Now it happened after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that he stayed two days in Ziklag.

On the third day a man came [unexpectedly] from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head [as in mourning]. When he came to David, he bowed to the ground and lay himself face down [in an act of great respect and submission].

Then David asked him, “Where do you come from?” He said, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

David said to him, “How did it go? Please tell me.” He answered, “The people have fled from the battle. Also, many of the people have fallen and are dead; Saul and Jonathan his son are also dead.”

So David said to the young man who informed him, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

Then David grasped his own clothes and tore them [in mourning]; so did all the men who were with him.

David said to the young man who informed him, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I am the son of a foreigner (resident alien, sojourner), an Amalekite.”

David said to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” So he struck the Amalekite and he died.

David said to the [fallen] man, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

Then David sang this dirge (funeral song) over Saul and his son Jonathan,

So it happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” And He said, “To Hebron.”

So David went up there [to Hebron] with his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel [in Judah].

And David brought up his men who were with him, each one with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron.

Then the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.Then they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you showed this graciousness and loyalty to Saul your lord (king), and buried him.

Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

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

Joab [David’s nephew] the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. They sat down, with one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the other side of the pool.

So they stood up and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

There was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field.

Joab returned from pursuing Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen of David’s servants were missing, besides Asahel.

But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men; so that three hundred and sixty men died.

There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; but David grew steadily stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker [to the point of being powerless].

Sons were born to David in Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;

and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These [sons] were born to David in Hebron.

Now while war continued between the houses of Saul and David, Abner was proving himself strong in the house of Saul.

Then Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, “Am I a dog’s head [a despicable traitor] that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty and kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and his friends, by not having you handed over to David; and yet you charge me today with guilt concerning this woman.

May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David just as the Lord has sworn to him,

to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south].”

Then Abner sent messengers to David [who was] in his place [at Hebron], saying, “Whose is the land? Make your covenant (treaty) with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”

David said, “Good! I will make a covenant (treaty) with you, but I require one thing of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me.”

So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed for [the price of] a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

Abner talked with the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel, saying, “In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you.

Now then, do it [and make him king]! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.’”

Abner also spoke to [the men of] Benjamin. Then he also went to tell David at Hebron everything that seemed good to Israel and to the entire house of Benjamin.

So Abner came to David at Hebron, and [brought] twenty men along with him. And David prepared a feast for Abner and the men with him.

Abner said to David, “Let me stand up and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant (treaty) with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Then the servants of David came with Joab from a raid and brought a great quantity of spoil with them; but Abner was not with David at Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.

When Joab left David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David knew nothing [about Joab’s action].

Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

Then David said to Joab and to all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier.

All the people came to urge David to eat food while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets.”

Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Look, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has granted my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his descendants.”

David replied to Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every adversity,

So David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them beside the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Hebron in the tomb of Abner [his relative].

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

So all the elders (tribal leaders) of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed him king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You shall not enter here, for the blind and the lame [even the weakest among us] will turn you away”; they thought, “David cannot come in here [because the walls are impenetrable].”

Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold (fortress) of Zion, that is, the City of David.

Then David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up through the [underground] water shaft to strike the lame and the blind, who are detested by David’s soul [because of their arrogance].” So [for that reason] they say, “The blind or the lame (Jebusites) shall not come into the [royal] house [of Israel].”

So David lived in the stronghold and called it the City of David. And he built all around [the surrounding area] from the Millo [fortification] and inward.

David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts (armies), was with him.

Now Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, carpenters, and stonemasons; and they built a house (palace) for David.

And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel’s sake.

David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to him.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to look for him, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.

David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly hand them over to you.”

So David came to Baal-perazim, and he defeated them there, and said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” So he named that place Baal-perazim (master of breakthroughs).

The Philistines abandoned their [pagan] idols there, so David and his men took them away [to be burned].

When David inquired of the Lord, He said, “You shall not go up, but circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

David did just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

Again David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating and dancing before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir or cypress wood, with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

David became angry and grieved and offended because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place has been called Perez-uzzah (outburst against Uzzah) to this day.

So David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”

David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the City of David with him; instead he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to 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 rejoicing and gladness.

And David was dancing before the Lord with great enthusiasm, and David was wearing a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment].

So David and all the house of Israel were bringing the ark of the Lord up [to the City of David] with shouts [of joy] and with the sound of the trumpet.

Then, as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked down from the window above and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she felt contempt for him in her heart [because she thought him undignified].

They brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts (armies),

Then David returned to bless his household. But [his wife] Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How glorious and distinguished was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself and stripped [off his kingly robes] in the eyes of his servants’ maids like one of the riffraff who shamelessly uncovers himself!”

So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord [that I did this], who chose me above your father and all his house, to appoint me as ruler over Israel, the people of the Lord. Therefore I will celebrate [in pure enjoyment] before the Lord.

When King David lived in his house (palace) and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Should you be the one to build Me a house in which to dwell?

So now, say this to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.

Nathan spoke to David in accordance with all these words and all of this vision.

Then King David went in and sat [in prayer] before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house (family), that You have brought me this far?

What more can David say to You? For You know (acknowledge, choose) Your servant, O Lord God.

so that Your Name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts (armies) is God over Israel;’ and may the house (royal dynasty) of Your servant David be established before You.

Now it came about after this that David defeated the Philistines and subdued (humbled) them, and he took control of Metheg-ammah [the main city] from the hand of the Philistines.

He defeated Moab, and measured them with a length of rope, making them lie down on the ground; he measured two lengths to [choose those to] put to death, and one full length to [choose those to] be kept alive. And the [surviving] Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

Then David defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the River [Euphrates].

David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers. David also hamstrung all the chariot horses (making them lame), but reserved enough of them for a hundred chariots.

When the Arameans (Syrians) of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 Arameans.

Then David put garrisons among the Arameans in Damascus, and the Arameans became his servants and brought tribute. The Lord helped David wherever he went.

David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took an immense quantity of bronze.

When Toi king of Hamath heard about David’s defeat of all the forces of Hadadezer,

Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet and congratulate him for his battle and defeat of Hadadezer; for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze [as gifts].

King David also dedicated these [gifts] to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he subdued:

So David made a name for himself when he returned from killing 18,000 Arameans (Syrians) in the Valley of Salt.

So David reigned over all Israel, and continued to administer justice and righteousness for all his people.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was [head] over both the Cherethites and Pelethites [the king’s bodyguards]; and David’s sons were chief [confidential] advisers (officials) [to the king].

And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house (family) of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”