⁶ Shimei began throwing stones at David and his officers. Both the people and the soldiers gathered around David to protect him—they were all around him. ⁷ Shimei cursed David. He said, “Get out, get out, you no-good murderer^[a]! ⁸ The Lord is punishing you because you killed people in Saul’s family. You stole Saul’s place as king. But now the same bad things are happening to you. The Lord has given the kingdom to your son Absalom, because you are a murderer.”