11. Then David addressed Abishai and all his servants: "Listen! My own son, one of my very own children, wants me dead. This Benjaminite can only feel the same—only more! Leave him alone. And let him curse, because the Lord told him to.
12. Perhaps the Lord will see my distress; perhaps the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing today."
13. So David and his men kept walking, while Shimei went along on the hillside next to him, cursing as he went, throwing rocks and dirt at him.
14. The king and all the people who were with him reached the Jordan River exhausted, and he rested there.
15. Now Absalom and all the Israelites entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him.
16. Then David’s friend Hushai, who was from Erek, approached Absalom and said to him, "Long live the king! Long live the king!"
17. But Absalom said to Hushai, "Is this how you show loyal love to your friend? Why didn’t you go with him?"
18. "No," Hushai replied to Absalom, "I will belong to the one chosen by the Lord, by this people, and by all Israel, and I will stay with him.
19. What’s more, whom should I serve if not David’s son? I served your father, and so I will serve you in the same way."