Then answered Achish, and said unto David, I acknowledge that, pleasing, thou art in mine eyes, as a messenger of God, - notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines, have said, He shall not go up with us, into the battle.

Now, therefore, rise up early in the morning, thou and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, - yea, as soon as ye have risen early in the morning, and have light, then depart.

Then responded every man who was bad and abandoned, from among the men who had been with David, and said - Because they went not with me there shall not be given them of the spoil that we have rescued, - save, to every man, his wife and his children, let them put them forth, then, and go.

And David said unto him - How turned out the matter? tell me, I pray thee. And he said - The people have fled from the battle, yea moreover, many, of the people have fallen, and died, Yea moreover, Saul, and Jonathan his son, are dead.

So I took my stand by him, and put him to death, for I perceived that he could not survive his fall, - so I took the crown that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them in unto my lord, here.

The beauty of Israel! on thy high plumes - slain! How have fallen - the mighty!

How have fallen the mighty, in the midst of the battle! Jonathan, on thy high places, slain!

How have fallen the mighty, and perished the weapons of war!

Now, therefore, let your hands be made firm, and become ye sons of valour, for your lord Saul is dead, - and, me, moreover have the house of Judah anointed, to be king over them.

Then said Joab - As God liveth, surely, if thou hadst not spoken, then in the morning, the people would of themselves have gone up, every man from pursuing his brother.

And it provoked Abner greatly, on account of the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said - Am I, the head of the dogs, that pertain unto Judah? To-day, would I deal in lovingkindness with the house of Saul thy father, towards his brethren, and towards his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, - and yet thou hast charged upon me the transgression of the woman, today.

And he said - Good! I, will solemnise with thee a covenant, - but, one thing, must I ask of thee, saying - Thou shalt not see my face, except thou have brought in Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

And the king addressed his dirge unto Abner, and said, - As a base man dieth, should Abner have died?

and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, - and have been sojourners there, until this day.

how much more, when, lawless men, have slain a righteous person, in his own house, upon his bed? -- Now, therefore, must I not require his blood at your hands, and so consume you, out of the earth?

And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, then, shalt thou act with decision, - for, then, will Yahweh have gone forth before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.

that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See, I pray thee - I, have my abode in a house, of cedar, but, the ark of God, abideth in, the midst, of curtains.

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?

Wheresoever I have wandered with any of the sons of Israel, spake I ever, a word, with any one of the tribes of Israel, whom I charged to shepherd my people Israel, saying, - Wherefore have ye not built me a house, of cedar?

and was with thee, whithersoever thou didst go, and have cut off all thine enemies, from before thee, - and will make thee a name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth;

For this cause, hast thou magnified thyself, O Yahweh Elohim, - for there is none like unto, thee, yea there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Then the king called for Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, - All that pertained unto Saul and unto all his house, have I given unto the son of thy lord:

therefore shalt thou till for him the ground, thou, and thy sons, and thy servants, and shalt bring in, so that thy lord's son may have bread to eat, but, Mephibosheth, thy lord's son, shall continually eat bread at my table. Now, Ziba, had fifteen sons, and twenty servants.

and gave unto thee the household of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and gave unto thee the house of Israel and Judah. And, if this had been too little, I could have further given thee more and more of such things.

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Yahweh. Then said Nathan unto David, - Yahweh also, hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die!

Then Joab sent messengers unto David, - and said - I have fought against Rabbah, I have also captured the city of the waters.

Then took she the pan and put them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said - Have forth every one from me. And they went out every one from him.

Now Absolom had commanded his young men, saying - Mark, I pray you, when the heart of Amnon is merry with wine, and I say unto you - Smite ye Amnon, then shall ye put him to death, do not fear, - have not, I myself, commanded you? Be bold, and show yourselves to be sons of valour.

Then responded Jonadab son of Shimeah David's brother, and said - Let not my lord say that they have put, all the young men - the king's sons, to death; for, Amnon alone, is dead; for, by the bidding of Absolom, was it appointed, from the day that he forced Tamar his sister.

Lo! therefore, all the family hath risen up against thy maidservant, and have said: Give up him that hath smitten his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother, whom he hath slain, that we may destroy, the heir also. So will they quench my ember that is left, and make my husband without name or remainder, on the face of the ground.

Now, therefore, is it that I have come to speak unto the king my lord this word, because the people kept putting me in fear, - so thy maidservant said - Do let me, I pray you, speak unto the king! peradventure the king will fulfil the request of his handmaid.

Then said the king unto Joab, See, I pray thee, I a have done this thing, - go then - bring back the young man, Absolom.

So Joab fell with his face to the earth, and did homage, and blessed the king, - and Joab said - To-day, doth thy servant know, that I have found favour in thine eyes, my lord O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of thy servant.

Then rose Joab, and went unto Absolom, in his house, - and said unto him, Wherefore, have thy servants set the portion that pertaineth to me, on fire?

And Absolom said unto Joab - Lo! I sent unto thee, saying - Come hither, that I may send thee unto the king, saying - Wherefore, am I come from Geshur? I, might as well have yet been there. Now, therefore, let me see the face of the king, and, if there is in me iniquity, then let him put me to death.

And it came to pass, at the end of forty years, that Absolom said unto the king - Let me go, I pray thee, that I may pay my vow which I have vowed unto Yahweh, in Hebron;

Then said David, to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem - Arise and let us flee, or we shall have no way of escape from the face of Absolom, - make speed to depart, lest he make speed, and so overtake us, and bring down misfortune upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

but, if thus, he say, I have no delight in thee, here I am, let him do unto me as may be good in his eyes.

Lo! they have there with them, their two sons, Ahimaaz for Zadok, and Jonathan for Abiathar, - so shall ye send, by their hand, unto me, everything which ye shall hear.

Then said the king unto Ziba, Lo! thine, is all that pertained to Mephibosheth. And Ziba said - I have done homage, that I might find favour in thine eyes, my lord O king.

But the king said, What have I in common with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? thus, he curseth, because, Yahweh, hath said unto him - Curse David. Who then can say, Why hast thou done thus?

And Hushai said unto Absolom, Nay! but, whom Yahweh, and all this people, and the men of Israel have chosen, his, will I be, and, with him, will I dwell.

So Hushai said unto Zadok and unto Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus, did Ahithophel counsel Absolom and the elders of Israel, - and, thus and thus, have, I, counselled.

Then came the servants of Absolom unto the woman in the house, and said - Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them - They have passed over the stream of water. And, when they had searched and not found, they returned to Jerusalem.

Then said Joab to the man that was telling him, Lo! since thou sawest him, why didst thou not smite him there, to the ground? then should I have been bound to give thee ten pieces of silver, and a girdle.

Otherwise, had I dealt with my life falsely (and nothing can be hid from the king), then, thou thyself, wouldst have stood aloof.

But, Absolom, had taken, and raised up for himself, in his lifetime, the pillar that is in the king's vale, for he said, I have no son, to keep in remembrance my name, so he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absolom's monument unto this day.

And the king said unto the Cushite - Is it, well, with the young man - Absolom? Then said the Cushite - Be, like the young man, the enemies of my lord the king, and all who have risen up against thee, for harm.

Then was the king deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept, - and, thus, he said as he went - O my son Absolom, my son - my son - Absolom! could, I, but have died in thy stead, O Absolom, my son - my son!

Then came Joab unto the king, in the house, - and said - Thou hast, to-day, covered with shame the faces of all thy servants, who have rescued thy life to-day, and the lives of thy sons and thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

Now, therefore, rise - go forth, and speak unto the heart of thy servants, - for, by Yahweh, have I sworn, that, if thou do not go forth, not a man shall tarry with thee to-night, and this will be to thee, a greater misfortune, than all the misfortune that hath come upon thee from thy youth until now.

For thy servant doth know, that, I, sinned, - lo! therefore, I have arrived to-day, as the first of all the house of Joseph, to come down to meet my lord the king.

But David said, What have I in common with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, for ye would become to me, to-day, a very traitor! Shall there, to-day, be put to death a man in Israel? for do I not know, that, to-day, I, am king over Israel?

For, when all the house of my father were nothing better than dead men, unto my lord the king, then didst thou set thy servant among them that used to eat at thy table, - what then have I further, by way of right, or to cry out any further unto the king?

Then the king said unto him, Wherefore shouldst thou speak any further of thine affairs? I have said - Thou and Ziba, shall share the land.

And all the men of Judah made answer unto the men of Israel - Because the king is, near of kin, unto us, wherefore, then, is it, that ye are angry over this matter? Have we, eaten, at the king's cost? or hath he, bestowed any gifts, on us?

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said - Ten parts, have we in the king, therefore, even in David, have we more right than ye. Why, then, made ye light of us, so that our word was not heard first as to bringing back our king? And, the words of the men of Judah, were fiercer than, the words of the men of Israel.

Now, in that place, there happened to be an abandoned man, whose name, was Sheba son of Bichri, a man of Benjamin, - so he blew a horn, and said - We have no share in David, Nor inheritance have we in the son of Jesse, Every man to his home, O Israel!

Then said David unto Abishai, Now, shall Sheba son of Bichri, do us more harm than Absolom, - thou, take the servants of thy lord, and pursue him, lest he have got him into fortified cities, and so have escaped our eye.

And the Gibeonites said unto him - It is not a matter with us of silver or gold, with Saul or with his house, neither would we have a man put to death in Israel. And he said, - What do ye say I should do for you?

Then said they unto the king, The man who consumed us, and who thought to have destroyed us from taking a place within any of the bounds of Israel,

And the heart of David smote him, after he had reckoned up the people, - and David said unto Yahweh - I have sinned greatly, in what I have done, Now, therefore, O Yahweh, take away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly.

Then said David unto Yahweh, when he saw the messenger who was smiting the people, yea he said - Lo! I, have sinned, and, I, have done perversely, but what have, these sheep, done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against the house of my father!

But the king said unto Araunah - Nay! but I will, buy, it of thee, for a price, and will not cause to ascend unto Yahweh my God, offerings that have cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor, and the oxen, for fifty shekels of silver;

For he hath gone down to-day, and hath sacrificed oxen and heifers and sheep, in abundance, and hath invited all the sons of the king, and the generals of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and, there they are - eating and drinking before him, - and they have said - Long live King Adonijah!

If, of my lord the king, this thing had been brought to pass, then wouldest thou not have made known unto thy servant, who should sit upon the throne of my lord the king, after him?

Then shall ye come up after him, and he shall enter, and sit upon my throne, yea, he, shall become king in my stead; even, him, have I charged to become leader, over Israel, and over Judah.

And the king hath sent with him - Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, with the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, - and they have caused him to ride upon the mule of the king;

and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king, in Gihon, and they went up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again, - That, is the noise ye have heard.

Moreover also, the servants of the king have been in, to bless our lord King David, saying - Thy God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne, - And the king bowed himself upon his bed.

Then said he - I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said - Say on.

Now, therefore, one request, have I to ask of thee, do not turn away my face.

thus shall their blood come back upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed unto times age-abiding, - but, David and his seed, and his house, and his throne, shall have peace, unto times age-abiding, from Yahweh.

Then sent the king and called for Shimei, and said unto him - Did I not put thee on oath by Yahweh, and adjure thee, saying - On the day thou goest forth and takest thy journey hither or thither, know, that thou shalt, die. Then saidst thou unto me - Good, is the word I have heard.

lo! I have done according to thy word, - lo! I have given unto thee a wise and discerning heart, so that, like thee, hath been none, before thee, and, after thee, shall rise up none, like thee.

Moreover also, what thou hast not asked, have I given unto thee, both riches and honour, - so that there hath been none, like thee, among the kings, all thy days.

And Hiram sent unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, - I, will do all thy desire, as to timber of cedar, and timber of fir.

And they drew out the staves, and the heads of the staves were seen from the holy place, in front of the shrine, although they were not seen on the outside, - and they have remained there until this day.

I have, built, a house as a high abode for thee, - A settled place for thee to abide in, for ages.

Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel, out of Egypt, I had chosen no city, out of all the tribes of Israel, for building a house, where my Name might be, - but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my Name should be there, and I have chosen David, to be over my people Israel:

So then Yahweh hath established his word which he spake, - and I have been raised up in the room of David my father, and have taken my seat upon the throne of Israel, as spake Yahweh, and have built the house for the Name of Yahweh, God of Israel;

and have appointed there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Yahweh, - which he solemnised with our fathers, when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.

But, in very deed, will God dwell, upon the earth? Lo! the heaven, yea the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?

When thy people Israel are smitten before an enemy, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they turn again unto thee, and confess thy Name, and pray and make supplication unto thee, in this house,

When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have been sinning against thee, - and they shall pray toward this place, and confess thy Name, and, from their sin, shall return, because thou hast been afflicting them,

any prayer, any supplication which, any son of earth, may have, of all thy people Israel, - who will certainly know every man the plague of his own heart, and so he shall spread abroad his hands towards this house,

wilt, thou thyself, hear in the heavens, the settled place of thine abode, and act, according to all for which, the stranger, shall cry unto thee, - to the end that all the peoples of the earth may truly know thy Name, so as to revere thee, like thy people Israel, and to know that, thine own Name, hath been given unto this house, which I have built?

When thy people go forth to war against their enemy, whithersoever thou mayest send them, - and shall pray unto Yahweh, in the direction of the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name,

and they come back to their right mind, in the land whither they have been taken captive, - and so turn and make supplication unto thee, in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely, we have been lawless;

and so they turn unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who have carried them away captive, - and pray unto thee in the direction of their own land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy Name,

and grant forgiveness to thy people, who have sinned against thee, even as to all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, - and grant them compassion before their captors, so that they may have compassion upon them;

And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near unto Yahweh our God, day and night, - that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as any need ariseth:

And Yahweh said unto him - I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, wherewith thou hast made supplication before me, I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my Name there unto times age-abiding, - and mine eyes and my heart shall be there, continually:

As for thee, therefore, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, with a whole heart and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, - and, my statutes and my regulations, wilt keep,

If ye, turn back, ye or your sons, from following me, and keep not my commandments, my statutes, which I have set before you, - but depart and serve other gods, and bow yourselves down to them,

then will I cut off Israel, from the face of the soil, which I have given unto them, and, the house which I have hallowed for my Name, will I suffer to be carried away from before me, - and Israel shall become a byword and a mockery, among all the peoples;

Howbeit, all the kingdom, will I not rend away, one tribe, will I give unto thy son, - for the sake of David my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.

Howbeit, one tribe, shall he retain, - for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen, out of all the tribes of Israel:

Because they have forsaken me, and bowed themselves down to Ashtoreth, goddess of the Zidonians, to Chemosh, god of the Moabites, and to Milcom, god of the sons of Ammon, - and have not walked in my ways, by doing what is right in mine eyes, even my statutes and my regulations, like David his father.

Nevertheless, go his son, will I give one tribe, - to the end there may remain a lamp unto David my servant always before me, in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for myself, to put my Name there.