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 he said unto me, Who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

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.

The beauty of Israel is slain upon your high places: how are the mighty fallen!

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, you were slain in your high places.

How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Are you Asahel? And he answered, I am.

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:

And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

And David said on that day, Whosoever gets up the water shaft, and strikes the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Therefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

And these are the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

And I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies out of your sight, and have made you a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

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 now, O Lord GOD, you are that God, and your words are true, and you have promised this goodness unto your servant:

And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Are you Ziba? And he said, Your servant is he.

When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards are grown, and then return.

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 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.

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 he said unto him, Why are you, being the king's son, so haggard from day to day? will you not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for Amnon only is dead.

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.

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 Absalom rose up 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 unto him, and said, Of what city are you? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

And Absalom said unto him, See, your matters are good and right; but there is no man appointed of the king to hear you.

And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall command.

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.

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.

And the king said unto Ziba, What mean you by these? And Ziba said, The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, all that belonged unto Mephibosheth are yours. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech you that I may find grace in your sight, my lord, O king.

The LORD has returned upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son: and, behold, you are taken in your mischief, because you are a bloody man.

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto your father's concubines, which he has left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that you are abhorred by your father: then shall the hands of all that are with you be strong.

And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will strike the king only:

For, said Hushai, you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and they who are with him are valiant men.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

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.

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

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.

But the people answered, You 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 now you are worth ten thousand of us: therefore now it is better that you support us from out of the city.

And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he is alone, there are tidings in his mouth. And he came rapidly, and drew near.

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.

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 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 Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of your handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why will you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

And the afflicted people you will save: but your eyes are upon the haughty, that you may bring them down.

For you are my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will enlighten my darkness.

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

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,

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

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

And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good unto him: behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and yokes of the oxen for wood.