7. Shimei was saying as he cursed: “Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you scoundrel!
8. The Lord has paid you back for all the blood shed from the family of Saul, whom you replaced as king, and the Lord has handed over the kingdom to your son Absalom. And now look at you: you suffer ruin because you are a man of blood.”
9. Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king: “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.”
10. But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’”
11. Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants: “If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
12. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and repay me with good for the curses he is uttering this day.”