And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this goodness to thy servant:

Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

And he did homage, and said - What is thy servant, - that thou hast turned towards such a dead dog as I?

and thou hast served for him the land, thou and thy sons, and thy servants, and hast brought in, and there hath been to the son of thy lord bread, and he hath eaten it; and Mephibosheth son of thy lord doth eat continually bread at my table;' and Ziba hath fifteen sons and twenty servants.

And he saith, 'If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee;

And it was told David, saying, Uriah went not down, unto his own house. So David said unto Uriah - Was it not, from a journey, thou didst come? why, then, hast thou not been down unto thine own house?

And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war to the king,

Who smote Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast on him a piece of a rider from the wall, and he dieth in Thebez? why drew ye nigh unto the wall? that thou hast said, Also thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'

Why hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed 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.

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

for thou hast done it in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'

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

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

And Jonadab saith to him, 'Lie down on thy couch, and feign thyself sick, and thy father hath come in to see thee, and thou hast said unto him, 'Let, I pray thee, Tamar my sister come in and give me bread to eat; and she hath made the food before mine eyes so that I see it, and have eaten from her hand.'

But she said to him - No occasion for this greater wrong, after what thou hast done with me, to put me away! Nevertheless he would not hearken unto her;

and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, 'Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead,

and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.

And the king saith, 'He who speaketh aught unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.'

And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king doth not bring home again his banished.

And the king saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.'

And Absalom saith unto Joab, 'Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I come in from Geshur? -- good for me while I am there -- and now, let me see the king's face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.'

See! thy cause, is good and right, - but, to hear it, thou hast no one, from the king.

And David said to all his servants with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee! For otherwise we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.

And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why dost thou also go with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and besides, thou hast emigrated to the place where thou dwellest.

and David saith to him, 'If thou hast passed on with me then thou hast been on me for a burden,

and if to the city thou dost turn back, and hast said to Absalom, Thy servant I am, O king; servant of thy father I am also hitherto, and now, I am also thy servant; then thou hast made void for me the counsel of Ahithophel;

And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that whatever thing thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Then said the king to Ziba, "What hast thou there?" And Ziba said, "Asses for the king's household to ride on, and bread and fruit for the young men to eat, and wine to drink, if any man faint in the wilderness."

The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why hast thou done so?

And Absalom saith unto Hushai, 'This thy kindness with thy friend! why hast thou not gone with thy friend?'

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Get thee in unto thy father's concubines which he hath left to keep the house. For when all Israel shall hear that thou hast made thy father to stink, then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong."

And Hushai saith, 'Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they are heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father is a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity.

And Joab saith to the man who is declaring it to him, 'And lo, thou hast seen -- and wherefore didst thou not smite him there to the earth -- and on me to give to thee ten silverlings and one girdle?'

and Joab saith to him, 'Thou art not a man of tidings this day, but thou hast borne tidings on another day, and this day thou dost not bear tidings, because the king's son is dead.'

Then said Joab to Cushi, Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But however, let me also, I pray thee, run after Cushi. And Joab said, Why wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, who this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

In that thou lovest thy enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet have not slipped.

For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of my enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.

Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.

And that bringeth me forth from my enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do it to thee.'

And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bore him after Absalom.

Wherefore Nathan spoke to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?

go and enter in unto king David, and thou hast said unto him, Hast thou not, my lord, O king, sworn to thy handmaid, saying, Surely Solomon thy son doth reign after me, and he doth sit on my throne? and wherefore hath Adonijah reigned?

And she said to him, My lord, thou hast sworn by Jehovah thy God to thy handmaid, saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.

and now, lo, Adonijah hath reigned, and now, my lord, O king, thou hast not known;

And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shown it to thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

'I am going in the way of all the earth, and thou hast been strong, and become a man,

And also, thou hast known that which he did to me -- Joab son of Zeruiah -- that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether -- that he slayeth them, and maketh the blood of war in peace, and putteth the blood of war in his girdle, that is on his loins, and in his sandals that are on his feet;

and thou hast done according to thy wisdom, and dost not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol.

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

and now, acquit him not, for a wise man thou art, and thou hast known that which thou dost to him, and hast brought down his old age with blood to Sheol.'

And he saith, 'Thou hast known that the kingdom was mine, and towards me set their faces had all Israel for reigning, and the kingdom is turned round about, and is my brother's, for from Jehovah it was his;

And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Depart to Anathoth, to thy own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.

And the king saith to him, 'Do as he hath spoken, and fall upon him, and thou hast buried him, and turned aside the causeless blood which Joab shed, from off me, and from off the house of my father;

And the king sendeth and calleth for Shimei, and saith to him, 'Build for thee a house in Jerusalem, and thou hast dwelt there, and dost not go out thence any where;

and it hath been, in the day of thy going out, and thou hast passed over the brook Kidron, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die -- thy blood is on thy head.'

and the king sendeth and calleth for Shimei, and saith unto him, 'Have I not caused thee to swear by Jehovah -- and I testify against thee, saying, In the day of thy going out, and thou hast gone anywhere, thou dost certainly know that thou dost surely die; and thou sayest unto me, The word I have heard is good?

Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

And the king saith unto Shimei, 'Thou hast known all the evil that thy heart hath known, which thou didst to David my father, and Jehovah hath turned back thine evil on thy head,

And Solomon said, Thou hast shown to thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

and Thou hast given to Thy servant an understanding heart, to judge Thy people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?'

And God said to him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thy enemies: but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like to thee all thy days,

'Thou hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah's putting them under the soles of his feet.

'And now, command, and they cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon, and my servants are with thy servants, and the hire of thy servants I give to thee according to all that thou sayest, for thou hast known that there is not among us a man acquainted with cutting wood, like the Sidonians.'

And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

This house that thou art building -- if thou dost walk in My statutes, and My judgments dost do, yea, hast done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father,

and Jehovah saith unto David my father, Because that it hath been with thy heart to build a house for My name, thou hast done well that it hath been with thy heart;

who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him; thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as at this day.

And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only thy sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

And now, O God of Israel, let thy words, I pray thee, be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father.

'Then thou hast turned unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and unto the prayer which Thy servant is praying before Thee to-day,

that thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day, upon the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

Then Thou hast hearkened unto the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, which they pray towards this place; yea, Thou dost hearken in the place of Thy dwelling, in the heavens -- and Thou hast hearkened, and hast forgiven,

then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

then thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and brought them back unto the ground that Thou gavest to their fathers.

When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them;

then hear thou in the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

then Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast done, and hast given to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, (for Thou hast known -- Thyself alone -- the heart of all the sons of man),

so that they fear Thee all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that Thou hast given to our fathers.

Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee like Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name hath been called on this house which I have builded.

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray to Jehovah toward the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name;

then Thou hast heard in the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause.

'When they sin against Thee (for there is not a man who sinneth not), and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity unto the land of the enemy far off or near;

and if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name;

'Then Thou hast heard in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and hast maintained their cause,

and hast forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against Thee, and hast given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy on them --

For thou hast separated them from among all peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spokest through Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.

And Jehovah said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.