“Go to My servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in?

seeing that I have not dwelt in a house, since the day that I brought up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, even unto this day, - but have been wandering in a tent as my habitation?

“Now this is what you are to say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.

and I am with thee whithersoever thou hast gone, and I cut off all thine enemies from thy presence, and have made for thee a great name, as the name of the great ones who are in the earth,

Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

""The LORD also announces to you: "The LORD will himself build a house for you. When your life is complete and you go to join your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come forth from your body, and I will fortify his kingdom.

It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

I am to him for a father, and he is to Me for a son; whom in his dealings perversely I have even reproved with a rod of men, and with strokes of the sons of Adam,

But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

and stedfast is thy house and thy kingdom unto the age before thee, thy throne is established unto the age.'

Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?

Because of Your word (promise), and in accordance with Your own heart, You have done all these great and astounding things to let Your servant know (understand).

Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

You have established your people Israel for yourself as a people forever, and you, O Yahweh, have become their God.

And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.

And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told your servant, 'I will build you a dynastic house.' That is why your servant has had the courage to pray this prayer to you.

And now, begin and bless the house of Thy servant, to be unto the age before Thee, for Thou, Lord Jehovah, hast spoken, and by Thy blessing is the house of Thy servant blessed -- to the age.'

And he smote Moab, and measured them with the line casting, them down to the ground, and be measured with two lines to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive, - so the Moabites became David's, as servants, bringing gifts.

David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.

and David putteth garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and Aram is to David for a servant, bearing a present; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone;

And David reigneth over all Israel, and David is doing judgment and righteousness to all his people,

and Joab son of Zeruiah is over the host, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is remembrancer,

and Zadok son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, are priests, and Seraiah is scribe,

and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over both the Cherethite and the Pelethite, and the sons of David have been ministers.

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.

And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.

And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, came to David, and falling down on his face, gave him honour. And David said, Mephibosheth. And answering he said, Your servant is here.

And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?

You, your sons, and your servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in the crops so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants.

Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.

And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.

And Mephibosheth is dwelling in Jerusalem, for at the table of the king he is eating continually, and he is lame of his two feet.

Sometime later, the Ammonite king died and his son Hanun succeeded him as king,

Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search the city and to spy it out, and to overthrow it, that David has sent his servants to thee?

And Hanun took David's servants, and had the one half of their beards shaved off, and their raiment cut off in the midst, as far as their buttocks, and sent them away.

When David had news of it, he sent men out with the purpose of meeting them on their way, for the men were greatly shamed: and the king said, Go to Jericho till your hair is long again, and then come back.

Then he said, "If Aram [is] stronger than I [am], you must become my deliverer; but if the {Ammonites} [are] too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you.

Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good.

And Aram seeth that it is smitten before Israel, and they are gathered together;

and Hadadezer sendeth, and bringeth out Aram which is beyond the River, and they come in to Helam, and Shobach head of the host of Hadadezer is before them.

And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in to Helam, and Aram setteth itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him;

But the Arameans retreated from Israel, and David's forces killed 700 of their charioteers, 40,000 soldiers, and mortally wounded Shobach, the commander of their army. As a result, Shobach died there.

And all the kings -- servants of Hadadezer -- see that they have been smitten before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help any more the Bene-Ammon.

And it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the year -- at the time of the going out of the messengers -- that David sendeth Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroy the Bene-Ammon, and lay siege against Rabbah. And David is dwelling in Jerusalem,

and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king's house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman is of very good appearance,

And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

And David sendeth messengers, and taketh her, and she cometh unto him, and he lieth with her -- and she is purifying herself from her uncleanness -- and she turneth back unto her house;

And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.

In the letter he wrote:

Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.

And it came to pass as Joab watched the city, that he assigned Urijah to a place where he knew that the valiant men were.

He instructed the messenger, saying, "As you are finishing to speak all the news of the battle to the king,

If the king is angry and says, Why did you go so near the town for the fight? was it not certain that their archers would be on the wall?

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.

And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

And the wife of Uriah heareth that Uriah her husband is dead, and lamenteth for her lord;

and the mourning passeth by, and David sendeth and gathereth her unto his house, and she is to him for a wife, and beareth to him a son; and the thing which David hath done is evil in the eyes of Jehovah.

Nathan approached David and said, "There are two men in the city. One is rich and one is poor. The rich man has many flocks and herds,

But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

"When a traveler arrived at the rich man's home, he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler who had come to visit him. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and cooked it for the man who had come to visit him."

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

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.

I gave you your master's house, and put your master's wives into your arms. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well!

Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!'

“This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.

""What you did in secret I'm going to do right in front of all Israel and in broad daylight as well!'"

And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you.

Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable;

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.

And he saith, 'While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth? -- Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived;

But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her and lay with her, and she bare a son whose name was called Solomon, and the LORD loved him.

And as Joab fought against Rabbah, the city of the children of Ammon, he took the king's Tower,

and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight is a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much;

And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.

And Amnon hath distress -- even to become sick, because of Tamar his sister, for she is a virgin, and it is hard in the eyes of Amnon to do anything to her.

But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.

And he said to him, O son of the king, why are you getting thinner day by day? will you not say what your trouble is? And Amnon said to him, I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

Then said Jonadab unto him, "Lie on thy bed and feign thyself sick. And when thy father is come to see thee, say unto him, 'Let my sister Tamar come and give me meat and dress it in my sight, that I may see it and eat it of her hand."

And Tamar goeth to the house of Amnon her brother, and he is lying down, and she taketh the dough, and kneadeth, and maketh cakes before his eyes, and cooketh the cakes,

But as soon as she brought them near him to eat, he overpowered her and told her, "Come here and have sex with me, my sister!"

And she said to him, No, my brother, do not humble me; for no such thing is done in Israel: do not this infamy.

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

And he hath not been willing to hearken to her voice, and is stronger than she, and humbleth her, and lieth with her.

And Amnon hateth her -- a very great hatred -- that greater is the hatred with which he hath hated her than the love with which he loved her, and Amnon saith to her, 'Rise, go.'

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

-- and upon her is a long coat, for such upper robes do daughters of the king who are virgins put on, -- and his servant taketh her out without, and hath bolted the door after her.

And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.