And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan has yet a son, who is lame on his feet.

And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.

And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Think you that David does honor your father, that he has sent comforters unto you? Has not David rather sent his servants unto you, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Came you not from your journey? why then did you not go down unto your house?

And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.

And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

And if so be that the king's anger arises, and he says unto you, Why approached you so near unto the city when you did fight? knew you not that they would shoot from the wall?

Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went you near the wall? then say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shall you say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another: make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and so encourage him.

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

And he said unto him, Why are you, being the king's son, so haggard from day to day? will you not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not you this folly.

And I, where shall I cause my shame to go? and as for you, you shall be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray you, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from you.

However he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.

And she said unto him, There is no cause: this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that you did unto me. But he would not hearken unto her.

And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon your brother been with you? but hold now your peace, my sister: he is your brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house.

And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable unto you. And he pressed him: however he would not go, but blessed him.

Then said Absalom, If not, I pray you, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, Why should he go with you?

Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark you now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Strike Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.

And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left.

And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead: for by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.

Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for Amnon only is dead.

And Joab sent to Tekoah, and brought from there a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray you, pretend to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not yourself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

And, behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that struck his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my ember which is left, and shall not leave to my husband either name or remnant upon the earth.

And the king said, Whosoever says anything unto you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you any more.

Then said she, I pray you, let the king remember the LORD your God, that you would not allow the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.

And the woman said, Why then have you thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king does speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one.

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does God respect any person: yet does he devise means, that his banished one be not expelled from him.

Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the thing that I shall ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken: for your servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid:

And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.

So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.

Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went along innocently, and they knew not any thing.

And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.

The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Are not you a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

And have you not there with you Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that whatsoever thing you shall hear out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness to your friend? why went you not with your friend?

And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in your father's presence, so will I be in your presence.

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak you.

And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.

For, said Hushai, you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

Moreover, if he has gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; for they dared not be seen to come into the city: and a maidservant went and told them; and they went and told king David.

And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground grain thereon; and the thing was not known.

And when Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They are gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there was left not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and got him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.

But the people answered, You shall not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now you are worth ten thousand of us: therefore now it is better that you support us from out of the city.

And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, you saw him, and why did you not strike him there to the ground? and I would have given you ten shekels of silver, and a belt.

And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.

And Joab said unto him, You shall not bear tidings this day, but you shall bear tidings another day: but this day you shall bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.

And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.

Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak kindly unto your servants: for I swear by the LORD, if you go not forth, there will not tarry one with you this night: and that will be worse unto you than all the evil that befell you from your youth until now.

And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak you not a word of bringing the king back?

And say you to Amasa, Are you not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the army before me continually in the place of Joab.

And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do you remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?

And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?

Therefore the king said unto Shimei, You shall not die. And the king swore unto him.

And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Why went you not with me, Mephibosheth?

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in confinement, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he struck him with it in the fifth rib, and shed out his entrails to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.

And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and allowed neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah aided him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore unto him, saying, You shall go no more out with us to battle, that you quench not the light of Israel.

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

For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

You have enlarged my path under me; so that my feet did not slip.

I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.

And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.

They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people, you have kept me to be head of the nations: a people whom I knew not shall serve me.

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

And the three mighty men broke 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 it, but poured it out unto the LORD.

And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

Was he not most honorable of three? therefore he was their captain: however he attained not unto the first three.

He was more honorable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard.

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great distress: 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 the young woman was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

And his father had not rebuked him at any time in saying, Why have you done so? and he also was a very handsome man; and his mother bore him after Absalom.

But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he invited not.

Therefore Nathan spoke unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith does reign, and David our lord knows it not?

Go and get in unto king David, and say unto him, Did not you, my lord, O king, swear unto your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then does Adonijah reign?

And now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and now, my lord the king, you know it not:

And he has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army: but Solomon your servant has he not called.

But me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, has he not invited.

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and you have not showed it unto your servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon: for, lo, he has caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.