² And Absalom used to rise early and ^(A)stand beside the road to the gate; and when any man who had a lawsuit was to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him and say, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

²⁴ Now ^(A)David was sitting between the two gates; and ^(B)the watchman went to the roof of the gate by the wall, and raised his eyes and looked; and behold, a man was running by himself.