And it will be after the death of Saul, and David turned back from striking Amalek, and David sat down two days in Ziklag.

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.

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.

(He gave instructions that the people of Judah should be taught "The Bow." Indeed, it is written down in the Book of Yashar.)

Do not tell it in Gath,
don’t announce it in the marketplaces of Ashkelon,
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
and the daughters of the uncircumcised will gloat.

And David sendeth messengers unto the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and saith unto them, 'Blessed are ye of Jehovah, in that ye have done this kindness with your lord, with Saul, that ye bury him.

And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.

And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

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?"

Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.

Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

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

Afterward, they carried Asahel to his father’s tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.

And Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, Am I a dog's head of Judah? I am this day doing all in my power for the cause of your father Saul and for his brothers and his friends, and have not given you up into the hands of David, and now you say I have done wrong with a woman.

May God punish Abner and do so severely if I don’t do for David what the Lord swore to him:

To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

And when Abner was back in Hebron, Joab took him on one side by the doorway of the town to have a word with him quietly, and there he gave him a wound in the stomach, causing his death in payment for the death of his brother Asahel.

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."

And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.

And all the people have discerned it, and it is good in their eyes, as all that the king hath done is good in the eyes of all the people;

All the people and all Israel realized on that day that the killing of Abner son of Ner was not done at the king's instigation.

The king said to his servants, "Don't you know that there a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?

Today I am weak, even though I am anointed as king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too much for me to bear! May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!"

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, go, and come in at the heat of the day unto the house of Ish-Bosheth, and he is lying down -- the lying down of noon;

But David took the strong place of Zion, which is the town of David.

So David took the strong tower for his living-place, naming it the town of David. And David took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo.

But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.

And David will come against the Lord of Breaches, and David will strike them there, and he will say, Jehovah broke down mine enemies before me as the breach of waters: for this he called the name of that place, the Lord of the Breaches. .

When David asked the LORD about it, he said, "Don't attack them directly. Instead, go around to the rear and attack them opposite those balsam trees.

{And it shall be} that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then pay attention, for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike down the army of [the] Philistines."

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

{Then the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Uzza, and God struck him down there because of the indiscretion, and he died there beside the ark of God.

So David did not let the ark of the Lord come back to him to the town of David: but had it turned away and put into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

And they said to King David, The blessing of the Lord is on the family of Obed-edom and on all he has, because of the ark of God. And David went and took the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the town of David with joy.

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.

After the king had settled down in his palace and the LORD had given him respite from all of his surrounding enemies,

for I have not dwelt in a house even from the day of My bringing up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, even unto this day, and am walking up and down in a tent and in a tabernacle.

During all the time that I have walked up and down among all the sons of Israel, a word have I spoken with one of the tribes of Israel which I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, 'Why have ye not built to Me a house of cedars?

I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not afflict them as they have done

When your days [are] full and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you who will go out from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

But my mercy will I not take away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put down before thee.

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said:

What You have done so far was a little thing to You, Lord God, for You have also spoken about Your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation for mankind, Lord God.

For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.

What one nation on earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do great and awesome things for Yourself and for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods?

"And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised.

And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines.

And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.

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

When the Arameans of Damascus came to assist King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 Aramean men.

David made a reputation for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, bowed down to the ground and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

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."

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”

Then Ziba said to the king, Every order which you have given to your servant will be done. As for Mephibosheth, he had a place at David's table, like one of the king's sons.

But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father by sending comforters to you? has he not sent his servants to go through the town and make secret observation of it, and overcome it?

And they will announce to David, and he will send to meet them, for the men were greatly shamed. And the king will say, Sit down in Jericho till your beards spring up, and turn back

And the children of Ammon came out and put their forces in position at the way into the town: and the Aramaeans of Zobah and of Rehob, with the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.

Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, and came into the town. So Joab went back from fighting the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

And Aram fled before Israel, and David killed from [the] Arameans seven hundred chariot teams and forty thousand horsemen. He struck down Shobach, the commander of his army, and he died there.

and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king's house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman is of very good appearance,

And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.

But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?

Meanwhile, what David had done grieved the LORD, so the LORD sent Nathan to David.

And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

He wrote in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front line of the heaviest fighting and leave him, so that he may be struck down and die.”

So while Joab was watching the town, he put Uriah in the place where it was clear to him the best fighters were.

And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.

If the king is angry and says, 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? Then say to him, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is among the dead.

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?

And the man said to David, Truly the men got the better of us, and came out against us into the open country, but we sent them back to the very doors of the town.

However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

And David saith unto the messenger, 'Thus dost thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing be evil in thine eyes; for thus and thus doth the sword devour; strengthen thy warfare against the city, and throw it down -- and strengthen thou him.'

And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.'

Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the {Ammonites}!

for thou hast done it in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'

and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, 'Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead? -- then he hath done evil.'

Then David arose from the ground, and bathed and anointed, and changed his apparel, and, entering into the house of Yahweh, bowed himself down, - then came he into his own house, and asked, and they set before him food, and he did eat.

Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.

And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.

So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name.

And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town.

And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and iron axes, and at brick-making: this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.

And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.

So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.

So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.

She brought the pan and set it down in front of him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, “Everyone leave me!” And everyone left him.

And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.

What will become of me in my shame? and as for you, you will be looked down on with disgust by all Israel. Now then, go and make your request to the king, for he will not keep me from you.

And she saith to him, 'Because of the circumstances this evil is greater than the other that thou hast done with me -- to send me away;' and he hath not been willing to hearken to her,