And David lamenteth with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son;

And David sendeth messengers unto the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and saith unto them, 'Blessed are ye of Jehovah, in that ye have done this kindness with your lord, with Saul, that ye bury him.

'And, now, Jehovah doth with you kindness and truth, and also, I do with you this good because ye have done this thing;

And Joab son of Zeruiah, and servants of David, have gone out, and they meet by the pool of Gibeon together, and sit down, these by the pool on this side, and these by the pool on that.

And Joab cometh unto the king, and saith, 'What hast thou done? lo, Abner hath come unto thee! why is this -- thou hast sent him away, and he is really gone?

And the king saith unto his servants, 'Do ye not know that a prince and a great one hath fallen this day in Israel?

and the Beerothites flee to Gittaim, and are there sojourners unto this day.

and bring in the head of Ish-Bosheth unto David in Hebron, and say unto the king, 'Lo, the head of Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, thine enemy, who sought thy life; and Jehovah doth give to my lord the king vengeance this day, of Saul and of his seed.'

And it is displeasing to David, because that Jehovah hath broken forth a breach upon Uzzah, and one calleth that place Perez-Uzzah, unto this day;

and I have been more vile than this, and have been low in mine eyes, and with the handmaids whom thou hast spoken of, with them I am honoured.'

for I have not dwelt in a house even from the day of My bringing up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, even unto this day, and am walking up and down in a tent and in a tabernacle.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so spake Nathan unto David.

And yet this is little in Thine eyes, Lord Jehovah, and Thou dost speak also concerning the house of Thy servant afar off; and this is the law of the Man, Lord Jehovah.

Because of Thy word, and according to Thy heart, Thou hast done all this greatness, to cause Thy servant to know it.

For Thou, Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Thou hast uncovered the ear of Thy servant, saying, A house I build for thee, therefore hath Thy servant found his heart to pray unto Thee this prayer;

And now, Lord Jehovah, Thou art God Himself, and Thy words are truth, and Thou speakest unto Thy servant this goodness,

and David sendeth and inquireth about the woman, and saith, 'Is not this Bath-Sheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the Hittite?'

And Uriah saith unto David, 'The ark, and Israel, and Judah, are abiding in booths, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, on the face of the field are encamping; and I -- I go in unto my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife! -- thy life, and the life of thy soul -- if I do this thing.'

And David saith unto Uriah, 'Abide in this place also to-day, and to-morrow I send thee away;' and Uriah abideth in Jerusalem, on that day, and on the morrow,

And David saith unto the messenger, 'Thus dost thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing be evil in thine eyes; for thus and thus doth the sword devour; strengthen thy warfare against the city, and throw it down -- and strengthen thou him.'

And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, 'Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death is the man who is doing this,

and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.'

thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun;

for thou hast done it in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'

only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.'

And his servants say unto him, 'What is this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.'

and now, he hath died, why is this -- I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'

And she saith to him, 'Nay, my brother, do not humble me, for it is not done so in Israel; do not this folly.

And she saith to him, 'Because of the circumstances this evil is greater than the other that thou hast done with me -- to send me away;' and he hath not been willing to hearken to her,

and calleth his young man, his servant, and saith, 'Send away, I pray thee, this one from me without, and bolt the door after her;'

and Absalom her brother saith unto her, 'Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? and now, my sister, keep silent, he is thy brother; set not thy heart to this thing;' and Tamar dwelleth -- but desolate -- in the house of Absalom her brother.

and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

And the woman saith, 'And why hast thou thought thus concerning the people of God? yea, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king hath not brought back his outcast;

And now that I have come to speak unto the king my lord this word, it is because the people made me afraid, and thy maid-servant saith, Let me speak, I pray thee, unto the king; it may be the king doth do the word of his handmaid,

And the king saith, 'Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this?' And the woman answereth and saith, 'Thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, none doth turn to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab he commanded me, and he put in the mouth of thy maid-servant all these words;

in order to bring round the appearance of the thing hath thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all that is in the land.'

And the king saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.'

and Absalom doth according to this thing to all Israel who come in for judgment unto the king, and Absalom stealeth the heart of the men of Israel.

And Abishai son of Zeruiah saith unto the king, 'Why doth this dead dog revile my lord the king? let me pass over, I pray thee, and I turn aside his head.'

it may be Jehovah doth look on mine affliction, and Jehovah hath turned back to me good for his reviling this day.'

And Absalom saith unto Hushai, 'This thy kindness with thy friend! why hast thou not gone with thy friend?'

And Hushai saith unto Absalom, 'Nay, for he whom Jehovah hath chosen, and this people, even all the men of Israel, his I am, and with him I abide;

And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, 'According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou -- speak thou.'

And Hushai saith unto Absalom, 'Not good is the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

And Absalom hath taken, and setteth up for himself in his life, the standing-pillar that is in the king's valley, for he said, 'I have no son to cause my name to be remembered;' and he calleth the standing-pillar by his own name, and it is called 'The monument of Absalom' unto this day.

and Joab saith to him, 'Thou art not a man of tidings this day, but thou hast borne tidings on another day, and this day thou dost not bear tidings, because the king's son is dead.'

And Ahimaaz son of Zadok addeth again, and saith unto Joab, 'And whatever it be, let me run, I pray thee, I also, after the Cushite.' And Joab saith, 'Why is this -- thou art running, my son, and for thee there are no tidings found?' --

And the watchman seeth another man running, and the watchman calleth unto the gatekeeper, and saith, 'Lo, a man running by himself;' and the king saith, 'Also this one is bearing tidings.'

And the watchman saith, 'I see the running of the first as the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.' And the king saith, 'This is a good man, and with good tidings he cometh.'

And now, rise, go out and speak unto the heart of thy servants, for by Jehovah I have sworn, that -- thou art not going out -- there doth not lodge a man with thee to-night; and this is worse for thee than all the evil that hath come upon thee from thy youth till now.'

And Abishai son of Zeruiah answereth and saith, 'For this is not Shimei put to death -- because he reviled the anointed of Jehovah?'

As a little thing, thy servant doth pass over the Jordan with the king, and why doth the king recompense me this recompense?

And all the men of Judah answer against the men of Israel, 'Because the king is near unto us, and why is this -- ye are displeased about this matter? have we at all eaten of the king's substance? a gift hath he lifted up to us?'

And David speaketh to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah hath delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,

and saith, 'Far be it from me, O Jehovah, to do this; is it the blood of the men who are going with their lives?' and he was not willing to drink it; these things did the three mighty ones.

And Joab saith unto the king, 'Yea, Jehovah thy God doth add unto the people, as they are, a hundred times, and the eyes of my lord the king are seeing; and my lord the king, why is he desirous of this thing?'