And Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, who hath delivered up the men that raised their hand against my lord the king.

And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! O that I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

Then the king rose, and sat in the gate. And they told to all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

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.

And there went over a ferry-boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he came over Jordan;

And he hath slandered thy servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thy eyes.

I am this day eighty years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing-men and singing-women? why then should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?

Let thy servant, I pray thee, return again, that I may die in my own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to thee.

And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee: and whatever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.

And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue him, lest he get for himself fortified cities, and escape us.

Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son they buried in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulcher of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was entreated for the land.

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my preserver; thou savest me from violence.

In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry entered into his ears.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?

God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.

It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me,

Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

Although my house is not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he maketh it not to grow.

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!

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

And Joab said to the king, Now the LORD thy God add to the people, how many soever they may be, a hundred-fold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and towards Jazer:

For when David had risen in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come upon thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thy enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now consider, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

And Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to the LORD in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded.

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good to him: behold, here are oxen for burnt-sacrifice, and threshing-instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.

All these things did Araunah, as a king, give to the king. And Araunah said to the king, The LORD thy God accept thee.

And the king said to Araunah, No; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt-offerings to the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

Now king David was old and advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat.

Wherefore his servants said to him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

And she said to him, My lord, thou didst swear by the LORD thy God to thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.

For he hath 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.

Even as I swore to thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.

And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.

And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.

And while he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said to him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings.

And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed.

And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath given one to sit on my throne this day, my eyes even seeing it.

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.

Then king Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah hath not spoken this word against his own life.

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

And Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protest to thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest any where abroad, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst to me, The word that I have heard is good.

In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

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.

Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

And God said to 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 thy enemies: but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

And God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore.

Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house to the name of the LORD his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.

But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

And behold, I purpose to build a house to the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build a house to my name.

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And the LORD hath performed his word that he spoke, and I have risen in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart.

Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; provided 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 word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou didst speak to thy servant David my father.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?

Yet have thou respect to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken to the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day:

Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou mayest teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thy inheritance, as thou didst speak by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:

And let these my words with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh to the LORD our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:

That all the people of the earth may know, that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entrance into Hamath to the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

Then will I cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people:

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers from the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

Blessed be the LORD thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore he made thee king, to do judgment and justice.

And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

(For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)

And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

Because they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

And they spoke to him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant to this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

And it came to pass when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it to him again.

The altar also 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 the LORD.

And the king answered and said to the man of God, Entreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.

And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

And the man of God said to the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken to the king, them they told also to their father.

And their father said to them, What way went he? for his sons had seen what way the man of God went, who came from Judah.

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said to him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

And he cried to the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,

And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him to the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke to him.