And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem, for he said, Today the house of Israel will restore for me the kingdom of my father.

And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life. How much more [may] this Benjamite now [do it]? Let him alone, and let him curse, for LORD has bidden him.

It may be that LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that LORD will reward me good for [his] cursing of me this day.

And even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that LORD might bring evil upon A

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En-rogel. And a maid-servant used to go and tell them, and they went and told king David, for they might not be seen to come into the city.

And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David. And they said to David, Arise ye, and pass quickly over the water, for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you.

and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat. For they said, The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

But the people said, Thou shall not go forth. For if we flee away, they will not care for us, neither if half of us die, will they care for us, but thou are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore now it is better that thou be ready to

And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

For the battle was there spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

And the man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand [pieces of] silver in my hand, yet I would not put forth my hand against the king's son, for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware th

And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people.

Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king's valley, for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. And he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absa

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

And, behold, the Cushite came. And the Cushite said, News for my lord the king, for LORD has avenged thee this day of all those who rose up against thee.

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 I had died for thee, 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 to all the people, for the people heard say that day, The king grieves for his son.

in that thou love those who hate thee, and hate those who love thee. For thou have declared this day that rulers and servants are nothing to thee. For this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, th

Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak graciously to thy servants. For I swear by LORD, if thou do not go forth, there will not remain a man with thee this night. And that will be worse to thee than all the evil that has befallen

For thy servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day the first 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 LORD's anointed?

And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?

And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said, I will saddle for me a donkey, that I may ride on it, and go with the king, because thy servant is lame.

For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet thou set thy servant among those who ate at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the king?

Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old. And he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man [of wealth].

And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee. And whatever thou shall require of me, that I will do for thee.

And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us. Why then are ye angry for this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's cost, or has he given us any gift?

And there stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said, He who favors Joab, and he who is for David, let him follow Joab.

And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy.

And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of LORD. And LORD said, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites.

and David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement that ye may bless the inheritance of LORD?

And the Gibeonites said to him, It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house, neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that I will do for you.

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven. And she neither allowed the birds of the heaven to rest on them by day

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

And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, twenty-four in number, and he also was born to the giant.

These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

For the waves of death encompassed me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured. Coals were kindled by it.

At the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

For I have kept the ways of LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his ordinances were before me. And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

For thou are my lamp, O LORD. And LORD will lighten my darkness.

For by thee I run upon a troop. By my God do I leap over a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect. The word of LORD is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

For who is God, except LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

For thou have girded me with strength to the battle. Thou have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

Even the God who executes vengeance for me, and who brings down peoples under me,

He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his seed, for evermore.

The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me. He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,

Truly my house is not so with God. Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. For it is all my salvation, and all [my] desire, though he does not make it to grow.

But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in [their] place.

And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this, [to drink] the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

And the king said to Joab the captain of the army, who was with him, Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the sum of the people.

And David's heart smote him after he had numbered the people. And David said to LORD, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done, but now, O LORD, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foo

And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait. Let us fall now into the hand of LORD, for his mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man.

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.

And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will truly buy it from thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings to LORD my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver

And David built there an altar to LORD, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was halted from Israel.