel of 28 Lodabar, and Berzelli, the Galaadite of Rogellim, brought ten beds of double tapestry, and ten kettles and vessels of earthen ware, and wheat, and barley, and fine flour, and meal, and beans, and lentils, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and curd29 led milk of kine, and presented them to David, and to the people who were with him, to eat. For they said, The people XVIII. must be hungry and weary in the wilderness. And when David had reviewed the people who were with him, and set over them captains of thousands, and captains of hun2 dreds, he sent forth the people, one third under the command of

Joab; and one third under the command of Abessa, the son of 3 Saruia, and brother of Joab, and one third under the command of Ethi the Gethite. And David said to the people, I myself will go out with you. But they said, Thou must not go out. For if we should flee they will pay no regard to us; for if one half of us should die, they will not care for us: for thou art worth ten thousand of us. Now therefore it is best that thou shouldst be

4 in the city to succour and help us. And the king said, Whatever seemeth best in your eyes I will do. So the king stood by the side of the gate, and when all the people were marching out by 5 hundreds, and by thousands, the king gave a charge to Joab, and to Abessa, and to Ethi saying, Spare, for my sake, the young man Abessalom. And all the people heard the king giving this 6 charge to all the commanders respecting Abessalom. And all the people went out to the forest, in front of Israel, and the battle 7 was fought in the forest of Ephraim, and Israel there gave way before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter 8 that day, to the amount of twenty thousand men. For the battle was there scattered over the whole face of the ground, and the forest devoured more of the people than the sword destroyed that 9 day. And as Abessalom was advancing to meet the servants of David, being mounted on his mule, his mule entered the thickest copse of that great oak forest, and his head got entangled among the oaks so that he was suspended between heaven and 10 earth, and the mule went from under him. And a man saw him, and told Joab, and said, Behold I saw Abessalom hang11 ing among the oaks. Whereupon Joab said to the man who told him, And behold thou sawest! Why didst thou not smite him there to the ground; and I would have given thee ten pieces 12 of silver, and a girdle? And the man said, As I live, though I might have a thousand shekels of silver weighed into my hands, I would not lay my hands on the king's son. For in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abessa, and Ethi, saying, Spare, for my sake, the young man Abessalom; touch not his life. 13 Now nothing can be hid from the king. Even thou thyself 14 wouldst stand aloof. And Joab said, I myself will in this case, set the example. I will not boggle so in thy sight. Then Joab took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through Abessalom's heart, while he was still alive in the heart of the forest. 15 And when the ten young men, who carried Joab's arms, had 16 surrounded and smitten Abessalom, and put him to death, Joab

sounded the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing 17 Israel; for Joab had mercy on the people. And he took Abes

salom, and threw him into a great chasm in the forest, into the great pit, and piled over him a great heap of stones. And all 18 Israel fled every man to his tent. Now Abessalom had, in his life