Bible Reading for April 9

2 Samuel Chapter 16

1 And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the
servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and
upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of
raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba
said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread
and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be
faint in the wilderness may drink.

3 And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto
the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the
house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto
Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace
in thy sight, my lord, O king.

5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of
the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera:
he came forth, and cursed still as he came.

6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David:
and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on
his left.

7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody
man, and thou man of Belial:

8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul,
in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the
kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in
thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this
dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take
off his head.

10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so
let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who
shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?

11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son,
which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may
this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD
hath bidden him.

12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the
LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.

13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the
hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at
him, and cast dust.

14 And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and
refreshed themselves there.

15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem,
and Ahithophel with him.

16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was
come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God
save the king.

17 And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why
wentest thou not with thy friend?

18 And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this
people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him
will I abide.

19 And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of
his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy
presence.

20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.

21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines,
which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that
thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are
with thee be strong.

22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom
went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was
as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of
Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

2 Samuel Chapter 17

1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve
thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will
make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I
will smite the king only:

3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou
seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear
likewise what he saith.

6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying,
Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying?
if not; speak thou.

7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given
is not good at this time.

8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be
mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her
whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge
with the people.

9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will
come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that
whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people
that follow Absalom.

10 And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion,
shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty
man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee,
from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for
multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and
we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and
of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring
ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be
not one small stone found there.

14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the
Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had
appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that
the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and
thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus
and thus have I counselled.

16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this
night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the
king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be
seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they
went and told king David.

18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of
them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a
well in his court; whither they went down.

19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and
spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they
said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They
be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not
find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out
of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise,
and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled
against you.

22 Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they
passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them
that was not gone over Jordan.

23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled
his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put
his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in
the sepulchre of his father.

24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and
all the men of Israel with him.

25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which
Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in
to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.

26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

27 And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the
son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of
Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley,
and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and
for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is
hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

2 Samuel Chapter 18

1 And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of
thousands and captains of hundreds over them.