2 Samuel 15

¹Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.

²He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

³Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”

⁴And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

⁵Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.

⁶Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD.

⁸For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”

⁹“Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter.