And David will say to him, From whence wilt thou come? and he will say to him, From the camp of Israel I escaped.

So I stood over him, and put him to death, for I knew that he would not live after his fall; and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to my lord.

And they lamented aloud, and wept, and fasted until the evening, - for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

From the blood of the slain, from the blood of the valiant, Jonathan's bow would not retreat nor would Saul's sword return empty.

Ishbosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.

And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.

And Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn from me! Why wilt thou that I smite thee to the ground? For then how should I hold up my face before Joab thy brother?"

Howbeit, he would in no wise depart. Then Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the short ribs, that the spear came out behind him: that he fell down in the same place and died there. And as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.

then Abner cried aloud unto Joab, and said - To the uttermost, must the sword devour? Dost thou not well know that, bitter, shall it be, in the latter end? How long, then, wilt thou not bid the people turn back from pursuing their own brethren?

Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, then the people certainly would have stopped pursuing their brothers in the morning.”

And Abner and his men walked all that night by the wild fields, and went over Jordan, and passed through all Bithron and came to Mahanaim.

And it provoked Abner greatly, on account of the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said - Am I, the head of the dogs, that pertain unto Judah? To-day, would I deal in lovingkindness with the house of Saul thy father, towards his brethren, and towards his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, - and yet thou hast charged upon me the transgression of the woman, today.

And a word of Abner was with the old men of Israel, saying, Also yesterday also the third day ye were seeking David for king over you.

Abner also addressed the tribe of Benjamin. Furthermore, with David's permission, Abner said anything that seemed like it would be good for Israel and for the entire tribe of Benjamin.

So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he's gone on his way!

And David said unto Joab, and unto all the people who were with him, - Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and lament aloud before Abner. And, King David himself, was following the bier.

When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept,

And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

For they came into the house as he slept on his bed in his resting chamber, and smote him and slew him and beheaded him and took his head and gat them away through the wild fields all night.

And they took the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, and said to the king, Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul your hater, who would have taken your life; the Lord has taken payment for the wrongs of my lord the king from Saul and his seed today.

When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:

And all the old men of Israel will come to the king to Hebron; and king David will cut out for them a covenant in Hebron before Jehovah, and they will anoint David for king over Israel

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

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."

And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.

And David came to Baalperazim and smote them there, and said, "The LORD hath divided mine enemies asunder before me, as a man would divide water." And therefore he called the name of the said place, Baalperazim.

So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.

When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

Go and say to my servant, to David, Thus saith Jehovah: Wilt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?

And I will be with thee in all where thou wilt go, and I will cut off all thine enemies from thy face, and I made to thee a great name as the name of the great which are upon the earth.

And this yet will be small in thine eyes, Lord Jehovah; and thou wilt speak also to the house of thy servant for remoteness. And this the law of man, Lord Jehovah?

And thou wilt prepare to thyself thy people Israel to thee for a people, even to forever. And thou Jehovah wert to them for God.

And now, Lord Jehovah, thou that God, and thy words shall be true, and thou wilt speak to thy servant this goodness.

Mephibosheth bowed low again and asked, "Who am I, your servant, that you would pay attention to a dead dog like me?"

When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel's best men and deployed them against the Arameans.

So as Joab began to attack the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men would be stationed.

And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?

So the man went, and came to David, and gave him all the news which Joab had sent him to give; then David was angry with Joab and said, Why did you go so near the town for the fight? was it not certain that their archers would be on the wall? who put Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, to death? did not a woman send a great stone down on him from the wall, putting him to death at Thebez? why did you go so near the wall?

“But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.

And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

And now the sword shall not depart from thy house even to forever; because that thou didst despise me, and thou wilt take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for wife.

Then David prayed to God for the child and fasted. He would even go and spend the night lying on the ground.

And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

And his servants will say to him, What this word which thou didst? for sake of the child living thou didst fast and weep, and when the child died thou didst rise and thou wilt eat bread.

And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

And she took the cooking-pot, and put the cakes before him, but he would not take them. And Amnon said, Let everyone go away from me. So they all went out.

And I, whither shall I carry my shame? and as for thee, thou wilt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.

Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.

And she said unto him, There is no cause: this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her.

Now Tamar was wearing a [long-sleeved] robe of various colors; for that is how the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then Amnon’s personal servant took her out and bolted the door behind her.

And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.

And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. And he pressed him: howbeit he would not go, but blessed him.

Now behold, the entire family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother, so that we may put him to death [to pay] for the life of his brother whom he killed and destroy the heir also.’ By doing this they will extinguish my coal that is left, leaving my husband without a name or a remnant (heir) on the face of the earth.”

Then said she, I pray you, let the king remember the LORD your God, that you would not allow the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.

At this, the woman responded, "Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?" "Say it"" he replied.

We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.

For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

When he shaved his head, it would happen {every year}, which he did because [it was] heavy on him, he would shave it off and weigh the hair of his head: two hundred shekels {by the king's weight}.

Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

And Absalom said to Joab, Behold, I sent to thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it would have been better for me to be there still. And now let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him slay me.

He would get up early and stand beside the road to the gate [of the city, where court was held]; and when any man who had a dispute came to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

Then Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king’s agent to listen to you.”

Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!

And whenever a man approached to bow down before him, he would put out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.

And the king will say to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore wilt thou go, also thou, with us? turn back and dwell with the king, for thou a stranger and thou an exile to thy place.

And David said unto him, If thou passest on with me, then thou wilt be a burden unto me:

but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant in time past, so will I now be thy servant; then wilt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

And the word will be straight in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the old men of Israel.

So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?"

Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors and are desperate like a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier who won’t spend the night with the people.

Then even men who would otherwise be as brave as lions will be scared, because every Israeli knows your father is a mighty man, and they know his men are valiant!

And Hushai will say to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, According to this, and according to this, Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the old men of Israel; and according to this and according to this, I counseled.

And now send quickly and announce to David, saying, Thou wilt not lodge this night in Araboth of the desert, and also passing over, thou shalt pass over, lest he shall swallow up to the king and to all the people which are with him.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz [were] staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they [were] not able to be seen coming to the city.

Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.

And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.

Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously against his life (for nothing is hidden from the king) you yourself would have taken sides against me.”

Then Joab said, I would have made it safe for you. And he took three spears in his hand, and put them through Absalom's heart, while he was still living, in the branches of the tree.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest those that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that neither princes nor servants are anything to thee: for to-day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died to-day, then it would have been right in thine eyes.

But now arise, go forth, and speak consolingly to thy servants; for I swear by Jehovah, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night; and that would be worse to thee than all the evil that has befallen thee from thy youth until now.

And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak ye to the old men of Judah, saying, Wherefore will ye be the last to turn back the king to his house? And the word of all Israel came to the king to his house.

And he bowed the hearts of all the men of Judah, as a man would bow the heart of one man: so that they sent word to the king, that he should return with all his servants.

So he said to the king, “Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart.

But David said, What have I in common with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, for ye would become to me, to-day, a very traitor! Shall there, to-day, be put to death a man in Israel? for do I not know, that, to-day, I, am king over Israel?

And he said, "My lord king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said: that I would have mine ass saddled to ride thereon, for to go to the king, because thy servant is lame.

For was not all my father's house but men of death before my lord the king? and thou wilt set thy servant among those eating at thy table. And what is there to me yet of right and to cry yet to the king?

And the king will say to him, Wherefore wilt thou speak yet thy words? I said, Thou and Ziba shall divide the field.

Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

But Barzillai said to the king, “How much longer have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

Thy servant would but just go over the Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

And Joab said to Amasa, "Are all things in rest and peace my brother?" And Joab took Amasa by the chin with the right hand, as though he would have kissed him.