When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,

And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

And he boweth himself, and saith, 'What is thy servant, that thou hast turned unto the dead dog -- such as I?'

and thou hast served for him the land, thou and thy sons, and thy servants, and hast brought in, and there hath been to the son of thy lord bread, and he hath eaten it; and Mephibosheth son of thy lord doth eat continually bread at my table;' and Ziba hath fifteen sons and twenty servants.

And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.

And he saith, 'If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee;

And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river: and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.

And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.

And Uriah will come to him, and David will ask for peace of Joab, and for the peace of the people, and for the peace of the host

And they declare to David, saying, 'Uriah hath not gone down unto his house;' and David saith unto Uriah, 'Hast thou not come from a journey? wherefore hast thou not gone down unto thy house?'

And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,

Who smote Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast on him a piece of a rider from the wall, and he dieth in Thebez? why drew ye nigh unto the wall? that thou hast said, Also thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'

Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

for thou hast done it in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'

Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

And Jonadab saith to him, 'Lie down on thy couch, and feign thyself sick, and thy father hath come in to see thee, and thou hast said unto him, 'Let, I pray thee, Tamar my sister come in and give me bread to eat; and she hath made the food before mine eyes so that I see it, and have eaten from her hand.'

And she saith to him, 'Because of the circumstances this evil is greater than the other that thou hast done with me -- to send me away;' and he hath not been willing to hearken to her,

and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, 'Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,

and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

And the king saith, 'He who speaketh aught unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.'

And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

And the king saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.'

And Absalom saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I come in from Geshur? -- good for me while I am there -- and now, let me see the king's face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.'

See! thy cause, is good and right, - but, to hear it, thou hast no one, from the king.

And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why dost thou also go with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and besides, thou hast emigrated to the place where thou dwellest.

and David saith to him, 'If thou hast passed on with me then thou hast been on me for a burden,

and if to the city thou dost turn back, and hast said to Absalom, Thy servant I am, O king; servant of thy father I am also hitherto, and now, I am also thy servant; then thou hast made void for me the counsel of Ahithophel;

And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Then said the king to Ziba, "What hast thou there?" And Ziba said, "Asses for the king's household to ride on, and bread and fruit for the young men to eat, and wine to drink, if any man faint in the wilderness."

The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?

And Absalom saith unto Hushai, 'This thy kindness with thy friend! why hast thou not gone with thy friend?'

And Ahithophel saith unto Absalom, 'Go in unto the concubines of thy father, whom he left to keep the house, and all Israel hath heard that thou hast been abhorred by thy father, and the hands of all who are with thee have been strong.'

And Hushai saith, 'Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they are heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father is a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity.

And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.

And Joab saith to the man who is declaring it to him, 'And lo, thou hast seen -- and wherefore didst thou not smite him there to the earth -- and on me to give to thee ten silverlings and one girdle?'

and Joab saith to him, 'Thou art not a man of tidings this day, but thou hast borne tidings on another day, and this day thou dost not bear tidings, because the king's son is dead.'

Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

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

In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.

Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:

The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out.

With thy help I will run through a host of men, and by the aid of my God will spring over a wall.

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.

For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.

Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.

And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

And these three of the thirty of the lords went down and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave Adullam. And the Host of the Philistines had pitched in the valley of Giants.

And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.

For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.

Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do it to thee.'

And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.

Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?

go and enter in unto king David, and thou hast said unto him, Hast thou not, my lord, O king, sworn to thy handmaid, saying, Surely Solomon thy son doth reign after me, and he doth sit on my throne? and wherefore hath Adonijah reigned?

And she said to him, My lord, thou hast sworn by Jehovah thy God to thy handmaid, saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.

and now, lo, Adonijah hath reigned, and now, my lord, O king, thou hast not known;

And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.

And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

'I am going in the way of all the earth, and thou hast been strong, and become a man,

And also, thou hast known that which he did to me -- Joab son of Zeruiah -- that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether -- that he slayeth them, and maketh the blood of war in peace, and putteth the blood of war in his girdle, that is on his loins, and in his sandals that are on his feet;

and thou hast done according to thy wisdom, and dost not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol.

And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

and now, acquit him not, for a wise man thou art, and thou hast known that which thou dost to him, and hast brought down his old age with blood to Sheol.'

And he saith, 'Thou hast known that the kingdom was mine, and towards me set their faces had all Israel for reigning, and the kingdom is turned round about, and is my brother's, for from Jehovah it was his;

And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

And the king saith to him, 'Do as he hath spoken, and fall upon him, and thou hast buried him, and turned aside the causeless blood which Joab shed, from off me, and from off the house of my father;

And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

And the king sendeth and calleth for Shimei, and saith to him, 'Build for thee a house in Jerusalem, and thou hast dwelt there, and dost not go out thence any where;

and it hath been, in the day of thy going out, and thou hast passed over the brook Kidron, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die -- thy blood is on thy head.'

and the king sendeth and calleth for Shimei, and saith unto him, 'Have I not caused thee to swear by Jehovah -- and I testify against thee, saying, In the day of thy going out, and thou hast gone anywhere, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die; and thou sayest unto me, The word I have heard is good?

Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

And the king saith unto Shimei, 'Thou hast known all the evil that thy heart hath known, which thou didst to David my father, and Jehovah hath turned back thine evil on thy head,

And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

and Thou hast given to Thy servant an understanding heart, to judge Thy people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?'

And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

'Thou hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah's putting them under the soles of his feet.

'And now, command, and they cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon, and my servants are with thy servants, and the hire of thy servants I give to thee according to all that thou sayest, for thou hast known that there is not among us a man acquainted with cutting wood, like the Sidonians.'

And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

This house that thou art building -- if thou dost walk in My statutes, and My judgments dost do, yea, hast done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father,

and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart;

Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

And now, O God of Israel, let thy words, I pray thee, be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father.

But will God indeed live on earth?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You,
much less this temple I have built.

'Then thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer which Thy servant is praying before Thee to-day,