¹¹ And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.^{(A) 12} Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family,^(B) there is another who is more closely related than^(C) I.

² He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate.^(A) Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

⁴ The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands.

²⁴ While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman^(A) went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone.

³³ The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died^(A) instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”^[a](B)

⁸ So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, “The king is sitting in the gateway,^(A)” they all came before him.

Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.