David in the Bible

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. And it came to pass in an evening, 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. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? read more.
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. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bore unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 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. read more.
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 spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 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. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that you have done? you did fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, you did rise and eat bread. 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? But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember you from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which you have spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?

But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

But if he thus says, I have no delight in you; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seems good unto him.

And over them that did the work of the field for tillage of the ground was Ezri the son of Chelub:

Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you.

And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, erect an altar unto the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

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?

And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint unto me him whom I name unto you.

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.

So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.

And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul;

Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

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 Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched grain, and beans, and lentils, and parched seed, And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of cows, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king with supplies while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come you over with me, and I will feed you with me in Jerusalem. read more.
And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? Your servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense me with such a reward? Let your servant, I pray you, turn back again, that I may die in my own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto you. And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto you: and whatsoever you shall ask of me, that will I do for 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.

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 of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai; who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:

And of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who took one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite as his wife, and was called after their name.

And you, son of man, take a sharp knife, take a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon your head and upon your beard: then take balances to weigh and divide the hair.

And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is skillful in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a handsome person, and the LORD is with him.

I was a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a horror to my acquaintance: they that did see me outside fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

Yea, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

You have put away my acquaintance far from me; you have made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

Lover and friend have you put far from me, and my acquaintance into darkness.

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 you, O Absalom, my son, my son!

But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bore unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 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. read more.
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 spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 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. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that you have done? you did fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, you did rise and eat bread. 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? But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

She opens her mouth with wisdom; and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.

For you are my hope, O Lord GOD: you are my trust from my youth.

O God, you have taught me from my youth: and to this day have I declared your wondrous works.

And his father had not rebuked him at any time in saying, Why have you done so? and he also was a very handsome man; and his mother bore him after Absalom.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he comes here.

And David said unto him, How were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?

And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. So David restrained his servants with these words, and allowed them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. read more.
And David said to Saul, Why hear you men's words, saying, Behold, David seeks your hurt? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered you today into my hand in the cave: and some bade me kill you: but my eye spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed.

Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the camp, and his spear stuck in the ground at his head: but Abner and the people lay round about him. Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore let me strike him, I pray you, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not strike him the second time. read more.
And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless? David said furthermore, As the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray you, take you now the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go. So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head; and they got away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awoke: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them. Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off; a great space being between them: And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answer you not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who are you that cry to the king? And David said to Abner, are not you a valiant man? and who is like to you in Israel? why then have you not kept your lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king your lord. This thing is not good that you have done. As the LORD lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept your master, the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head.

I am a companion of all them that fear you, and of them that keep your precepts.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother.

And David took himself more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see you to that.

And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in what I have done: and now, I beseech you, O LORD, take away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

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.

I have sinned; what shall I do unto you, O you preserver of men? why have you set me as a mark against you, so that I am a burden to myself?

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against you.

And David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in what I have done: and now, I beseech you, O LORD, take away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul;

And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you: because you have sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, what the LORD says unto me, that will I speak.

And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.

Although my house be not so with God; yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he makes it not to grow.

I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the earth.

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall crush the forehead of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remains of the city.

Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that he will make you a house. And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who shall proceed out of your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. read more.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you: your throne shall be established forever.

Also I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness oppress them any more, as at the beginning, And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the LORD will build you a house. And it shall come to pass, when your days are ended that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your descendant after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. read more.
He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before you: But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established forevermore.

Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. read more.
But the LORD said to David my father, Since it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was in your heart: Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your body, he shall build the house for my name. The LORD therefore has performed his word that he has spoken: for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And in it have I put the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel. And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands: For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, and five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heaven, nor in the earth; who keeps covenant, and shows mercy unto your servants, that walk before you with all their hearts: You who have kept with your servant David my father that which you have promised him; and spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day. Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; if only your children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me. Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you have spoken unto your servant David.

Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons forever.

Then you spoke in a vision to your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be established: my arm also shall strengthen him. read more.
The enemy shall not outwit him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His descendants also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His descendants shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who shall proceed out of your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: read more.
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you: your throne shall be established forever.

And it shall come to pass, when your days are ended that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your descendant after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before you: read more.
But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established forevermore.

Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; if only your children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.

Although my house be not so with God; yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he makes it not to grow.

I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

The LORD has sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne. If your children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon your throne forevermore.

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

And again, Isaiah says, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

And when Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Son of David, have mercy on us.

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same regions, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, you son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.

And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

And, behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, you son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, that they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, you son of David.

Saying, What think you of Christ? whose son is he? They said unto him, The son of David.

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, You son of David, have mercy on me.

And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passed by.

And they who went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, You son of David, have mercy on me.

That chant to the sound of the harp, and invent for yourselves instruments of music, like David;

And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, lyres and harps and cymbals sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

Moreover four thousand were gatekeepers; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, for praise.

And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe went before them.

And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray you, stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

And the priests stood at their posts: the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy endures forever, whenever David offered praise by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets opposite them, and all Israel stood.

And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men, an old man in the days of Saul.

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he comes here.

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron, And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, read more.
And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him. And Tamar his daughter-in-law bore him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. The sons of Perez; Hezron, and Hamul. read more.
And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all. And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the devoted thing . And the sons of Ethan; Azariah. The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai. And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz, And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse. And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third, Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth. Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brothers; And Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar; and Perez begat Hezron and Hezron begat Ram; read more.
And Ram begat Amminidab; and Amminidab begat Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah;

Who was the son of Melea, who was the son of Menna, who was the son of Mattatha, who was the son of Nathan, who was the son of David, Who was the son of Jesse, who was the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz, who was the son of Salmon, who was the son of Nahshon, Who was the son of Amminadab, who was the son of Ram, who was the son of Hezron, who was the son of Perez, who was the son of Judah, read more.
Who was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, who was the son of Terah, who was the son of Nahor, Who was the son of Serug, who was the son of Reu, who was the son of Peleg, who was the son of Eber, who was the son of Shelah, Who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech, Who was the son of Mathuselah, who was the son of Enoch, who was the son of Jared, who was the son of Mahalalel, who was the son of Cainan, Who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.

The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain. read more.
Although my house be not so with God; yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he makes it not to grow. 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.

All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this plan.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think you of Christ? whose son is he? They said unto him, The son of David. He said unto them, How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, read more.
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool? If David then called him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither dared any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

For David spoke concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because you will not leave my soul in hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. read more.
You have made known to me the ways of life; you shall make me full of joy with your countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of his descendants, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hades, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he said himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, Until I make your foes your footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Who by the mouth of your servant David has said, Why did the nations rage, and the people imagine vain things?

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

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.

These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, you were he that led out and brought in Israel: and the LORD your God said unto you, You shall feed my people Israel, and you shall be ruler over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

And these are the numbers of the men that were ready armed for war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. The children of Judah that bore shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed for war. Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for war, seven thousand and one hundred. read more.
Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred. And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred; And Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty and two captains. And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three thousand: for until now the greatest part of them had remained loyal to the house of Saul. And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men throughout the house of their fathers. And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated by name, to come and make David king. And of the children of Issachar, who were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were under their command. Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, who could keep ranks: they had singleness of heart. And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand. And of the Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred. And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand. And on the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for battle, a hundred and twenty thousand. All these men of war, that could keep ranks, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover they that were near them, even from Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and supplies of meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

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.

These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, you were he that led out and brought in Israel: and the LORD your God said unto you, You shall feed my people Israel, and you shall be ruler over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

And it came to pass after this, that David inquired 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, Where shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's widow the Carmelite. And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. read more.
And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell there, even they, and their children, and their children's children forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.

But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray you, take you now the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go.

So David restrained his servants with these words, and allowed them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my own body, seeks my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has bidden him.

And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you 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? Therefore the king said unto Shimei, You shall not die. And the king swore unto him.

And David took himself more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers in the gates were two hundred and twelve. These were recorded by their genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their office of trust.

And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, lyres and harps and cymbals sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; And with them their brethren of the second order, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. read more.
So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of bronze; And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps according to Alamoth; And Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with lyres according to the Sheminith, to lead. And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, in music: he instructed about the music, because he was skillful. And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.

And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to invoke, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with lyres and with harps; but Asaph made music with cymbals; Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required: And Obed-edom with his brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be gatekeepers: And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon, read more.
To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel; And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endures forever; And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers. And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.

Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be strong therefore, and show yourself a man; And keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself: read more.
That the LORD may continue his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you (said he) a man on the throne of Israel. Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his belt that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. Do therefore according to your wisdom, and let not his gray head go down to the grave in peace. 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, behold, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for you are a wise man, and know what you ought to do unto him; but his gray head bring you down to the grave with blood. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God: But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you shall not build a house unto my name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. read more.
Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, the LORD be with you; and prosper you, and build the house of the LORD your God, as he has said of you. Only the LORD give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. Then shall you prosper, if you take heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed. Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of bronze and iron beyond weighing; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you may add to it. Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of skillful men for every manner of work. Of the gold, the silver, and the bronze, and the iron, there is no limit. Arise therefore, and begin working, and the LORD be with you. David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, Is not the LORD your God with you? and has he not given you rest on every side? for he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build you the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of his descendants, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

And these are the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia, And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet.

And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel: Ibhar also, and Elishama, and Eliphelet, And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, read more.
And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.

Now these are the names of his children whom he had in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, And Ibhar, and Elishua, and Elpelet, And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, read more.
And Elishama, and Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: who spoke unto David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here: thinking, David cannot come in here.

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, You shall not come here. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, which is the city of David. And David said, Whosoever smites the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief. read more.
And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city around it, even from Millo and around: and Joab repaired the rest of the city.

Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add year to year; let feasts run their cycle.

But now your kingdom shall not continue: the LORD has sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be ruler over his people, because you have not kept that which the LORD commanded you.

Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

Then you spoke in a vision to your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be established: my arm also shall strengthen him. read more.
The enemy shall not outwit him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His descendants also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His descendants shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

And these are the numbers of the men that were ready armed for war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. The children of Judah that bore shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed for war. Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for war, seven thousand and one hundred. read more.
Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred. And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred; And Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty and two captains. And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three thousand: for until now the greatest part of them had remained loyal to the house of Saul. And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men throughout the house of their fathers. And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated by name, to come and make David king. And of the children of Issachar, who were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were under their command. Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, who could keep ranks: they had singleness of heart. And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand. And of the Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred. And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand. And on the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for battle, a hundred and twenty thousand. All these men of war, that could keep ranks, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover they that were near them, even from Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and supplies of meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

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 grew faint. And Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to slay David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah aided him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore unto him, saying, You shall go no more out with us to battle, that you quench not the light of Israel. read more.
And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was of the sons of the giant. And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was yet again a battle in Gath, where there 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. And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei the brother of David slew him. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued. And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear's shaft was like a weaver's beam. And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant. read more.
But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him. These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; and you have made me the head of the nations: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached you are fallen upon me.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why are you alone, and no man with you? And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with a business, and has said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore what is there on hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or what there is present. read more.
And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread on hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us for these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken away from before the LORD, to put hot bread in its place the day when it was taken away.

But he said unto them, Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them who were with him, but only for the priests?

Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.

And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 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.

And it was told king David, saying, The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertains unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. And it was so, that when they that bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. read more.
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 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.

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. 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.) Therefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and with what shall I make the atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD? read more.
And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shall you kill any man in Israel. And he said, What you shall say, that will I do for you. 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, 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. 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. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: 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 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 allowed neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: 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.

And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.

And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.

So David grew greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.

These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; read more.
And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

But God said unto me, You shall not build a house for my name, because you have been a man of war, and have shed blood.

And David said unto Saul, Your servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and slew him. Your servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

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 your servant!

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. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Why went you not with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for your servant said, I will saddle me a donkey, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because your servant is lame. read more.
And he has slandered your servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in your eyes. For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet did you set your servant among them that did eat at your own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? And the king said unto him, Why speak you any more of your matters? I have said, You and Ziba divide the land. 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.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David a house.

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.

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 you, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom. 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. And the people stole back that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. read more.
But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David a house.

And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As you did deal with David my father, and did send him cedars to build him a house to dwell in, even so deal with me.

And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

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. And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. read more.
And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. And there was a very fierce battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David. And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Are you Asahel? And he answered, I am. And Abner said to him, Turn you aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay you hold on one of the young men, and take you his armor. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn you aside from following me: why should I strike you to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab your brother? However he refused to turn aside: therefore Abner with the blunt end of the spear struck him under the fifth rib, so 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. Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of a hill. Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour forever? know you not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, before you bid the people return from following their brethren? And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone up every one from following his brother. So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 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. 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. But the servants of David had struck down Benjamin, and Abner's men, so that three hundred and threescore men died. And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulcher of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.

So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a pouch; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know you assuredly, that you shall go out with me to battle, you and your men. And David said to Achish, Surely you shall know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make you my guardian forever.

Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray you, stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

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 you away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: why then are you angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or has he given us any gift? 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 you: why then did you despise us, since our advice was first in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he decided not to go there. And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in the mountains in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a forest. read more.
And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the forest, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto you; and that also Saul my father knows. And they both made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the forest, and Jonathan went to his house. Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand. And Saul said, Blessed be you of the LORD; for you have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there: for it is told me that he deals very craftily. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come you again to me with certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah. And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: therefore he came down to a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them.

Now the acts of David the king, from first to last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, With all his reign and his might, and the events that happened to him, and to Israel, and to all the kingdoms of the countries.

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give you as your wife: only be you valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite as his wife. read more.
And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, you shall this day be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Talk with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? And the servants of Saul told him, saying, In this manner spoke David. And Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desires not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law: and the appointed days were not expired. Therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as his wife.

And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bore unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 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. read more.
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 spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 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. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that you have done? you did fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, you did rise and eat bread. 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? But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: 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.

And these are the numbers of the men that were ready armed for war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. The children of Judah that bore shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed for war. Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for war, seven thousand and one hundred. read more.
Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred. And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred; And Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty and two captains. And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three thousand: for until now the greatest part of them had remained loyal to the house of Saul. And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men throughout the house of their fathers. And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated by name, to come and make David king. And of the children of Issachar, who were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were under their command. Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, who could keep ranks: they had singleness of heart. And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand. And of the Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred. And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand. And on the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for battle, a hundred and twenty thousand. All these men of war, that could keep ranks, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover they that were near them, even from Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and supplies of meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

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. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Why went you not with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for your servant said, I will saddle me a donkey, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because your servant is lame. read more.
And he has slandered your servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in your eyes. For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet did you set your servant among them that did eat at your own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? And the king said unto him, Why speak you any more of your matters? I have said, You and Ziba divide the land. 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.

And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the forest, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto you; and that also Saul my father knows. And they both made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the forest, and Jonathan went to his house.

But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste you, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. Therefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth.

And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 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. read more.
And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight of which 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. And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them to work with saws, and with picks of iron, and with axes of iron, and made them toil at the brick kilns: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom. 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 strike the city with the edge of the sword. And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall command. read more.
And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off. And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why go you also with us? return to your place, and abide with the king: for you are a stranger, and also an exile. You came only yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us? seeing I go where I may, return you, and take back your brethren: mercy and truth be with you. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will your servant be. 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. 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. 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 all passed out of the city. And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation: But if he thus says, I have no delight in you; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seems good unto him. The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Are not you a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to inform me. Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there. 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 were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and earth upon his head: Unto whom David said, If you go on with me, then you shall be a burden unto me: But if you return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now also be your servant: then you may for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. And have you not there with you Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that whatsoever thing you shall hear out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them you shall send unto me everything that you can hear. So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.

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 has Ahithophel counseled against you. Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there was left not one of them that was not gone over Jordan. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and got him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father. read more.
Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 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. So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. 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 Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched grain, and beans, and lentils, and parched seed, And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of cows, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David. 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 there went over a ferryboat 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; read more.
And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do you remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. For your servant does 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. 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? And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you 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? Therefore the king said unto Shimei, You shall not die. And the king swore unto him.

And David said unto Saul, Your servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and slew him. Your servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king with supplies while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come you over with me, and I will feed you with me in Jerusalem. read more.
And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? Your servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense me with such a reward? Let your servant, I pray you, turn back again, that I may die in my own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto you. And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto you: and whatsoever you shall ask of me, that will I do for 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 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.

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.

Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much esteemed.

And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. read more.
And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, you see the man is mad: why then have you brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that you have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. 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.) Therefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and with what shall I make the atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD? read more.
And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shall you kill any man in Israel. And he said, What you shall say, that will I do for you. 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, 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. 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. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: 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 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 allowed neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: 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.

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 has fled out of the land because of Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak you not a word of bringing the king back? And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house. read more.
You are my brethren, you are my bones and my flesh: why then are you the last to bring back the king? And say you to Amasa, Are you not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the army before me continually in the place of Joab. 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. 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.

And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to pin David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he drove the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If you save not your life tonight, tomorrow you shall be slain. read more.
So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his head. And Saul said unto Michal, Why have you deceived me so, and sent away my enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill you? So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah. And he went there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gizites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as you go to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David struck the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. And Achish said, where have you made a raid today? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. read more.
And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his custom all the while he dwells in the country of the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.

And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 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. And he distributed among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to the women and to the men, to every one a loaf of bread, and a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed every one to his house.

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 stronghold.

And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and struck the Philistines from Geba until you come to Gezer.

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 today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, who chose me before your father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I make merry before the LORD. And I will yet be more contemptible than this, and will be abased in my own sight: and of the maidservants whom you have spoken, of them shall I be held in honor. read more.
Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's descendants has God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus:

And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Paltiel the son of Laish. And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. read more.
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. And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Came you not from your journey? why then did you not go down unto your house? 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 my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Tarry here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire from him, that he may be struck down, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 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. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; And charged the messenger, saying, When you have finished telling the matters of the war unto the king, And if so be that the king's anger arises, and he says unto you, Why approached you so near unto the city when you did fight? knew you not that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck 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 you near the wall? then say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him for. 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 entrance of the gate. And the shooters shot from off the wall upon your servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shall you say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another: make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and so encourage him.

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. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, except 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 food, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. read more.
And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he refused to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and prepared it for the man that was come to him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives, the man that has done this thing shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; And I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto you more things. Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house; because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them unto your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto you shall surely die.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe; And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.

Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war. They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul's brethren of Benjamin. The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah, and Jehu the Anthothite, read more.
And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite, Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite, Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites, And Joelah, and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor. And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David at the stronghold in the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the gazelles upon the mountains; Ezer the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh. These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the army: one of the least was over a hundred, and the greatest over a thousand. These are they that went over the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west. And there came from the children of Benjamin and Judah to the stronghold unto David. And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If you are come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you: but if you are come to betray me to my enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look on it, and rebuke it. Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Yours we are, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you. Then David received them, and made them captains of his troop. And there deserted some of Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the Philistines after counsel sent him away, saying, He will desert to his master Saul to the peril of our heads. As he went to Ziklag, there deserted to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zellethai, captains of the thousands that were from Manasseh. And they helped David against the band of raiders: for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the army. For at that time day by day there came more to David to help him, until it was a great army, like the army of God.

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: Also he told them to teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher. The beauty of Israel is slain upon your high places: how are the mighty fallen! read more.
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. You 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. 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. 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. You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, you were slain in your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant have you been unto me: your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

And Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day forward. And it came to pass the next day, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. read more.
And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will pin David even to the wall with it. And David escaped out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. Therefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give you as your wife: only be you valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite as his wife. And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, you shall this day be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Talk with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? And the servants of Saul told him, saying, In this manner spoke David. And Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desires not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law: and the appointed days were not expired. Therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as his wife. And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much esteemed.

Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart went out toward Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoah, and brought from there a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray you, pretend to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not yourself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead: And come to the king, and speak in this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. read more.
And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and pain him honor, and said, Help, O king. And the king said unto her, What ails you? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead. And your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one struck the other, and slew him. And, behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that struck 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 ember which is left, and shall not leave to my husband either name or remnant upon the earth. And the king said unto the woman, Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you. 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. And the king said, Whosoever says anything unto you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you any more. Then said she, I pray you, let the king remember the LORD your God, that you would not allow the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth. Then the woman said, Let your handmaid, I pray you, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. And the woman said, Why then have you thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king does speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one. For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does God respect any person: yet does he devise means, that his banished one be not expelled 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 your handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid. 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. Then your 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 your God will be with you. Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the thing that I shall ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken: for your servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid: To bring about this change of affairs has your 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. And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant. So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 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.

Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and you be here present. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take you your lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get himself fortified cities, and escape us. read more.
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 Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he struck him with it in the fifth rib, and shed out his entrails to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing floors. . Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and strike these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and strike the Philistines, and save Keilah. And David's men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? read more.
Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah: for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand. So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and struck them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars. And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. And David knew that Saul secretly plotted evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod. Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant. And the LORD said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver you up. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he decided not to go there.

And when they came to Nacon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his irreverence; and there he died by the ark of God. And David was angry, because the LORD had made an outbreak against Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day. read more.
And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? 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 Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household.

And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? 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 Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household.

And it came to pass in an evening, 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. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 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. read more.
And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

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; It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and paid him honor. And David said unto him, From where come you? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. read more.
And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray you, tell me. And he answered, 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. And David said unto the young man that told him, How know you that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead? 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. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. And he said unto me, Who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. He said unto me again, Stand, I pray you, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. 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 here unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, 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. And David said unto the young man that told him, From where are you? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed? And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he struck him so that he died. And David said unto him, Your blood be upon your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.

And it came to pass, when he had finished speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. read more.
And Jonathan removed the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his belt.

And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill you: now therefore, I pray you, take heed to yourself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide yourself: And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father of you; and what I see, that I will tell you. read more.
And Jonathan spoke good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been toward you very good: For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel: you saw it, and did rejoice: therefore then will you sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As the LORD lives, he shall not be slain. And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, You have shamed this day the faces of all your servants, who this day have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines; In that you love your enemies, and hate your friends. For you have declared this day, that you regard neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it would have pleased you well. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak kindly unto your servants: for I swear by the LORD, if you go not forth, there will not tarry one with you this night: and that will be worse unto you than all the evil that befell you from your youth until now.

Now these are 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, The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. read more.
And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God; yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he makes it not to grow. 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 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. So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah remained loyal to their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. 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.

Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who dwells between the cherubim. 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, drove the new cart. read more.
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. 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 tambourines, and on castanets, and on cymbals.

And say you to Amasa, Are you not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the army before me continually in the place of Joab.

Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is skillful in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a handsome person, and the LORD is with him.

Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Therefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may get 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. read more.
And the young woman was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

And David went up from there, and dwelt in strongholds at Engedi.

And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; read more.
And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations.

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he comes here.

Therefore the king said unto Shimei, You shall not die. And the king swore unto him.

And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.

And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; you have tested me, and shall find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with you.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember you from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, you see the man is mad: why then have you brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that you have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the camp, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head there. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with you.

Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all your servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house?

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 today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

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 the charge concerning Absalom.

David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

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 today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

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 the charge concerning Absalom.

David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

But as for me, I will come into your house in the multitude of your mercy: and in your fear will I worship toward your holy temple.

Establish your word unto your servant, who is devoted to your fear.

Depart from me, you evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

A perverse heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off: he that has a haughty look and a proud heart will I not endure. My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. read more.
He that works deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that tells lies shall not tarry in my sight.

And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

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.

Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there was left not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth.

The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray you, take you now the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go.

And he said to David, you are more righteous than I: for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.

Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and get you into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a pouch; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O you my God, save your servant that trusts in you.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

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 the charge concerning Absalom.

David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

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!

And his father had not rebuked him at any time in saying, Why have you done so? and he also was a very handsome man; and his mother bore him after Absalom.

Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire from him, that he may be struck down, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. read more.
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.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house; because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

And now, Lord, what do I wait for? my hope is in you.

And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots.

And when your days be fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who shall proceed out of your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you: your throne shall be established forever.

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 you have brought me thus far? And this was yet a small thing in your sight, O Lord GOD; but you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? And what can David say more unto you? for you, Lord GOD, know your servant. read more.
For your word's sake, and according to your own heart, have you done all these great things, to make your servant know them. Therefore you are great, O LORD God: for there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make himself a name, and to do for you great things and awesome, for your land, before your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For you have confirmed to yourself your people Israel to be a people unto you forever: and you, LORD, have become their God. And now, O LORD God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, establish it forever, and do as you have said. And let your name be magnified forever, saying, {} The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of your servant David be established before you. For you, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto you. And now, O Lord GOD, you are that God, and your words are true, and you have promised this goodness unto your servant: Therefore now let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you: for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken it: and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever.

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one does hunt a partridge in the mountains.

After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom do you pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.

And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite as his wife. And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. read more.
And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David a second time, you shall this day be my son-in-law. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Talk with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; for you have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God. What can David speak more to you for the honor of your servant? for you know your servant. read more.
O LORD, for your servant's sake, and according to your own heart, have you done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. O LORD, there is none like you, neither is there any God beside you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make you a name of greatness and awesomeness, by driving out nations from before your people, whom you have redeemed out of Egypt? For your people Israel did you make your own people forever; and you, LORD, became their God. Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have said. Let it even be established, that your name may be magnified forever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David your servant be established before you. For you, O my God, have told your servant that you will build him a house: therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray before you. And now, LORD, you are God, and have promised this goodness unto your servant: Now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may be before you forever: for you bless, O LORD, and it shall be blessed forever.

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? for all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

And when they had left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.

And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

You 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.

And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: 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 has an issue, or that is a leper, or that leans on a staff, or that falls on the sword, or that lacks bread.

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he comes here.

And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; And I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto you more things. Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

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.

The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and his word was in my tongue.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head there. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite,

And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number you the people, that I may know the number of the people. 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? read more.
Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the army. And Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. 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. And Joab gave 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.

And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's command was abominable to Joab.

But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the heavens. Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.

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;

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and bring him: for we will not sit down till he comes here. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were he that led out and brought in Israel: and the LORD said to you, You shall feed my people Israel, and you shall be a captain over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel. read more.
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 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.

And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite,

As he went to Ziklag, there deserted to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zellethai, captains of the thousands that were from Manasseh.

Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites,

But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah, and Jehu the Anthothite,

And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite,

Then the people rejoiced, for they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

And to them who were in Racal, and to them who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them who were in the cities of the Kenites,

And Achish said, where have you made a raid today? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

She opens her mouth with wisdom; and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures forever.

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

And David took himself more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

And it came to pass in an evening, 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. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 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. read more.
And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. 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. And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Came you not from your journey? why then did you not go down unto your house? 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 my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Tarry here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire from him, that he may be struck down, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 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. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; And charged the messenger, saying, When you have finished telling the matters of the war unto the king, And if so be that the king's anger arises, and he says unto you, Why approached you so near unto the city when you did fight? knew you not that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck 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 you near the wall? then say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him for. 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 entrance of the gate. And the shooters shot from off the wall upon your servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shall you say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another: make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and so encourage him. And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.

Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God; Both for the showbread, and for the fine flour for meal offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is mixed with all kinds of measures and sizes; And to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; read more.
And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to that required of them, continually before the LORD: And that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, and the needs of the holy place, and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the LORD.

And David divided them into divisions among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

And they cast lots for their duties, the small as well as the great, the teacher as well as the student. Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to Joseph: the second to Gedaliah, who with his brethren and sons were twelve: The third to Zaccur, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: read more.
The fourth to Izri, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The fifth to Nethaniah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The seventh to Jesharelah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The ninth to Mattaniah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The tenth to Shimei, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The eleventh to Azarel, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The thirteenth to Shubael, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The eighteenth to Hanani, he, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The twentieth to Eliathah, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The one and twentieth to Hothir, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The two and twentieth to Giddalti, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The three and twentieth to Mahazioth, his sons, and his brethren, twelve: The four and twentieth to Romamti-ezer, his sons, and his brethren, twelve.

These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses; even the heads of their fathers' houses, as they were counted individually by the number of their names, that did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.

For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:

And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and serve before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the gatekeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

And to the priests enrolled by genealogy according to their fathers' house, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their work by their divisions;

And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

Of which, twenty and four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges: Moreover four thousand were gatekeepers; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, for praise. And David divided them into divisions among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remains under curtains.

That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.

This Shelomoth and his brethren were over all the treasuries of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers' houses, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army, had dedicated.

Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;

So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the furnishings, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

I know also, my God, that you test the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy your people, who are present here, to offer willingly unto you.

Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And the LORD said unto David my father, Since it was in your heart to build a house unto my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will indeed buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the bronze for things of bronze, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistening stones, and of various colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have of my own things, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses: read more.
The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of craftsmen. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?

You therefore, and your sons, and your servants, shall till the land for him, and you shall bring in the fruits, that your master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread always at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.

And David said unto Saul, Your servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

Your servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

And I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and slew him. Your servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.