And now LORD show loving kindness and truth to you. And I also will reward you this kindness because ye have done this thing.

And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.

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

And he said, Well! I will make a league with thee, but one thing I require of thee. That is, thou shall not see my face unless thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou come to see my face.

Now then do it, for LORD has 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.

And Abner said to David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel to my lord the king that they may make a covenant with thee, and that thou may reign over all that thy soul desires. And David sent Abner away, and he went in

And David inquired of LORD, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will thou deliver them into my hand? And LORD said to David, Go up, for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

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.

And I have been with thee wherever thou went, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee. And I will make thee a great name, like the name of the great ones that are on the earth.

And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. Neither shall the sons of iniquity afflict them any more, as at the first,

and [as] from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and I will cause thee to rest from all thine enemies. Moreover LORD tells thee that LORD will make thee a house.

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.

He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men,

For thou, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house. Therefore thy servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee.

And David said to him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore to thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou shall eat bread at my table continually.

And David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon.

And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shall help me, but if the sons of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee.

And David said to Uriah, Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.

Thus says LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. And I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them to thy neighbor, and he shall lay with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

For thou did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

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?

But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

And he said to him, Why, O son of the king, are thou emaciated this way from day to day? Will thou not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

And I, where shall I carry my shame? And as for thee, thou will be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from thee.

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 king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid. And thy handmaid said, I will now speak to the king. It may be that the king will perform the request of hi

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.

For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If LORD shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve LORD.

And Ittai answered the king, and said, As LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there thy servant will also be.

And the king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favor in the eyes of LORD he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation.

See, I will remain at the fords of the wilderness until there comes word from you to report to me.

And David said to him, If thou pass on with me, then thou will be a burden to me,

but if thou return to the city, and say to Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king. As I have been thy father's servant in time past, so I will now be thy servant, then thou will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.

And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem, for he said, Today the house of Israel will restore for me the kingdom of my father.

It may be that LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that LORD will reward me good for [his] cursing of me this day.

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.

Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.

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.

Hushai said moreover, Thou know thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

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.

Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river until there be not one small stone found there.

But the people said, Thou shall not go forth. For if we flee away, they will not care for us, neither if half of us die, will they care for us, but thou are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore now it is better that thou be ready to

And the king said to them, What seems best to you I will do. And the king stood by the gate-side, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.

Then Joab said, I will not delay thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab, But come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Why will thou run, my son, seeing that thou will have no reward for the news?

But come what may, [he said], I will run. And he said to him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite.

Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak graciously to thy servants. For I swear by LORD, if thou do not go forth, there will not remain a man with thee this night. And that will be worse to thee than all the evil that has befallen

And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For thy servant said, I will saddle for me a donkey, that I may ride on it, and go with the king, because thy servant is lame.

And the king said to Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will sustain thee with me in Jerusalem.

And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee. And whatever thou shall require of me, that I will do for thee.

And David said to Abishai, Now will Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom. Take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fortified cities, and escape out of our sight.

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?

The matter is not so, but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said to

And the Gibeonites said to him, It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house, neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that I will do for you.

let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of LORD. And the king said, I will give them.

God, my rock, in him I will take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior. Thou save me from violence.

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

With the merciful thou will show thyself merciful. With the perfect man thou will show thyself perfect.

With the pure thou will show thyself pure. And with the perverse thou will show thyself contrary.

And the afflicted people thou will save, but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou may bring them down.

For thou are my lamp, O LORD. And LORD will lighten my darkness.

Therefore I will give thanks to thee, O LORD, among gentiles, and will sing praises to thy name.

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to thee in thy land? Or will thou flee three months before thy foes while they pursue thee? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land?

And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will truly buy it from thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings to LORD my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver