But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat. Instead Amnon said, "Get everyone out of here!" So everyone left.

And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.

Now she was clothed in a long sleeved, multi-colored ornamental tunic, commonly worn by the king's virgin daughters. When Amnon's servant threw her out and locked the door after her,

But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.

Absalom did not speak with Amnon {either bad or good}, for Absalom hated Amnon {over the matter when} he raped Tamar his sister.

But when Absalom pressed him, he sent Amnon and all the king's sons along with him.

Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have I not commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.

And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, Let not my lord have the idea that all the sons of the king have been put to death; for only Amnon is dead: this has been purposed by Absalom from the day when he took his sister Tamar by force.

Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing so grievously to think that all the king's sons were dead, when Amnon only is dead."

In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west on a road beside the hill.

When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping.

When Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was turned again to Absalom,

And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

Your servant has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him.

The woman said, "Why have you devised something like this against God's people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished.

For, when we, die, we become as water poured on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, - therefore doth God not take away the life, but deviseth plans so as not to thrust out from him, a fugitive.

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

Then the king replied to the woman, "Don't hide any information from me when I question you." The woman said, "Let my lord the king speak!"

And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

When Absalom had dwelt two years in Jerusalem without coming into the king's presence he sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king.

Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, that he might send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

And Absalom rose early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is one of the tribes of Israel.

Who will appoint me to be a judge in the land? When anyone arrived to file a legal complaint or other cause, he could approach me for justice and I would settle it!"

And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.

When four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I made to the Lord.

For I made this vow when I was living in Geshur in Aram: 'If the Lord really does allow me to return to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord.'"

Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'"

And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.

Yesterday when you came and {today}, I have caused you to wander by going with us. Now I [am] going to where I [am] going; return and let your brothers return. [May] loyal love and faithfulness [be] with you."

And there was great weeping in all the country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the olive-tree on the edge of the waste land.

Zadok and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. When they positioned the ark of God, Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

And it came to pass, that when David had come to the top of the mount, where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head;

So Hushai, David's friend, went into the city, - when, Absolom, was about to enter Jerusalem.

And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.

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

And, when David and his men went along in the way, Shimei, was going along on the side of the hill over against him, cursing as he went, pelting him with stones, and throwing dust.

When the king and all of the people who were with him arrived, he was weary, so he recovered there.

Now when Absalom and all the men of Israel arrived in Jerusalem, Ahithophel was with him.

And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, had come to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, God save the king, God save the king.

Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines he left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become repulsive to your father, everyone with you will be encouraged.”

The counsel that Ahithophel gave in those days [was] regarded as when a man inquired of the word of God, so all the counsel of Ahithophel [was esteemed] both by David and by Absalom.

When I catch up with him he will be exhausted and worn out. I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king

Then I will return all the people to you; when all have returned, the man whom you [are] seeking [will be dead], but all the people will be safe."

And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou.

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them are overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he hath been found, yea, we, shall be upon him, as when the dew falleth upon the ground, - and there shall not be left of him, or of the men that are with him, so much as one.

And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, they have gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

So David and all the people who were with him went up over Jordan: when dawn came, every one of them had gone over Jordan.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and went 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.

When, David, had come to Mahanaim, Absolom, had passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

And it came to pass, when David had 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,

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.

Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David’s soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended in midair.

When a certain man saw [it], he told Joab, and he said, "Look, I saw Absalom hanging in the oak tree!"

And the man answered Joab, "Though I had a thousand sicles of silver told in my hand yet would I not stretch out mine hand against the king's son. For we heard with our ears when the king charged thee, Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Spare me the lad Absalom.'

When he was alive, Absalom had set up a pillar for himself in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name. It is still called Absalom’s Monument today.

Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again said to Joab, "{Come what may}, please let me also run after the Cushite." Joab asked, "Why [are] you wanting to run, my son, when for you there is no {messenger's reward}?"

Now David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate at the wall. When he looked, he saw a man running by himself.

And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.

And the people withdrew by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the army was informed, "The king is sitting in the gateway!" they all gathered together in his presence.

Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, "Tell the elders of Judah, 'Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace, when everything Israel is saying has come to the king's attention.

Then the king returned. When he arrived at the Jordan, Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and escort him across the Jordan.

{The crossing took place} to bring the household of the king over and to do good in his eyes. Then Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king when he crossed over the Jordan,

He said to the king, "Don't think badly of me, my lord, and don't recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left Jerusalem! Please don't call it to mind!

And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son, came down for the purpose of meeting the king; his feet had not been cared for or his hair cut or his clothing washed from the day when the king went away till the day when he came back in peace.

And it came to pass, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why didst thou not go with me, Mephibosheth?

For, when all the house of my father were nothing better than dead men, unto my lord the king, then didst thou set thy servant among them that used to eat at thy table, - what then have I further, by way of right, or to cry out any further unto the king?

Now when Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, he crossed the Jordan with the king so he could send him on his way from there.

But Barzillai was very old -- eighty years old, in fact -- and he had taken care of the king when he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man.

I'm now 80 years old! I can hardly tell the difference between what tastes good or bad! I can't tell what I eat or drink! I can't hear the voice of men and women when they sing! So why should your servant be an added burden to your majesty the king?

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

And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king had come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.

When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed over with him. Now all the soldiers of Judah along with half of the soldiers of Israel had helped the king cross over.

When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the 10 concubines he had left to take care of the palace and placed them under guard. He provided for them, but he was not intimate with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

But when Amasa went out to muster the army of Judah, he delayed to act within the time allotted to him.

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

And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

Sheba traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, they too joined him.

And when he was come near to her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said to him, Hear the words of thy handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

During David’s reign there was a famine for three successive years, so David inquired of the Lord. The Lord answered, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family when he killed the Gibeonites.”

When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul's concubine, 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 buried them with the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin, in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father. And when they had performed all that the king commanded, God was then at one with the land.

Now when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.

And there was yet again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, - when Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim of Bethlehem, smote Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

And there was yet again a battle in Gath; when there was a man of stature, with six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also, having been born to the giant;

And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.

David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord rescued him from the power of all his enemies, including Saul.

When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly-men made me afraid;

They confronted me when I was in trouble, but the LORD remained my support!

Children of a foreign land came cringing to me; {when they heard of me}, they became obedient to me.

The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has talked to me. "When one is governing men justly, he fears God while governing.

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

When, not so, was my house with GOD, Then, a covenant age-abiding, he appointed me, Ordered in all things and guarded, Now that it is all my salvation and all my desire, Will he not make it shoot forth?

when the unthrifty men are all of them as thorns taken out of their places, which cannot be taken with hands.

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there assembled to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away: