But Absalom had fled and went [to] Geshur, and he [was] there three years.

So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, "Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself [with] oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for {a long time}.

Then you must go to the king and speak to him according to this word." [Thus] Joab put the words in her mouth.

And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, 'Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,' and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth."

The Tekoite woman said to the king, "On me, my lord the king, [is] the guilt, and on the house of my father, but the king on his throne [is] innocent."

The woman said, "But why have you plotted like this against the people of God? By speaking this word, he is guilty not to bring back his banished one.

For {we must certainly die}, and [we are] as the waters spilled to the ground which cannot be gathered. God will not take a life but devises plans for a banished person not to be cast out from him.

Your servant also thought, 'May the word of my lord the king {bring rest}, for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, {to sense what is good and what is bad}.' May Yahweh your God be with you."

The king asked, "[Was] the hand of Joab with you in all of this?" The woman answered and said, "{As your soul lives}, my lord the king, surely [one cannot] go to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab himself commanded me, and he put all of these words in the mouth of your servant.

In order {to change the situation}, your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord [has] wisdom, as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that [is] on the earth."

Absalom lived in Jerusalem {two full years}, but he did not see the face of the king.

So Absalom sent for Joab, [in order that he] send him to the king, but he was not willing to go to him. He sent again a second [time], but he [was] not willing to go.

Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your case [is] good and right, but for you there is no hearing with the king."

The king went out with all his household {following him}, but the king left behind ten concubines to look after the house.

But Ittai answered the king and said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {my lord the king lives}, surely in the place wherever my lord the king shall be, if for death or if for life, surely there your servant will be."

But if he says, 'I take no pleasure in you,' then {I am ready}. Let him do to me that which [is] good in his eyes.

but if you want to return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I [am] your servant, O king. I used to be a servant of your father, but from then and now I [will be] your servant,' then you can frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel for me.

Then I will return all the people to you; when all have returned, the man whom you [are] seeking [will be dead], but all the people will be safe."

Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "{Thus and so} Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, but {thus and so} I have advised.

But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim. Now he had a well in his courtyard, so they went down there.

When the servants of Absalom came to the woman [at] the house, they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And she said to them, "They crossed over the brook of water." So they searched but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

Then the troops said, "You will not go out, for {if we must flee}, then {they will not care about us}; even if half of us die, {they will not care about us}, but now, you [are] like ten thousand of us. And so then, [it is] better for us that you be in the city to help."

They took Absalom and they threw him into the large pit in the forest and raised a very great heap of stones over him. Then all of Israel fled, each to his tent.

Joab said to him, "You [will] not [be] a man {bringing} good news this day! You may bring good news on another day, but today you will not be bringing good news because the king's son is dead."

The king said, "[Is] it peace for the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz said, "I saw the great commotion when Joab the servant of the king sent your servant, but I do not know what [it was all about]."

Then it happened that all the people [were] disputing among all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and he saved us from the hand of [the] Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded and said, "Because of this, should not Shimei be put to death, for he cursed the anointed one of Yahweh?"

Then David said, "What [is] it to me or to you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary today? [Should] anyone be put to death in Israel? Do I not know today that I [am] king over Israel?"

But he slandered against your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king [is] like the angel of God; {do as you see fit.}."

For there [was no one] in all the house of my father {who were not doomed to death} before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. Do I have any righteousness any longer except to cry out to the king?"

I [am] eighty years old today. Can I discern between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be a burden any longer to my lord the king?

Your servant shall go over the Jordan with the king a little way, but why should the king recompense me with this reward?

Then the people of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, "I have {ten times as much} in the king, moreover in David I have more than you. Why did you treat me with contempt {by not giving me first chance} to bring back my king?" But the words of the men of Judah [were] fiercer than the word of the men of Israel.

Then all the men of Israel went up from [following] after David, [following instead] after Sheba the son of Bicri, but the men of Judah stuck to their king from the Jordan up to Jerusalem.

David went up to his house in Jerusalem, then the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to look after the house, and he put them {under confinement}. However, he provided for them, but {he did not sleep with them}. So they were confined until the day of their death, like a lifetime of widowhood.

So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he tarried more than the appointed time which he had set for him.

That is not the matter. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name [is] Sheba the son Bicri, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give only him to us, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Look, his head [is] being thrown down to you over the wall."

So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites [were] not from the {Israelites}; they [were] from the remainder of the Amorites. Now the {Israelites} had sworn to them, but Saul tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the {Israelites} and Judah.

Then the Gibeonites said to him, "{It is not a matter for us of} silver or gold with Saul or with his household. It is not for us to put to death anyone in Israel." He asked, "What [are] you saying [that] I should do for you all?"

But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the sworn oath of Yahweh which [was] between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

He gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they executed them on the mountain in the presence of Yahweh, and the seven fell together. Now they were put to death in the days of the harvest, at the beginning of the harvest of barley.

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took the sackcloth, and she spread it for herself on the rock at the beginning of the harvest until water gushed forth on them from heaven, but she did not allow the birds of heaven to rest on them by day nor the animals of the field by night.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and he attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out with us any longer to the battle, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel."

He taunted Israel but Jonathan the son of Shimei, the brother of David, killed him.

He put darkness [as] a canopy all around him, a collection of {thick rain clouds}.

They approached me on the day of my disaster, but Yahweh [was] my support.

With the pure, you show yourself pure, but with the crooked, you appear as a fool.

Humble people you will deliver, but your eyes [are] on the haughty, [whom] you bring down.

They looked out, but there was no deliverer, [even] to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.

I beat them fine, like the dust of the earth; like the mire of the streets, I crushed them, I stamped them down.

But evil persons [are] like thorns cast aside; all of them, because they cannot be picked up in the hand.

But he took a stand in the middle of the plot of land and defended it. He killed [the] Philistines, and Yahweh brought about a great victory.

So three of the mighty warriors broke into the camp of [the] Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem that [was] at the gate, and they carried [it] and brought [it] to David. But he [was] not willing to drink it, but poured it out to Yahweh.

Among the thirty, is it not that he [was] honored and became a commander for them? But he did not come up to the three

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of Ish-Hai, [was] a great [man] of deeds from Kabzeel. He struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

He [was] honored more than the thirty, but he did not come up to the three. David appointed him in charge of his bodyguard.

Then Joab said to the king, "May Yahweh your God increase the people a hundred times {what they are} as the eyes of my lord the king are seeing. But my lord the king, why does he desire this thing?"

But the word of the king prevailed over Joab and over the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel.

Then David said to Gad, "I [am] greatly distressed. Please let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, because he [is] great in his compassion; but into the hand of man don't let me fall."

David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, "Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father."

Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but {I will certainly buy} it from you for a price; I don't want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver.

Now King David had become old, {advanced in years}, and they covered him with garments, but he was not warm.

Now the young woman was very beautiful; she was of use for the king, and she served him, but the king did not {have sexual relations with her}.

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty warriors were David's; they were not with Adonijah.

But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty warriors or Solomon his brother.

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, "Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, but our lord David does not know?

Come, go to King David and say to him, 'Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, "Surely Solomon your son shall become king after me. And he will sit on my throne"? But why is Adonijah king?'

But now, look! Adonijah has become king! And now, my lord the king, you do not know!

He has sacrificed oxen and sheep and fattened animals {in abundance}, and he has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he did not invite.

But as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all of Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

But me, your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Solomon your servant he did not invite.

If it was from my lord the king that this thing has happened, [then all is well,] but if not, you must let your servants know who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him."

Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, "But our lord King David has made Solomon king!

The servants of the king also came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, 'Your God has made the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than your throne!' So the king worshiped on the bed.

Solomon said, "If he is a son of noble character, not a hair of his [head] will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, then he will die."

"Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me when he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether, and he murdered them and put the blood of war in [a time of] peace. He put the blood of war on the leather belt that was on his waist and on the sandals which were on his feet.

You must act according to your wisdom, but you must not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace.

And look, Shimei the son of Gera the son of the Benjaminite from Bahurim is with you. Now he {cursed me severely} when I went to Mahanaim, but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, so I swore to him by Yahweh, 'I surely will not kill you with the sword.'

He said, "You know that the kingship was mine and that all Israel had set their face toward me as king, but the kingship turned around and became my brother's, for it was from Yahweh for him [to have it].

So then, {as Yahweh lives}, who has established me and seated me on the throne of my father David and who has established for me a dynasty as he promised, then surely Adonijah will be put to death today."

To Abiathar the priest, the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your field, for {you deserve to die}, but on this day I will not kill you, for you carried the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father, and because you endured hardship in all the hardship that my father endured."

When the message came to Joab (now Joab {had supported} Adonijah but {had not supported} Absalom), he fled to the tent of Yahweh and grasped the horns of the altar.

And their blood will return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David and his descendants and for his house and his throne, [there] will be peace forever from Yahweh."

Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and he said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but you must not go out {anywhere whatsoever} from there.

but King Solomon will be blessed and the throne of David will be established before Yahweh forever."

But the people [were] sacrificing on the high places, for the house for the name of Yahweh had not [yet] been built in those days.

Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, because who is able to judge this, your difficult people?"

And God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and you did not ask for yourself {a long life} and you did not ask riches for yourself and you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself {the ability to make wise judgments};

So she got up in the middle of the night, and she took my son from beside me while your servant was asleep, and she put him in her lap, and she put her dead son in my lap.

Then the king said, "This one [is] saying, 'This [is] my son, the living one, but your son [is] the dead one,' and the other one keeps saying, 'But no! Your son [is] the dead one, and my son [is] living!'"

Then the woman whose son [was] the living one spoke to the king because her compassion was aroused for her son, and she said, "Please, my lord, give her the living child, but certainly do not kill him!" The other one [was] saying, "As for me, so for you! Divide [him]!"

But now Yahweh my God has given me rest all around me. There is no adversary, and there is no bad occurrence.

Its thickness [was] a handbreadth, but its rim [was] as the work on the brim of a cup, [like the] bud of a lily; it held two thousand baths.

[When] all of the work which king Solomon did on the house of Yahweh was completed, Solomon brought out the holy objects of his father David, the silver and the gold and the vessels, [which] he put in the treasury rooms of the house of Yahweh.

The poles [were] long, and the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place {in front of} the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen [from] the outside, and they are there until this day.

'From the day that I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where my name might be, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

but Yahweh said to David my father, 'Because {you desired} to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was within your heart.

However, you will not build the house, but your son who has come from your loins, he shall build the house for my name.'

So Hiram went out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but they were not right in his eyes.

But from the {Israelites} Solomon did not make a slave, but they [were] the men of war, his officers, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.