After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days.

On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he approached David, the man threw himself to the ground.

David asked him, "Where are you coming from?" He replied, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."

David inquired, "How were things going? Tell me!" He replied, "The people fled from the battle and many of them fell dead. Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!"

David said to the young man who was telling him this, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

David then grabbed his own clothes and tore them, as did all the men who were with him.

David said to the young man who told this to him, "Where are you from?" He replied, "I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner."

David replied to him, "How is it that you were not afraid to reach out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"

Then David called one of the soldiers and said, "Come here and strike him down!" So he struck him down, and he died.

David said to him, "Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying 'I have put the Lord's anointed to death.'"

Then David chanted this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan.

Afterward David inquired of the Lord, "Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?" The Lord told him, "Go up." David asked, "Where should I go?" The Lord replied, "To Hebron."

So David went up, along with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, formerly the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

David also brought along the men who were with him, each with his family. They settled in the cities of Hebron.

The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people of Judah. David was told, "The people of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul."

So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, "May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness to your lord Saul by burying him.

Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people of Judah followed David.

David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven and a half years.

Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and confronted them at the pool of Gibeon. One group stationed themselves on one side of the pool, and the other group on the other side of the pool.

So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

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.

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

However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David. David was becoming steadily stronger, while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker.

Now sons were born to David in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, born to Ahinoam the Jezreelite.

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

As the war continued between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was becoming more influential in the house of Saul.

These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, "Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today!

God will severely judge Abner if I do not do for David exactly what the Lord has promised him,

namely, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah all the way from Dan to Beer Sheba!"

Then Abner sent messengers to David saying, "To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement with me, and I will do whatever I can to cause all Israel to turn to you."

So David said, "Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul's daughter Michal when you come to visit me."

David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth son of Saul with this demand: "Give me my wife Michal whom I acquired for a hundred Philistine foreskins."

Abner advised the elders of Israel, "Previously you were wanting David to be your king.

Act now! For the Lord has said to David, 'By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and from all their enemies.'"

Then Abner spoke privately with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to.

When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David in Hebron, David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him.

Abner said to David, "Let me leave so that I may go and gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make an agreement with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire." So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace.

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.

Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.)

When David later heard about this, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner!

David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!" Now King David followed behind the funeral bier.

Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, "God will punish me severely if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!"

They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, "Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against Saul and his descendants!"

David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,

So David issued orders to the soldiers and they put them to death. Then they cut off their hands and feet and hung them near the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, "Look, we are your very flesh and blood!

When all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. They designated David as king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years.

Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites said to David, "You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, 'David cannot invade this place!'"

But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David).

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."

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

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

King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace for David.

David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David.

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 asked the Lord, "Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The Lord said to David, "March up, for I will indeed hand the Philistines over to you."

So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, "The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out." So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men picked them up.

So David asked the Lord what he should do. This time the Lord said to him, "Don't march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees.

David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.

David again assembled all the best men in Israel, thirty thousand in number.

David and all the men who were with him traveled to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

while David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing and playing various stringed instruments, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.

David was angry because the Lord attacked Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, which remains its name to this very day.

David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, "How will the ark of the Lord ever come to me?"

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.

Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf.

Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord.

David and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets.

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.

They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord.

When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, Michal, Saul's daughter, came out to meet him. She said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants' slave girls the way a vulgar fool might do!"

David replied to Michal, "It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family and appointed me as leader over the Lord's people Israel.

"Go, tell my servant David: 'This is what the Lord says: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in?

"So now, say this to my servant David: 'This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you leader of my people Israel.

Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.

King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition, O Lord God!

so you may gain lasting fame, as people say, 'The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!' The dynasty of your servant David will be established before you,

Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah from the Philistines.

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.

David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish his authority over the Euphrates River.

David seized from him 1,700 charioteers and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans.

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.

David took the golden shields that belonged to Hadadezer's servants and brought them to Jerusalem.

From Tebah and Berothai, Hadadezer's cities, King David took a great deal of bronze.

When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer,

he sent his son Joram to King David to extend his best wishes and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer. He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze.

King David dedicated these things to the Lord, along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from all the nations that he had subdued,

David became famous when he returned from defeating the Arameans in the Valley of Salt, he defeated 18,000 in all.

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

David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.

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

Then David asked, "Is anyone still left from the family of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?"