{After} the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and he stayed at Ziklag two days.

On the third day, a man came from the camp from [being with] Saul, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. {When he came} to David, he fell to the ground and bowed down.

David said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."

Then David said to him, "{How did things go}? Please tell me." He answered, "{When} the army fled from the battle, and many of the people fell; also, Saul and Jonathan his son died."

Then David asked the young man who [was] reporting to him, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?"

David grabbed [at] his clothes and tore them, [as did] all of the men who [were] with him.

Then David said to the young man who [was] reporting to him, "Where [are] you from?" And he said, "I [am] the son of an alien man. I [am] an Amalekite."

David said to him, "How [is it that] you [were] not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy Yahweh's anointed one?"

Then David called to one of the young men and said to him, "Come near; strike him." So he struck him down and he died.

David said to him, "Your blood [is] on your head, for your mouth has testified against you by saying, 'I killed Yahweh's anointed one!'"

Then David sang this funeral song over Saul and over Jonathan his son.

It happened after this that David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?" And Yahweh said to him, "Go up." David asked, "Where shall I go up?" And he said, "To Hebron."

So David went up there {along with} his two wives, Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

Also, David brought up his men who [were] with him, each {with} his household, and they settled in the towns of Hebron.

Then the men of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah, and they told David, "The men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul."

So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and said to them, "May you be blessed by Yahweh because you did this loyal love with your lord, with Saul, and you buried him.

Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul [was] forty years old when he became king over Israel and he reigned two years; however, the house of Judah {followed} David.

The number of days that David was king over Hebron, over the house of Judah, [was] seven years and six months.

Then Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out, and they met at the pool of Gibeon. The one group sat on one side of the pool, and the other sat on the other side.

So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

Then the battle {became increasingly fierce} on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel [were] defeated before the servants of David.

After Joab returned from [pursuing] Abner, he gathered all the people; nineteen of the servants of David [were] missing [along] with Asahel.

The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died.

The battle [was] prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David {[was] growing stronger and stronger} while the house of Saul {[was] becoming weaker and weaker}.

And sons [were] born to David in Hebron; his firstborn [was] Amnon by Ahinoam {from Jezreel}.

The sixth [was] Ithream by Eglah the wife of David. These [were] born to David in Hebron.

As the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was [continuing], Abner was strengthening himself in the house of Saul.

{Abner became very angry} at the words of Ish-Bosheth, and he said, "[Am] I the head of a dog which [is] for Judah today? Do I not continue to show loyal love with the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends? I have not let you fall into the hands of David, yet you have {accused me of sin with this woman} today.

Thus {may God punish Abner}, {if I do not accomplish what Yahweh has sworn to David};

[specifically,] to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba!"

Abner sent messengers to David {where he was}, saying, "To whom does the land [belong]? {Make your covenant with me}! Look, my hand [is] with you to bring all of Israel over to you!"

Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, saying, "Give [me] my wife Michal whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines."

The word of Abner {came to} the elders of Israel, saying, "{For quite some time} you were seeking David as king over you.

So then, bring it about, because Yahweh had said to David, "Through the hand of David my servant [I am about] to save my people Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies."

Abner also spoke {privately to Benjamin}. Abner also went {to speak to David} in Hebron, all that [was] good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.

Then Abner came to David in Hebron and with him [were] twenty men. David had prepared a feast for Abner and for the men who [were] with him.

And Abner said to David, "Let me get up and go and gather all of Israel to my lord the king, that they may {make a covenant} with you so you can reign over all which your soul desires." So David dismissed Abner, and he left in peace.

And look, the servants of David and Joab came from the raid, and they brought much plunder with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

Then Joab went out from David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor Hasirah, but David did not know [it].

When David heard this afterwards, he said: "I and my kingdom [are] innocent {before Yahweh} forever [for] the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

David said to Joab and to all the people who [were] with him, "Tear your clothing and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." Now King David [was] following after the bier.

Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down."

They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, "Here [is] the head of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. Yahweh has given to my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his offspring."

Then David answered Recab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and he said to them, "{As Yahweh lives}, who redeemed my soul from all trouble,

Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung [them] at the pool at Hebron, but the head of Ish-Bosheth they took and buried in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

So all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and they said, "Here we [are], {we are your flesh and blood}.

All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David {made a covenant} with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel.

David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years.

The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'"

David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David.

David had said, "On that day {when we attack the Jebusites}, one must attack the lame and the blind, [those] who hate the soul of David, by [means of] the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house."

David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.

David {continued growing stronger and stronger}, and Yahweh the God of hosts [was] with him.

So Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, [along with] cedar trees and {craftsmen skilled in wood and in stone masonry}, and they built a house for David.

David realized that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom because of his people Israel.

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 they had anointed David as king over Israel, all [the] Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard and went down to the stronghold.

And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up to the Philistines? Will you give them into my hands?" Yahweh said to David, "Go up, for {I will certainly give} [the] Philistines into your hand."

So David came to Baal Perazim and defeated them there; and David said, "Yahweh has burst through my enemies before me like the bursting of water." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

They had left their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.

So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, "You shall not go up. [Rather,] go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees.

So David did thus, just as Yahweh had commanded him, and he struck down [the] Philistines from Geba {all the way} to Gezer.

David again gathered all the chosen men in Israel, thirty thousand.

David got up and went and all the people who [were] with him, from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God which [is] called the name, the name of Yahweh of hosts, {upon which the cherubim sit}.

Now David and all the house of Israel [were] dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of [musical instruments made from] ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

{David was angry} because Yahweh had burst out against Uzza, and he called that place Perez-Uzza until this day.

But David feared Yahweh on that day and said, "How can the ark of Yahweh come to me?"

However, David [was] not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn [to] the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

It [was] told to King David, "Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that [is] his because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with jubilation.

Now David [was] dancing with all [his] might before Yahweh, and David [was] wearing a linen ephod.

So David and all the house of Israel [were] bringing up the ark of Yahweh with shouts of joyful acclaim and with the sound of the trumpet.

It happened that when the ark of Yahweh came [into] the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh, and she despised him in her heart.

They brought the ark of Yahweh and set it in its place in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. Then David offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the presence of Yahweh.

When David had finished from the sacrificing of the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts.

When David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David. She said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today {by uncovering himself} before the eyes of the maids of his servants, {as the total exposure of a worthless one}."

So David said to Michal, "[In the] presence of Yahweh who chose me {over} your father and {over} his household, to appoint me [as] leader over the people of Yahweh, over Israel, I have celebrated before Yahweh.

"Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh: "[Are] you the one to build for me a house for my dwelling?

So then, thus you shall say to my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "I took you from the pasture {from following} the sheep to be a leader over my people, over Israel,

According to all these words and according to all this vision, this Nathan spoke to David.

Then King David went and sat before Yahweh and said, "Who [am] I, my lord Yahweh, and what [is] my house that you have brought me up to {this place}?

{What more can David say to you}? You know your servant, my lord Yahweh.

Your name shall be great forever, {and they will say}, 'Yahweh of hosts [is] God over Israel'; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.

It happened afterwards [that] David attacked [the] Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of [the] Philistines.

When he defeated Moab, he measured them with the cord, making them lie on the ground. He measured two cords to kill and {the third cord} to let live. So Moab became servants of David, bringing tribute.

Then David struck down Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.

David captured from him one thousand and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand {foot soldiers}. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but {from them} he spared a hundred chariot horses.

When Aram of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of Aram.

David placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, so Aram became servants of David, bringing tribute. Yahweh protected David everywhere he went.

David took the small round gold shields which had {belonged} to the servants of Hadadezer, and he brought them [to] Jerusalem.

From Betah and from Berothai, the towns of Hadadezer, King David took very many bronze [items].

When Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer,

Toi sent Joram his son to King David {to greet him} and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; {for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi}. {He brought with him} objects of silver and objects of gold and objects of bronze.

King David dedicated them also to Yahweh [along] with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from all of the nations which he had subdued;

So David made a name for himself when he returned from defeating Aram in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand.

He put garrisons in Edom; all over Edom he put garrisons, and all of Edom became servants of David. Yahweh protected David wherever he went.

David reigned over all of Israel, and he was administering justice and righteousness for all his people.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was over] the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David [were] priests.

Then David said, "[Is] there still anyone who [is] left for the house of Saul that I may show loyal love to him for the sake of Jonathan?"

Now Saul's household had a servant whose name [was] Ziba, so they summoned him to David, and the king asked him, "[Are] you Ziba?" He said, "{At your service}!"

So King David sent and brought him from the house of Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar.