19 ¹ Joab was told that the king was weeping and mourning for Absalom; 19 ² and that day victory was turned to mourning for the whole army, because they heard how the king grieved for his son; 19 ³ they stole into the city like men ashamed to show their faces after a defeat in battle. 19 ⁴ The king hid his face and cried aloud, 'My son Absalom; O Absalom, my son, my son.' 19 ⁵ But Joab came into the king's quarters and said to him, 'You have put to shame this day all your servants, who have saved you and your sons and daughters, your wives and your concubines. 19 ⁶ You love those that hate you and hate those that love you; you have made us feel, officers and men alike, that we are nothing to you, for it is plain that if Absalom were still alive and all of us dead, you would be content. 19 ⁷ Now go at once and give your servants some encouragement; if you refuse, I swear by the LORD that not a man will stay with you tonight, and that would be a worse disaster than any you have suffered since your earliest days.' - David's return to Jerusalem.  2Sm.19.8-1819 ⁸ Then the king rose and took his seat in the gate; and when the army was told that the king was sitting in the gate, they all appeared before him.


MEANWHILE THE ISRAELITES had all scattered to their homes.