2 Samuel 15

1 Therfor aftir these thingis Absolon made a chaar to hym, and knyytis, and fifti men, that schulden go bifor hym.

Now after this, Absalom got for himself a carriage and horses, and fifty runners to go before him.

2 And Absolon roos eerli, and stood bisidis the entryng of the yate in the weie; and Absolon clepide to hym ech man, that hadde a cause that he schulde come to the doom of the kyng, and Absolon seide, Of what citee art thou? Which answeride, and seide, Of o lynage of Israel Y am, thi seruaunt.

And Absalom got up early, morning after morning, and took his place at the side of the public meeting-place: and when any man had a cause which had to come to the king to be judged, then Absalom, crying out to him, said, What is your town? and he would say, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

3 And Absolon answeride to hym, Thi wordis semen to me good and iust, but noon is ordeyned of the kyng to here thee. And Absolon seide, Who schal ordeyne me iuge on the lond,

And Absalom would say to him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the king to give you a hearing.

4 that alle men that han cause come to me, and Y deme iustly?

And more than this, Absalom said, If only I was made judge in the land, so that every man who has any cause or question might come to me, and I would give a right decision for him!

5 But whanne a man cam to Absolon to greete hym, he helde forth the hond, and took, and kisside that man;

And if any man came near to give him honour, he took him by the hand and gave him a kiss.

6 and Absolon dide this to al Israel, that cam to doom to be herd of the kyng; and Absolon drow awei the hertis of men of Israel.

And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of the men of Israel.

7 Forsothe aftir foure yeer Absolon seide to kyng Dauid, Y schal go, and Y schal yelde my vowis, whiche Y vowide to the Lord in Ebron;

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 for thi seruaunt vowynge vowide, whanne he was in Gessur of Sirie, and seide, If the Lord bryngith ayen me in to Jerusalem, Y schal make sacrifice to the Lord.

For while I was living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made an oath, saying, If ever the Lord lets me come back to Jerusalem, I will give him worship in Hebron.

9 And the kyng seide to hym, Go thou in pees. And Absolon roos, and yede in to Ebron.

And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he got up and went to Hebron.

10 Forsothe Absolon sente aspieris in to al the lynage of Israel, and seide, Anoon as ye heren the sown of clarioun, seye ye, Absolon schal regne in Ebron.

But Absalom at the same time sent watchers through all the tribes of Israel to say, At the sound of the horn you are to say, Absalom is king in Hebron.

11 Forsothe twei hundrid men clepid of Jerusalem yeden with Absolon, and yede with symple herte, and outirli thei knewen not the cause.

And with Absalom, at his request, went two hundred men from Jerusalem, who were completely unconscious of his designs.

12 Also Absolon clepide Achitofel of Gilo, the councelour of Dauid, fro his citee Gilo. And whanne he offride sacrifices a strong swerynge togidere was maad, and the puple rennynge togidere was encreessid with Absolon.

And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, one of David's helpers, from Giloh his town, while he was making the offerings. And the design against David became strong, for more and more people were joined to Absalom.

13 Therfor a messanger cam to Dauid, and seide, With al herte al Israel sueth Absolon.

And one came to David and said, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.

14 And Dauid seide to hise seruauntis that weren with hym in Jerusalem, Rise ye, and flee we; for noon ascaping schal be to us fro the face of Absolon; therfor haste ye to go out, lest he come, and ocupie vs, and fille on vs fallynge, and smyte the citee bi the scharpnesse of swerd.

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 And the seruauntis of the kyng seiden to hym, We thi seruauntis schulen performe gladli alle thingis, what euer thingis oure lord the kyng schal comaunde.

And the king's servants said to the king, See, your servants are ready to do whatever the king says is to be done.

16 Therfor the kyng yede out, and al his hous, on her feet; and the king lefte ten wymmen concubyns, `that is, secundarie wyues, to kepe the hous.

So the king went out, taking with him all the people of his house, but for ten of his women, who were to take care of the house.

17 And the king yede out, and al Israel, on her feet, and the kyng stood fer fro the hous.

And the king went out, and all his servants went after him, and made a stop at the Far House.

18 And alle hise seruauntis yeden bisidis him, and the legiouns of Cerethi and of Ferethi, and alle men of Geth `strong fiyters, sixe hundrid men, that sueden him fro Geth, yeden on foote bifor the kyng.

And all the people went on by his side; and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the men of Ittai of Gath, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, went on before the king.

19 Forsothe the kyng seide to Ethai of Geth, Whi comest thou with vs? Turne thou ayen, and dwelle with the kyng, for thou art a pilgrym, and thou yedist out fro thi place.

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you coming with us? go back and keep with the king: for you are a man of another country, you are far from the land of your birth.

20 Thou camest yistirdai, and to dai thou art compellid to go out with vs. Sotheli Y schal go, whidur Y schal go; turne ayen, and lede ayen thi britheren with thee, and the Lord do mercy and treuthe with thee, for thou schewidist grace and feith.

It was only yesterday you came to us; why then am I to make you go up and down with us? for I have to go where I may; go back then, and take your countrymen with you, and may the Lord's mercy and good faith be with you.

21 And Ethai answeride to the kyng, and seide, The Lord lyueth, and my lord the kyng lyueth, for in what euer place thou schalt be, my lord the kyng, ether in deeth ethir in lijf, there thi seruaunt schal be.

And Ittai the Gittite in answer said, By the living Lord, and by the life of my lord the king, in whatever place my lord the king may be, for life or death, there will your servant be.

22 And Dauid seide to Ethay, Come thou, and passe. And Ethai of Geth passide, and the kyng, and alle men that weren with hym, and the tother multitude.

And David said to Ittai, Go forward, then. And Ittai the Gittite went on, with all his men and all the little ones he had with him.

23 And alle men wepten with greet vois, and al the puple passide; and the kyng yede ouer the strond of Cedron, and al the puple yede ayens the weie of the olyue tree, that biholdith to deseert.

And there was great weeping in all the country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the olive-tree on the edge of the waste land.

24 Forsothe and Sadoch the preest cam, and alle the dekenes with hym, and thei baren the arke of boond of pees of God, and thei diden doun the arke of God; and Abiathar stiede, til al the puple was passid that yede out of the citee.

Then Zadok came, and Abiathar, and with them the ark of God's agreement: and they put down the ark of God, till all the people from the town had gone by.

25 And the kyng seide to Sadoch, Bere ayen the arke of God in to the citee; if Y schal fynde grace in the iyen of the Lord, he schal lede me ayen, and he schal schewe to me that arke and his tabernacle.

And the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back into the town: if I have grace in the eyes of the Lord, he will let me come back and see it and his House again:

26 Sotheli if the Lord seith, Thou plesist not me; Y am redi, do he that, that is good bifor hym silf.

But if he says, I have no delight in you: then, here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him.

27 And the kyng seide to Sadoch, preest, A! thou seere, `that is, profete, turne ayen in to the citee, with pees; and Achymaas, thi sone, and Jonathas, the sone of Abiathar, youre twei sones, be with you.

The king said further to Zadok the priest, See, you and Abiathar are to go back to the town in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar.

28 Lo! Y schal be hid in the feeldi places of deseert, til word come fro you, and schewe to me.

See, I will be waiting at the way across the river, in the waste land, till I get news from you.

29 Therfor Sadoch and Abiathar baren ayen the arke of God in to Jerusalem, and dwelliden there.

So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and did not go away from there.

30 Forsothe Dauid stiede on the hil of olyue trees, stiynge and wepynge, with the heed hilyd, and `goynge with nakid feet; but also al the puple that was with hym, stiede with the heed hilid, and wepte.

And David went up the slopes of the Mount of Olives weeping all the way, with his head covered and no shoes on his feet: and all the people who were with him, covering their heads, went up weeping.

31 Forsothe it was teld to Dauid, that Achitofel was in the sweryng togidere with Absolon; and Dauid seide, Lord, Y byseche, make thou fonned the counsel of Achitofel.

And word came to David, saying, Ahithophel is among those who are joined to Absalom. And David said, O Lord, let the wisdom of Ahithophel be made foolish.

32 And whanne Dauid stiede in to the hiyenesse of the hil, in which he schulde worschipe the Lord, lo! Cusi of Arath, with the cloth to-rent, and with the heed ful of erthe, cam to hym.

Now when David had come to the top of the slope, where they gave worship to God, Hushai the Archite came to him in great grief with dust on his head:

33 And Dauid seide to hym, If thou comest with me, thou schalt be to me to charge; sotheli if thou turnest ayen in to the citee,

David said to him, If you go on with me, you will be a trouble to me:

34 and seist to Absolon, Y am thi seruaunt, kyng, suffre thou me to lyue; as Y was the seruaunt of thi fadir, so Y schal be thi seruaunt; thou schalt distrye the counsel of Achitofel.

But if you go back to the town and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as in the past I have been your father's servant, so now I will be yours: then you will be able to keep Ahithophel's designs against me from being put into effect.

35 Forsothe thou hast with thee Sadoch and Abiathar, preestis; and `thou schalt schewe ech word, what euer word thou schalt here in the hows of the kyng, to Sadoch and Abiathar, preestis.

And have you not there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? so whatever comes to your ears from the king's house, give word of it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

36 Sotheli twei sones `of hem ben with hem, Achymaas, sone of Sadoch, and Jonathan, sone of Abiathar; and ye schulen sende bi hem to me ech word which ye schulen here.

See, they have with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar; by them you may send word to me of everything which comes to your ears.

37 Therfor whanne Chusi, freend of Dauid, cam in to the citee, also Absolon entryde in to Jerusalem.

So Hushai, David's friend, went into the town, and Absalom came to Jerusalem.