So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, "Look, the king [is] sitting in the gate." Then all the army came before the king; [whereas] all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.

Now Absalom whom we anointed [as king] over us has died in the battle; so then, why [are] you taking no action to restore the king?"

Then King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah: 'Why [are] you last to bring back the king to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king in his house.

My brothers, you [are] my bones and you [are] my flesh. Why should you be the last to bring back the king?'

To Amasa you shall say: '[Are] you not my bones and my flesh? {May God punish me} if you [are] not the commander of my army before me forever, in place of Joab.'"

So he turned the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they sent [word] to the king, "Return, you and all your servants."

Then the king returned and he came to the Jordan; Judah had come to Gilgal to come to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.

Then Shimei the son of Gera, the son of the Benjaminite, who [was] from Bahurim quickly came down with the men of Judah to meet King David,

and a thousand men [were] with him from Benjamin. Too, Ziba the servant of the household of Saul and fifteen of his sons and twenty of his servants [were] with him, and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

{The crossing took place} to bring the household of the king over and to do good in his eyes. Then Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king when he crossed over the Jordan,

and he said to the king, "May not my lord hold me guilty, and may you not remember how your servant did wrong on the day that my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, by taking it to heart!

For your servant knows that I have sinned; look, I have come this day [as the first] of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king."

Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded and said, "Because of this, should not Shimei be put to death, for he cursed the anointed one of Yahweh?"

Then David said, "What [is] it to me or to you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary today? [Should] anyone be put to death in Israel? Do I not know today that I [am] king over Israel?"

Then the king said to Shimei, "You shall not die," and [so] the king swore to him.

Now, Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; he had not taken care of his feet nor trimmed his moustache nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he came back in peace.

It happened that when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, "Why did you not come with me, Mephibosheth?"

But he slandered against your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king [is] like the angel of God; {do as you see fit.}."

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?"

Then the king said to him, "Why should you speak any more [about] the matter? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land."

Then Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let him take the whole [thing], since my lord the king has come {safely} to his house."

Then Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and crossed with the king over the Jordan to escort him through the Jordan.

The king said to Barzillai, "You cross over with me, and I will provide for you [to dwell] with me in Jerusalem."

Then Barzillai said to the king, "What [are] the days of the years of my life, that I should go with the king to Jerusalem?

I [am] eighty years old today. Can I discern between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be a burden any longer to my lord the king?

Please let your servant return, and let me die in my city in the tomb of my father and my mother. Here [is] your servant Kimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him that which [is] good in your eyes."

The king said, "Let Kimham go over with me, and I will do for him the good in your eyes, and all that you desire of me I will do for you."

Then all the people crossed over the Jordan, and the king crossed and kissed Barzillai and blessed him; then he returned to his place.

The king went over to Gilgal, and Kimham went over with him. All the people of Judah went over with the king, and half of the people of Israel too.

Suddenly, all the men of Israel [were] coming to the king. They said to the king, "Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, with all the men of David?"

Then the people of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, "I have {ten times as much} in the king, moreover in David I have more than you. Why did you treat me with contempt {by not giving me first chance} to bring back my king?" But the words of the men of Judah [were] fiercer than the word of the men of Israel.

Now a man of wickedness was found there whose name [was] Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. He blew the horn and said, "There is no share for us in David, and there [is] no inheritance for us in the son of Jesse; each to his tents, O Israel!"

Then all the men of Israel went up from [following] after David, [following instead] after Sheba the son of Bicri, but the men of Judah stuck to their king from the Jordan up to Jerusalem.

David went up to his house in Jerusalem, then the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to look after the house, and he put them {under confinement}. However, he provided for them, but {he did not sleep with them}. So they were confined until the day of their death, like a lifetime of widowhood.

Then the king said to Amasa, "Summon for me the men of Judah [within] three days, {and be here yourself}."

So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he tarried more than the appointed time which he had set for him.

Then David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba the son of Bicri will do us more harm than Absalom. You take the servants of your lord and pursue after him, lest he find fortified cities for himself and escape from us."

Then the men of Joab, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty warriors went out after him; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bicri.

They [were] near the big rock that [is] in Gibeon, and Amasa came before them. Joab {was dressed in his military clothing}, [with] a utility belt on him and a sword strapped to his waist in its scabbard. Now he went out, and it fell out.

Then Joab said to Amasa, "Is it peace, O you my brother?" Then the right hand of Joab took hold of the beard of Amasa [as if] to kiss him.

Now Amasa was not on his guard against the sword that [was] in Joab's hand, and he struck him with it into the stomach, and his entrails poured out to the ground. He did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bicri.

After he was removed from the highway, all the men passed by after Joab to pursue after Sheba the son of Bicri.

(He had passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maacah; now all of the Berites had been treated badly, so they also followed after him.)

And they came and besieged him in Abel Beth Maacah. They threw up a siege ramp against the city, and they stood against the ramparts. And all the army who [were] with Joab [were] battering to cause the wall to fall.

Then a wise woman from the city called out, "Listen, listen! Please speak to Joab [to] come near here so that I may speak to you."

Then he came near to her, and the woman asked, "[Are] you Joab?" And he said, "I [am]." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your servant." He said, "I [am] listening."

I [am] one of the faithful representatives of Israel. You [are] seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow the inheritance of Yahweh?"

That is not the matter. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name [is] Sheba the son Bicri, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give only him to us, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Look, his head [is] being thrown down to you over the wall."

The woman went to all of the people with her wise plan, so they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bicri and threw [it] to Joab. Then he blew the horn and dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites [were] not from the {Israelites}; they [were] from the remainder of the Amorites. Now the {Israelites} had sworn to them, but Saul tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the {Israelites} and Judah.

So David asked the Gibeonites, "What can I do for you, and with what can I make amends that you may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?"

Then the Gibeonites said to him, "{It is not a matter for us of} silver or gold with Saul or with his household. It is not for us to put to death anyone in Israel." He asked, "What [are] you saying [that] I should do for you all?"

Then they said to the king, "The man who consumed us and who plotted against us [so that] we were destroyed from existing in all of the territory of Israel,

let seven men from his sons be given over to us, and we will execute them before Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen one of Yahweh." Then the king said, "I will give them over."

So the king took two of the sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, namely Armoni and Mephibosheth, and five of the sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

He gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they executed them on the mountain in the presence of Yahweh, and the seven fell together. Now they were put to death in the days of the harvest, at the beginning of the harvest of barley.

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took the sackcloth, and she spread it for herself on the rock at the beginning of the harvest until water gushed forth on them from heaven, but she did not allow the birds of heaven to rest on them by day nor the animals of the field by night.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and he attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall not go out with us any longer to the battle, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel."

Once again there [was] battle at Gath, and there [was] {a man of great size}. The fingers of his hand and the toes of his feet [were] six and six, twenty-four in number. He [was] also born to the Raphah.

Then David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song, on the day Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

In my distress I called [upon] Yahweh, and to my God I called. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help [was] to his ears.

They approached me on the day of my disaster, but Yahweh [was] my support.

He brought me out to a spacious place. He delivered me because he delighted in me.

Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.

Yahweh has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before his eyes.

This God, his way [is] blameless; the promise of Yahweh [is] flawless. He [is] a shield to all who take refuge in him.

He makes my feet like a doe deer, and on my high places he has set me.

You have given me the shield of your salvation; your willingness to help has made me great.

You have girded me with physical strength for the battle; you caused those who rose up against me to kneel under me.

{My enemies you cause to retreat from me}; I destroy those who hate me.

They looked out, but there was no deliverer, [even] to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.

Children of a foreign land came cringing to me; {when they heard of me}, they became obedient to me.

Therefore I will extol you, Yahweh, among the nations! I will sing praises to your name!

He makes great salvation [for] his king and shows loyal love to his anointed one, David and to his descendants forever."

The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; 'He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God.

Yet not so [is] my house with God, for he made an everlasting covenant for me, arranging everything. He has secured all my deliverance, and all my desire he will cause to happen.

And if a man wants to touch them, he must use an iron instrument or the shaft of a spear; then they [are] consumed entirely with fire on the spot."

Next to him Eleazar, the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite, [was] among the three mighty warriors with David when they defied the Philistines and they gathered there for the battle and the men of Israel withdrew.

He stood up and struck down the Philistines until his hand grew tired and his hand clung to the sword, and Yahweh brought about a great victory on that day. Then the army returned back to him only for stripping [the dead].

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.

Then three of the thirty leaders went down and came to David {at the time of the harvest} to the cave of Adullam, while a group of [the] Philistines [were] camping in the valley of [the] Rephaim.

So three of the mighty warriors broke into the camp of [the] Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem that [was] at the gate, and they carried [it] and brought [it] to David. But he [was] not willing to drink it, but poured it out to Yahweh.

He said, "Far be it from me before Yahweh that I should do this. [Is this not] the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?" So he [was] not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty warriors did.

Among the thirty, is it not that he [was] honored and became a commander for them? But he did not come up to the three

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of Ish-Hai, [was] a great [man] of deeds from Kabzeel. He struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

He [was] honored more than the thirty, but he did not come up to the three. David appointed him in charge of his bodyguard.

The king said to Joab, the commander of the army who [was] with him: "Please go about through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people that I may know the number of the people."

Then Joab said to the king, "May Yahweh your God increase the people a hundred times {what they are} as the eyes of my lord the king are seeing. But my lord the king, why does he desire this thing?"

But the word of the king prevailed over Joab and over the commanders of the army, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out from before the king to count the people of Israel.

They crossed over the Jordan and camped at Aroer to the south of the city, which [was] in the middle of the wadi of Gad, and up to Jazer.

Then they went to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi. They came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon

and came to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to the Negev of Judah at Beersheba.

They went about through all the land, and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

Then Joab gave the number of the counting of the people to the king. Israel [was] eight hundred thousand {valiant warriors} wielding the sword, and the men of Judah [were] five hundred thousand.

The heart of David struck him after he had counted the people, and David said to Yahweh, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done! So then, O Yahweh, please forgive the guilt of your servant because I have acted very foolishly."

When David got up in the morning, the word of Yahweh came to Gad the prophet, the seer of David, saying,

"Go and speak to David, 'Thus says Yahweh, three things I [am] laying on you; choose for yourself one of them and I will do it to you.'"

Then Gad came to David, and he told him and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine in the land come to you? Or three months of your fleeing from your enemies while he [is] pursuing you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must return to the one who sent me a word."

Then David said to Gad, "I [am] greatly distressed. Please let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, because he [is] great in his compassion; but into the hand of man don't let me fall."

Then Yahweh sent a plague into Israel from the morning {until the agreed time}, and from the people from Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men died.