BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibtrans/kjv.exe/2SA.AV

Text File | 1996-06-12 | 115KB | 2,115 lines

1:1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was
 returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had
 abode two days in Ziklag;
1:2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man
 came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth
 upon his head: and [so] it was, when he came to David, that he
 fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
1:3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he
 said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.
1:4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee,
 tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the
 battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and
 Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.
1:5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest
 thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?
1:6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by
 chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear;
 and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.
1:7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto
 me. And I answered, Here [am] I.
1:8 And he said unto me, Who [art] thou? And I answered him, I
 [am] an Amalekite.
1:9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay
 me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life [is] yet whole
 in me.
1:10 So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that
 he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the
 crown that [was] upon his head, and the bracelet that [was] on
 his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.
1:11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and
 likewise all the men that [were] with him:
1:12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for
 Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD,
 and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the
 sword.
1:13 And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence
 [art] thou? And he answered, I [am] the son of a stranger, an
 Amalekite.
1:14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to
 stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?
1:15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near,
 [and] fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
1:16 And David said unto him, Thy blood [be] upon thy head; for
 thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the
 LORD'S anointed.
1:17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over
 Jonathan his son:
1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah [the use of]
 the bow: behold, [it is] written in the book of Jasher.)
1:19 The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are
 the mighty fallen!
1:20 Tell [it] not in Gath, publish [it] not in the streets of
 Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest
 the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
1:21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, [let there be] no dew, neither [let
 there be] rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there
 the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of
 Saul, [as though he had] not [been] anointed with oil.
1:22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty,
 the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul
 returned not empty.
1:23 Saul and Jonathan [were] lovely and pleasant in their
 lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were
 swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
1:24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in
 scarlet, with [other] delights, who put on ornaments of gold
 upon your apparel.
1:25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O
 Jonathan, [thou wast] slain in thine high places.
1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very
 pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful,
 passing the love of women.
1:27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
2:1 And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the
 LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?
 And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither
 shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
2:2 So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam
 the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite.
2:3 And his men that [were] with him did David bring up, every
 man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
2:4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David
 king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying,
 [That] the men of Jabeshgilead [were they] that buried Saul.
2:5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and
 said unto them, Blessed [be] ye of the LORD, that ye have
 shewed this kindness unto your lord, [even] unto Saul, and have
 buried him.
2:6 And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I
 also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this
 thing.
2:7 Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye
 valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of
 Judah have anointed me king over them.
2:8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took
 Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
2:9 And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and
 over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all
 Israel.
2:10 Ishbosheth Saul's son [was] forty years old when he began
 to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of
 Judah followed David.
2:11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house
 of Judah was seven years and six months.
2:12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth
 the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
2:13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David,
 went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat
 down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the
 other side of the pool.
2:14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and
 play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
2:15 Then there arose and went over by number twelve of
 Benjamin, which [pertained] to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and
 twelve of the servants of David.
2:16 And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and
 [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down
 together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim,
 which [is] in Gibeon.
2:17 And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was
 beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
2:18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and
 Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel [was as] light of foot as a
 wild roe.
2:19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not
 to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
2:20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, [Art] thou Asahel?
 And he answered, I [am].
2:21 And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or
 to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and
 take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from
 following of him.
2:22 And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from
 following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how
 then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
2:23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the
 hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth [rib], that
 the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died
 in the same place: and it came to pass, [that] as many as came
 to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
2:24 Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went
 down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that [lieth]
 before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
2:25 And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together
 after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an
 hill.
2:26 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour
 for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the
 latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people
 return from following their brethren?
2:27 And Joab said, [As] God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken,
 surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one
 from following his brother.
2:28 So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and
 pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
2:29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the
 plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron,
 and they came to Mahanaim.
2:30 And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had
 gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's
 servants nineteen men and Asahel.
2:31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of
 Abner's men, [so that] three hundred and threescore men died.
2:32 And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of
 his father, which [was in] Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went
 all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
3:1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the
 house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the
 house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.
3:2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn
 was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
3:3 And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the
 Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the
 daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
3:4 And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth,
 Shephatiah the son of Abital;
3:5 And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were
 born to David in Hebron.
3:6 And it came to pass, while there was war between the house
 of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong
 for the house of Saul.
3:7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name [was] Rizpah, the
 daughter of Aiah: and [Ishbosheth] said to Abner, Wherefore
 hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine?
3:8 Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and
 said, [Am] I a dog's head, which against Judah do shew kindness
 this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren,
 and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand
 of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning
 this woman?
3:9 So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath
 sworn to David, even so I do to him;
3:10 To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set
 up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan
 even to Beersheba.
3:11 And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he
 feared him.
3:12 And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying,
 Whose [is] the land? saying [also], Make thy league with me,
 and, behold, my hand [shall be] with thee, to bring about all
 Israel unto thee.
3:13 And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one
 thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face,
 except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou
 comest to see my face.
3:14 And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying,
 Deliver [me] my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an
 hundred foreskins of the Philistines.
3:15 And Ishbosheth sent, and took her from [her] husband,
 [even] from Phaltiel the son of Laish.
3:16 And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to
 Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.
3:17 And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel,
 saying, Ye sought for David in times past [to be] king over
 you:
3:18 Now then do [it]: for the LORD hath spoken of David,
 saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people
 Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand
 of all their enemies.
3:19 And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner
 went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that
 seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house
 of Benjamin.
3:20 So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him.
 And David made Abner and the men that [were] with him a feast.
3:21 And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will
 gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a
 league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that
 thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in
 peace.
3:22 And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from
 [pursuing] a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but
 Abner [was] not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away,
 and he was gone in peace.
3:23 When Joab and all the host that [was] with him were come,
 they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king,
 and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.
3:24 Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done?
 behold, Abner came unto thee; why [is] it [that] thou hast sent
 him away, and he is quite gone?
3:25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive
 thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know
 all that thou doest.
3:26 And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers
 after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah:
 but David knew [it] not.
3:27 And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside
 in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there
 under the fifth [rib], that he died, for the blood of Asahel
 his brother.
3:28 And afterward when David heard [it], he said, I and my
 kingdom [are] guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood
 of Abner the son of Ner:
3:29 Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's
 house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that
 hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff,
 or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.
3:30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had
 slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
3:31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that [were]
 with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and
 mourn before Abner. And king David [himself] followed the bier.
3:32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his
 voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.
3:33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a
 fool dieth?
3:34 Thy hands [were] not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters:
 as a man falleth before wicked men, [so] fellest thou. And all
 the people wept again over him.
3:35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat
 while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and
 more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be
 down.
3:36 And all the people took notice [of it], and it pleased
 them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.
3:37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that
 it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.
3:38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there
 is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?
3:39 And I [am] this day weak, though anointed king; and these
 men the sons of Zeruiah [be] too hard for me: the LORD shall
 reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
4:1 And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his
 hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
4:2 And Saul's son had two men [that were] captains of bands:
 the name of the one [was] Baanah, and the name of the other
 Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of
 Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin:
4:3 And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners
 there until this day.)
4:4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son [that was] lame of [his]
 feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and
 Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled:
 and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell,
 and became lame. And his name [was] Mephibosheth.
4:5 And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah,
 went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of
 Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
4:6 And they came thither into the midst of the house, [as
 though] they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under
 the fifth [rib]: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
4:7 For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his
 bedchamber, and they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him,
 and took his head, and gat them away through the plain all
 night.
4:8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to
 Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the
 son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD
 hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his
 seed.
4:9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons
 of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, [As] the LORD
 liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
4:10 When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to
 have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in
 Ziklag, who [thought] that I would have given him a reward for
 his tidings:
4:11 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous
 person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now
 require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the
 earth?
4:12 And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and
 cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged [them] up over
 the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and
 buried [it] in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.
5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and
 spake, saying, Behold, we [are] thy bone and thy flesh.
5:2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he
 that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to
 thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a
 captain over Israel.
5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and
 king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD:
 and they anointed David king over Israel.
5:4 David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign, [and]
 he reigned forty years.
5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months:
 and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all
 Israel and Judah.
5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the
 Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David,
 saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou
 shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in
 hither.
5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same
 [is] the city of David.
5:8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the
 gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind,
 [that are] hated of David's soul, [he shall be chief and
 captain]. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not
 come into the house.
5:9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David.
 And David built round about from Millo and inward.
5:10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of
 hosts [was] with him.
5:11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar
 trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an
 house.
5:12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king
 over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people
 Israel's sake.
5:13 And David took [him] more concubines and wives out of
 Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet
 sons and daughters born to David.
5:14 And these [be] the names of those that were born unto him
 in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
5:15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
5:16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.
5:17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David
 king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David;
 and David heard [of it], and went down to the hold.
5:18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the
 valley of Rephaim.
5:19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to
 the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the
 LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the
 Philistines into thine hand.
5:20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there,
 and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before
 me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of
 that place Baalperazim.
5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men
 burned them.
5:22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread
 themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
5:23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt
 not go up; [but] fetch a compass behind them, and come upon
 them over against the mulberry trees.
5:24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in
 the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir
 thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite
 the host of the Philistines.
5:25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote
 the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
6:1 Again, David gathered together all [the] chosen [men] of
 Israel, thirty thousand.
6:2 And David arose, and went with all the people that [were]
 with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark
 of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts
 that dwelleth [between] the cherubims.
6:3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it
 out of the house of Abinadab that [was] in Gibeah: and Uzzah
 and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
6:4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which [was]
 at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before
 the ark.
6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD
 on all manner of [instruments made of] fir wood, even on harps,
 and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on
 cymbals.
6:6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put
 forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for
 the oxen shook [it].
6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God
 smote him there for [his] error; and there he died by the ark
 of God.
6:8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach
 upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to
 this day.
6:9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How
 shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
6:10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into
 the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of
 Obededom the Gittite.
6:11 And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom
 the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and
 all his household.
6:12 And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed
 the house of Obededom, and all that [pertaineth] unto him,
 because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark
 of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with
 gladness.
6:13 And it was [so], that when they that bare the ark of the
 LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all [his] might; and
 David [was] girded with a linen ephod.
6:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of
 the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
6:16 And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David,
 Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king
 David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him
 in her heart.
6:17 And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his
 place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched
 for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings
 before the LORD.
6:18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt
 offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the
 name of the LORD of hosts.
6:19 And he dealt among all the people, [even] among the whole
 multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one
 a cake of bread, and a good piece [of flesh], and a flagon [of
 wine]. So all the people departed every one to his house.
6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the
 daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious
 was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in
 the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain
 fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!
6:21 And David said unto Michal, [It was] before the LORD, which
 chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to
 appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel:
 therefore will I play before the LORD.
6:22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in
 mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken
 of, of them shall I be had in honour.
6:23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the
 day of her death.
7:1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the
 LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
7:2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell
 in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within
 curtains.
7:3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that [is] in thine
 heart; for the LORD [is] with thee.
7:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD
 came unto Nathan, saying,
7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt
 thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
7:6 Whereas I have not dwelt in [any] house since the time that
 I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this
 day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
7:7 In all [the places] wherein I have walked with all the
 children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of
 Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why
 build ye not me an house of cedar?
7:8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus
 saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from
 following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
7:9 And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut
 off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a
 great name, like unto the name of the great [men] that [are] in
 the earth.
7:10 Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and
 will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own,
 and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness
 afflict them any more, as beforetime,
7:11 And as since the time that I commanded judges [to be] over
 my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine
 enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an
 house.
7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with
 thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall
 proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish
 the throne of his kingdom for ever.
7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit
 iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the
 stripes of the children of men:
7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took [it]
 from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for
 ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this
 vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
7:18 Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he
 said, Who [am] I, O Lord GOD? and what [is] my house, that thou
 hast brought me hitherto?
7:19 And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD;
 but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great
 while to come. And [is] this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?
7:20 And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD,
 knowest thy servant.
7:21 For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast
 thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know
 [them].
7:22 Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for [there is] none
 like thee, neither [is there any] God beside thee, according to
 all that we have heard with our ears.
7:23 And what one nation in the earth [is] like thy people,
 [even] like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to
 himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things
 and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou
 redeemedst to thee from Egypt, [from] the nations and their
 gods?
7:24 For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel [to
 be] a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become
 their God.
7:25 And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken
 concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish
 [it] for ever, and do as thou hast said.
7:26 And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of
 hosts [is] the God over Israel: and let the house of thy
 servant David be established before thee.
7:27 For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to
 thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath
 thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
7:28 And now, O Lord GOD, thou [art] that God, and thy words be
 true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:
7:29 Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy
 servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O
 Lord GOD, hast spoken [it]: and with thy blessing let the house
 of thy servant be blessed for ever.
8:1 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the
 Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out
 of the hand of the Philistines.
8:2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting
 them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put
 to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And [so] the
 Moabites became David's servants, [and] brought gifts.
8:3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah,
 as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.
8:4 And David took from him a thousand [chariots], and seven
 hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David
 houghed all the chariot [horses], but reserved of them [for] an
 hundred chariots.
8:5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer
 king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty
 thousand men.
8:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the
 Syrians became servants to David, [and] brought gifts. And the
 LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
8:7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants
 of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8:8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king
 David took exceeding much brass.
8:9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the
 host of Hadadezer,
8:10 Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him,
 and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and
 smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And [Joram]
 brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and
 vessels of brass:
8:11 Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the
 silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he
 subdued;
8:12 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of
 the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer,
 son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
8:13 And David gat [him] a name when he returned from smiting of
 the Syrians in the valley of salt, [being] eighteen thousand
 [men].
8:14 And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he
 garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And
 the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
8:15 And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed
 judgment and justice unto all his people.
8:16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] over the host; and
 Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] recorder;
8:17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of
 Abiathar, [were] the priests; and Seraiah [was] the scribe;
8:18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was over] both the
 Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief
 rulers.
9:1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house
 of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
9:2 And [there was] of the house of Saul a servant whose name
 [was] Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king
 said unto him, [Art] thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant [is
 he].
9:3 And the king said, [Is] there not yet any of the house of
 Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba
 said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, [which is] lame on
 [his] feet.
9:4 And the king said unto him, Where [is] he? And Ziba said
 unto the king, Behold, he [is] in the house of Machir, the son
 of Ammiel, in Lodebar.
9:5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of
 Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.
9:6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,
 was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence.
 And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy
 servant!
9:7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew
 thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore
 thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread
 at my table continually.
9:8 And he bowed himself, and said, What [is] thy servant, that
 thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I [am]?
9:9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto
 him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to
 Saul and to all his house.
9:10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till
 the land for him, and thou shalt bring in [the fruits], that
 thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy
 master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had
 fifteen sons and twenty servants.
9:11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord
 the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do.
 As for Mephibosheth, [said the king], he shall eat at my table,
 as one of the king's sons.
9:12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name [was] Micha.
 And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba [were] servants unto
 Mephibosheth.
9:13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat
 continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.
10:1 And it came to pass after this, that the king of the
 children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
10:2 Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of
 Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent
 to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And
 David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
10:3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun
 their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father,
 that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David [rather]
 sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it
 out, and to overthrow it?
10:4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the
 one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the
 middle, [even] to their buttocks, and sent them away.
10:5 When they told [it] unto David, he sent to meet them,
 because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry
 at Jericho until your beards be grown, and [then] return.
10:6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before
 David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of
 Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen,
 and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob twelve
 thousand men.
10:7 And when David heard of [it], he sent Joab, and all the
 host of the mighty men.
10:8 And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in
 array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba,
 and of Rehob, and Ishtob, and Maacah, [were] by themselves in
 the field.
10:9 When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him
 before and behind, he chose of all the choice [men] of Israel,
 and put [them] in array against the Syrians:
10:10 And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of
 Abishai his brother, that he might put [them] in array against
 the children of Ammon.
10:11 And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then
 thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong
 for thee, then I will come and help thee.
10:12 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our
 people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that
 which seemeth him good.
10:13 And Joab drew nigh, and the people that [were] with him,
 unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.
10:14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were
 fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the
 city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to
 Jerusalem.
10:15 And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before
 Israel, they gathered themselves together.
10:16 And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that
 [were] beyond the river: and they came to Helam; and Shobach
 the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them.
10:17 And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel
 together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the
 Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with
 him.
10:18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew [the
 men of] seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty
 thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host,
 who died there.
10:19 And when all the kings [that were] servants to Hadarezer
 saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with
 Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the
 children of Ammon any more.
11:1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the
 time when kings go forth [to battle], that David sent Joab, and
 his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the
 children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still
 at Jerusalem.
11:2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose
 from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house:
 and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman
 [was] very beautiful to look upon.
11:3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And [one]
 said, [Is] not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife
 of Uriah the Hittite?
11:4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in
 unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her
 uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
11:5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said,
 I [am] with child.
11:6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah the
 Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
11:7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded [of him]
 how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war
 prospered.
11:8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy
 feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there
 followed him a mess [of meat] from the king.
11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all
 the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
11:10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down
 unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from
 [thy] journey? why [then] didst thou not go down unto thine
 house?
11:11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah,
 abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord,
 are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine
 house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? [as] thou
 livest, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
11:12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to
 morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that
 day, and the morrow.
11:13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before
 him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on
 his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his
 house.
11:14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a
 letter to Joab, and sent [it] by the hand of Uriah.
11:15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the
 forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that
 he may be smitten, and die.
11:16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he
 assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men
 [were].
11:17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab:
 and there fell [some] of the people of the servants of David;
 and Uriah the Hittite died also.
11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning
 the war;
11:19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an
 end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
11:20 And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto
 thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did
 fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
11:21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a
 woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that
 he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou,
 Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
11:22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that
 Joab had sent him for.
11:23 And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men
 prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and
 we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.
11:24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants;
 and [some] of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant
 Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
11:25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say
 unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword
 devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong
 against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.
11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband
 was dead, she mourned for her husband.
11:27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her
 to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But
 the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him,
 and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one
 rich, and the other poor.
12:2 The rich [man] had exceeding many flocks and herds:
12:3 But the poor [man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb,
 which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together
 with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat,
 and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto
 him as a daughter.
12:4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared
 to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the
 wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's
 lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
12:5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and
 he said to Nathan, [As] the LORD liveth, the man that hath done
 this [thing] shall surely die:
12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this
 thing, and because he had no pity.
12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith
 the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I
 delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
12:8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives
 into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah;
 and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given
 unto thee such and such things.
12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD,
 to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
 with the sword, and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife, and
 hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine
 house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife
 of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
12:11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against
 thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before
 thine eyes, and give [them] unto thy neighbour, and he shall
 lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12:12 For thou didst [it] secretly: but I will do this thing
 before all Israel, and before the sun.
12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the
 LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away
 thy sin; thou shalt not die.
12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great
 occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child
 also [that is] born unto thee shall surely die.
12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck
 the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very
 sick.
12:16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David
 fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
12:17 And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to
 raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he
 eat bread with them.
12:18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child
 died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the
 child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet
 alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our
 voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the
 child is dead?
12:19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David
 perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto
 his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed
 [himself], and changed his apparel, and came into the house of
 the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and
 when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
12:21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing [is] this that
 thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, [while
 it was] alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and
 eat bread.
12:22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and
 wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] GOD will be gracious
 to me, that the child may live?
12:23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring
 him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to
 me.
12:24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto
 her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his
 name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
12:25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he
 called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
12:26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
 and took the royal city.
12:27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought
 against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
12:28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and
 encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and
 it be called after my name.
12:29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to
 Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
12:30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the
 weight whereof [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones:
 and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth the
 spoil of the city in great abundance.
12:31 And he brought forth the people that [were] therein, and
 put [them] under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under
 axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and
 thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So
 David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
13:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of
 David had a fair sister, whose name [was] Tamar; and Amnon the
 son of David loved her.
13:2 And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister
 Tamar; for she [was] a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for
 him to do any thing to her.
13:3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name [was] Jonadab, the son
 of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab [was] a very subtil
 man.
13:4 And he said unto him, Why [art] thou, [being] the king's
 son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon
 said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.
13:5 And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and
 make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say
 unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me
 meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see [it], and
 eat [it] at her hand.
13:6 So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king
 was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let
 Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my
 sight, that I may eat at her hand.
13:7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy
 brother Amnon's house, and dress him meat.
13:8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid
 down. And she took flour, and kneaded [it], and made cakes in
 his sight, and did bake the cakes.
13:9 And she took a pan, and poured [them] out before him; but
 he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me.
 And they went out every man from him.
13:10 And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the
 chamber, that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes
 which she had made, and brought [them] into the chamber to
 Amnon her brother.
13:11 And when she had brought [them] unto him to eat, he took
 hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister.
13:12 And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me;
 for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this
 folly.
13:13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for
 thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now
 therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not
 withhold me from thee.
13:14 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being
 stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.
13:15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred
 wherewith he hated her [was] greater than the love wherewith he
 had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.
13:16 And she said unto him, [There is] no cause: this evil in
 sending me away [is] greater than the other that thou didst
 unto me. But he would not hearken unto her.
13:17 Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and
 said, Put now this [woman] out from me, and bolt the door after
 her.
13:18 And [she had] a garment of divers colours upon her: for
 with such robes were the king's daughters [that were] virgins
 apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the
 door after her.
13:19 And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of
 divers colours that [was] on her, and laid her hand on her
 head, and went on crying.
13:20 And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy
 brother been with thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister: he
 [is] thy brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained
 desolate in her brother Absalom's house.
13:21 But when king David heard of all these things, he was very
 wroth.
13:22 And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor
 bad: for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister
 Tamar.
13:23 And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had
 sheepshearers in Baalhazor, which [is] beside Ephraim: and
 Absalom invited all the king's sons.
13:24 And Absalom came to the king, and said, Behold now, thy
 servant hath sheepshearers; let the king, I beseech thee, and
 his servants go with thy servant.
13:25 And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all
 now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. And he pressed him:
 howbeit he would not go, but blessed him.
13:26 Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my brother
 Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, Why should he go
 with thee?
13:27 But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all the
 king's sons go with him.
13:28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye
 now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto
 you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded
 you? be courageous, and be valiant.
13:29 And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had
 commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man gat
 him up upon his mule, and fled.
13:30 And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that
 tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the
 king's sons, and there is not one of them left.
13:31 Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the
 earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent.
13:32 And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered
 and said, Let not my lord suppose [that] they have slain all
 the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead: for by
 the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the
 day that he forced his sister Tamar.
13:33 Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to
 his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for
 Amnon only is dead.
13:34 But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch
 lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much
 people by the way of the hill side behind him.
13:35 And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king's sons
 come: as thy servant said, so it is.
13:36 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of
 speaking, that, behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up
 their voice and wept: and the king also and all his servants
 wept very sore.
13:37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud,
 king of Geshur. And [David] mourned for his son every day.
13:38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three
 years.
13:39 And [the soul of] king David longed to go forth unto
 Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was
 dead.
14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart
 [was] toward Absalom.
14:2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman,
 and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner,
 and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with
 oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the
 dead:
14:3 And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So
 Joab put the words in her mouth.
14:4 And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on
 her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O
 king.
14:5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she
 answered, I [am] indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is
 dead.
14:6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together
 in the field, and [there was] none to part them, but the one
 smote the other, and slew him.
14:7 And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine
 handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother,
 that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew;
 and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my
 coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband [neither]
 name nor remainder upon the earth.
14:8 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I
 will give charge concerning thee.
14:9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O
 king, the iniquity [be] on me, and on my father's house: and
 the king and his throne [be] guiltless.
14:10 And the king said, Whosoever saith [ought] unto thee,
 bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
14:11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD
 thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood
 to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said,
 [As] the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall
 to the earth.
14:12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee,
 speak [one] word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
14:13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such
 a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this
 thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch
 home again his banished.
14:14 For we must needs die, and [are] as water spilt on the
 ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God
 respect [any] person: yet doth he devise means, that his
 banished be not expelled from him.
14:15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto
 my lord the king, [it is] because the people have made me
 afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king;
 it may be that the king will perform the request of his
 handmaid.
14:16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the
 hand of the man [that would] destroy me and my son together out
 of the inheritance of God.
14:17 Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king
 shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so [is] my
 lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy
 God will be with thee.
14:18 Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not
 from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the
 woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
14:19 And the king said, [Is not] the hand of Joab with thee in
 all this? And the woman answered and said, [As] thy soul
 liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to
 the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy
 servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the
 mouth of thine handmaid:
14:20 To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab
 done this thing: and my lord [is] wise, according to the wisdom
 of an angel of God, to know all [things] that [are] in the
 earth.
14:21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this
 thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
14:22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed
 himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy
 servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord,
 O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his
 servant.
14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to
 Jerusalem.
14:24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let
 him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and
 saw not the king's face.
14:25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as
 Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the
 crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
14:26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's
 end that he polled [it]: because [the hair] was heavy on him,
 therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two
 hundred shekels after the king's weight.
14:27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one
 daughter, whose name [was] Tamar: she was a woman of a fair
 countenance.
14:28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not
 the king's face.
14:29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the
 king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the
 second time, he would not come.
14:30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is
 near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And
 Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
14:31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto [his] house, and
 said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on
 fire?
14:32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee,
 saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say,
 Wherefore am I come from Geshur? [it had been] good for me [to
 have been] there still: now therefore let me see the king's
 face; and if there be [any] iniquity in me, let him kill me.
14:33 So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had
 called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on
 his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed
 Absalom.
15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him
 chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
15:2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the
 gate: and it was [so], that when any man that had a controversy
 came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him,
 and said, Of what city [art] thou? And he said, Thy servant
 [is] of one of the tribes of Israel.
15:3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters [are] good and
 right; but [there is] no man [deputed] of the king to hear
 thee.
15:4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the
 land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come
 unto me, and I would do him justice!
15:5 And it was [so], that when any man came nigh [to him] to do
 him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed
 him.
15:6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to
 the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men
 of Israel.
15:7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said
 unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I
 have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.
15:8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in
 Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to
 Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.
15:9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and
 went to Hebron.
15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of
 Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
 then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
15:11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem,
 [that were] called; and they went in their simplicity, and they
 knew not any thing.
15:12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's
 counsellor, from his city, [even] from Giloh, while he offered
 sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people
 increased continually with Absalom.
15:13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of
 the men of Israel are after Absalom.
15:14 And David said unto all his servants that [were] with him
 at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not [else]
 escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us
 suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the
 edge of the sword.
15:15 And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy
 servants [are ready to do] whatsoever my lord the king shall
 appoint.
15:16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him.
 And the king left ten women, [which were] concubines, to keep
 the house.
15:17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and
 tarried in a place that was far off.
15:18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the
 Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six
 hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before
 the king.
15:19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest
 thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the
 king: for thou [art] a stranger, and also an exile.
15:20 Whereas thou camest [but] yesterday, should I this day
 make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may,
 return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth [be]
 with thee.
15:21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, [As] the LORD
 liveth, and [as] my lord the king liveth, surely in what place
 my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there
 also will thy servant be.
15:22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the
 Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones
 that [were] with him.
15:23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the
 people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook
 Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the
 wilderness.
15:24 And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites [were] with him,
 bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the
 ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done
 passing out of the city.
15:25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God
 into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD,
 he will bring me again, and shew me [both] it, and his
 habitation:
15:26 But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold,
 [here am] I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.
15:27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, [Art not] thou a
 seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with
 you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
15:28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until
 there come word from you to certify me.
15:29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again
 to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
15:30 And David went up by the ascent of [mount] Olivet, and
 wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went
 barefoot: and all the people that [was] with him covered every
 man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
15:31 And [one] told David, saying, Ahithophel [is] among the
 conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee,
 turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
15:32 And it came to pass, that [when] David was come to the top
 [of the mount], where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the
 Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his
 head:
15:33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then
 thou shalt be a burden unto me:
15:34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I
 will be thy servant, O king; [as] I [have been] thy father's
 servant hitherto, so [will] I now also [be] thy servant: then
 mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
15:35 And [hast thou] not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the
 priests? therefore it shall be, [that] what thing soever thou
 shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell [it] to
 Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
15:36 Behold, [they have] there with them their two sons,
 Ahimaaz Zadok's [son], and Jonathan Abiathar's [son]; and by
 them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye can hear.
15:37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom
 came into Jerusalem.
16:1 And when David was a little past the top [of the hill],
 behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple
 of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred [loaves] of bread,
 and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer
 fruits, and a bottle of wine.
16:2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these?
 And Ziba said, The asses [be] for the king's household to ride
 on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat;
 and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may
 drink.
16:3 And the king said, And where [is] thy master's son? And
 Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for
 he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the
 kingdom of my father.
16:4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine [are] all that
 [pertained] unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech
 thee [that] I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.
16:5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came
 out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was]
 Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he
 came.
16:6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of
 king David: and all the people and all the mighty men [were] on
 his right hand and on his left.
16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out,
 thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
16:8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house
 of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath
 delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and,
 behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief, because thou [art] a
 bloody man.
16:9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why
 should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I
 pray thee, and take off his head.
16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of
 Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him,
 Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants,
 Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life:
 how much more now [may this] Benjamite [do it]? let him alone,
 and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and
 that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
16:13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went
 along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he
 went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
16:14 And the king, and all the people that [were] with him,
 came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
16:15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to
 Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16:16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's
 friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom,
 God save the king, God save the king.
16:17 And Absalom said to Hushai, [Is] this thy kindness to thy
 friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
16:18 And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and
 this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be,
 and with him will I abide.
16:19 And again, whom should I serve? [should I] not [serve] in
 the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's
 presence, so will I be in thy presence.
16:20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you
 what we shall do.
16:21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's
 concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all
 Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then
 shall the hands of all that [are] with thee be strong.
16:22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house;
 and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight
 of all Israel.
16:23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in
 those days, [was] as if a man had enquired at the oracle of
 God: so [was] all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and
 with Absalom.
17:1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose
 out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after
 David this night:
17:2 And I will come upon him while he [is] weary and weak
 handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that [are]
 with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
17:3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man
 whom thou seekest [is] as if all returned: [so] all the people
 shall be in peace.
17:4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of
 Israel.
17:5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and
 let us hear likewise what he saith.
17:6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto
 him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we
 do [after] his saying? if not; speak thou.
17:7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel
 hath given [is] not good at this time.
17:8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that
 they [be] mighty men, and they [be] chafed in their minds, as a
 bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father [is] a
 man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
17:9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other]
 place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be
 overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say,
 There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
17:10 And he also [that is] valiant, whose heart [is] as the
 heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth
 that thy father [is] a mighty man, and [they] which [be] with
 him [are] valiant men.
17:11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered
 unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that [is] by
 the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own
 person.
17:12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be
 found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the
 ground: and of him and of all the men that [are] with him there
 shall not be left so much as one.
17:13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all
 Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the
 river, until there be not one small stone found there.
17:14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of
 Hushai the Archite [is] better than the counsel of Ahithophel.
 For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of
 Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon
 Absalom.
17:15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
 Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of
 Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
17:16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge
 not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily
 pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people
 that [are] with him.
17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might
 not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told
 them; and they went and told king David.
17:18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they
 went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in
 Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.
17:19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's
 mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not
 known.
17:20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the
 house, they said, Where [is] Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the
 woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And
 when they had sought and could not find [them], they returned
 to Jerusalem.
17:21 And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they
 came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said
 unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus
 hath Ahithophel counselled against you.
17:22 Then David arose, and all the people that [were] with him,
 and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked
 not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.
17:23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed,
 he saddled [his] ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house,
 to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged
 himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his
 father.
17:24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over
 Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
17:25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of
 Joab: which Amasa [was] a man's son, whose name [was] Ithra an
 Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash,
 sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.
17:26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.
17:27 And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that
 Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and
 Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the
 Gileadite of Rogelim,
17:28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat,
 and barley, and flour, and parched [corn], and beans, and
 lentiles, and parched [pulse],
17:29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for
 David, and for the people that [were] with him, to eat: for
 they said, The people [is] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in
 the wilderness.
18:1 And David numbered the people that [were] with him, and set
 captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
18:2 And David sent forth a third part of the people under the
 hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the
 son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand
 of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will
 surely go forth with you myself also.
18:3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we
 flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us
 die, will they care for us: but now [thou art] worth ten
 thousand of us: therefore now [it is] better that thou succour
 us out of the city.
18:4 And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will
 do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people
 came out by hundreds and by thousands.
18:5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying,
 [Deal] gently for my sake with the young man, [even] with
 Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the
 captains charge concerning Absalom.
18:6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and
 the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
18:7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants
 of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of
 twenty thousand [men].
18:8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the
 country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the
 sword devoured.
18:9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode
 upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a
 great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was
 taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that
 [was] under him went away.
18:10 And a certain man saw [it], and told Joab, and said,
 Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
18:11 And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold,
 thou sawest [him], and why didst thou not smite him there to
 the ground? and I would have given thee ten [shekels] of
 silver, and a girdle.
18:12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a
 thousand [shekels] of silver in mine hand, [yet] would I not
 put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing
 the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware
 that none [touch] the young man Absalom.
18:13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own
 life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou
 thyself wouldest have set thyself against [me].
18:14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he
 took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart
 of Absalom, while he [was] yet alive in the midst of the oak.
18:15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about
 and smote Absalom, and slew him.
18:16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from
 pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
18:17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in
 the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and
 all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18:18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for
 himself a pillar, which [is] in the king's dale: for he said, I
 have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the
 pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day,
 Absalom's place.
18:19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and
 bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath avenged him of
 his enemies.
18:20 And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this
 day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou
 shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.
18:21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast
 seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
18:22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But
 howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab
 said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no
 tidings ready?
18:23 But howsoever, [said he], let me run. And he said unto
 him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran
 Cushi.
18:24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went
 up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his
 eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
18:25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king
 said, If he [be] alone, [there is] tidings in his mouth. And he
 came apace, and drew near.
18:26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman
 called unto the porter, and said, Behold [another] man running
 alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
18:27 And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the
 foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And
 the king said, He [is] a good man, and cometh with good
 tidings.
18:28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well.
 And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king,
 and said, Blessed [be] the LORD thy God, which hath delivered
 up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.
18:29 And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And
 Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and [me]
 thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what [it
 was].
18:30 And the king said [unto him], Turn aside, [and] stand
 here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
18:31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord
 the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them
 that rose up against thee.
18:32 And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom
 safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and
 all that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that]
 young man [is].
18:33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber
 over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son
 Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee,
 O Absalom, my son, my son!
19:1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth
 for Absalom.
19:2 And the victory that day was [turned] into mourning unto
 all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king
 was grieved for his son.
19:3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city,
 as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
19:4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a
 loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
19:5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou
 hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this
 day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy
 daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy
 concubines;
19:6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends.
 For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither
 princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom
 had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased
 thee well.
19:7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto
 thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth,
 there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be
 worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy
 youth until now.
19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told
 unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the
 gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had
 fled every man to his tent.
19:9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes
 of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our
 enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the
 Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.
19:10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle.
 Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king
 back?
19:11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests,
 saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the
 last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of
 all Israel is come to the king, [even] to his house.
19:12 Ye [are] my brethren, ye [are] my bones and my flesh:
 wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?
19:13 And say ye to Amasa, [Art] thou not of my bone, and of my
 flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain
 of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.
19:14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as
 [the heart of] one man; so that they sent [this word] unto the
 king, Return thou, and all thy servants.
19:15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came
 to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over
 Jordan.
19:16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which [was] of
 Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet
 king David.
19:17 And [there were] a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and
 Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and
 his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before
 the king.
19:18 And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's
 household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son
 of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;
19:19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity
 unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did
 perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem,
 that the king should take it to his heart.
19:20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore,
 behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph
 to go down to meet my lord the king.
19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall
 not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the
 LORD'S anointed?
19:22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of
 Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall
 there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I
 know that I [am] this day king over Israel?
19:23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die.
 And the king sware unto him.
19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the
 king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard,
 nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until
 the day he came [again] in peace.
19:25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet
 the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not
 thou with me, Mephibosheth?
19:26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me:
 for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride
 thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant [is] lame.
19:27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king;
 but my lord the king [is] as an angel of God: do therefore
 [what is] good in thine eyes.
19:28 For all [of] my father's house were but dead men before my
 lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that
 did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to
 cry any more unto the king?
19:29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of
 thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.
19:30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take
 all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto
 his own house.
19:31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and
 went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
19:32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, [even] fourscore years
 old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at
 Mahanaim; for he [was] a very great man.
19:33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me,
 and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
19:34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live,
 that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?
19:35 I [am] this day fourscore years old: [and] can I discern
 between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what
 I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and
 singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a
 burden unto my lord the king?
19:36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the
 king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a
 reward?
19:37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may
 die in mine own city, [and be buried] by the grave of my father
 and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go
 over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good
 unto thee.
19:38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and
 I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and
 whatsoever thou shalt require of me, [that] will I do for thee.
19:39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was
 come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he
 returned unto his own place.
19:40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with
 him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also
 half the people of Israel.
19:41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and
 said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah
 stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household,
 and all David's men with him, over Jordan?
19:42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel,
 Because the king [is] near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye
 angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's
 [cost]? or hath he given us any gift?
19:43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said,
 We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more [right] in
 David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice
 should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the
 words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the
 men of Israel.
20:1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name
 [was] Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a
 trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we
 inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O
 Israel.
20:2 So every man of Israel went up from after David, [and]
 followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave
 unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took
 the ten women [his] concubines, whom he had left to keep the
 house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto
 them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living
 in widowhood.
20:4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah
 within three days, and be thou here present.
20:5 So Amasa went to assemble [the men of] Judah: but he
 tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
20:6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of
 Bichri do us more harm than [did] Absalom: take thou thy lord's
 servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities,
 and escape us.
20:7 And there went out after him Joab's men, and the
 Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and
 they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of
 Bichri.
20:8 When they [were] at the great stone which [is] in Gibeon,
 Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on
 was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle [with] a sword
 fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went
 forth it fell out.
20:9 And Joab said to Amasa, [Art] thou in health, my brother?
 And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss
 him.
20:10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that [was] in Joab's
 hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth [rib], and shed
 out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he
 died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the
 son of Bichri.
20:11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that
 favoureth Joab, and he that [is] for David, [let him go] after
 Joab.
20:12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway.
 And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he
 removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a
 cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him
 stood still.
20:13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people
 went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel,
 and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered
 together, and went also after him.
20:15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and
 they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the
 trench: and all the people that [were] with Joab battered the
 wall, to throw it down.
20:16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say,
 I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with
 thee.
20:17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, [Art]
 thou Joab? And he answered, I [am he]. Then she said unto him,
 Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.
20:18 Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old
 time, saying, They shall surely ask [counsel] at Abel: and so
 they ended [the matter].
20:19 I [am one of them that are] peaceable [and] faithful in
 Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel:
 why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?
20:20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me,
 that I should swallow up or destroy.
20:21 The matter [is] not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba
 the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the
 king, [even] against David: deliver him only, and I will depart
 from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head
 shall be thrown to thee over the wall.
20:22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And
 they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast [it]
 out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the
 city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem
 unto the king.
20:23 Now Joab [was] over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah
 the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Cherethites and over the
 Pelethites:
20:24 And Adoram [was] over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son
 of Ahilud [was] recorder:
20:25 And Sheva [was] scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the
 priests:
20:26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years,
 year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD
 answered, [It is] for Saul, and for [his] bloody house, because
 he slew the Gibeonites.
21:2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them;
 (now the Gibeonites [were] not of the children of Israel, but
 of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had
 sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to
 the children of Israel and Judah.)
21:3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do
 for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may
 bless the inheritance of the LORD?
21:4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver
 nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou
 kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, [that]
 will I do for you.
21:5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and
 that devised against us [that] we should be destroyed from
 remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
21:6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will
 hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, [whom] the LORD
 did choose. And the king said, I will give [them].
21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the
 son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that [was] between
 them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
21:8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of
 Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the
 five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up
 for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
21:9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and
 they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell
 [all] seven together, and were put to death in the days of
 harvest, in the first [days], in the beginning of barley
 harvest.
21:10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread
 it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until
 water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the
 birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the
 field by night.
21:11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,
 the concubine of Saul, had done.
21:12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of
 Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen
 them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had
 hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
21:13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the
 bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them
 that were hanged.
21:14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in
 the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his
 father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And
 after that God was intreated for the land.
21:15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel;
 and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought
 against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
21:16 And Ishbibenob, which [was] of the sons of the giant, the
 weight of whose spear [weighed] three hundred [shekels] of
 brass in weight, he being girded with a new [sword], thought to
 have slain David.
21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote
 the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware
 unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle,
 that thou quench not the light of Israel.
21:18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a
 battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the
 Hushathite slew Saph, which [was] of the sons of the giant.
21:19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines,
 where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew [the
 brother of] Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear [was]
 like a weaver's beam.
21:20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of
 [great] stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on
 every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was
 born to the giant.
21:21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the
 brother of David slew him.
21:22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the
 hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
22:1 And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the
 day [that] the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all
 his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:
22:2 And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my
 deliverer;
22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield,
 and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my
 saviour; thou savest me from violence.
22:4 I will call on the LORD, [who is] worthy to be praised: so
 shall I be saved from mine enemies.
22:5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly
 men made me afraid;
22:6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death
 prevented me;
22:7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God:
 and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry [did
 enter] into his ears.
22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of
 heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
22:9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of
 his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
22:10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness
 [was] under his feet.
22:11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen
 upon the wings of the wind.
22:12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark
 waters, [and] thick clouds of the skies.
22:13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire
 kindled.
22:14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered
 his voice.
22:15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and
 discomfited them.
22:16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of
 the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the
 blast of the breath of his nostrils.
22:17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many
 waters;
22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, [and] from them that
 hated me: for they were too strong for me.
22:19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD
 was my stay.
22:20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered
 me, because he delighted in me.
22:21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:
 according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
22:22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not
 wickedly departed from my God.
22:23 For all his judgments [were] before me: and [as for] his
 statutes, I did not depart from them.
22:24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from
 mine iniquity.
22:25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my
 righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.
22:26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, [and]
 with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.
22:27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the
 froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.
22:28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes
 [are] upon the haughty, [that] thou mayest bring [them] down.
22:29 For thou [art] my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten
 my darkness.
22:30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I
 leaped over a wall.
22:31 [As for] God, his way [is] perfect; the word of the LORD
 [is] tried: he [is] a buckler to all them that trust in him.
22:32 For who [is] God, save the LORD? and who [is] a rock, save
 our God?
22:33 God [is] my strength [and] power: and he maketh my way
 perfect.
22:34 He maketh my feet like hinds' [feet]: and setteth me upon
 my high places.
22:35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is
 broken by mine arms.
22:36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and
 thy gentleness hath made me great.
22:37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did
 not slip.
22:38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and
 turned not again until I had consumed them.
22:39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they
 could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.
22:40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that
 rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.
22:41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I
 might destroy them that hate me.
22:42 They looked, but [there was] none to save; [even] unto the
 LORD, but he answered them not.
22:43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I
 did stamp them as the mire of the street, [and] did spread them
 abroad.
22:44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my
 people, thou hast kept me [to be] head of the heathen: a people
 [which] I knew not shall serve me.
22:45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they
 hear, they shall be obedient unto me.
22:46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of
 their close places.
22:47 The LORD liveth; and blessed [be] my rock; and exalted be
 the God of the rock of my salvation.
22:48 It [is] God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the
 people under me,
22:49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also
 hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me:
 thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the
 heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
22:51 [He is] the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth
 mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for
 evermore.
23:1 Now these [be] the last words of David. David the son of
 Jesse said, and the man [who was] raised up on high, the
 anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel,
 said,
23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word [was] in
 my tongue.
23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He
 that ruleth over men [must be] just, ruling in the fear of God.
23:4 And [he shall be] as the light of the morning, [when] the
 sun riseth, [even] a morning without clouds; [as] the tender
 grass [springing] out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
23:5 Although my house [be] not so with God; yet he hath made
 with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all [things], and
 sure: for [this is] all my salvation, and all [my] desire,
 although he make [it] not to grow.
23:6 But [the sons] of Belial [shall be] all of them as thorns
 thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
23:7 But the man [that] shall touch them must be fenced with
 iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned
 with fire in the [same] place.
23:8 These [be] the names of the mighty men whom David had: The
 Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the
 same [was] Adino the Eznite: [he lift up his spear] against
 eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
23:9 And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite,
 [one] of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the
 Philistines [that] were there gathered together to battle, and
 the men of Israel were gone away:
23:10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was
 weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought
 a great victory that day; and the people returned after him
 only to spoil.
23:11 And after him [was] Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite.
 And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where
 was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled
 from the Philistines.
23:12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it,
 and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.
23:13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David
 in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of
 the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
23:14 And David [was] then in an hold, and the garrison of the
 Philistines [was] then [in] Bethlehem.
23:15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me
 drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which [is] by the
 gate!
23:16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the
 Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that
 [was] by the gate, and took [it], and brought [it] to David:
 nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto
 the LORD.
23:17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do
 this: [is not this] the blood of the men that went in jeopardy
 of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things
 did these three mighty men.
23:18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was
 chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three
 hundred, [and] slew [them], and had the name among three.
23:19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was
 their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the [first] three.
23:20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man,
 of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of
 Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit
 in time of snow:
23:21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian
 had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff,
 and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him
 with his own spear.
23:22 These [things] did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had
 the name among three mighty men.
23:23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained
 not to the [first] three. And David set him over his guard.
23:24 Asahel the brother of Joab [was] one of the thirty;
 Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
23:25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
23:26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
23:27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
23:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
23:29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of
 Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
23:30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
23:31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
23:32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
23:33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the
 Hararite,
23:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite,
 Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
23:35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
23:36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armourbearer
 to Joab the son of Zeruiah,
23:38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,
23:39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,
 and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and
 Judah.
24:2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which
 [was] with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from
 Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may
 know the number of the people.
24:3 And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto
 the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that
 the eyes of my lord the king may see [it]: but why doth my lord
 the king delight in this thing?
24:4 Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and
 against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of
 the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the
 people of Israel.
24:5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the
 right side of the city that [lieth] in the midst of the river
 of Gad, and toward Jazer:
24:6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi;
 and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon,
24:7 And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities
 of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the
 south of Judah, [even] to Beersheba.
24:8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to
 Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto
 the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand
 valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah [were]
 five hundred thousand men.
24:10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the
 people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in
 that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away
 the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
24:11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD
 came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee
 three [things]; choose thee one of them, that I may [do it]
 unto thee.
24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him,
 Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt
 thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue
 thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now
 advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us
 fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies [are]
 great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
24:15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning
 even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from
 Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem
 to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to
 the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now
 thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace
 of Araunah the Jebusite.
24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that
 smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done
 wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand,
 I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up,
 rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah
 the Jebusite.
24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the
 LORD commanded.
24:20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants
 coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself
 before the king on his face upon the ground.
24:21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to
 his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee,
 to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed
 from the people.
24:22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and
 offer up what [seemeth] good unto him: behold, [here be] oxen
 for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and [other]
 instruments of the oxen for wood.
24:23 All these [things] did Araunah, [as] a king, give unto the
 king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept
 thee.
24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy
 [it] of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings
 unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So
 David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels
 of silver.
24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered
 burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated
 for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.