Saul and Jonathan! They are loved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they have not been parted. Than eagles they have been lighter, Than lions they have been mightier!

How have the great ones been made low in the fight! Jonathan is dead on your high places.

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

How have the great ones been made low, and the arms of war broken!

A son of forty years, is Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, in his reigning over Israel, and two years he hath reigned, only the house of Judah have been after David.

And the number of the days that David hath been king in Hebron, over the house of Judah, is seven years and six months.

And Abner saith to him, 'Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and seize for thee one of the youths, and take to thee his armour;' and Asahel hath not been willing to turn aside from after him.

Joab replied, "As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit of their brothers!"

and the sixth is Ithream, of Eglah wife of David; these have been born to David in Hebron.

And it cometh to pass, in the war being between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner hath been strengthening himself in the house of Saul,

Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I a dog’s head who belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I’ve been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends and haven’t handed you over to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!

And the word of Abner was with the elders of Israel, saying, 'Heretofore ye have been seeking David for king over you,

Now the servants of David and Joab had been out attacking a band of armed men, and they came back with a great store of goods taken in the fight: but Abner was no longer in Hebron with David, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace.

When, Joab, and all the host that was with him, had come in, then told they Joab, saying, Abner son of Ner hath been in unto the king, and he hath let him go, and he hath departed in peace.

and all the people know, even all Israel, in that day, that it hath not been from the king -- to put to death Abner son of Ner.

And the son of Saul heareth that Abner is dead in Hebron, and his hands are feeble, and all Israel have been troubled.

And Saul's son had two men that were captains of bands: the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin: (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin:

and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been sojourners there until this day).

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.

And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

So David gave orders to the young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.

also heretofore, in Saul's being king over us, thou hast been he who is bringing out and bringing in Israel, and Jehovah saith to thee, Thou dost feed My people Israel, and thou art for leader over Israel.'

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to look for him, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.

and David riseth and goeth, and all the people who are with him, from Baale-Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God, whose name hath been called -- the name of Jehovah of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubs -- upon it.

And David hath not been willing to turn aside unto himself the ark of Jehovah, to the city of David, and David turneth it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite,

and I have been more vile than this, and have been low in mine eyes, and with the handmaids whom thou hast spoken of, with them I am honoured.'

From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as My dwelling.

Now therefore you shall tell my servant David this, 'Thus says Yahweh of Armies, "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Israel.

and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a great name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth.

Then David the king went in and took his seat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have been my guide till now?

And yet this hath been a small thing in thy sight, Lord Jehovah; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, Lord Jehovah?

Therefore Thou hast been great, Jehovah God, for there is none like Thee, and there is no God save Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Yea, Thou dost establish to Thee Thy people Israel, to Thee for a people unto the age, and Thou, Jehovah, hast been to them for God.

and Toi sendeth Joram his son unto king David to ask of him of welfare, and to bless him, (because that he hath fought against Hadadezer, and smiteth him, for a man of wars with Toi had Hadadezer been), and in his hand have been vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass,

and King David dedicated them to the LORD, along with the silver and gold that had been dedicated from all the nations that he had conquered,

of Aram, and of Moab, and of the Bene-Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.

and thou hast served for him the land, thou and thy sons, and thy servants, and hast brought in, and there hath been to the son of thy lord bread, and he hath eaten it; and Mephibosheth son of thy lord doth eat continually bread at my table;' and Ziba hath fifteen sons and twenty servants.

And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the king of the Bene-Ammon dieth, and Hanun his son reigneth in his stead,

and David saith, 'I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did with me kindness;' and David sendeth to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come in to the land of the Bene-Ammon.

And the heads of the Bene-Ammon say unto Hanun their lord, 'Is David honouring thy father in thine eyes because he hath sent to thee comforters? for to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it, hath not David sent his servants unto thee?'

and they declare it to David, and he sendeth to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king saith, 'Abide in Jericho till your beard doth spring up -- then ye have returned.'

And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and Ish-Tob with twelve thousand men;

And the Bene-Ammon come out, and set battle in array, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, are by themselves in the field;

and Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him before and behind, and he chooseth of all the chosen in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram,

and the rest of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and setteth in array to meet the Bene-Ammon.

And he saith, 'If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee;

and the Bene-Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go in to the city; and Joab turneth back from the Bene-Ammon, and cometh in to Jerusalem.

When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped.

And all the kings -- servants of Hadadezer -- see that they have been smitten before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help any more the Bene-Ammon.

And it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the year -- at the time of the going out of the messengers -- that David sendeth Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroy the Bene-Ammon, and lay siege against Rabbah. And David is dwelling in Jerusalem,

Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) And she returned to her house.

And it was told David, saying, Uriah went not down, unto his own house. So David said unto Uriah - Was it not, from a journey, thou didst come? why, then, hast thou not been down unto thine own house?

and he writeth in the letter, saying, 'Place ye Uriah over-against the front of the severest battle, and ye have turned back from after him, and he hath been smitten, and hath died.'

then, it hath been, if the king's fury ascend, and he hath said to thee, Wherefore did ye draw nigh unto the city to fight? did ye not know that they shoot from off the wall?

and the messenger saith unto David, 'Surely the men have been mighty against us, and come out unto us into the field, and we are upon them unto the opening of the gate,

And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: 'Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor;

But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

'Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon.

Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die."

And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread;

Then his servants said to him, Why have you been acting in this way? you were weeping and going without food while the child was still living; but when the child was dead, you got up and had a meal.

And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city,

and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name hath been called upon it.'

He confiscated the crown of their king from his head it weighed one talent in gold and was set with precious stones and it was placed on David's head. He confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city,

and the people who are in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.

And she took a pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me. And they went out every man from him.

Then Tamar said to him, "No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

And he hath not been willing to hearken to her voice, and is stronger than she, and humbleth her, and lieth with her.

And she saith to him, 'Because of the circumstances this evil is greater than the other that thou hast done with me -- to send me away;' and he hath not been willing to hearken to her,

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

But when king David heard of all angry. But he did not inflict pain on the spirit of his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn.

And the king saith unto Absalom, 'Nay, my son, let us not all go, I pray thee, and we are not too heavy on thee;' and he presseth on him, and he hath not been willing to go, and he blesseth him.

So Absalom's young men did to Amnon just as they had been ordered, but the rest of David's sons jumped up, mounted their mules, and escaped.

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 appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.

And Jonadab saith unto the king, 'Lo, the sons of the king have come; as the word of thy servant, so it hath been.'

and the soul of king David determineth to go out unto Absalom, for he hath been comforted for Amnon, for he is dead.

and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, 'Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,

And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and pain him honor, and said, Help, O king.

"I've been a widowed woman ever since my husband died," she answered. "Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him.

For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him.

and in his polling his head -- and it hath been at the end of year by year that he polleth it, for it is heavy on him, and he hath polled it -- he hath even weighed out the hair of his head -- two hundred shekels by the king's weight.

and Absalom sendeth unto Joab, to send him unto the king, and he hath not been willing to come unto him; and he sendeth again a second time, and he hath not been willing to come.

And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.

And Absalom would say to him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the king to give you a hearing.

Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited and were going innocently, for they knew nothing about the whole matter.

And he who is declaring tidings cometh in unto David, saying, 'The heart of the men of Israel hath been after Absalom.'

Now David had been told, "Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, "Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!"

and David saith to him, 'If thou hast passed on with me then thou hast been on me for a burden,

But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.

and are there not with thee there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? and it hath been, the whole of the matter that thou hearest from the house of the king thou dost declare to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests.

And more than this! where is my place as a servant? is it not before his son? as I have been your father's servant, so will I be yours.

And Ahithophel saith unto Absalom, 'Go in unto the concubines of thy father, whom he left to keep the house, and all Israel hath heard that thou hast been abhorred by thy father, and the hands of all who are with thee have been strong.'

Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people;

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or some such place; and it will come to pass, when some of them fall at the first, whoever heareth it will say, There has been slaughter among the people that follow Absalom,

and we have come in unto him in one of the places where he is found, and we are upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and there hath not been left of him and of all the men who are with him even one.

And if unto a city he is gathered, then they have caused all Israel to bear unto that city ropes, and we have drawn it unto the brook till that there hath not been found there even a stone.'