“Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.”
2 Samuel 15:19 (BSB)
Context Reading
17So the king set out with all the people following him. He stopped at the last house, 18and all his servants marched past him — all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath. 19Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland. 20In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.” 21But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!”