And David said to him, How did things go? Give me the news. And in answer he said, The people have gone in flight from the fight, and a great number of them are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.

And David said to the young man who gave him the news, Why are you certain that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?

Then David gave way to bitter grief, and so did all the men who were with him:

The glory, O Israel, is dead on your high places! How have the great ones been made low!

From the blood of the dead, from the fat of the strong, the bow of Jonathan was not turned back, the sword of Saul did not come back unused.

How have the great ones been made low in the fight! Jonathan is dead on your high places.

Then let your hands be strong, and have no fear: though Saul your lord is dead, the people of Judah have made me their king.

But still he did not go to one side: so Abner gave him a back blow in the stomach with his spear, so that the spear came out at his back; and he went down on the earth, wounded to death: and all those who came to the place where Asahel went down dead, came to a stop.

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? when Abner came to you why did you send him away and let him go?

And David said to Joab and all the people who were with him, Go in grief and put haircloth about you, in sorrow for Abner. And King David went after the dead body.

And all the people took note of it and were pleased: like everything the king did, it was pleasing to the people.

And the king said to his servants, Do you not see that a chief and a great man has come to his end today in Israel?

And when Saul's son Ish-bosheth had news that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands became feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.

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.

And the Philistines, when they went in flight, did not take their images with them, and David and his men took them away.

And David did as the Lord had said; and he overcame the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon to near Gezer.

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.

Then David came back to give a blessing to his family. And Michal, Saul's daughter, came out to him and said, How full of glory was the king of Israel today, who let himself be seen uncovered by his servant-girls like a foolish person uncovering himself without shame!

In all the places where I went with all the children of Israel, did I ever say to any of the judges of Israel, to whom I gave the care of my people Israel, Why have you not made me a house of cedar?

And what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, and to make a name for himself, and to do great and strange things for them, driving out a nation and its gods from before his people?

And he went down on his face before the king, and said, What is your servant, for you to take note of a dead dog such as I am?

But Uriah took his rest at the door of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.

And when word was given to David that Uriah had not gone down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house?

And David said to Uriah, Be here today, and after that I will let you go. So Uriah was in Jerusalem that day and the day after.

And when David sent for him, he took meat and drink with him, and David made him the worse for drink: and when evening came, he went to rest on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

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 archers sent their arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's servants are dead, and among them is your servant Uriah the Hittite.

And when the wife of Uriah had news that her husband was dead, she gave herself up to weeping for him.

You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.

And then on the seventh day the child's death took place. And David's servants were in fear of giving him the news of the child's death: for they said, Truly, while the child was still living he gave no attention when we said anything to him: what will he do to himself if we give him word that the child is dead?

But when David saw that his servants were talking together quietly, he was certain that the child was dead: and he said to his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is.

Then his servants said to him, Why have you been acting in this way? you were weeping and going without food while the child was still living; but when the child was dead, you got up and had a meal.

But now that the child is dead there is no reason for me to go without food; am I able to make him come back to life? I will go to him, but he will never come back to me.

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 she said to him, Not so, my brother, for this great wrong in sending me away is worse than what you did to me before. But he gave no attention to her.

But when King David had news of all these things he was very angry; but he did not make trouble for Amnon his son, for he was dear to David, being his oldest son.

So Absalom's servants did to Amnon as Absalom had given them orders. Then all the king's sons got up, and every man got on his beast and went in flight.

And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, Let not my lord have the idea that all the sons of the king have been put to death; for only Amnon is dead: this has been purposed by Absalom from the day when he took his sister Tamar by force.

So now, let not my lord the king take this thing to heart, with the idea that all the king's sons are dead: for only Amnon is dead.

And Joab sent to Tekoa and got from there a wise woman, and said to her, Now make yourself seem like one given up to grief, and put on the clothing of sorrow, not using any sweet oil for your body, but looking like one who for a long time has been weeping for the dead:

And the king said to her, What is your trouble? And her answer was, Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.

This he did, hoping that the face of this business might be changed: and my lord is wise, with the wisdom of the angel of God, having knowledge of everything on earth.

Then Joab, falling down on his face on the earth, gave the king honour and blessing; and Joab said, Today it is clear to your servant that I have grace in your eyes, my lord king, because the king has given effect to the request of his servant.

And the king said, Let him go to his house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom went back to his house and did not see the face of the king.

And when he had his hair cut, (which he did at the end of every year, because of the weight of his hair;) the weight of the hair was two hundred shekels by the king's weight.

And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of the men of Israel.

So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and did not go away from there.

And the king said, And where is your master's son? And Ziba said, He is still at Jerusalem: for he said, Today Israel will give back to me the kingdom of my father.

Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, Is this dead dog to go on cursing my lord the king? let me go over and take off his head.

It may be that the Lord will take note of my wrongs, and give me back good in answer to his cursing of me today.

And Absalom said, Is this your love for your friend? why did you not go with your friend?

And Joab said to the man who had given him the news, If you saw this, why did you not put your sword through him, and I would have given you ten bits of silver and a band for your robe?

And Joab said, You will take no news today; another day you may give him the news, but you will take no news today, because the king's son is dead.

And then the Cushite came and said, I have news for my lord the king: today the Lord has done right in your cause against all those who took up arms against you.

And Joab came into the house to the king and said, Today you have put to shame the faces of all your servants who even now have kept you and your sons and your daughters and your wives and all your women safe from death;

For your haters, it seems, are dear to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your eyes.

And Absalom, whom we made a ruler over us, is dead in the fight. So now why do you say nothing about getting the king back? And word of what all Israel was saying came to the king.

And said to him, Let me not be judged as a sinner in your eyes, O my lord, and do not keep in mind the wrong I did on the day when my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, or take it to heart.

For your servant is conscious of his sin: and so, as you see, I have come today, the first of all the sons of Joseph, for the purpose of meeting my lord the king.

And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you put yourselves against me today? is it right for any man in Israel to be put to death today? for I am certain today that I am king in Israel.

Now when he had come from Jerusalem to see the king, the king said to him, Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth?

For all my father's family were only dead men before my lord the king: and still you put your servant among those whose place is at the king's table. What right then have I to say anything more to the king?

And in answer to the men of Judah, the men of Israel said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are the first in order of birth: why did you make nothing of us? and were we not the first to make suggestions for getting the king back? And the words of the men of Judah were more violent than the words of the men of Israel.

And David came to his house at Jerusalem: and the king took the ten women to whom he had given the care of the house, and had them shut up, and gave them the necessaries of life, but did not go near them. So they were shut up till the day of their death, living as widows.

And David said to Abishai, Sheba, the son of Bichri, will do us more damage than Absalom did; so take some of your lord's servants and go after him, before he makes himself safe in the walled towns, and gets away before our eyes.

But Amasa did not see danger from the sword which was now in Joab's left hand, and Joab put it through his stomach so that his inside came out on to the earth, and he did not give him another blow. So Joab and his brother Abishai went on after Sheba, the son of Bichri.

And Joab and his men got him shut up in Abel of Beth-maacah, and put up an earthwork against the town: and all Joab's men did their best to get the wall broken down.

But the king did not give up Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the Lord's oath made between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul.

And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took haircloth, placing it on the rock as a bed for herself, from the start of the grain-cutting till rain came down on them from heaven; and she did not let the birds of the air come near them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.

And they put them with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the resting-place of Kish, his father, in Zela in the country of Benjamin; they did all the king had given them orders to do. And after that, God gave ear to their prayers for the land.

For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.

After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodai the Ahohite, one of the three great fighters, who was with David in Pas-dammim when the Philistines came together there for the fight; and when the men of Israel had gone in flight,

And he said, Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this; how may I take as my drink the life-blood of men who have put their lives in danger? So he would not take it. These things did the three great men of war.

Asahel, the brother of Joab, was one of the thirty; and Elhanan, the son of Dodai, of Beth-lehem,