And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones with him.

And the king said to Zadok, Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I shall find favor in the eyes of Jehovah, He will bring me again and show it to me, and its dwelling place also.

The king also said to Zadok the priest, Are you a seer? Return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you. Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Jehovah, I pray You, turn the advice of Ahithophel to foolishness.

David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you shall be a burden to me.

And the king said to Ziba, What are these to you? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride upon. And the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. And the wine is so that the ones who are faint in the wilderness may drink.

And the king said, And where is your master's son? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he remains at Jerusalem. For he said, Today the house of Israel shall restore to me the kingdom of my father.

And the king said to Ziba, Behold, All that belonged to Mephibosheth is yours. And Ziba said, I humbly beg you that I may find grace in your sight, my lord, O king.

And Shimei said this in his cursing, Go out, O man of blood, O man of Belial.

And Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.

And the king said, What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse, because Jehovah has said to him, Curse David. Who then shall say, Why have you done so?

And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life; and surely now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for Jehovah has spoken to him.

And it happened, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, Let the king live, let the king live!

And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?

And Hushai said to Absalom, No, but whom Jehovah and this people, and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and I will stay with him.

And Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give your advice. What shall we do?

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines, that he left to keep the house. And all Israel shall hear that you are abhorred by your father. And the hands of all who are with you will be strong.

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Please let me choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.

And Absalom said, Please call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what is in his mouth.

And Hushai said to Absalom, The advice which Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.

For, Hushai said, you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are bitter of soul, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is a man of war, and will not stay the night with the people.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For Jehovah had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Jehovah might bring evil on Absalom.

And Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, This and this Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this and this I have advised.

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

And it happened after they had departed, they came up out of the well, and went and told King David. And they said to David, Arise and pass quickly over the waters, for this is what Ahithophel has advised against you.

and honey and butter and sheep and cheese from cows, for David and for the people with him to eat. For they said, The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.

And David sent forth a third of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I will also surely go forth with you myself.

And the king said to them, I will do what is good in your eyes. And the king stood by the side of the gate, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.

And a certain man saw and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.

And Joab said to the man who 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 girdle.

And the man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand silverlings in my hand, yet I would not put forth my hand against the king's son. For in our ears the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware you who go against the young man, against Absalom.

And Joab said, I cannot stay here with you this way! And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the midst of the oak.

And Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the King's Valley. For he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. And he called the pillar after his own name. And it is called until this day, Absalom's monument.

Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, And let me run and bear the news to the king, how Jehovah has avenged him of his enemies.

And Joab said to him, You shall not bear news today, but you shall bear good news some other day. But today you shall bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.

And Joab said to Cushi, Go tell the king what you have seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab, Yet whatever, please let me also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Why will you run, my son, since you have no good news ready?

But he said, Yet whatever, let me run! And he said to him, Run. And Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and ran past the Cushite.

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

And the watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the porter and said, Behold, another man running alone. And the king said, He also brings news.

And the watchman said, I see the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and comes with good news.

And Ahimaaz called and said to the king, Peace! And he fell down upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be Jehovah your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

And the king said, Peace to the young man, to Absalom? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and your servant, I saw a great uproar, but I did not know what it was.

And the king said, Turn aside, stand here. And he turned aside and stood still.

And, behold, Cushi came. And Cushi said, Good news, my lord the king, for Jehovah has avenged you this day of all those who rose up against you.

And the king said to Cushi, Peace to the young man, to Absalom? And Cushi answered, May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to do you hurt, be as the young man.

And the king was much moved, and went up to the room over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said this, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for you, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people. For the people heard it said that day how the king was grieved for his son.

And Joab came into the house to the king and said, You have today shamed the faces of all your servants. For they have saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters today, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines.

And he said to the king, Let not my lord charge iniquity to me. Do not remember the perverse way your servant acted in the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, for the king to 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 Jehovah's anointed?

And David said, What do I have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be my foes today? Shall there be any man put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?

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

And it happened when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?

And he answered, My lord, O, king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, I will saddle me an ass so that I may ride on it and go to the king, because your servant is lame.

And the king said to him, Why do you speak any more of your matters? I have said, You and Ziba divide the land.

And Mephibosheth said to the king, Yes, let him take all, because my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.

And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me and I will sustain you with me in Jerusalem.

And Barzillai said to the king, How long do I have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

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

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we also have more right in David than you. Why then did you despise us, so that our advice should not be sought first in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were more fierce than the words of the men of Israel.

And there happened to be there a man of Belial named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a ram's horn and said, We have no part in David, neither do we have any inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O, Israel!

And the king said to Amasa, gather to me the men of Judah within three days, and you be present here.

And David said to Abishai, And Sheba the son of Bichri shall do us more harm than Absalom. You take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself into fortified cities and escape us.

And Joab said to Amasa, Are you well, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

And one of Joab's men stood by him and said, He who favors Joab, and he who is for David, go after Joab!

And when he had come near her, the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am. And she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. And he answered, I hear.

And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

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, against David. Only deliver him, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.

And David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I atone for this, so that you may bless the inheritance of Jehovah?

And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver nor gold from Saul, nor from his house. Also, we will have no man in Israel put to death. And he said, What you shall say, I will do for you.

let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Jehovah. And the king said, I will give them.

And he said, Jehovah is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer.

And these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up 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 who rules over men justly, ruling in the fear of God,

And David longed and said, Oh that someone would give me a drink from the water of the well of Bethlehem by the gate!

And he said, Be it far from me, O Jehovah, that I should do this. Is it not the blood of the men who went in danger of their lives? And he would not drink it. These three mighty men did these things.

For the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, Go around through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and count the people so that I may know the number of the people.

And Joab said to the king, And may Jehovah your God add to the people however many they be, a hundred times as many, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?

And David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in what I have done. And now, I beseech You, O Jehovah, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.

And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come upon you and on your land? Or will you flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' plague in your land? And advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.

And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall now into the hand of Jehovah, for His mercies are great. And do not let me fall into the hand of man.

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah turned from the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, Enough! And stay your hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? I pray You, let Your hand be against me and against my father's house.

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

And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor from you, to build an altar to Jehovah, so that the plague may be stayed from the people.

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments, and instruments of the oxen for wood.

All these Araunah, like a king, gave to the king. And Araunah said to the king, May Jehovah your God accept you.

And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will surely buy from you at a price. And I will not offer burnt offerings to Jehovah my God of that which costs me nothing. And David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

And 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 nurse him, and let her lie in your bosom, so that my lord the king may get heat.

And Bathsheba bowed and knelt before the king. And the king said, What shall I do for you?

And she said to him, My lord, you swore by Jehovah your God to your handmaid, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.

And Nathan said, My lord, O king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

And David answered and said, Call Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.

And the king swore, and said, As Jehovah lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress,

And Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth, even kneeling to the king, and said, Let my lord King David live forever.

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

The king also said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen. May Jehovah, the God of my lord the king say so.

And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the Tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the ram's horn, and all the people said, Let King Solomon live!