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."

When he turned around and saw me, he called to me, and I said, 'Here I [am].'

Then he said to me, 'Who [are] you?' And I said to him, 'I [am] an Amalekite.'

He said to me, 'Please stand over me and kill me, for convulsions have seized me, even though my life [is still] in me.'

So I stood over him and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after his falling; I took the crown that [was] on his head and [the] bracelet which [was] on his arm; and here, I have brought them to my lord.

{I am distressed} over you, my brother Jonathan. you [were] very dear to me; your love [was] more wonderful to me than the love of women.

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.

Now may Yahweh show loyal love and faithfulness with you. I will also show the good with you that you have done in this matter.

So then, let your hands be strong and {be valiant}, for your lord Saul [is] dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them."

So Abner said to Asahel {once again}, "{For your own sake}, turn aside {from following me}. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I {show my face} to Joab your brother?"

Saul had had a concubine, and her name [was] Rizpah the daughter of Aiah. Then [Ish-Bosheth] said to Abner, "Why {did you have sex with} my father's concubine?"

{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};

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!"

He said, "Good. {I will make a covenant with you}. I am asking only one thing from you: You shall not see my face unless you bring Michal the daughter of Saul when you come to see {me}."

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."

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."

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.

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.

May [the blood] come down on the head of Joab and all the house of his father. {May the house of Joab never lack} [one with] a bodily discharge or [one with] leprosy or [one who] grasps the distaff or [one who] falls by the sword or [one who is] lacking food."

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."

I [am] weak today even though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, [are] crueler than I [am]. May Yahweh pay them back for doing wickedness according to their [own] wickedness."

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,

when the [one] who told me, "Look, Saul [is] dead," {thought that he [was] bringing good news}, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which [was] as my giving the news [back] to him.

{How much more} when wicked men kill a righteous man in his house, on his bed! So then, shall I not seek his lifeblood from your hand, so that I may destroy you from the earth?"

{For some time}, when Saul was king over us, {you were leading Israel in and out}. Yahweh had said to you, 'You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.'"

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.

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

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.

I will demean myself again more than this, and I will be abased in my eyes, but with the maids whom you mentioned, with them I will be honored."

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

In all of my going about among all the {Israelites}, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, 'Why did you not build me a cedar house?'" '

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,

I will make a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they can dwell {in their own place}. They will not tremble [any] longer, and the children of wickedness will not afflict them again, as in the former days.

{In the manner that} I appointed judges over my people Israel, I will give you rest from all your enemies. And Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will build a house for you.

He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son for me, whom I will punish when he does wrong, with a rod of men and with blows of the {human beings}.

But my loyal love shall not depart from him as I took [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

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}?

Still, this [was] {insignificant} in your eyes, my lord Yahweh, and also you have spoken about the house of your servant from afar, and this [may be] the teaching of humans, my lord Yahweh.

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

Therefore you [are] great, my lord Yahweh, for there is no one like you, and there [is] no god except you, in all that we have heard with our ears.

Now, my Lord Yahweh, you alone [are] God, and your words [are] true. You have promised this good to your servant.

So then, be content and bless the house of your servant to be forever in your presence, for you, my Lord Yahweh, have spoken, and because of your blessing, may the house of your servant be blessed forever."

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?"

Then the king said, "But [is] there still anyone of Saul's household that I may show the loyal love of God with him?" And Ziba said to the king, "There [is] still a son of Jonathan [who is] lame in the feet."

Then David said to him, "Don't be afraid, for {I will certainly show} loyal love to you for the sake of Jonathan your father, and I will restore to you all the lands of Saul your father. And you shall always eat food at my table."

Then he did obeisance and said, "What [is] your servant that you have paid attention to the dead dog like me?"

You shall till the land for him, you and your sons and your servants; you shall bring [in the produce] and it shall be food for the son of your master that he may eat. But Mephibosheth the son of your master may always eat food at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty slaves.)

Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my master the king commands his servant, so your servant will do." So Mephibosheth [was] eating at his table as one of the sons of the king.

David said, "I will show loyal love with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed loyal love with me." So David sent to console him concerning his father, by the hand of his servants. And the servants of David came to the land of the {Ammonites}.

Then he said, "If Aram [is] stronger than I [am], you must become my deliverer; but if the {Ammonites} [are] too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you.

Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for the sake of the people and for the sake of the cities of our God. May Yahweh do [what is] good in his eyes.

So David sent to Joab, "Send Uriah the Hittite to me." So Joab sent Uriah to David.

Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah [are] living in the booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord [are] camping on the surface of the open field; and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to sleep with my wife? [By] your life and the life of your soul, I surely will not do this thing."

He had written in the letter, "Put Uriah in the front, in the face of the fiercest fighting, then draw back from behind him so that he may be struck down and die."

So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!'

It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David [were] afraid to tell him that the child [was] dead, for they said, "Look, when the child [was] alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, 'The child [is] dead'? He may do [something] evil."

He said, "When the child [was] still alive, I fasted and I wept because I thought, 'Who knows? Yahweh may have mercy on me that the child will live.'

But now he [is] dead. Why [should I be] fasting? [Am] I able to return him again? I [am] going to him, but he cannot return to me."

So then, gather the remainder of the army and encamp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city and my name be proclaimed over it."

And he said to him, "Why [are] you so sullen {every morning}, O son of the king? Will you not tell me?" And Amnon said to him, "I [am] in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom."

Then Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, 'Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.'"

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, "Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand."

Then she took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, "Let all [the] men go out from me." So all [the] men went out from him.

Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food [to] the private room that I may eat from your hand." So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother in the private room.

When she brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, "Come, lie with me, my sister!"

Then Tamar said to him, "No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

As for me, where should I take my disgrace? You will be as one of the fools in Israel. So please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you."

She said to him, "No, because this evil in sending me away [is] greater than the other you have done to me." But he [was] not willing to listen to her.

Then he called his young man who [was] serving him and said, "Please send this woman from me to the outside, and bolt the door behind her!"

Absalom her brother said to her, "[Was] Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he [is] your brother. {Do not take this matter to heart}." So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.

The king said to Absalom, "No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you." And he urged him, but he [was] not willing to go, but he blessed him.

So Absalom said, "But [will you] not let Amnon my brother go with us?" And the king said to him, "Why should he go with you?"

Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, "My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, [are] dead, because only Amnon [is] dead. {Absalom was talking about it}, as it was being determined from the day he raped Tamar his sister.

So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, 'All the sons of the king [are] dead,' for only Amnon alone [is] dead."

So the Tekoite woman spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance. She said, "Help me, O king!"

Then the king asked her, "{What do you want}?" And she said, "Truly I [am] a widow, and my husband [is] dead.

And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, 'Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,' and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth."

The Tekoite woman said to the king, "On me, my lord the king, [is] the guilt, and on the house of my father, but the king on his throne [is] innocent."

The king said, "[Whoever] has spoken to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you again."

Then she said, "Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, {to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill}, [so that they] not wipe out my son." He said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground."

The woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." And he said, "Speak."

Now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, because the people made me afraid, and your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king, perhaps the king will grant the request of his servant.

For the king will listen, to deliver his servant from the hand of the man [who seeks] to destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.'

Your servant also thought, 'May the word of my lord the king {bring rest}, for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, {to sense what is good and what is bad}.' May Yahweh your God be with you."

The king answered and said to the woman, "Please do not withhold from me a thing which I [am] about to ask you." The woman said, "Please let my lord the king speak."

The king asked, "[Was] the hand of Joab with you in all of this?" The woman answered and said, "{As your soul lives}, my lord the king, surely [one cannot] go to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab himself commanded me, and he put all of these words in the mouth of your servant.

In order {to change the situation}, your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord [has] wisdom, as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that [is] on the earth."

Joab fell with his face to the ground and did obeisance. And he blessed the king, and he said, "Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, [in] that the king has granted the request of his servant."

The king said, "Let him go over to his house, and he may not see my face." So Absalom went over to his house, and did not see the face of the king.

Then Joab got up and went to Absalom, to the house, and said to him, "Why have your servants set my tract of land ablaze with fire?"

Absalom said to Joab, "Look, I have sent to you, saying, 'Come here that I may send you to the king to say, "Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I [were] still there." ' So then, let me see the face of the king; if there [is] guilt in me, then let him kill me."

Then Absalom would say, "{Oh, that someone would} appoint me as judge in the land, that {anyone} might come to me who had a legal dispute or a case, and I would give him justice."

It happened at the end of four years [that] Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to Yahweh in Hebron,

for your servant made a vow while I [was] staying in Geshur in Aram, saying, '{If Yahweh will indeed let me return} to Jerusalem, then I will worship Yahweh.'"

Then the servants of the king said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king chooses, {your servants are ready to act}!"

Yesterday when you came and {today}, I have caused you to wander by going with us. Now I [am] going to where I [am] going; return and let your brothers return. [May] loyal love and faithfulness [be] with you."