Jabez was more respected than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, for she said, "I experienced pain when I gave birth to him."

and all their villages that were round about the said cities unto Baalathbeer. This is the habitation of them and their genealogy.

And thereto there went of the said children of Simeon five hundred men - Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah and Uzziel the sons of Ishi being their heads -

and that by Lot, out of the tribe of children of Judah out of the tribe of Simeon and out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin: even the said cities that are rehearsed by name.

Therefore said Saul unto his armour-bearer, Draw out thy sword and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not, for he feared greatly, - so then Saul took the sword, and fell upon it.

All Israel joined David at Hebron and said, "Look, we are your very flesh and blood!

Moreover also, in time past even when Saul was king, thou, wast he that led out and brought in Israel, - and Yahweh thy God said unto thee, Thou, shalt shepherd my people Israel, Yea, thou, shalt be chief ruler, over my people Israel.

So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel, as the Lord had said by Samuel.

And the inhabitants of Jebus said unto David, Thou shalt not come in hither, - But David captured the citadel of Zion, the same, is the city of David.

And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, first, shall become a chief, and a ruler, - So then Joab son of Zeruiah, went up first, and became a chief.

Now these are the chief of David's men of war who were his strong supporters in the kingdom, and, with all Israel, made him king, as the Lord had said about Israel.

And David longed, and said - Who will give me to drink of the water, out of the well of Bethlehem, that is within the gate?

and said - Far be it from me, of my God, that I should do this! The blood of these men, shall I drink, with their lives? For, with their lives, have they brought it! So he would not drink it. These things, did the three heroes.

And David went forth to meet them, and responded, and said to them, If, peaceably, ye are come unto me, to help me, I shall have towards you, a heart for unity, - but, if to betray me to mine adversaries, there being no violence in my hands, may the God of our fathers see and rebuke!

And the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, And with thee, thou son of Jesse: Peace, peace be to thee! And peace be to thy helpers! For thy God helps thee. And David received them, and made them chiefs of bands.

Some Manassites defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. However, they did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers sent David away after a discussion. They said, “It will be our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”

These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said.

And David said to all the convocation of Israel, If, unto you, it seemeth to be good, and from Yahweh our God, we will urgently send unto our brethren who remain in all the lands of Israel, and, with them, the priests and the Levites in their pasture-land cities, - that they may gather together unto us;

Than said all the convocation, that it should be done thus, - for right was the thing, in the eyes of all the people.

And there he died before God. And David was displeased, because the LORD had rent a rent in Uzzah, and called the said place Perezuzzah unto this day.

David was afraid of God that day and said, "How will I ever be able to bring the ark of God up here?"

Then David asked of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And Yahweh said to him, Go up, and I will deliver them into thy hand.

So they came up in Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and David said, God hath broken forth against mine enemies by my hand, like the breaking forth of waters, - For this cause, called they the name of that place, Baal-perazim.

So David, asked again, of God, and God said to him, Thou shalt not go up after them, - get thee round, away from them, so shalt thou come in upon them, over against the mulberry-trees;

And David did as the Lord had said; and they overcame the army of the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon as far as Gezer.

Then, said David, None must carry the ark of God, save the Levites, - for, of them, did Yahweh make choice, to bear the ark of Yahweh, and to attend it, unto times age-abiding.

and he said to them, Ye are the chief fathers of the Levites; hallow yourselves, ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it.

And the sons of the Levites took up the ark of God, lifting it by its rods, as the Lord had said to Moses.

Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And all the people said, Amen! and praised Jehovah.

And with the said Heman and Jeduthun were trumpets and sounding cymbals, and instruments of the melody of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters.

And it came to pass as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah under curtains.

And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee.

Go and say to David my servant, Thus said Jehovah, Thou shalt not build to me a house to dwell in:

And now, thus shalt thou say to my servant, to David, Thus said Jehovah of armies, I took thee from the dwelling from behind the flocks to be leader over my people Israel:

And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Jehovah Elohim, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

And now, Jehovah, let the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.

And thy name continue and wax great forever, that it be said, 'the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel is God in Israel, and the house of David thy servant be stable before thee.'

And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have said you will give this good thing to your servant:

And David said, I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search and overthrow, and to spy out the land that his servants are come to thee?

And certain went and told David concerning the men; and he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Abide at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

David said, "This is where the LORD God's Temple will be, along with the altar of burnt offerings for Israel."

And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

And Joab said, Jehovah add to his people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold: are they not all, my lord O king, my lord's servants? why does my lord require this thing? why should he become a trespass to Israel?

And David said to God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing; and now, I beseech thee, put away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

And the Lord said to Gad, David’s seer,

Go and speak to David, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Three, I stretch forth upon thee; choose to thee one from these and I will do to thee.

And Gad came to David, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah:

And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for his mercies are very great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough; withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And David said to God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? It is I that have sinned and done evil; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, Jehovah my God, be on me and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be smitten.

And the messenger of Jehovah said to Gad to say to David that David shall go up to set up an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite.

And David went up, as Gad had said in the name of the Lord.

And David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of the threshing-floor, that I may build an altar in it to Jehovah: grant it to me for the full money, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

And Ornan said to David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his sight: see, I give the oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges for wood, and the wheat for the oblation; I give it all.

And king David said to Ornan, No; but I will in any case buy them for the full money; for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, to offer up a burnt-offering without cost.

And David said, This is the house of Jehovah Elohim, and this is the altar of burnt-offering for Israel.

For David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for Jehovah must be exceeding great in fame and in beauty in all lands: I will therefore make preparation for it. And David prepared abundantly before his death.

And David said to Solomon, As for me, my son, I was minded to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God.

But the Lord said to me: 'You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me, for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me.

Now, my son, Jehovah be with thee, that thou mayest prosper, and build the house of Jehovah thy God, as he has said of thee.

David said, "Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord's temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges;

and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

For David said, Jehovah the God of Israel has given rest to his people, and he will dwell in Jerusalem for ever;

But David took not the number of them, from twenty years old, and under, - because Yahweh had said, he would multiply Israel like the stars of the heavens.

Then David the king rose up on his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people, - As for me, it was near my heart, to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and for the footstool of our God, and I made ready to build.

But, God, said to me, Thou shalt not build a house for my Name, - for, a man of war, thou art, and, blood, hast thou shed.

And he said unto am, Solomon thy son - he, shall build my house, and my courts, - for I have made choice of him that he may be my son, and that, I, may be his father.

All this said David, in writing, by Jehovah's hand upon me, instructing as to all the works of the pattern.

Then said David, unto Solomon his son, Be strong and bold, and act, thou mayest not fear nor be dismayed, - for, Yahweh, God, my God, will be with thee, he will not let thee go, neither will he forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh.

Then said David the king unto all the convocation, Solomon my son, the one, of whom God hath made choice, is young and tender, - and, the work, is great, seeing that, not for man, is the palace, but for Yahweh Elohim.

Therefore did David bless Yahweh in the eyes of all the convocation, - and David said, Blessed art thou, O Yahweh, the God of Israel our father, from age even unto age.

Then said David, unto all the convocation, Bless, I beseech you, Yahweh your God. So all the convocation blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and did bend their heads and bow themselves down unto Yahweh, and unto the king;

And they offered offerings unto the LORD. And on the morrow after the said day, they offered in burnt offerings unto the LORD a thousand oxen, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs with their drink offerings.