Now, when Absolom met the servants of David, Absolom, was riding upon a mule, and the mule came under the thick branches of a large oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, the mule that was under him passing on.

Then came round ten young men who bare Joab's armour, - and smote Absolom, and slew him.

And Joab had the horn sounded, and the people came back from going after Israel, for Joab kept them back.

And David sat between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes and saw: and behold, there came a man running alone.

And the watchman called, and told the king. And the king said, If he is alone there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

And behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.

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

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

And now arise, go forth, and speak to the heart of thy servants: for in Jehovah I swore if thou wilt not go forth, if a man shall lodge with thee this night: and this evil to thee above all the evil which came upon thee from thy youth till now

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 it came to pass that all the people were reproaching one another, throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, - the king, delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and, he, rescued us out of the hand of the Philistines, but, now, he hath fled out of the land, away from Absolom;

And Absalom, whom we made a ruler over us, is dead in the fight. So now why do you say nothing about getting the king back? And word of what all Israel was saying came to the king.

And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak ye to the old men of Judah, saying, Wherefore will ye be the last to turn back the king to his house? And the word of all Israel came to the king to his house.

So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.

And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjaminite, who was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

And with him a thousand men of Benjamin, and Ziba, the servant of Saul, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, came rushing to Jordan before the king,

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 will say to the king, My lord will not reckon iniquity to me, and he will not remember what thy servant did perversely in the day which my lord the king came forth from Jerusalem, for the king to set to his heart

For thy servant knew that I sinned: and behold, I came this day the first for all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the

And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

And it came to pass, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why didst thou not go with me, Mephibosheth?

And Mephibosheth will say to the king, Also he shall take all, after that my lord the king came in peace to his house.

And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.

And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to him, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?

And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to me; and why then are ye angry for this matter? have we eaten anything which came from the king, or has he given us any present?

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 custody, and fed them, but went not in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

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.

But Amasa did not see danger from the sword which was now in Joab's left hand, and Joab put it through his stomach so that his inside came out on to the earth, and he did not give him another blow. So Joab and his brother Abishai went on after Sheba, the son of Bichri.

And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah. All the Berites came together and followed him.

And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

Then he came near to her, and the woman asked, "[Are] you Joab?" And he said, "I [am]." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your servant." He said, "I [am] listening."

So the woman came unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast it out unto Joab. And he blew with a horn, and they dispersed themselves from the city, every man to his home; but, Joab, returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

And there came to be a famine, in the days of David, for three years, year after year, so then David sought the face of Yahweh, - and Yahweh said - It respecteth Saul and his house, as to bloodshed, in that he put to death the Gibeonites.

And he gave them up to the Gibeonites, and they put them to death, hanging them on the mountain before the Lord; all seven came to their end together in the first days of the grain-cutting, at the start of the cutting of the barley.

And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took haircloth, placing it on the rock as a bed for herself, from the start of the grain-cutting till rain came down on them from heaven; and she did not let the birds of the air come near them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.

And there came against David one of the offspring of the Rephaim, whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, and having a new sword, he made an attempt to put David to death.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall not go out to battle with us any more, so that you do not put out the light of Israel.

And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was of the sons of the giant.

These four were of the offspring of the Rephaim in Gath; and they came to their end by the hands of David and his servants.

For the waves of death came round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear;

The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.

In my distress I called upon Jehovah; Yea, I called unto my God: And he heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came into his ears.

Smoke ascended from his nose; fire devoured as it came from his mouth; he hurled down fiery coals.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

From the brightness in front of him came coals of fire.

They came upon me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay.

For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who came out against me.

They looked for help, but none came to save them: unto the LORD they cried, but he heard them not.

Children of a foreign land came cringing to me; {when they heard of me}, they became obedient to me.

Children of a foreign land lost heart and came trembling from their strongholds.

The God of Israel said, the word of the Rock of Israel came to me: When an upright king is ruling over men, when he is ruling in the fear of God,

After him was Eleazar, the son of Dodai the Ahohite, one of the three great fighters, who was with David in Pas-dammim when the Philistines came together there for the fight; and when the men of Israel had gone in flight,

but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.

After him was Shammah, the son of Ela the Hararite. And the Philistines came together in Lehi, where there was a bit of land full of seed; and the people went in flight from the Philistines.

And three of the thirty chiefs went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.

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.

Above the three was he not honored? and he will be to them for chief: and he came not even to the three.

Of the thirty he is honoured, and unto the three he came not; and David setteth him over his guard.

Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi; and they came to Dan-jaan, and about to Zidon,

And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beer-sheba.

So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

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.

So David made selection of the disease; and the time was the days of the grain-cutting, when the disease came among the people, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan as far as Beer-sheba.

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 Araunah will say, Wherefore came my lord the king to his servant? and David will say, To buy from thee the threshing-floor to build an altar to Jehovah, and the slaughter shall be withheld from above the people.

And there David put up an altar to the Lord, making burned offerings and peace-offerings. So the Lord gave ear to his prayer for the land, and the disease came to an end in Israel.

And lo, while she was yet talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.

They told the king, "Nathan the prophet is here." He came into the presence of the king and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.

And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.

And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

And it came to the ears of Adonijah and all the guests who were with him, when their meal was ended. And Joab, hearing the sound of the horn, said, What is the reason of this noise as if the town was worked up?

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 Zadok the priest and Nathan the Prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And as they came up again they rejoiced that the city did sound again. And that is the noise that ye have heard.

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.

So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said to him, Go to thy house.

The days of David came near [for him] to die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

And behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjaminite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? and he said, Peaceably.

Bathsheba came to King Solomon to speak to him concerning Adonijah, and the king got up to meet her, bowed down to her, and then sat on his throne. Then he set up a throne for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.

Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said to him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.

And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maachah king of Gath: and they told Shimei, saying, behold, thy servants are in Gath.

And Shimei stood up and saddled his ass and gat him to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants, and came and brought them again from Gath.

And Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

Then came there two women, that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him.

And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save us two in the house.

Then the mother of the living child came forward, for her heart went out to her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the child; do not on any account put it to death. But the other woman said, It will not be mine or yours; let it be cut in two.

And so it came to pass, that, King Solomon, was king, over all Israel.

And it came to pass, that Solomon's provision for one day was, - thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal;

And it came to pass that, Solomon, had forty thousand stalls of horses, for his chariots, - and twelve thousand horsemen.

And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came to king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

so that he was wiser than any man - than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman and Calcol and Darda, sons of Mahol, - and it came to pass that, his name, was throughout all the nations round about.

And he spake three thousand proverbs, - and it came to pass that, his songs, were a thousand and five.

And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, who hath given to David a wise son over this great people.

That's how Hiram came to provide Solomon as much cedar and cypress timber as he needed.