17. And having gone forth on foot, the king and all of Israel stood at a distance from the house.
18. And all his servants were walking beside him. And the legions of the Cerethites and Phelethites, and all the Gittites, powerful fighters, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath on foot, were preceding the king.
19. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite: "Why do you come with us? Return and live with the king. For you are a stranger, and you departed from your own place.
20. You arrived yesterday. And today should you be compelled to go away with us? For I should go to the place where I am going. But you should return, and lead your own brothers back with you. And the Lord will show mercy and truth to you, because you have shown grace and faith."
21. And Ittai responded to the king, by saying, "As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, in whatever place you will be, my lord the king, whether in death or in life, your servant will be there."
22. And David said to Ittai, "Come, and pass over." And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all the men who were with him, and the rest of the multitude.
23. And they all wept with a great voice, and all the people passed over. The king also passed over the torrent Kidron. And all the people advanced opposite the way which looks out toward the desert.
24. Now Zadok the priest also went, and all the Levites went with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God. And Abiathar went up, until all the people who had departed from the city had gone by.
25. And the king said to Zadok: "Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find grace in the sight of the Lord, he will lead me back. And he will show it to me in his tabernacle.
26. But if he will say to me, 'You are not pleasing,' I am ready. Let him do whatever is good in his own sight."
27. And the king said to Zadok the priest: "O seer, return into the city in peace. And let your son Ahimaaz, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, your two sons, be with you.
28. Behold, I will hide in the plains of the desert, until word from you may arrive to inform me."
29. Therefore, Zadok and Abiathar carried back the ark of God into Jerusalem, and they remained there.