For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him.

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.

So your servant said, 'May the word of my lord the king be my security, for my lord the king is like the angel of God when it comes to deciding between right and wrong! May the Lord your God be with you!'"

And the king said to Joab, See now, I will do this thing: go then and Come back with the young man Absalom.

Then said the king, "Let him turn to his own house, but see that he come not in my presence." And so Absalom went to his own house, but came not in the king's presence.

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.

And Joab will rise and come to Absalom to the house, and say to him, Wherefore did thy servants set on fire the portion which is to me?

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.

And Joab went to the king and told him. And he sent for Absalom; which, when he was come, fell to the ground on his face before the king. And the king kissed him.

And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that, when any man had a suit which should come 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.

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!

And it hath come to pass, in the drawing nearing of any one to bow himself to him, that he hath put forth his hand, and laid hold on him, and given a kiss to him;

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.

For while I was living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made an oath, saying, If ever the Lord lets me come back to Jerusalem, I will give him worship in Hebron.

Absalom also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, to come from his home town of Giloh while Absalom was presenting the sacrificial offerings. And so the conspiracy widened, because the common people increasingly sided with Absalom.

Then came one bearing tidings unto David, saying, - It hath come about, that the heart of the men of Israel goeth after Absolom.

Then David said to all his servants who [were] with him in Jerusalem, "Get up and let us flee, for there will be no escape for us from Absalom! Hurry to go, otherwise he will come quickly and overtake us! And he will bring disaster on us and evil! He will attack the city with the edge of the sword!"

All of his staff were going on ahead of him that is, all of the special forces and mercenaries, all of the Gittites, and 600 men who had come to serve him from Gath, went on ahead of the king.

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why should you come with us? Go back and stay with the new king, for you are a foreigner and an exile from your own country.

Thou didst come yesterday, and should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I can? Return and take back thy brethren. Mercy and truth be with thee!

So David replied, "Come along, then!" So Ittai the Gittite went along also, accompanied by all of his men and all of his little ones.

And behold, Zadok and all the Levites were with him and bare the ark of the covenant of God. And when they had fetched down the Ark of God, Abiathar came up, until the people were all come over, out of the city.

And the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back into the town: if I have grace in the eyes of the Lord, he will let me come back and see it and his House again:

See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me.

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:

David greeted him, "If you come along with me, you'll be a burden to me.

And have you not there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? so whatever comes to your ears from the king's house, give word of it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

See, they have with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar; by them you may send word to me of everything which comes to your ears.

And Hushai, David's friend, will come to the city, and Absalom will come to Jerusalem.

And king David hath come in unto Bahurim, and lo, thence a man is coming out, of the family of the house of Saul, and his name is Shimei, son of Gera, he cometh out, coming out and reviling;

And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

And the king will come, and all the people which are with him, weary, and he will be refreshed there.

And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, have come in to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him,

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.

Ahithophel responded, "Go inside and have sex with your father's mistresses, whom he left to keep the palace in order. Then everyone in Israel will hear how your father has come to hate you and everyone who has joined you will be emboldened to act."

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:

And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace.

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.

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.

But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them.

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.

So now send the news quickly to David, and say, Do not take your night's rest by the way across the river to the waste land, but be certain to go over; or the king and all the people with him will come to destruction.

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.

And a youth seeth them, and declareth to Absalom; and they go on both of them hastily, and come in unto the house of a man in Bahurim, and he hath a well in his court, and they go down there,

And the servants of Absalom come in unto the woman to the house, and say, 'Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?' and the woman saith to them, 'They passed over the brook of water;' and they seek, and have not found, and turn back to Jerusalem.

And it cometh to pass, after their going on, that they come up out of the well, and go and declare to king David, and say unto David, 'Rise ye, and pass over hastily the waters, for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.'

Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they were come over Jordan by that it was day, that there lacked not one of them that was not come over Jordan.

Now David had come to Mahanaim, and Absalom had crossed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

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,

But the people said, It is better for you not to go out: for if we are put to flight, they will not give a thought to us, and if death overtakes half of us, it will be nothing to them: but you are of more value than ten thousand of us: so it is better for you to be ready to come to our help from this town.

Then Absalom happened to come across David's men. Now as Absalom was riding on his mule, it went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, while the mule he had been riding kept going.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou wilt have no reward for the tidings?

But come what may,'said he , I will run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite.

And the watchman called and told the king. And the king said, "If he come alone, there is tidings in his mouth." And he came and drew nigh.

Then the watchman saw another man running: and crying out in the direction of the door he said, Here is another man running by himself. And the king said, He, like the other, comes with news.

And the watchman said, I see the running of the foremost like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man; and comes with good news.

And lo, the Cushite hath come, and the Cushite saith, 'Let tidings be proclaimed, my lord, O king; for Jehovah hath delivered thee to-day out of the hand of all those rising up against thee.'

So they returned to the city quietly that day like people come in when they are humiliated after fleeing in battle.

And Joab will come to the king, to the house, and say, Thou shamedst this day the faces of all thy servants saving thy soul this day, and the soul of thy sons and thy daughters, and the soul of thy wives, and the soul of thy concubines;

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 the king riseth, and sitteth in the gate, and to all the people they have declared, saying, 'Lo, the king is sitting in the gate;' and all the people come in before the king, and Israel hath fled, each to his tents.

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.

Ye are my brethren, my bones and my flesh: wherefore then should ye be the last that should come to bring the king home again?'

So he won over all the men of Judah, and they sent word to the king: “Come back, you and all your servants.”

And the king turneth back, and cometh in unto the Jordan, and Judah hath come to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan,

And Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was from Bahurim, will hasten and come down with the man Judah to meet king David.

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;

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.

And Mephibosheth son of Saul hath come down to meet the king -- and he prepared not his feet, nor did he prepare his upper lip, yea, his garments he washed not, even from the day of the going away of the king, till the day that he came in peace --

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?

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.

Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim and accompanied the king to the Jordan River to see him off at the Jordan.

And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.

But Barzillai said unto the king, - Like unto what, are the days of the years of my life, that I should come up with the king, to Jerusalem.

Let your servant now go back again, so that when death comes to me, it may be in my town and by the resting-place of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham: let him go with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.

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.

Then the men of Israel came to the king and said, Why have our countrymen of Judah taken you away in secret and come over Jordan with the king and all his family, because all his people are David's men?

And when David was come to his house to Jerusalem, he took the ten wives his concubines that he had left behind him to keep the house, and put them in ward and ministered all things unto them: but lay no more with them. And so they were enclosed unto the day of the death of them, and lived a widow's life.

And when they were come to the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa met them. And Joab had his garment that he had about him, gird unto him, and had girded thereon a knife joined fast to his loins, in such a sheath that as he went it fell sometimes out.

And Amasa is rolling himself in blood, in the midst of the highway, and the man seeth that all the people have stood still, and he bringeth round Amasa out of the highway to the field, and casteth over him a garment, when he hath seen that every one who hath come by him -- hath stood still.

And they will come and besiege against him in Abel of the house of oppression, and they will pour out a mound against the city, and it will stand in the fortification: and all the people which were with Joab laying waste to throw down the wall.

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.

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.

Then she said, In the old days, there was a saying, Let them put the question in Abel and in Dan, saying, Has what was ordered by men of good faith in Israel ever come to an end?

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.

The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.

They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.

Strangers come cringing unto me: At the hearing of the ear, they obey me.

The foreigners shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places.

He makes me free from my haters: I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.

It is as the light of the morning, when the sun comes up, a morning without clouds; making young grass come to life from the earth

And three of the thirty heads go down and come unto the harvest, unto David, unto the cave of Adullam, and the company of the Philistines are encamping in the valley of Rephaim,

Of the three is he not the honoured? and he becometh their head; and unto the first three he hath not come.

He [was] honored more than the thirty, but he did not come up to the three. David appointed him in charge of his bodyguard.

and they come in to Gilead, and unto the land of Tahtim-Hodshi, and they come in to Dan-Jaan, and round about unto Zidon,

and they come in to the fortress of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivite, and of the Canaanite, and go out unto the south of Judah, to Beer-Sheba.

And they go to and fro through all the land, and come in at the end of nine months and twenty days to Jerusalem,

When David got up in the morning, a revelation from the Lord had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer:

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.

And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let us come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men.