David said, "I will express my loyalty to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal to me." So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father's death. When David's servants entered the land of the Ammonites,

Now David's soldiers and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David had sent him away and he had left in peace.

David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David's subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

Now David's son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David's son Amnon fell madly in love with her.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David's men took an oath saying, "You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!"

He threw stones at David and all of King David's servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left.

His sixth son was Ithream, born to David's wife Eglah. These sons were all born to David in Hebron.

David said on that day, "Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the 'lame' and the 'blind' who are David's enemies by going through the water tunnel." For this reason it is said, "The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace."

He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David's subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

When David got up the next morning, the Lord had already spoken to Gad the prophet, David's seer:

During David's reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. The Lord said, "It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, because he murdered the Gibeonites."

Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah, said, "My lord should not say, 'They have killed all the young men who are the king's sons.' For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about from the day that Amnon humiliated his sister Tamar.

But David's soldiers had slaughtered the Benjaminites and Abner's men -- in all, 360 men had died!

Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do." So Mephibosheth was a regular guest at David's table, just as though he were one of the king's sons.

So Hanun seized David's servants and shaved off half of each one's beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, and then sent them away.

When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David's soldiers fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.

He took the crown of their king from his head -- it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, and held a precious stone -- and it was placed on David's head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.

Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty man.

While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's adviser, to come from his city, Giloh. The conspiracy was gaining momentum, and the people were starting to side with Absalom.

So David's friend Hushai arrived in the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.

When David's friend Hushai the Arkite came to Absalom, Hushai said to him, "Long live the king! Long live the king!"

Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David's soldiers.

Now Joab returned from chasing Abner and assembled all the people. Nineteen of David's soldiers were missing, in addition to Asahel.

David's power grew steadily, for the Lord God who commands armies was with him.

He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. The Moabites became David's subjects and brought tribute.

Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.

These are the names of David's warriors: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle.

The army of Israel was defeated there by David's men. The slaughter there was great that day -- 20,000 soldiers were killed.

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

Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, "Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan -- and not only him but all of David's men as well?"

Ira the Jairite was David's personal priest.

When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimeah, killed him.

When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, "Is the child dead?" They replied, "Yes, he's dead."

As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him.

These are the final words of David: "The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised up as the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, Israel's beloved singer of songs:

So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards.

When the Philistines heard that David had been designated king over Israel, they all went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress.

So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

David was told, "The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God." So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.

So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come on! Let's escape! Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring disaster on us and kill the city's residents with the sword."