So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi Besor, but the rest remained.

David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.

Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water.

They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and {this revived him}, because he had not eaten food or drunk water [for] three days and three nights.

So he took him down, and {there they were}, spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of [the] Philistines and from the land of Judah.

None of theirs [was] missing {from the smallest to the greatest}, even sons and daughters, from [the] plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything.

And David took all of the sheep, and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, "This [is] David's plunder."

Then David came to [the] two hundred men {who had been too exhausted to follow} David; they had left them behind at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and {asked them how they were doing}.

Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them [anything] from the plunder which we recovered, {except} each [man may take] his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!"

And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike."

Now [the] Philistines [were] fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before [the] Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

And when the men of Israel who [were] on the other side of the valley and [those] who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus [the] Philistines came and lived in them.

{And then} the next day, [the] Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying [dead] on Mount Gilboa.

So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent [messengers] around in the land of [the] Philistines to proclaim [victory in] the temples of their idols and [to] the people.

And they put his armor [in] the temple of the Ashtoreth, and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.

all of {the valiant men} set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

Then they took their bones and buried [them] under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted [for] seven days.

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Saul and Jonathan [were] beloved and pleasant in their lives and [were] not separated in their death. They [were] swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

Also, David brought up his men who [were] with him, each {with} his household, and they settled in the towns of Hebron.

Then the men of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah, and they told David, "The men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul."

Then Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out, and they met at the pool of Gibeon. The one group sat on one side of the pool, and the other sat on the other side.

So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

Then each seized his {opponent} by the head and [each thrust] his sword in the side of his opponent, so they fell together. So they called the name of that place Helkath Hazzurim, which [is] in Gibeon.

So Joab and Abishai pursued Abner {when} the sun went down. And they came to the hill [country] of Ammah, which [is] {before Giah} [on] the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

The descendants of Benjamin rallied after Abner, and they became as one fighting group and stood on the top of a certain hill.

Then Joab blew on the trumpet and all the people stopped, and they no longer pursued after Israel, and they did not fight with them again.

Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night, and they crossed over the Jordan. They went all the forenoon and came to Mahanaim.

Then they picked up Asahel and buried him in the grave of his father, which [was at] Bethlehem. Joab and his men went all that night {[arriving] in Hebron at first light}.

And Abner said to David, "Let me get up and go and gather all of Israel to my lord the king, that they may {make a covenant} with you so you can reign over all which your soul desires." So David dismissed Abner, and he left in peace.

And look, the servants of David and Joab came from the raid, and they brought much plunder with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

When Joab and all the army that [was] with him came, they told Joab, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he left in peace."

Then Joab went out from David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor Hasirah, but David did not know [it].

And they buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.

The Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and they are resident aliens there until this day.

When the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Recab and Baanah, set out, they came at the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Bosheth while {he [was] taking a noontime rest}.

They came as far as the middle of the house [as if] takers of wheat, and they struck him in the stomach. Then Recab and Baanah his brother escaped.

When they had come [into] the house, he [was] lying on his couch {in his bedchamber}, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they {beheaded him}, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.

They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, "Here [is] the head of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. Yahweh has given to my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his offspring."

Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them, and they cut off their hands and their feet, and they hung [them] at the pool at Hebron, but the head of Ish-Bosheth they took and buried in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

So all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and they said, "Here we [are], {we are your flesh and blood}.

All the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David {made a covenant} with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh; then they anointed David as king over Israel.

The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'"

So Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent messengers to David, [along with] cedar trees and {craftsmen skilled in wood and in stone masonry}, and they built a house for David.

When [the] Philistines heard that they had anointed David as king over Israel, all [the] Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard and went down to the stronghold.

Now [the] Philistines had come, and they spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

They had left their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.

They loaded the ark of God on a new utility cart, and they carried it from the house of Abinadab, which [was] on the hill. Now Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, [were] driving the new utility cart along.

So they brought it out from the house of Abinadab, which [was] on the hill with the ark of God, and Ahio [was] going before the ark.

When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzza reached out to the ark of God and took hold of [it], because the oxen had stumbled.

They brought the ark of Yahweh and set it in its place in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. Then David offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the presence of Yahweh.

I will make a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they can dwell {in their own place}. They will not tremble [any] longer, and the children of wickedness will not afflict them again, as in the former days.

Your name shall be great forever, {and they will say}, 'Yahweh of hosts [is] God over Israel'; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.

Now Saul's household had a servant whose name [was] Ziba, so they summoned him to David, and the king asked him, "[Are] you Ziba?" He said, "{At your service}!"

When they told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Remain in Jericho until your beards have grown, and then you can return."

When the {Ammonites} saw that they had become odious to David, the {Ammonites} sent [word] and hired Aram Beth-Rehob and Aram-Zobah, twenty thousand infantry; and [they also hired] the king of Maacah, a thousand men, and the men of Tob, twelve thousand men.

Joab and all the people who [were] with him moved forward into the battle against Aram, and they fled from before him.

When the {Ammonites} saw that Aram had fled, they fled from before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from [fighting] against the {Ammonites} and came to Jerusalem.

When the Arameans saw that they [were] defeated before Israel, they gathered themselves together.

Then Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who [were] beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam. Now Shobach, the commander of the army of Hadadezer, {was at their head}.

David [was] told, so he gathered all Israel and crossed over the Jordan and came to Helam. Aram {arranged themselves in battle lines} to meet David, and they fought with him.

When all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that he had been defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them, and Aram [was] afraid to help the {Ammonites} any longer.

{It came about in the spring}, at the time {kings} go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all of Israel. They ravaged all of the {Ammonites} and besieged Rabbah, but David [was] remaining in Jerusalem.

They told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house." David said to Uriah, "[Are] you not coming from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"

if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, 'Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from [atop] the wall?

It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David [were] afraid to tell him that the child [was] dead, for they said, "Look, when the child [was] alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, 'The child [is] dead'? He may do [something] evil."

When David saw that his servants [were] whispering together, he realized that the child [was] dead. Then David said to his servants, "[Is] the child dead?" And they said, "He [is] dead."

David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went [to] the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his [own] house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate.

Now there [was] a long-sleeved robe on her, for so they clothed the daughters of the king who [were] virgins, in robes. His servant put her outside, and he bolted the door behind her.

{While they were on the way}, the message came to David, "Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them [was] left."

When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping.

Your servant had two sons, and they both fought in the open field, and there [was] no one {to part them}. One struck the other and killed him.

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."

Then she said, "Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, {to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill}, [so that they] not wipe out my son." He said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground."

Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything.

So the king went out with all the people {following him}, and they stopped {at the last house}.

Suddenly Zadok [was] there, and all of the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set the ark of God down, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people passed out of the city.

So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and they remained there.

Now David [was] going up on the Ascent of the Olives, {weeping as he went}, with his head covered and going barefoot. All the people who [were] with him each covered their head {and wept as they went}.

Then they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he went [in] to the concubines of his father before the eyes of all Israel.

Hushai continued, "You know your father and his men, that they [are] mighty warriors and they {are enraged} as a bear robbed of [her] offspring in the field. Your father [is] a man of war, so he will not spend the night with the troops.

[Even] if he withdraws to a city, all Israel will bring up ropes to that city, and they will drag him away to the valley until there [is] not even a pebble to be found."

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz [were] staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they [were] not able to be seen coming to the city.

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.

After they left, they came up from the well and went and told King David. They said to David, "Set out and cross over the water quickly, for thus Ahithophel has advised against you."

So David and all the people who [were] with him set out, and they crossed over the Jordan until morning light until {there was no one} missing who had not crossed over the Jordan.

honey, curds, sheep, cheese, and cattle for David and for the people who [were] with him to eat. For they had thought, "The troops [are] hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness."

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.

so the victory turned to mourning on that day for all the army, because they had heard that day, "The king is grieving over his son."

The army {came secretly} into the city on that day because the army was disgraced when they fled in the battle,

So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, "Look, the king [is] sitting in the gate." Then all the army came before the king; [whereas] all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.

So he turned the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they sent [word] to the king, "Return, you and all your servants."

and a thousand men [were] with him from Benjamin. Too, Ziba the servant of the household of Saul and fifteen of his sons and twenty of his servants [were] with him, and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

Suddenly, all the men of Israel [were] coming to the king. They said to the king, "Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, with all the men of David?"

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.

Then the men of Joab, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty warriors went out after him; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bicri.

They [were] near the big rock that [is] in Gibeon, and Amasa came before them. Joab {was dressed in his military clothing}, [with] a utility belt on him and a sword strapped to his waist in its scabbard. Now he went out, and it fell out.

(He had passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maacah; now all of the Berites had been treated badly, so they also followed after him.)