Then David came to [the] two hundred men {who had been too exhausted to follow} David; they had left them behind at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and {asked them how they were doing}.

And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You will not enter here." But David captured the stronghold of Zion; that [is,] the city of David.

Then David set up [garrisons] in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became servants to David, bearing tribute. And Yahweh delivered David wherever he went.

And David said, "I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash because his father showed kindness to me." So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David came to the land of the {Ammonites}, to Hanun, to comfort him.

Then David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor, and they bowed down to David, faces to the ground.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed as king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard and went out from before them.

(But the ark of God David had brought up from Kiriath-Jearim to [the place] David had prepared for it, for David had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)

Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk [around], for he was not trained to use [them]. So David said to Saul, "I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use [them]." So David removed them.

Saul went {on one side of the mountain}, and David and his men {went on the other side of the mountain}. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men [were] closing in on David and his men to capture them.

Then David said to his men, "Each man strap on his sword!" So each one strapped on his sword, and David also strapped on his sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

Then Saul recognized David's voice and said, "[Is] this your voice, my son David?" And David said, "[It is] my voice, my lord the king."

Then Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David; {you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed}!" Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.

David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.

When [the] Philistines heard that they had anointed David as king over Israel, all [the] Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard and went down to the stronghold.

However, David [was] not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn [to] the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

It [was] told to King David, "Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that [is] his because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with jubilation.

David placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, so Aram became servants of David, bringing tribute. Yahweh protected David everywhere he went.

David said, "I will show loyal love with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed loyal love with me." So David sent to console him concerning his father, by the hand of his servants. And the servants of David came to the land of the {Ammonites}.

On that day Yahweh will put a shield around the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who stumbles among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David [will be] like God, like the angel of Yahweh, {before them}.

Then all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh. And they anointed David as king over Israel according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Samuel.

And David lived in the fortress. Therefore they called it the city of David.

And David captured from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left one hundred of them [to] remain [for] chariots.

And he put garrisons in Edom, and all Edom became servants to David. And Yahweh delivered David wherever he went.

But the princes of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun, "{Do you think} because David sent comforters to you [that] David honors your father? Is it not for the purpose of exploring [so as] to overthrow and spy out the land that his servants have come to you?"

And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. And he came to them and was arrayed against them. Then David was arrayed to meet Aram in battle, and they fought with him.

And David took the crown of their king from his head and found it to weigh a talent of gold. And in it [was] a precious stone. Then it was [placed] upon the head of David. And he brought out the booty of the city, a large amount.

And the people who [were] in it he brought out, and {he set them to work with saws and iron implements and axes}. Thus David did to all the cities of the {Ammonites}. Then David returned, and all the nation [went] with him.

And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of Yahweh standing between earth and heaven, with his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

Now the angel of Yahweh had spoken to Gad to say to David that David should go up [and] erect an altar for Yahweh.

Then David said, "Solomon my son [is] a boy and inexperienced, and the house built for Yahweh [must be] exceedingly great in fame and splendor throughout every land. I will make preparations for him." So David provided abundant [materials] before he died.

Then the three broke through into the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem that [was] by the gate and brought [it] and came to David. But David would not drink it and poured it out before Yahweh.

Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the thirty [who said]: "[We are] yours, O David! And [we are] with you, O son of Jesse! Peace! Peace to you, and peace to those who help you, for your God helps you." So David appointed them as heads of the troops.

All these [were] men of war arrayed in battle line {with a whole heart}. They came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel [had] one heart to make David king.

So David did not move the ark to himself into the city of David but diverted it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters.

And he went up to Baal-Perazim, and David struck them there. And David said, "God has burst out against my enemies by my hand like waters burst out." Therefore they will call the name of this place Baal-Perazim.

And David built houses for himself in the city of David, and he established a place for the ark of God. And he pitched a tent for it.

Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen; so also all the Levites who were carrying the ark, the singers, and Kenaniah the chief of the singing. And David wore a linen ephod.

And when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the city of David, then Michal the daughter of Saul looked down from the window and saw the king, David, leaping and dancing. And she despised him in her heart.

And as David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I live in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Yahweh [is] under tent curtains."

And the priests stood at their posts with the Levites, with the instruments of the song of Yahweh that King David had made to give thanks to Yahweh--for his loyal love [is] everlasting--whenever David offered praise by their hand. Now the priests sounded trumpets [standing] opposite them, and all Israel stood.

And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for those [places] to which the ark of Yahweh has come [are] holy.

And in accord with the ordinance of David his father he appointed working groups of priests for their service, Levites for their responsibilities for praise and cultic service before the priests {according to the daily requirement}, and the gatekeepers in their working groups, gate by gate. For thus David the man of God had commanded.

So all Israel [saw] that the king would not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying, "What portion [is there] for us in David? [We have] no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David!" And all Israel went to their own tents.

Then David blessed Yahweh in the sight of all the assembly, and David said, "Blessed [are] you, O Yahweh, God of Israel, our father forever and ever!

Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had established, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant that he had {made} with David and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendants {forever}.

And Jehoiada placed appointees [at] the house of Yahweh under the hand of the Levitical priests whom David had allotted to the house of Yahweh to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh as was written in the law of Moses, with joy and with song, according to the {order of David}.

And David said, "Yahweh, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine!" Then Saul said to David, "Go and may Yahweh be with you!"

So the Philistine said to David, "[Am] I a dog, that you [are] coming to me with sticks?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

{When} the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David {ran quickly} to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him, but there was no sword in David's hand.

Then Saul hurled the spear and thought, "{I will pin David to the wall}." But David eluded him twice.

At the Fountain Gate opposite them they went up the steps of the city of David, at the assent to the wall, over the house of David, and up to the Water Gate to the east.

And Saul's servants spoke these words {to David privately}. But David said, "[Is] it insignificant {in your sight} to become the son-in-law of the king, [as] I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?"

Then Saul said, "This [is] what you must say to David: '{The king desires no bride price} except for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.'" (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of [the] Philistines.)

So his servants told David these words, and the matter {pleased David} to become the son-in-law of the king [as] {the specified time had not expired}.

And David got up, and he and his men went and struck down two hundred men [of the] Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and {they presented the full number} to become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as [his] wife.

Saul {was threatened by David still more}, so Saul {became a perpetual enemy of David}.

Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants about killing David, but Saul's son Jonathan {liked David very much}.

So Jonathan spoke well about David to his father Saul and said to him, "The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his service for you [has been] very good.

Jonathan called to David and told him all of these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was before him as {formerly}.

So Saul tried {to pin David to the wall with the spear}, but {he eluded Saul}, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that [same] night.

Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to guard him and to kill him in the morning, but Michal his wife told David, saying, "If {you do not save your life} tonight, [then] tomorrow you [will be] killed!"

So Jonathan {made a covenant} with the house of David, [saying,] "May Yahweh {call the enemies of David to account}."

The boy left, and then David got up from the south side, and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed {each other} and wept {together}, but David [wept] the most.

Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and he said to him, "Why are you alone and there are no men with you?"

The servants of Achish said to him, "[Is] not this David the king of the land? [Is] it not for this [one] that they sang in the dances, saying, 'Saul killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands?'"

Then Gad the prophet said to David, "You should not stay in the stronghold; leave and go into the land of Judah." So David left and came [to] the forest of Hereth.

So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And Yahweh said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah."

So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with [the] Philistines. They drove off their livestock and {dealt them a heavy blow}. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

So David and his men got up, about six hundred men, and went out from Keilah and wandered wherever they could go. When it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, {he stopped his pursuit}.

When David realized that Saul had gone out to seek his life, David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.

And Saul and his men went to seek [him], and they told David, so he went down [to] the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [this], he pursued David [into] the wilderness of Maon.

And David's men said to him, "Look, today [is] the day about which Yahweh said to you, 'See, I am giving your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him {whatever seems good to you}.'" So David got up and secretly cut the hem of Saul's robe.

Then David got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked after him, David knelt down [with his] face to the ground and bowed down.

Then David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of people who say: 'Look, David [is] {seeking to do you harm}'?

When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "[Is] this your voice, my son David?" And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

So David swore [this on oath] to Saul, and Saul went to his house, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

So David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal; {you will greet him in my name}.

So David's young men came and they spoke all these words to Nabal in the name of David. Then they waited.

But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who [is] David? And who [is] the son of Jesse? Today, [there] are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters.

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell on her face before {David's anger}, and she bowed down to the ground.

When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his [own] head." Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife.

So the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, and they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you to take you for his wife."

Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul [was] lying down, {as well as} Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul [was] lying in the encampment, and the army [was] encamping around him.)

David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household. David [took along] his two wives Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring [them back] to Gath, thinking, "So that they will not report about us, saying, 'David did thus and so.'" Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of [the] Philistines.

David said to Achish, "Very well, you will know what your servant can do." Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you {my bodyguard} for life."

[Is] this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying, 'Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands'?"

And {David was in a very precarious situation}, for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each [one] over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring the ephod here for me." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

So David recovered all that [the] Amalekites had taken; David also rescued his two wives.

And David took all of the sheep, and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, "This [is] David's plunder."

It happened after this that David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?" And Yahweh said to him, "Go up." David asked, "Where shall I go up?" And he said, "To Hebron."

Then the men of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah, and they told David, "The men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul."

The battle [was] prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David {[was] growing stronger and stronger} while the house of Saul {[was] becoming weaker and weaker}.

The sixth [was] Ithream by Eglah the wife of David. These [were] born to David in Hebron.

So then, bring it about, because Yahweh had said to David, "Through the hand of David my servant [I am about] to save my people Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies."

Then Abner came to David in Hebron and with him [were] twenty men. David had prepared a feast for Abner and for the men who [were] with him.