Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And 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?"

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

Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded, but my life still lingers.’

So I stood over him and put him to death, since I knew that he couldn't live in such a condition. Then I took the crown which was on his head and the bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord."

Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

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."

And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed?

Then David called one of the young men and said, Draw near, and fall on him. And he smote him that he died.

and David saith unto him, 'Thy blood is on thine own head, for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I -- I put to death the anointed of Jehovah.'

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

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.

{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.

Some time later, David inquired of the Lord: “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?”

The Lord answered him, “Go.”

Then David asked, “Where should I go?”

“To Hebron,” the Lord replied.

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 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."

Then Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

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.

Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and compete in front of us.”

“Let them get up,” Joab replied.

Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

Then each seized his {opponent} by the head and [each thrust] his sword in the side of his opponent, so they fell together. So they called the name of that place Helkath Hazzurim, which [is] in Gibeon.

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

Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.

And Abner said, Then go to the right or to the left and put your hands on one of the fighting-men and take his arms. But Asahel would not be turned away from going after Abner.

And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?

But he refused to turn away, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of the spear, and the spear went out of his back. He fell there and he died {on the spot}. {Then} all who came to the place where Asahel fell and died [just] stood there.

Then Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, - but, the sun, had gone in by the time, they, had come as far as the hill of Ammah, that overlooketh Giah, by way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?

And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.

Then Joab blew on the trumpet and all the people stopped, and they no longer pursued after Israel, and they did not fight with them again.

Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night, and they crossed over the Jordan. They went all the forenoon and came to Mahanaim.

Then Joab returned from following Abner; when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen of David’s servants besides Asahel were missing.

Then they picked up Asahel and buried him in the grave of his father, which [was at] Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all that night {[arriving] in Hebron at first light}.

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?"

Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman?

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."

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."

And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

Then Abner had a talk with the chief men of Israel, saying, In the past it was your desire to make David your king: so now, do it:

Now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.

Abner also spoke to [the men of] Benjamin. Then he also went to tell David at Hebron everything that seemed good to Israel and to the entire 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 unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

Then the servants of David came with Joab from a raid and brought a great quantity of spoil with them; but Abner was not with David at Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.

When, Joab, and all the host that was with him, had come in, then told they Joab, saying, Abner son of Ner hath been in unto the king, and he hath let him go, and he hath departed in peace.

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?

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 Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak with him in private. Then he struck him in the stomach there and he died, {for he had shed the blood of Asahel his brother}.

David then ordered Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.” And King David walked behind the funeral procession.

Your hands [were] not tied and your feet [were] not in contact with bronze fetters. You have fallen as one who falls before sons of wickedness." Then {all the people wept over him again}.

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."

Then all the people and all of Israel realized on that day that {the king had not desired} to kill Abner the son of Ner.

Then the king said to his servants, "Did you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel?

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."

So then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, took their journey and came in, about the heat of the day, unto the house of Ish-bosheth, - when, he, was lying on his noonday couch;

They came as far as the middle of the house [as if] takers of wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah his brother escaped.

When they had come [into] the house, he [was] lying on his couch {in his bedchamber}, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they {beheaded him}, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.

And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

Then David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As Jehovah liveth, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress,

when one is declaring to me, saying, Lo, Saul is dead, and he was as a bearer of tidings in his own eyes, then I take hold on him, and slay him in Ziklag, instead of my giving to him for the tidings.

{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?"

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.

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.

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.

Then went the king and his men, to Jerusalem, against the Jebusites, inhabiting the land, - and they spake to David, saying - Thou canst not come in hither, unless thou take away the blind and lame - Thinking, David will not come in hither.

So then David captured the citadel of Zion, - the same, is the city of David.

And David said, on that day - Whosoever is smiting the Jebusites, then let him reach as far as the aqueduct. But, as for the lame and the blind, they were the hated of David's soul, - for which cause, they kept on saying, Blind and lame! he will not enter the place.

So then David dwelt in the citadel, and called it, The City of David, - and David built round about, from Millo and inwards.

Then Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers unto David, with cedar-wood, and carpenters, and masons, and they built a house for David.

Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

And, when the Philistine heard that they had anointed David to be king over Israel, then came up all the Philistines to seek to secure David, and David heard of it, and went down into the citadel.

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.

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.

And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.

Then David did so, just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

Then David, and all the people that were with him, arose and went beyond Baale Judah, - to bring up from thence, the ark of God, the name whereof is called by the name of Yahweh of hosts, who inhabiteth the cherubim thereupon.

{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.

And David was then afraid of the LORD and said, "How should the Ark of the LORD come to my house?"

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

Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; 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.

Then he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, from man to woman, to each: one ring-shaped piece of bread, one cake of dates, and one cake of raisins; and all the people went each to his house.

Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

And David said to Michal, It was before Jehovah, who chose me rather than thy father, and than all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of Jehovah, over Israel; and I played before Jehovah.

And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.

And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.

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,

And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

'When thy days are full, and thou hast lain with thy fathers, then I have raised up thy seed after thee which goeth out from thy bowels, and have established his kingdom;

I, will become his father, And, he, shall become my son: If he commit iniquity, then will I correct him, with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men;

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

And this was yet a small thing in thine eyes, O Lord Jehovah; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come; and this too after the manner of men, O Lord Jehovah!

What more, then, can David yet further speak unto thee, - seeing that, thou thyself knowest thy servant, O My Lord Yahweh?

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

Who, then, is like thy people, like Israel, a nation alone in the earth? whom God went to redeem for himself as a people, so to make himself a name, and to do for you the great deed, fearful things also for thy land, to make way for thy people, whom thou hadst redeemed for thyself, out of Egypt, dealing with nations and their god's;