Then responded Jonadab son of Shimeah David's brother, and said - Let not my lord say that they have put, all the young men - the king's sons, to death; for, Amnon alone, is dead; for, by the bidding of Absolom, was it appointed, from the day that he forced Tamar his sister.

So Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from thence, a wise woman, - and said unto her - I pray thee, feign thyself a mourner, and put on, I pray thee, mourning apparel, and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman that hath, these many days, been mourning for the dead;

For, when we, die, we become as water poured on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, - therefore doth God not take away the life, but deviseth plans so as not to thrust out from him, a fugitive.

Then responded the king, and said unto the woman, Nay, now! do not hide from me, the thing which I am about to ask thee. And the woman said, Pray let my lord the king speak.

Now, like unto Absolom, was there no man handsome in all Israel, to be greatly praised, - from the sole of his foot, even unto the crown of his head, there was not, in him, a blemish.

And Absolom said unto Joab - Lo! I sent unto thee, saying - Come hither, that I may send thee unto the king, saying - Wherefore, am I come from Geshur? I, might as well have yet been there. Now, therefore, let me see the face of the king, and, if there is in me iniquity, then let him put me to death.

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

Then said David, to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem - Arise and let us flee, or we shall have no way of escape from the face of Absolom, - make speed to depart, lest he make speed, and so overtake us, and bring down misfortune upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

And, all his servants, were passing on beside him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, - and, all the Gittites - six hundred men, who had accompanied him from Gath, - were passing on before the king.

Then said the king, unto Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore shouldest, thou also, go with us? return and abide with the king, for, a stranger, art thou, moreover also, an exile, art thou from thine own country.

See! I, am tarrying in the waste plains of the wilderness - until there come word from you, to tell me.

Now, David, had passed on but a little from the summit, when lo! Ziba, servant of Mephibosheth, met him, - with a couple of asses saddled, and, upon them, two hundred cakes of bread, and one hundred cakes of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.

And, when King David had come as far as Bahurim, lo! from thence a man coming out, of the family of the house of Saul, whose name, was Shimei son of Gera, coming out and cursing as he came.

Then said David unto Abishai, and unto all his servants, Lo! my own son who sprang from my body, is seeking my life, - then how much more, now, a Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse, for, Yahweh, hath permitted him.

Therefore I counsel - that there be a general gathering together unto thee of all Israel, from Dan even unto Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, - and that, thine own presence, be going on in their midst.

Otherwise, had I dealt with my life falsely (and nothing can be hid from the king), then, thou thyself, wouldst have stood aloof.

Then Joab blew with a horn, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, - for Joab had restrained the people.

Now, therefore, rise - go forth, and speak unto the heart of thy servants, - for, by Yahweh, have I sworn, that, if thou do not go forth, not a man shall tarry with thee to-night, and this will be to thee, a greater misfortune, than all the misfortune that hath come upon thee from thy youth until now.

And it came to pass that all the people were reproaching one another, throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, - the king, delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and, he, rescued us out of the hand of the Philistines, but, now, he hath fled out of the land, away from Absolom;

and he said unto the king - Let not my lord impute to me iniquity, neither do thou remember the perverseness of thy servant, on the day that thou wentest out, my lord O king, from Jerusalem, that the king should lay it upon his heart.

And, Mephibosheth, son of Saul, came down to meet the king, - he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor, his clothes, had he washed, from the day the king departed, until the day that he entered in peace.

And, Barzillai the Gileadite, came down from Rogelim, - and passed, with the king, over the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan.

Then went up all the men of Israel from following David, to follow Sheba son of Bichri, - but, the men of Judah, clave unto their king, from the Jordan, even as far as Jerusalem.

Then went out after him - the men of Joab, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, - and they went out from Jerusalem, to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

Then answered Joab and said, - Far be it! far be it from me! I will neither swallow up nor lay waste.

Not so, is the matter! but, a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri, his name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David, give up him alone, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Lo! his head, shall be cast unto thee, through the wall.

So the woman came unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast it out unto Joab. And he blew with a horn, and they dispersed themselves from the city, every man to his home; but, Joab, returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

Then said they unto the king, The man who consumed us, and who thought to have destroyed us from taking a place within any of the bounds of Israel,

Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth, and spread it out for herself, on the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until water poured out upon them from the heavens, - and suffered neither the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the wild beasts of the field, to devour them by night.

So David went and fetched the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the owners of Jabesh-gilead, - who stole them from the broadway of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day when the Philistines had smitten Saul in Gilboa;

and he brought up from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, - and they gathered together the bones of them who had been crucified;

My God, was my rock, I sought refuge in him, - My shield, and my horn of salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, My Saviour! from violence, thou didst save me.

As one worthy to be praised, called I on Yahweh, - And, from my foes, was I saved.

There went up a smoke in his nostrils, and, a fire out of his mouth, devoured, - live coals, were kindled from it:

Thunder from the heavens, did Yahweh give forth, - yea, the Highest, uttered his voice;

He sent from on high, he took me, - he drew me out of many waters;

He rescued me from my foe, in his might, - from them who hated me, because they were too strong for me:

For I had kept the ways of Yahweh, - and not broken away from my God;

For, all his regulations, were before me, - and, as for his statutes, I turned not from them.

So became I blameless towards him, - and kept myself from mine iniquity:

Thus didst thou rescue me from the contentions of my people, didst keep me to be the head of nations: - a people whom I had not known, served me;

And brought me forth from among my foes, - yea, from mine assailants, hast thou set me on high, from the man of violence, hast thou delivered me.

Is even as the light of the morning when ariseth the sun, - A morning, without clouds, As from brightness, and from rain, the fresh shoots out of the earth.

And, after him, Shammah son of Agee, the Hararite, - and, when the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, there being at hand an allotment of field-land full of lentils, but, the people, having fled from the face of the Philistines,

and said - Be it far from me, O Yahweh, that I should do this! is it not the blood of the men who went with their lives in their hands ? So he would not drink it. These things, did the three mighty men.

The king, therefore, said unto Joab, captain of the force, who was with him - Go to and fro, I pray thee, throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even unto Beer -sheba, and number ye the people, - so shall I know the sum of the people.

So Yahweh sent forth a pestilence throughout Israel, from the morning even unto the time appointed, - and there died of the people, from Dan even unto Beer-sheba, seventy thousand men.

Then said Araunah, Wherefore, hath my lord the king come unto his servant? And David said - To buy of thee the threshing-floor, to build an altar unto Yahweh, that the plague may be stayed from off the people.

and David built there an altar unto Yahweh, and caused to go up ascending-sacrifices and peace-offerings, - then was Yahweh entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king, in Gihon, and they went up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again, - That, is the noise ye have heard.

So King Solomon sent, and brought him down from the altar, and he came in, and bowed himself down to King Solomon, - and Solomon said unto him - Go to thine own house.

to the end that Yahweh may establish his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy sons will take heed to their way, by walking before me, in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, (then, said he) there shall not be cut off to thee a man, from off the throne of Israel.

But, with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, thou wilt deal in lovingkindness, and they will be among them who eat at thy table, - for, so, drew they near unto me, when I fled from Absolom thy brother.

And he said - Thou, knowest that, mine, was the kingdom, and, on me, had all Israel set their faces, that I should become king, - howbeit the kingdom, hath turned about, and become my brother's, for, from Yahweh, became it, his.

So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto Yahweh, - to fulfil the word of Yahweh which he spake concerning the household of Eli, in Shiloh.

And the king said to him - Do as he hath spoken, fall, then, upon him, and bury him, - and so put away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from off me, and from off the house of my father;

thus shall their blood come back upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed unto times age-abiding, - but, David and his seed, and his house, and his throne, shall have peace, unto times age-abiding, from Yahweh.

And the king sent, and called for Shimei, and said to him - Build thee a house, in Jerusalem, so shalt thou dwell there, - and shalt not go forth from thence, hither or thither;

So Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath, unto Achish, to seek his servants - and Shimei went and brought in his servants, from Gath.

Then arose she, in the middle of the night, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid was sleeping, and laid it in her own besom, - but, her dead son, laid she in, my, bosom.

Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, and Megiddo, - and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean as far as Abel-meholah, as far as over against Jokmeam;

And, Solomon, became ruler over all the kingdoms, from the River even unto the land of the Philistines, and as far as the boundary of Egypt, - and these were bringing presents, and serving Solomon, all the days of his life.

For, he, had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even as far as Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River, - and he had, peace, on all sides of him, round about.

And Judah and Israel dwelt securely, every man under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree, from Dan even unto Beer-sheba, - all the days of Solomon.

And he discoursed of trees - from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop, that springeth out in the wall, - and he discoursed of beasts and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

and he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house, unto the cross-beams of the ceiling, he overlaid it with wood, on the inside, - and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of fir.

And he built twenty cubits, at the hinder part of the house, with boards of cedar, from the floor as far as the cross-beams, - and he built it within, for a shrine, even for the holy of holies;

and, five cubits, was the one wing of the cherub, and, five cubits, the second wing of the cherub, - ten cubits, from the one end of his wings unto the other end of his wings.

And, all the openings and the posts, were square in their frame, - and light was over against light, three times.

And, a porch for the throne, where he should judge, even the porch of judgment, made he, and it was wainscotted with cedar, from floor to ceiling.

All these, were of costly stones, after the dimensions of hewn stones, sawn with saws, within and without, - even from the foundation, unto the coping, and without as far as the great court.

with a frame of checker work, wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars, - seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

So he made the pillars, - and, two rows round about, upon the one frame of checker work, covering the capitals which were upon the top with pomegranates, thus also, did he for the other capital.

And he made a molten sea, - ten cubits from the one brim to the other, it was round all about, and, five cubits, was the height thereof, and, a line of thirty cubits, would encompass it round about.

and the four hundred pomegranates, for the two frames of checker-work, - two rows of pomegranates to each frame, for covering the two bowls of the capitals, which were on the face of the pillars;

And they drew out the staves, and the heads of the staves were seen from the holy place, in front of the shrine, although they were not seen on the outside, - and they have remained there until this day.

Now, therefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep thou for thy servant David my father, that which thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not be cut off to thee a man from before me, to sit upon the throne of Israel, - if only, thy sons take heed to their way, by walking before me, as thou hast walked before me.

When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they shall pray toward this place, and confess thy Name, and, from their sin, shall return, because thou hast been afflicting them,

And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying unto Yahweh all this prayer and supplication, that he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees, with his hands outspread to the heavens;

And Solomon made, at that time, a festival - and all Israel with him - a great convocation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the ravine of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days, and seven days, - fourteen days.

then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel, unto times age-abiding, - as I promised unto David thy father, saying, There shall not be cut off to thee a man, from off the throne of Israel.

If ye, turn back, ye or your sons, from following me, and keep not my commandments, my statutes, which I have set before you, - but depart and serve other gods, and bow yourselves down to them,

then will I cut off Israel, from the face of the soil, which I have given unto them, and, the house which I have hallowed for my Name, will I suffer to be carried away from before me, - and Israel shall become a byword and a mockery, among all the peoples;

And Hiram came out from Tyre to view the cities which, Solomon, had given him, - and they were not pleasing in his eyes.

and they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence, gold, four hundred and twenty talents, - and brought it to King Solomon.

and Solomon answered her all her questions, - there was nothing hidden from the king, which he told her not.

Moreover also, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in, from Ophir sandal-wood in great abundance, and precious stones.

And the king made a great throne of ivory, - and overlaid it with gold from Uphaz.

Therefore did Yahweh shew himself angry with Solomon, - because his heart had turned aside from Yahweh God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice;

Wherefore Yahweh said unto Solomon - Forasmuch as this hath come to pass with thee, and thou hast not heeded my covenant and my statutes, which I charged upon thee, I will, rend, the kingdom away from thee, and will give it unto a servant of thine.

And God raised up against him an adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, - who had fled from Hadadezer king of Zobah, his lord;

Jeroboam also, son of Nebat, an Ephrathite from Zeredah, whose, mother's name, was Zeruah, a widow woman, he being servant to Solomon, lifted up a hand against the king.

And it came to pass, when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it - he being yet in Egypt, whither he had fled from the face of Solomon the king, that Jeroboam returned from Egypt;

Thus the king hearkened not unto the people, - for there had come about a turn from Yahweh, that he might establish his word, which Yahweh had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite, unto Jeroboam, son of Nebat.

Thus, saith Yahweh - Ye shall not go up, neither shall ye fight with your brethren the sons of Israel, - return ye every man to his own house, for, from me, hath this thing been brought about. So they hearkened unto the word of Yahweh, and turned back to depart, according to the word of Yahweh.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, and dwelt therein, - and went forth from thence, and built Penuel.

And he made a house of high-places, - and made priests from the whole compass of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

And it came to pass, when the king heard the word of the man of God which he proclaimed against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam thrust forth his hand, from off the altar, saying - Lay hold of him! and his hand which he had thrust forth against him was dried up, that he could not draw it back to him.

Moreover, the altar, was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, - according to the sign which the man of God had given, by the word of Yahweh.

And, when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said - The man of God, it is, who rebelled against the bidding of Yahweh, - therefore did Yahweh deliver him unto the lion, and it hath torn him and slain him, according to the word of Yahweh which he spake unto him.