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b'2 Samuel 16 (ESV)
\\n16\\xa0When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. 2\\xa0And the king said to Ziba, \\u201cWhy have you brought these?\\u201d Ziba answered, \\u201cThe donkeys are for the king\\u2019s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink.\\u201d 3\\xa0And the king said, \\u201cAnd where is your master\\u2019s son?\\u201d Ziba said to the king, \\u201cBehold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, \\u2018Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.\\u2019\\xa0\\u201d 4\\xa0Then the king said to Ziba, \\u201cBehold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.\\u201d And Ziba said, \\u201cI pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.\\u201d
\\n5\\xa0When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. 6\\xa0And he threw 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\\xa0And Shimei said as he cursed, \\u201cGet out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! 8\\xa0The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.\\u201d
\\n9\\xa0Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, \\u201cWhy should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.\\u201d 10\\xa0But the king said, \\u201cWhat have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, \\u2018Curse David,\\u2019 who then shall say, \\u2018Why have you done so?\\u2019\\xa0\\u201d 11\\xa0And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, \\u201cBehold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. 12\\xa0It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.\\u201d 13\\xa0So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. 14\\xa0And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.
\\n15\\xa0Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16\\xa0And when Hushai the Archite, David\\u2019s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, \\u201cLong live the king! Long live the king!\\u201d 17\\xa0And Absalom said to Hushai, \\u201cIs this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?\\u201d 18\\xa0And Hushai said to Absalom, \\u201cNo, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. 19\\xa0And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.\\u201d
\\n20\\xa0Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, \\u201cGive your counsel. What shall we do?\\u201d 21\\xa0Ahithophel said to Absalom, \\u201cGo in to your father\\u2019s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.\\u201d 22\\xa0So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father\\u2019s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23\\xa0Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom.
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\\n* Ziba (1-4)
\\n* Shimei (5-14)
\\n* Ahithophel (15-23)
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