And David said to the young man who told him, How do thou know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?

And the young man who told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning upon his spear, and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen followed close after him.

And he said to me, Who are thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them, and likewise all the men who were with him.

And David said to the young man who told him, From where are thou? And he answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.

Saul and Jonathan, men who were loved and pleasant, undivided; comely in their lives, and undivided in their death; swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you delicately in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

And David brought up his men who were with him, every man with his household, and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were those who buried Saul.

And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, Deliver to me my wife Michal whom I betrothed to me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.

So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men who were with him a feast.

Let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house. And let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.

And David said to Joab, and to all the people who were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David followed the bier.

And [Ish-bosheth], Saul's son, [had] two men who were captains of bands. The name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth also is reckoned to

Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled. And it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that h

And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, thine enemy, who sought thy life. And LORD has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of h

And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

when he who told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou who led out and brought in Israel. And LORD said to thee, Thou shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and thou shall be prince over Israel.

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Unless thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shall not come in here, thinking, David cannot come in he

And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

And David arose, and went with all the people who were with him, from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, even the name of LORD of hosts who sits [above] the cherubim.

And it was so, that, when those who bore the ark of LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.

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 today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants as on

And David said to Michal, [It was] before LORD, who chose me above thy father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play before LORD.

And I will be yet more vile than this, and will be base in my own sight, but of the handmaids of whom thou have spoken, of them I shall be had in honor.

In all places in which I have walked with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, Why have ye not built for me a house of cedar?

When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

but my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul whom I put away before thee.

Then David the king went in, and sat before LORD. And he said, Who am I, O lord LORD, and what is my house, that thou have brought me thus far?

And what one nation on the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for thy land, before thy people whom

And David said, Is there yet any who is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said to the king, Jonathan has yet a son who is lame in his feet.

And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.

So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Syrians. And they fled before him.

And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the River, and they came to Helam, with Shobach the captain of the army of Hadarezer at their head.

And when all the kings who were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the sons of Ammon any more.

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did ye go so near the wall? Then thou shall say, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man who came to him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man who came to him.

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As LORD lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die.

And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, Who knows whether LORD will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?

Then he called his servant who ministered to him, and said, Put this woman out from me now, and bolt the door after her.

And she had a garment of various colors upon her, for with such robes were the king's daughters who were virgins appareled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill-side behind him.

And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray thee, and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman who has a lon

And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who smote his brother that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also. Thus they will quench my co

And the woman said, Why then have thou devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as he who is guilty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished one.

For we must die, and are as water split on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, neither does God take away life, but devises means that he who is banished be not an outcast from him.

For the king will hear to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or case might come to me, and I would do for him justice!

And on this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem who were invited, and went in their simplicity. And they did not know anything.

And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee, for otherwise none of us shall escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smit

And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.

And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

And David went up by the ascent of the [mount of] Olives, and wept as he went up, and he had his head covered, and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they we

And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because LORD has said to him, Curse David, who then shall say, Why have thou done so?

And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life. How much more [may] this Benjamite now [do it]? Let him alone, and let him curse, for LORD has bidden him.

And the king, and all the people who were with him, came weary, and he refreshed himself there.

And Hushai said to Absalom, No, but whom LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him I will abide.

And again, whom should I serve? [Is it] not in the presence of his son? As I have served in thy father's presence, so I will be in thy presence.

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to thy father's concubines that he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that thou are abhorred by thy father. Then the hands of all who are with thee will be strong.

And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid. And all the people who are with him shall flee. And I will only smite the king,

and I will bring back all the people to thee. The man whom thou seek is as if all returned, [so] all the people shall be in peace.

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place. And it will come to pass, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.

And even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt, for all Israel knows that thy father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

So we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one.

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Do not lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.

But a lad saw them, and told Absalom. And they went away quickly, both of them, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a well in his court, and they went down there.

Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who was not gone over the Jordan.

And Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigal the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat. For they said, The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

And David numbered the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

And Joab said to the man who told him, and, behold, thou saw it, and why did thou not smite him there to the ground? And I would have given thee ten [pieces of] silver, and a belt.

And ten young men who bore Joab's armor encompassed about and smote Absalom, and killed him.

And Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, All is well. And he bowed himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Blessed be LORD thy God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the ki

And, behold, the Cushite came. And the Cushite said, News for my lord the king, for LORD has avenged thee this day of all those who rose up against thee.

And the king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.

And the people slipped away that day into the city, as people who are ashamed sneak away when they flee in battle.

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou have shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the live

in that thou love those who hate thee, and hate those who love thee. For thou have declared this day that rulers and servants are nothing to thee. For this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, th

And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hastened and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet thou set thy servant among those who ate at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the king?

And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and provided them with sustenance, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up

And there stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said, He who favors Joab, and he who is for David, let him follow Joab.

And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who

And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart. And all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. Thou seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will thou swallow up the inheritance of LORD?

And they said to the king, The man who consumed us, and who devised against us, [that] we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel,

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hanged them in the day that the Philistines kille

and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.

and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred [shekels] of brass in weight, he being girded with a new [sword], thought to have slain David.

And it came to pass after this, that there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was of the sons of the giant.

And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, twenty-four in number, and he also was born to the giant.

I will call upon LORD, who is worthy to be praised. So I shall be saved from my enemies.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

As for God, his way is perfect. The word of LORD is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

For who is God, except LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?