And he said to him, Why art thou, being the king's son, pining from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

And Jonadab said unto him: Take to thy bed, and feign thyself ill, - and, when thy father cometh in to see thee, then shalt thou say unto him - I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, that she may give me food, and let her prepare, before mine eyes, some delicacy, to the end that I may see it made , and so eat at her hand.

And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.

And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou wilt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.

And she said to him, There is no cause: this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst to me. But he would not hearken to her.

And Absalom her brother will say to her Was Amnon thy brother with thee? and now my sister be silent, he is thy brother; thou shalt not set thy heart to this word. And Tamar will remain, and she was desolate in the house of Absalom her brother.

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,

so shalt thou come in unto the king, and speak unto him, after this manner. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

And the king saith, 'He who speaketh aught unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.'

Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king doth not bring home again his banished.

And the king will answer and say to the woman, Now thou shalt not hide from me the word which I ask thee. And the woman will say, Now will my lord the king speak?

And the king saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.'

And Absalom saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I come in from Geshur? -- good for me while I am there -- and now, let me see the king's face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.'

And Absalom rose early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is one of the tribes of Israel.

See! thy cause, is good and right, - but, to hear it, thou hast no one, from the king.

Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.

Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may; return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.

The king said also to Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.

To whom David said, If thou shalt pass on with me, then thou wilt be a burden to me:

But if thou shalt return to the city, and say to 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 hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that whatever thing thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

And the king said to Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.

And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why hast thou done so?

And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred by thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.

And I will bring back all the people to thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou.

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity.

Therefore I counsel that all Israel should be generally gathered to thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou shouldst go to battle in thy own person.

Now, therefore, send quickly, and tell David, saying, - Do not lodge to-night in the waste plains of the wilderness, thou must, even pass over, lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.

But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now thou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore now it is better that thou shouldst succor us out of the city.

And Joab said to the man that told him, And behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against my own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldst have set thyself against me.

And Joab said to him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.

Then said Joab to Cushi, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But however, let me also, I pray thee, run after Cushi. And Joab said, Why wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

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;

In that thou lovest thy enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

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.

And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.

And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word to the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

And said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

Therefore the king said to Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king swore to him.

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 he uttereth slander against thy servant unto my lord the king, and my lord the king is as a messenger of God; and do thou that which is good in thine eyes,

For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that ate at thy own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more to the king?

And the king said to him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

And the king said to Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.

Let, I pray thee, thy servant turn back again, and I die in mine own city, near the burying-place of my father and of my mother, -- and lo, thy servant Chimham, let him pass over with my lord the king, and do thou to him that which is good in thine eyes.'

And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to thee: and whatever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, I have ten parts in the king and I have also more right in David than thou; and why didst thou slight me? and was not my advice the first, to bring back my king? And the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble to me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.

And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue him, lest he get for himself fortified cities, and escape us.

And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

And when he was come near to her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said to him, Hear the words of thy handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, Thou shalt go out no more with us to battle, that thou mayest not extinguish the light of Israel.

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my preserver; thou savest me from violence.

With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright.

With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt contend.

And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thy eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet have not slipped.

For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of my enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.

Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.

And that bringeth me forth from my enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do it to thee.'

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.

And Gad came unto David, on that day, - and said unto him - Go up, rear thou unto Yahweh an altar, in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bore him after Absalom.

Wherefore Nathan spoke to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?

Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thy own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.

Go, and enter in to king David, and say to him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear to thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?

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

And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance to the king. And the king said, What wouldst thou?

And she said to him, My lord, thou didst swear by the LORD thy God to thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.

And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not:

And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

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

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shown it to thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

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.

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.

That the LORD may make good his promise which he hath promised me, saying, 'If thy children shall take heed to their ways, that they walk before me in truth, with all their hearts and with all their souls; then thou shalt never be without one sitting on the seat of Israel.'

Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

And thou shalt do according to thy wisdom, and not let his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.

But, with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, thou wilt deal in lovingkindness, and they will be among them who eat at thy table, - for, so, drew they near unto me, when I fled from Absolom 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.

Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do to him; but his hoary head do thou bring down to the grave with blood.

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

And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: but the kingdom is turned about, and hath become my brother's: for it was his from the LORD.

And now I ask one asking from thee, thou wilt not turn away my face. And she will say to him, Speak

And she will say, One small asking I ask from thee; thou wilt not turn away my face. And the king will say to her, Ask, my mother, for I will not turn away thy face.