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.

And the people stole back that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king does sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

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 you, and all your servants.

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.

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 confinement, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

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.

When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a belt with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.

And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maacah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

Then she spoke, saying, They used to speak in former time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

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.

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 territory of Israel,

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.

And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulcher of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God heeded prayers for the land.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.

They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.

Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid coming out of their hiding places.

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:

But the man that shall touch them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.

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 had gone away:

And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD your God add unto the people, however many they may be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?

And they passed over Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lies in the midst of the valley of Gad, and toward Jazer:

Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and around to Sidon,

And came to the stronghold 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 Beer-sheba.

So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto you in your land? or will you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? now consider, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

And David spoke unto the LORD when he saw the angel that struck the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I pray you, be against me, and against my father's house.

Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.

So they sought for a fair young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.

And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

For he has gone down this day, and has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.

And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.

And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.

And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?

And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule:

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city resounds with it. This is the noise that you have heard.

So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to your house.

But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at your table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother.

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath.

And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is your son. And the first said, No; but the dead is your son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.

And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

And those officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father: for Hiram was always a lover of David.

Now therefore command you that they cut me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with your servants: and unto you will I give wages for your servants according to all that you shall appoint: for you know that there is not among us any that has skill to cut timber like unto the Sidonians.

And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they both made a treaty together.

And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by shifts: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the forced labor.

And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the men of Gebal: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

The door for the lowest chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

And he set the cherubim within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the middle of the house.

And the work of the stands was on this manner: they had panels, and the panels were between the frames:

And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were very many: neither was the weight of the bronze measured.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

And they drew out the poles, so that the ends of the poles were seen out in the holy place before the inner sanctuary, and they were not seen outside: and there they are unto this day.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that your children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me.

And hearken to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear in heaven your dwelling place: and when you hear, forgive.

When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray, and make supplication unto you in this house:

When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them:

Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, that you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

That they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave unto our fathers.

(For they shall hear of your great name, and of your strong hand, and of your outstretched arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;

Hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for: that all people of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by your name.

If they sin against you, (for there is no man that sins not,) and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

Yet if they shall come to themselves in the land where they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto you in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

And forgive your people that have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:

For they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

That your eyes may be open unto the supplication of your servant, and unto the supplication of your people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto you.

On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

And at this house, which is exalted, every one that passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why has the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have laid hold upon other gods, and have worshiped them, and served them: therefore has the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no slaves: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.

And they came to Ophir, and brought from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a set rate year by year.

And a chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Syria, did they export them by their merchants.

Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, You shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clung unto these in love.

And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and apportioned him food, and gave him land.

And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus.

Because they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spoke unto Rehoboam, saying,

And they spoke unto him, saying, If you will be a servant unto this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.

But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and who stood before him:

And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;

And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned back according to the word of the LORD.

If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.