He said to me, 'Stand over me and finish me off! I'm very dizzy, even though I'm still alive.'

I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan! You were very dear to me. Your love was more special to me than the love of women.

Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David's soldiers.

These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, "Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today!

When Ish-bosheth the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, and all Israel was afraid.

All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, "Look, we are your very flesh and blood!

David was angry because the Lord attacked Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, which remains its name to this very day.

You made Israel your very own people for all time. You, O Lord, became their God.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive.

Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill.

Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty man.

Now King David heard about all these things and was very angry.

Absalom had three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman.

Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "My own son, my very own flesh and blood, is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him.

Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night.

At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, whoever hears about it will say, 'Absalom's army has been slaughtered!'

The man replied to Joab, "Even if I were receiving a thousand pieces of silver, I would not strike the king's son! In our very presence the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.'

The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, "My son, Absalom! My son, my son, Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!"

You are my brothers -- my very own flesh and blood! Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back?'

But Barzillai was very old -- eighty years old, in fact -- and he had taken care of the king when he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man.

That's not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city." The woman said to Joab, "This very minute his head will be thrown over the wall to you!"

David felt guilty after he had numbered the army. David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O Lord, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."

David said to Gad, "I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!"