And so then, do not let my blood fall to the ground {away from} the presence of Yahweh, for the king of Israel has gone out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains."

Look, as your life was precious in my eyes this day, may my life be great in the eyes of Yahweh, and may he rescue me from all trouble."

Then David {thought to himself}, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but [that] I must certainly escape to the land of [the] Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand."

David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household. David [took along] his two wives Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

(Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his [own] city. And Saul had expelled the mediums and the soothsayers from the land.)

But the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why [are] you setting a trap for my life to kill me?"

The king said to her, "Do not be afraid! What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up from the ground!"

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul said, "{I am in distress}! For [the] Philistines [are about] to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not {by the prophets} or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do."

Then Samuel said, "Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy?

Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David.

But he refused and said, "I will not eat!" However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened {to what they said}, and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

Then the commanders of [the] Philistines said, "What [are] these Hebrews [doing here]?" And Achish said to the commanders of [the] Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me {for days and years}? I have not found anything [threatening] in him from the day of his desertion until this day!"

So Achish called David and said to him, "{As Yahweh lives}, certainly you were honest, and {I am pleased to have you marching with me} in the campaign. For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you [are] not good.

Then David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I {entered your service} until this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

They took captive the women who were in it, {from the youngest to the oldest}. They did not kill anyone, but carried [them] off and went on their way.

Two of David's wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

Then David said to him, "{To whom do you belong}, and from where [are] you? The young man said, "I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago.

So he took him down, and {there they were}, spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of [the] Philistines and from the land of Judah.

Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped {except} four hundred young men who rode [off] on camels and fled.

None of theirs [was] missing {from the smallest to the greatest}, even sons and daughters, from [the] plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything.

Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them [anything] from the plunder which we recovered, {except} each [man may take] his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!"

So from that day and beyond, he made it a rule and a regulation for Israel until this day.

Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "{Here is} a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!"

all of {the valiant men} set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

{After} the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and he stayed at Ziklag two days.

On the third day, a man came from the camp from [being with] Saul, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. {When he came} to David, he fell to the ground and bowed down.

David said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."

Then David said to him, "{How did things go}? Please tell me." He answered, "{When} the army fled from the battle, and many of the people fell; also, Saul and Jonathan his son died."

Then David said to the young man who [was] reporting to him, "Where [are] you from?" And he said, "I [am] the son of an alien man. I [am] an Amalekite."

From the blood of [the] slain, from the fat of [the] mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul did not return {without effect}.

So David went up there {along with} his two wives, Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

So Asahel pursued Abner, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left from going after Abner.

Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right or to your left; seize for yourself one of the young men, and take his belongings for yourself." But Asahel [was] not willing to turn aside from him.

So Abner said to Asahel {once again}, "{For your own sake}, turn aside {from following me}. Why should I strike you down to the ground? How could I {show my face} to Joab your brother?"

Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Will [the] sword devour forever? Do you not know that [there] will be bitterness in the end? {How long} will you not tell the people to turn {away from pursuing} their brothers?"

Joab said, "{As God lives}, for if you had not spoken, the people would surely have gone up in the morning, each [one of them] {from following after} his brother."

After Joab returned from [pursuing] Abner, he gathered all the people; nineteen of the servants of David [were] missing [along] with Asahel.

And sons [were] born to David in Hebron; his firstborn [was] Amnon by Ahinoam {from Jezreel}.

[specifically,] to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba!"

He said, "Good. {I will make a covenant with you}. I am asking only one thing from you: You shall not see my face unless you bring Michal the daughter of Saul when you come to see {me}."

So Ish-Bosheth sent and took her from [her] husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish.

So then, bring it about, because Yahweh had said to David, "Through the hand of David my servant [I am about] to save my people Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies."

And look, the servants of David and Joab came from the raid, and they brought much plunder with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

Then Joab went out from David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor Hasirah, but David did not know [it].

Two of the men, commanders of the raiding bands, were [for] the son of Saul. The name of one [was] Baanah, and the name of the other [was] Recab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the descendants of Benjamin; also, Beeroth [was] regarded [as belonging] to Benjamin.

(Now Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who [was] crippled in the feet. He [was] five years old when the message of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse had picked him up and fled. It happened that as she [was] hurrying away to flee, he fell and became crippled. His name [was] Mephibosheth.)

Then David answered Recab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and he said to them, "{As Yahweh lives}, who redeemed my soul from all trouble,

{How much more} when wicked men kill a righteous man in his house, on his bed! So then, shall I not seek his lifeblood from your hand, so that I may destroy you from the earth?"

David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around [it] from the Millo and {inward}.

David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters [were] born to him.

So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, "You shall not go up. [Rather,] go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees.

So David did thus, just as Yahweh had commanded him, and he struck down [the] Philistines from Geba {all the way} to Gezer.

David got up and went and all the people who [were] with him, from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God which [is] called the name, the name of Yahweh of hosts, {upon which the cherubim sit}.

They loaded the ark of God on a new utility cart, and they carried it from the house of Abinadab, which [was] on the hill. Now Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, [were] driving the new utility cart along.

So they brought it out from the house of Abinadab, which [was] on the hill with the ark of God, and Ahio [was] going before the ark.

Now David and all the house of Israel [were] dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of [musical instruments made from] ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

It [was] told to King David, "Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that [is] his because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with jubilation.

When David had finished from the sacrificing of the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts.

Then he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, from man to woman, to each: one ring-shaped piece of bread, one cake of dates, and one cake of raisins; and all the people went each to his house.

It happened that the king settled in his house. (Now Yahweh had given rest to him from all his enemies all around.)

For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought up the {Israelites} from Egypt until this day; [rather,] I [was] going about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

So then, thus you shall say to my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "I took you from the pasture {from following} the sheep to be a leader over my people, over Israel,

and I have been with you {everywhere you went}. I have cut off all of your enemies from in front of you, and I will make a great name for you, as the name of the great [ones] who [are] on the earth.

{In the manner that} I appointed judges over my people Israel, I will give you rest from all your enemies. And Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will build a house for you.

When your days [are] full and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you who will go out from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

But my loyal love shall not depart from him as I took [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

Still, this [was] {insignificant} in your eyes, my lord Yahweh, and also you have spoken about the house of your servant from afar, and this [may be] the teaching of humans, my lord Yahweh.

Who [is] like your people, like Israel? [Israel is] the one nation on earth whose God {led them}, [in order] to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to do for you the great and awesome things for your land in the presence of your people whom he redeemed for himself from Egypt, [from the] nations and their gods.

It happened afterwards [that] David attacked [the] Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of [the] Philistines.

David captured from him one thousand and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand {foot soldiers}. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but {from them} he spared a hundred chariot horses.

From Betah and from Berothai, the towns of Hadadezer, King David took very many bronze [items].

King David dedicated them also to Yahweh [along] with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from all of the nations which he had subdued;

from Aram and from Moab and from the {Ammonites} and from [the] Philistines and from Amalek and from the plunder of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah.

So David made a name for himself when he returned from defeating Aram in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand.

So King David sent and brought him from the house of Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar.

When Joab saw that {the battle was to be fought on two fronts}, he chose from all [the] members of the elite troops of Israel and {lined them up for battle} to meet Aram.

Joab and all the people who [were] with him moved forward into the battle against Aram, and they fled from before him.

When the {Ammonites} saw that Aram had fled, they fled from before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from [fighting] against the {Ammonites} and came to Jerusalem.

And Aram fled before Israel, and David killed from [the] Arameans seven hundred chariot teams and forty thousand horsemen. He struck down Shobach, the commander of his army, and he died there.

It happened {late one afternoon} [that] David got up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the king's house, and he saw a woman bathing on her roof. Now the woman {was very beautiful}.

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.

David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." So Uriah went out from the king's house, and a gift from the king went out after him.

They told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house." David said to Uriah, "[Are] you not coming from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"

He had written in the letter, "Put Uriah in the front, in the face of the fiercest fighting, then draw back from behind him so that he may be struck down and die."

The men of the city came out and fought with Joab. Some from the army from the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died.

if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, 'Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from [atop] the wall?

Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth, if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from [atop] the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?' Then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'"

The archers shot at your servant from [atop] the wall, and some of the servants of the king died; your servant Uriah the Hittite also died."

but the poor [man] had nothing except for one small ewe lamb which he had bought. He had nurtured her, and she grew up with him and with his children together. She used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup, and she used to lie in his lap and became like a daughter for him.

And a visitor came to the rich man, but he {was reluctant} to take from his flocks or from his herds to prepare a meal for the traveler when he came to him. So he took the ewe lamb of the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

Then Nathan said to him, "You [are] the man! Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I anointed you as king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!'

Thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] going to raise up evil against you from [within] your house, and I will take your women before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall sleep with your wives {in broad daylight}.

The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them.

David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went [to] the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his [own] house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate.

He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight [was] a talent of gold, and there [was] a precious stone [in it] and it [was] put on David's head.) He brought out the plunder of the city {in great abundance}.

Then Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, 'Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.'"

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, "Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand."