1Now after this, Absalom got for himself a carriage and horses, and fifty runners to go before him.
2And Absalom got up early, morning after morning, and took his place at the side of the public meeting-place: and when any man had a cause which had to come to the king to be judged, then Absalom, crying out to him, said, What is your town? and he would say, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
3And Absalom would say to him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the king to give you a hearing.
4And more than this, Absalom said, If only I was made judge in the land, so that every man who has any cause or question might come to me, and I would give a right decision for him!
5And if any man came near to give him honour, he took him by the hand and gave him a kiss.
6And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of the men of Israel.
7Now at the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, Let me go to Hebron and give effect to the oath which I made to the Lord:
