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."

Then she said, "In former times, {they would always say}, 'By all means, let them inquire in Abel,' and so they settled things.

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?"

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

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.

Now Joab [was] over all the army of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Carites and over the Pelethites.

Adoram [was] over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] the recorder.

Shiya [was] secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar [were] priests.

There [was] a famine in the days of David [for] three years, year after year. And David {inquired of Yahweh}, and Yahweh said, "The bloodguilt [is] on Saul and on his household, because he killed the Gibeonites."

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 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."

But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the sworn oath of Yahweh which [was] between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

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.

So David left and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the rulers of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where [the] Philistines hung them {when} [the] Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.

He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of the executed.

And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin at Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. They did all that the king had commanded, and afterward God was entreated for the land.

There [was] war again for [the] Philistines with Israel, and David and his servants with him went down, and they fought [the] Philistines, and David grew weary.

Now Yishbi in Nob, who [was] among the descendents of Raphah (now the weight of his spearhead [was] three hundredweight of bronze, and he [was] newly armed), said that he would kill David.

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."

There [was] again a battle with [the] Philistines at Gob. And Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear [was] like the beam of a weaver.

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.

These four [were] born for the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

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.

And he said: "Yahweh [is] my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

I take refuge in God, my rock, my shield, and the {strength} of my salvation. My stronghold and my refuge, O my savior, you will save me from violence!

I call [upon] Yahweh who is praiseworthy, and I [am] saved from those who hate me.

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.

The earth heaved and shook, the foundations of heaven trembled and heaved because {he was angry}.

Smoke went up from his nostrils and fire from his mouth. Burning coals devoured, they burned from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down; a very thick cloud [was] under his feet.

He rode upon a cherub and flew; he was seen on the wings of the wind.

Yahweh thundered from heaven, and the Most High {uttered his voice}.

He sent arrows and he scattered them, lightning, and he directed them.

He sent from a high position [and] took me; he drew me from mighty waters.

For all of his ordinances [were] before me, and I did not turn aside from his statutes.

I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.

With the loyal, you act as loyal, and with the blameless, you show yourself blameless.

For you, O Yahweh [are] my lamp, and Yahweh lightens my darkness.

For who [is] God apart from Yahweh? And who [is] a rock apart from our God?

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

I pursued those who hate me, and I destroyed them. I did not turn back until finishing them.

I wiped them out and I smashed them; they did not get up; they fell under my feet.

Children of a foreign land lost heart and came trembling from their strongholds.

He brings me out from my enemies, and from those who rose up against me you lift me up, and from men of violence you rescue me.

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

These [are] the last words of David, the declaration of David the son of Jesse, and the declaration of the man exalted [by] the Most High, the anointed one of the God of Jacob and the darling of the songs of Israel.

"The spirit of Yahweh speaks through me, and his word [is] upon my tongue.

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.

But he took a stand in the middle of the plot of land and defended it. He killed [the] Philistines, and Yahweh brought about a great victory.

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.

Now at that time, David [was] in the stronghold, and a garrison of [the] Philistines [was] in Bethlehem at that [same] time

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.

Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] himself the leader of the thirty. He [was] wielding his spear against three hundred slain and {gained a name} among the thirty.

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 also killed a good-looking Egyptian man, in whose hand [was] a spear. He went down against him with the staff and snatched the spear from the hand of the Egyptian and killed him with his spear

These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did and gained a name for himself among the three mighty warriors.

Again Yahweh [was] angry with Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go count Israel and Judah."

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."

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."

"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.

When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh [was] at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel destroying among the people, and he said, "Look, I have sinned and I have done wrong, but these sheep, what did they do? Please let your hand be against me and against the house of my father."

Then Gad came to David on that same day and said to him, "Go up and erect an altar to Yahweh at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

So David went up according to the word of Gad, as Yahweh had commanded.

Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming over to him, so Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

Araunah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer what [is] good in his eyes. Look, here [are] the cattle for the burnt offering and the threshing sledge and the yokes of the oxen for the firewood.

Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but {I will certainly buy} it from you for a price; I don't want to offer to Yahweh my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the cattle for fifty shekels of silver.

David built an altar to Yahweh there, and he offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then Yahweh responded to [his] prayer for the land and brought the plague to a halt from upon Israel.

Now King David had become old, {advanced in years}, and they covered him with garments, but he was not warm.

His servants said to him, "Let them search for a young virgin for my lord the king, and let her stand before the king. Let her be of use for him, and let her lie in your lap that my lord the king may be warm."

So they sought a beautiful young woman in all the territory of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunnamite and brought her to the king.

Now the young woman was very beautiful; she was of use for the king, and she served him, but the king did not {have sexual relations with her}.

Now Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, "I will be king," so he prepared for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men running before him.

{He conferred} with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and {they supported Adonijah}.

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty warriors were David's; they were not with Adonijah.

And Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened animals near the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel. He invited all of his brothers, the sons of the king, and all the men of Judah, the servants of the king.

So then, come, let me advise you please, {that you may save} your life and the life of your son, Solomon.

Come, go to King David and say to him, 'Have you not, my lord the king, sworn to your servant, "Surely Solomon your son shall become king after me. And he will sit on my throne"? But why is Adonijah king?'

While you are still there speaking with the king, I will enter after you, and {I will confirm your words}."

So Bathsheba went to the king in the private room. Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunnamite was attending the king.