Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 170
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IMMERSE
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KINGDOMS
2S
| 15:15-33
“Hurry! If we get out of the city before Absalom arrives, both we and the
city of Jerusalem will be spared from disaster.”
“We are with you,” his advisers replied. “Do what you think is best.”
So the king and all his household set out at once. He left no one behind
except ten of his concubines to look after the palace. The king and all his
people set out on foot, pausing at the last house to let all the king’s men
move past to lead the way. There were 600 men from Gath who had come
with David, along with the king’s bodyguard.
Then the king turned and said to Ittai, a leader of the men from Gath,
“Why are you coming with us? Go on back to King Absalom, for you are
a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile. You arrived only recently, and should
I force you today to wander with us? I don’t even know where we will go.
Go on back and take your kinsmen with you, and may the Lord show you
his unfailing love and faithfulness.”
But Ittai said to the king, “I vow by the Lord and by your own life that I
will go wherever my lord the king goes, no matter what h appens—whether
it means life or death.”
David replied, “All right, come with us.” So Ittai and all his men and their
families went along.
Everyone cried loudly as the king and his followers passed by. They
crossed the Kidron Valley and then went out toward the wilderness.
Zadok and all the Levites also came along, carrying the Ark of the Cov
enant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until everyone had passed out of the city.
Then the king instructed Zadok to take the Ark of God back into the
city. “If the Lord sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the
Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if he is through with me, then let him
do what seems best to him.”
The king also told Zadok the priest, “Look, here is my plan. You and
Abiathar should return quietly to the city with your son Ahimaaz and Abi
athar’s son Jonathan. I will stop at the shallows of the Jordan River and wait
there for a report from you.” So Zadok and Abiathar took the Ark of God
back to the city and stayed there.
David walked up the road to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went.
His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the
people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed
the hill. When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now
backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, let Ahithophel give Absalom
foolish advice!”
When David reached the summit of the Mount of Olives where people
worshiped God, Hushai the Arkite was waiting there for him. Hushai had
torn his clothing and put dirt on his head as a sign of mourning. But David