"There's no reason to wait for you!" Joab retorted. Then he took three spears in his hand and stabbed Absalom in the heart while he was still alive, dangling from the branches of the oak tree.

Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again said to Joab, "{Come what may}, please let me also run after the Cushite." Joab asked, "Why [are] you wanting to run, my son, when for you there is no {messenger's reward}?"

Meanwhile, David was sitting between the inner and outer gates of the city. The watchman was up on the roof of the gateway near the walls, looking around, and there was a man running by himself!

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.

Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, "There is another man running by himself." The king said, "This one also is bringing good news."

The king replied, "Stand here at attention and wait." So he stepped to the side and stood there waiting.

By loving your enemies and hating those who love you, you have declared today that there are neither commanders nor servants to you. For I know that today if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you very much!

Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably to thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou shalt not go forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse to thee than all the evil that hath befallen thee from thy youth until now.

So the king came back, and came as far as Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, meeting the king there, to take him back with them over Jordan.

And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over 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 David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to 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?

For there [was no one] in all the house of my father {who were not doomed to death} before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. Do I have any righteousness any longer except to cry out to the king?"

And the king said, Say nothing more about these things. I say, Let there be a division of the land between Ziba and you.

Now when Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, he crossed the Jordan with the king so he could send him on his way from there.

So the king invited Barzillai, "Cross the Jordan River with me, live with me in Jerusalem, and I'll provide for you there."

And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.

And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab's other hand, and Joab stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa's intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

And there stood by him one of Joab's young men, and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is for David, let him follow Joab.

Now Amasa [was] wallowing in the blood in the middle of the highway; when the man saw that all the people stood [there], he turned Amasa over from the highway into the field, and he threw a garment over him because he had seen that all who had come by him had stopped.

Then she said, In the old days, there was a saying, Let them put the question in Abel and in Dan, saying, Has what was ordered by men of good faith in Israel ever come to an end?

That's not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city." The woman said to Joab, "This very minute his head will be thrown over the wall to you!"

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

let there be delivered up to us - seven men of his sons, and we will crucify them unto Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh. And the king said, I, will deliver them up.

he went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the leaders of Jabesh Gilead. (They had secretly taken them from the plaza at Beth Shan. It was there that Philistines publicly exposed their corpses after they had killed Saul at Gilboa.)

He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of the executed.

There [was] war again for [the] Philistines with Israel, and David and his servants with him went down, and they fought [the] Philistines, and David grew weary.

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.

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.

And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

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

is like the light of morning when the sun comes up, a morning in which there are no clouds. He is like the brightness after rain that produces grass from the earth.

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there assembled to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away:

Next to him [was] Shamma, the son of Agee the Hararite. When [the] Philistines assembled at Lehi, a plot of the field was there filled with lentils, and the army fled there from the presence of [the] Philistines.

and Uriah the Hittite. Altogether there were thirty-seven.

But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king want to do this thing?”

And Joab presented the sum of the number of the people to the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

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 the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.

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 the Lord, so that the plague may be held back from the people.”

And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

Wherefore 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 cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

Behold, while thou art yet talking there with the king, I will also come in after thee, and confirm thy words.

For he hath gone down to-day, and hath sacrificed oxen and heifers and sheep, in abundance, and hath invited all the sons of the king, and the generals of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and, there they are - eating and drinking before him, - and they have said - Long live King Adonijah!

And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.

And Adonijah and all the invited guests who were with him heard [it]. Now they were finished eating when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet and said, "{Why is there such a noise in the city?}"

Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him as king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing. The city has gone wild; this [is] the sound which you heard.

And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.

And watch the watches of Jehovah thy God, to go in his ways, to watch his laws, his commands and his judgments, and his testimonies, as written in the law of Moses, so that thou shalt consider all that thou shalt do and all Where thou shalt turn there:

That the LORD may continue his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

And, behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, 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 the Jordan, and I sware to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

And thereupon Bathsheba went unto king Solomon to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up against her and bowed himself unto her, and sat him down on his seat. And there was a seat set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right side.

When King Solomon heard that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him down."

And the king said, Do as he has said and make an attack on him there, and put his body into the earth; so that you may take away from me and from my family the blood of one put to death by Joab without cause.

Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace forever from the LORD.

And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence to any place whatever.

Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built to the name of the LORD, until those days.

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like to thee.

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like to thee all thy days,

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.

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby."

Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan.

There was one deputy in the land of Judah.

For he ruled over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and even to Azzah, over all the kings beyond the river: and there was peace to him from all his servants from round about

And there will be to Solomon forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

And the foresaid general receivers made purveyance for king Solomon and for all that came to king Solomon's table, every man his month, so that there lacked nothing.

And the barley and the straw for horses, and for coursers, they will bring to the place where a man will be there according to his judgment

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

But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

Now therefore command thou, that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and to thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that is skilled in hewing timber like the Sidonians.

My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats to the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.

And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

And there will be to Solomon seventy thousand lifting up a burden, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain.

Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work.

The lowest line of them being five cubits wide, the middle six cubits wide and the third seven cubits; for there was a space all round the outside walls of the house so that the boards supporting the rooms did not have to be fixed in the walls of the house.

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

A passageway to the side chamber was constructed on the south side of the Temple by which people could ascend winding stairs to the middle story, then from there to the third story.

There was cedar on the house within, carved with buds and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

He prepared an oracle in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh.

The second cherub [was] ten cubits [according to] {the same} measurement, and [there] was one shape for the two cherubim.

The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row.

There were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks.

He made a colonnade 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch.

And a porch of the throne upon which he will judge there, a porch of judgment he made: and it was covered with cedar from the bottom even to the bottom.

And his house where he dwelt there, another enclosure, from the house to the porch was according to this work And he will make a house for Pharaoh's daughter which Solomon took, according to this porch.

There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital.

There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital.

Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

The work of the bases was like this: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;

and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.

[There were] four bronze wheels for each of the stands, with bronze axles; the four support pedestals for these [were] under the basin, and the supports [were] decorated on each side [with] wreaths.

Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its opening there were engravings, and their borders were square, not round.

There were four wheels under the frames, and the wheel axles were part of the water cart; each wheel was 27 inches tall.

There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself.

In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same.