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)

Boaz Marries Ruth

4 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate^(A) and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer^[a](B) he had mentioned^(C) came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.