Then he said to the guards standing near him, "Kill the LORD's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along." But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the LORD's priests.

You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the LORD put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the LORD chose to be king.

But the man answered, "Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't lift a finger against the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, 'For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.'

About this time King Herod began to persecute some members of the church.

(SEE 7:3)

They pay me back evil for good and hatred for love.

I have lived too long with people who hate peace!

When I speak of peace, they are for war.

I will always keep my promise to him, and my covenant with him will last forever.

I will not break my covenant with him or take back even one promise I made him.

But you are angry with your chosen king; you have deserted and rejected him.

Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David as king of Judah. When David heard that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had buried Saul,

So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel.

Absalom answered, "Because you wouldn't come when I sent for you. I wanted you to go to the king and ask for me: 'Why did I leave Geshur and come here? It would have been better for me to have stayed there.' " And Absalom went on, "I want you to arrange for me to see the king, and if I'm guilty, then let him put me to death."

So Joab went to King David and told him what Absalom had said. The king sent for Absalom, who went to him and bowed down to the ground in front of him. The king welcomed him with a kiss.

But he sent messengers to all the tribes of Israel to say, "When you hear the sound of trumpets, shout, 'Absalom has become king at Hebron!' "

And while he was offering sacrifices, Absalom also sent to the town of Gilo for Ahithophel, who was one of King David's advisers. The plot against the king gained strength, and Absalom's followers grew in number.

Do what the king says, and don't make any rash promises to God.

"As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign LORD, "this king will die in Babylonia because he broke his oath and the treaty he had made with the king of Babylonia, who put him on the throne.

He broke his oath and the treaty he had made. He did all these things, and now he will not escape."