spiracy with Absalom, and David said: Infatuate, O Lord, I beseech thee, the counsel of Achitophel. XVI. 5-15. And king David came as far as Bahurim: and behold there 2 Kings came out from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named Semei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on, and he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the warriors walked on the right and on the left side of the king. And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial. The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of Saul: because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood. And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go, and cut off his head. And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bid him curse David:* and who is he that shall dare say: Why hath he done so? And the king said to Abisai, and to all his servants: Behold my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now a son of Jemini? let him alone, that he may curse as the Lord hath bidden him : perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and the Lord may render me good for the cursing of this day. And David and his men with him went by the way. And Semei by the hill's side went over-against him, cursing, and casting stones at him, and scattering earth. And the king and all the people with him came weary, and refreshed themselves there. But Absalom and all his people came into Jerusalem, and Achitophel was with him. And David having reviewed his people, appointed over them 2 Kings captains of thousands and of hundreds, and sent forth a third XVIII. 1-18. part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth; and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you. And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth for if we flee away, they will not much mind us or if half of us should fall, they will not greatly care for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is *Not that the Lord was the author of Semei's sin, from his own malice, and the abuse of his free-will. suffering his malicious disposition to break out on this of him as His instrument to punish David for his sins. which proceeded purely better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us. And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by their troops, by hundreds and by thousands. And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to all the princes concerning Absalom. Absalom's Defeat and Death.-So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. And the people of Israel were defeated there by David's army, and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men. And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest consumed than whom the sword devoured that day. And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak, and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on. And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging upon an oak. And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a belt? And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by me? And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak, ten young men, armour-bearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him slew him. And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the multitude. And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but all Israel fled to their own dwellings. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king's valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own name, and it is called The hand of Absalom, to this day. And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for 2 Kings his son and the victory that day was turned into mourning XIX. 1-8. unto all the people for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his son. And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a people would do that hath turned their backs, and fled away from the battle. : And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son. Then Joab going into the house to the king said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines. Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee: and thou hast shown this day that thou carest not for thy nobles, nor for thy servants and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee. Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night and that will be worse to thee than all the evils that have befallen thee from thy youth until now. Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all the people that the king sat in the gate and all the people came before the king, but Israel fled to their own dwellings. David's Return.-And the king returned and came as far as 2 Kings the Jordan, and all Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, XIX, 15-23. and to bring him over the Jordan. And Semei the son of Gera, the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David, with a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul: and his fifteen sons and twenty servants were with him and going over the Jordan, they passed the fords before the king, that they might help over the king's household, and do according to his commandment. And Semei the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan, said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, lord my king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king. For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to meet my lord the king. But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord's anointed? And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? why are you adversaries this day to me? shall there any man be killed this day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king over Israel? And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore unto him. 2 Kings Berzellai also the Galaadite, coming down from Rogelim, XIX. 31-39. brought the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him beyond the river. Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say, fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich. And the king said to Berzellai : Come with me, that thou mayest rest secure with me in Jerusalem. 2 Kings XXIV. 1-4. And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? I am this day fourscore years old; are my senses quick to discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or can I hear any more the voice of singing-men and singing-women? why should thy servant be a burden to the lord my king? I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee: I need not this recompense. But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father and of my mother. But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, lord my king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee. Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou shalt ask of me thou shalt obtain. And when all the people and the king had passed over the Jordan, the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him and he returned to his own place. So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him.* SECT. LXIX. DAVID'S SIN IN NUMBERING THE PEOPLE. HIS PUNISHMENT. David numbers the People.-And the anger of the Lord. was again kindled against Israel, and stirred up David against them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda. And the king said. to Joab the general of his army: Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Bersabee,† and number ye the people that I may know the number of them. And Joab said to the king: The Lord thy God increase thy people, and make them as many *After this there was a famine for three years, and when David inquired the cause he was told that it was because of Saul's sin in destroying the Gabaonites, with whom Josue had made a league. To make satisfaction for this, seven of Saul's remaining descendants were given up to the Gabaonites. These two towns were at the extremities of the kingdom, Dan at the north and Bersabee at the south. more as they are now, and again multiply them a hundred-fold presence XXIV. 8-24. And having gone through the whole land, after nine months 2 Kings and twenty days, they came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people to the king, and there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword and of Juda five hundred thousand fighting men. But David's heart struck him, after the people were numbered, and David said to the Lord: I have sinned very much in what I have done : but I pray Thee, O Lord, to take away the iniquity of Thy servant, because I have done exceeding foolishly. And David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet and the seer of David, saying: Go, and say to David: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee thy choice of three things; choose one of them which thou wilt, that I may do it to thee. And when Gad was come to David, he told him, saying: Either seven years of famine shall come to thee in thy land: or thou shalt flee three months before thy adversaries, and they shall pursue thee: or for three days there shall be a pestilence in thy land. Now therefore deliberate, and see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me. And David said to Gad: I am in a great strait: but it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for His mercies are many) than into the hands of men. David's Punishment.-And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning until the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to Bersabee seventy thousand men. And when the angel of the Lord had stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord had pity on the affliction, and said to the angel that slew the people: It is enough now hold thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the thrashingfloor of Areuna* the Jebusite. : And David said to the Lord, when he saw the angel striking the people: It is I, I am he that have sinned, I have done wickedly these that are the sheep, what have they done? let Thy hand, I beseech Thee, be turned against me, and against my father's house. And Gad came to David that day, and said: Go up, and build an altar to the Lord in the thrashing-floor of Areuna the Jebusite. And David went up according to the *He is elsewhere called Ornan. |