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

And we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

And if he withdraw into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the torrent, until there be not one small stone found there.

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

And now send quickly, and tell David saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

And it came to pass after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.

Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan; by the morning light there was not one of them missing that had not gone over the Jordan.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose and went to his house, to his city, and gave charge to his household, and hanged himself, and he died; and he was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab; which Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Jithra the Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother.

and honey, and cream, and sheep, and cheese of kine to David, and to the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.

And David marshalled the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

But the people said, Thou shalt not go forth, for if we should in any case flee, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us; for thou art worth ten thousand of us; and now it is better that thou succour us out of the city.

And the people of Israel were routed before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day: twenty thousand men.

And the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

And Absalom found himself in the presence of David's servants. And Absalom was riding upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of the great terebinth, and his head caught in the terebinth, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

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 silver pieces and a girdle.

And ten young men that bore Joab's armour surrounded and smote Absalom, and killed him.

And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, Let me run, I pray, and carry the king the news that Jehovah has avenged him of his enemies.

And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab, Come what may, let me, I pray thee, also run after the Cushite. And Joab said, Why wilt thou run, my son, seeing that there is no news suited to thee?

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

And behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, Let my lord the king receive good tidings, for Jehovah has avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.

And the king said to the Cushite, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushite said, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee for evil, be as that young man.

And the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people heard say that day, The king is grieved for his son.

And the people stole away that day into the city, as people steal away when ashamed of fleeing in battle.

in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest those that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that neither princes nor servants are anything to thee: for to-day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died to-day, then it would have been right in thine eyes.

But now arise, go forth, and speak consolingly to thy servants; for I swear by Jehovah, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night; and that would be worse to thee than all the evil that has befallen thee from thy youth until now.

And he 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 heart.

For thy servant knows that I have sinned; and behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to me? Should 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 all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king; and thou didst set thy servant among them that eat at thine own table. What further right therefore have I? and for what should I cry any more to the king?

And Barzillai was very aged, eighty years old; and it was he that had maintained the king while he abode at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

And Barzillai said to the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham: let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what seems good to thee.

And the king said, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which seems good to thee; and whatsoever 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.

So Amasa went to call together the men of Judah; but he delayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

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 after him, lest he get him fortified cities and escape our sight.

And Amasa had taken no notice of the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him with it in the belly and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

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

Now 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 stood still.

And they came and besieged him in Abel-Beth-Maacah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it was raised in the trench; and all the people that were with Joab sapped the wall, to throw it down.

And a wise woman cried out of the city, Hear, hear: say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.

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

And David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and with what shall I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of Jehovah?

And they said to the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in all the borders of Israel,

But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of Jehovah's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

and he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

And they buried them with the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father; and they did all that the king had commanded. And afterwards God was propitious to the land.

And Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.

And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines, at Gob; then Sibbechai the Hushathite smote Saph, who was of the children of Raphah.

And there was again a battle, at Gath; and there was a man there of great stature, that had on each hand six fingers, and on each foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to Raphah.

And David spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; For they were mightier than I.

As for God, his way is perfect; The word of Jehovah is tried: He is a shield to all that trust in him.

And thou girdedst me with strength to battle: Thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me.

And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, And those that hated me I destroyed.

He brought me forth from mine enemies: Yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; From the man of violence hast thou delivered me.

And the man that will touch them provideth himself with iron and the staff of a spear; And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.

And after him, Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite: he was one of the three mighty men with David, when they had defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone up.

He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave to the sword; and Jehovah wrought a great deliverance that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is in the gate!

And he said, Be it far from me, Jehovah, that I should do this thing! is it not the blood of the men that went at the risk of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, son of a valiant man, great in exploits, of Kabzeel: he it was that smote two lions of Moab; and he went down and smote a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.

And the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go, I pray thee, through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.

And Joab said to the king, May Jehovah thy God even add to the people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?

And they passed over the Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jaazer.

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

Go and say to David, Thus saith Jehovah: I impose on thee three things; choose one of them that I may do it unto thee.

And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine adversaries while they pursue thee? or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land? Now be aware and consider what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

And the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it; but Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed among the people, It is enough: withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote among the people, and said, Behold, it is I that have sinned, and it is I that have committed iniquity; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be on me, and on 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 is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar to Jehovah, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up that which is good in his sight: see, here are oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges and implements of the oxen for wood.

And his servants said to him, Let there be found 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 warm.

And Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith is king, and David our lord does not know it?

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

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

Otherwise it shall come to pass when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.

And ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit on my throne; for he shall reign in my stead, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

As Jehovah has been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.

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 Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they were finishing their repast; and Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, and he said, Wherefore this noise of the city in an uproar?

and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise which ye have heard.

And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, Thy God make the name of Solomon more excellent than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne! And the king bowed himself on the bed.

And it was told Solomon saying, Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for behold, he has caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear to me this day that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.

And the days of David were at hand that he should die; and he enjoined Solomon his son saying,

and keep the charge of Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, 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 Jehovah may confirm his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy sons 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 upon the throne of Israel.

And thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two captains of the hosts 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 upon his sandals that were on his feet.

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

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

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

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

And he said, Speak, I pray thee, to Solomon the king for he will not refuse thee that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.

And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; who fell on him, that he died.

And it was told king Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Jehovah; and behold, he is by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.

And Jehovah shall requite the blood which he shed upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, without my father David's knowledge: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

And it shall be that on the day thou goest forth, and passest over the torrent of Kidron, ... know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head.

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