Then Joab went out from David, and he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from Bor Hasirah, but David did not know [it].

Your hands [were] not tied and your feet [were] not in contact with bronze fetters. You have fallen as one who falls before sons of wickedness." Then {all the people wept over him again}.

Then all the people and all of Israel realized on that day that {the king had not desired} to kill Abner the son of Ner.

Then the king said to his servants, "Did you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel?

When they had come [into] the house, he [was] lying on his couch {in his bedchamber}, and they attacked him and killed him. Then they {beheaded him}, and they took his head and went on the way of the Arabah all night.

{How much more} when wicked men kill a righteous man in his house, on his bed! So then, shall I not seek his lifeblood from your hand, so that I may destroy you from the earth?"

The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'"

So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, "You shall not go up. [Rather,] go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees.

However, David [was] not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn [to] the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

But it happened {that night}, the word of Yahweh came to Nathan, saying,

For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought up the {Israelites} from Egypt until this day; [rather,] I [was] going about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

In all of my going about among all the {Israelites}, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, 'Why did you not build me a cedar house?'" '

I will make a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they can dwell {in their own place}. They will not tremble [any] longer, and the children of wickedness will not afflict them again, as in the former days.

But my loyal love shall not depart from him as I took [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

But the commanders of the {Ammonites} said to Hanun their master, "{In your opinion}, [is] David honoring your father because he has sent condolences to you? [Is] it not in order to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it [that] David sent his servants to you?"

David sent and inquired about the woman, and [someone] said, "[Is] this not Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"

But Uriah slept [at] the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his master and did not go down to his house.

They told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house." David said to Uriah, "[Are] you not coming from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"

Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah [are] living in the booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord [are] camping on the surface of the open field; and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to sleep with my wife? [By] your life and the life of your soul, I surely will not do this thing."

David invited him, and he ate and drank in his presence {so that he became drunk}, and he went out in the evening to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, 'Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from [atop] the wall?

Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth, if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from [atop] the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?' Then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'"

Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, '{Do not feel badly about this matter}; {now one and then another} the sword will devour. Intensify your attack on the city and overthrow it.'" And he encouraged him.

So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!'

Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against Yahweh!" Nathan said to David, "Yahweh has also forgiven your sin; you shall not die.

David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.

The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them.

It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David [were] afraid to tell him that the child [was] dead, for they said, "Look, when the child [was] alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, 'The child [is] dead'? He may do [something] evil."

And he said to him, "Why [are] you so sullen {every morning}, O son of the king? Will you not tell me?" And Amnon said to him, "I [am] in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom."

Then Tamar said to him, "No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

As for me, where should I take my disgrace? You will be as one of the fools in Israel. So please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you."

But he [was] not willing to listen to her voice. He [was] stronger than she, and he forced her and lay with her.

She said to him, "No, because this evil in sending me away [is] greater than the other you have done to me." But he [was] not willing to listen to her.

Absalom her brother said to her, "[Was] Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he [is] your brother. {Do not take this matter to heart}." So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.

Absalom did not speak with Amnon {either bad or good}, for Absalom hated Amnon {over the matter when} he raped Tamar his sister.

The king said to Absalom, "No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you." And he urged him, but he [was] not willing to go, but he blessed him.

So Absalom said, "But [will you] not let Amnon my brother go with us?" And the king said to him, "Why should he go with you?"

Absalom commanded his servants, saying, "Please watch. At the moment the heart of Amnon [is] {tipsy} with wine, then I shall say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,' and you shall kill him! Don't be afraid. [Is] it not I myself who has commanded you? Be courageous and be {valiant!}

{While they were on the way}, the message came to David, "Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them [was] left."

Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, "My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, [are] dead, because only Amnon [is] dead. {Absalom was talking about it}, as it was being determined from the day he raped Tamar his sister.

So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, 'All the sons of the king [are] dead,' for only Amnon alone [is] dead."

So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, "Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself [with] oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for {a long time}.

And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, 'Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,' and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth."

The king said, "[Whoever] has spoken to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you again."

Then she said, "Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, {to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill}, [so that they] not wipe out my son." He said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground."

The woman said, "But why have you plotted like this against the people of God? By speaking this word, he is guilty not to bring back his banished one.

For {we must certainly die}, and [we are] as the waters spilled to the ground which cannot be gathered. God will not take a life but devises plans for a banished person not to be cast out from him.

The king answered and said to the woman, "Please do not withhold from me a thing which I [am] about to ask you." The woman said, "Please let my lord the king speak."

The king said, "Let him go over to his house, and he may not see my face." So Absalom went over to his house, and did not see the face of the king.

As far as Absalom, there was not a more handsome man in all of Israel to admire so much; from the sole of his foot up to his crown, there was no physical defect on him.

Absalom lived in Jerusalem {two full years}, but he did not see the face of the king.

So Absalom sent for Joab, [in order that he] send him to the king, but he was not willing to go to him. He sent again a second [time], but he [was] not willing to go.

Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything.

[Will] not Zadok and Abiathar the priests [be] with you there? It shall be that all the words you hear from the house of the king you shall tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Absalom said to Hushai, "This [is] your loyal love with your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?"

{Furthermore}, for whom have I served? [Is] it not in the presence of his son that I have served before your father? {So shall I serve you}!"

So Hushai came to Absalom, who said to him, "Shall we do according to this word [that] Ahithophel has spoken? If not, then you tell [us]."

Then Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel gave [is] not good {at this time}."

Hushai continued, "You know your father and his men, that they [are] mighty warriors and they {are enraged} as a bear robbed of [her] offspring in the field. Your father [is] a man of war, so he will not spend the night with the troops.

Then we will come to him in one of the places where he may be found, and we shall come upon him as the dew falls on the ground. He and all the men who are with him will not survive, [not] even one!

[Even] if he withdraws to a city, all Israel will bring up ropes to that city, and they will drag him away to the valley until there [is] not even a pebble to be found."

So then, send quickly and tell David, 'Don't spend the night at the fords of the wilderness! Moreover, by all means cross over lest the king and all the people who [are] with him be swallowed up.'"

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz [were] staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they [were] not able to be seen coming to the city.

When the servants of Absalom came to the woman [at] the house, they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And she said to them, "They crossed over the brook of water." So they searched but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

So David and all the people who [were] with him set out, and they crossed over the Jordan until morning light until {there was no one} missing who had not crossed over the Jordan.

When Ahithophel saw that his advice [was] not followed, he saddled the donkey, and he set out and went up to his house in his city. {After he set his house in order}, he hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.

Then the troops said, "You will not go out, for {if we must flee}, then {they will not care about us}; even if half of us die, {they will not care about us}, but now, you [are] like ten thousand of us. And so then, [it is] better for us that you be in the city to help."

Then Joab said to the man who [was] telling him, "Look, [if] you saw, why did you not strike him down to the ground there? {I would have gladly given you} ten pieces of silver and a leather belt."

The man said to Joab, "{Even if I felt the weight} of a thousand pieces of silver in my palms, I would not have sent my hand against the son of the king, for in our ears the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Whoever you may be, protect the young man Absalom.'

If I had dealt treacherously against his life, and [there is] not any matter hidden from the king, {you would have presented yourself aloof}."

Joab said to him, "You [will] not [be] a man {bringing} good news this day! You may bring good news on another day, but today you will not be bringing good news because the king's son is dead."

The king said, "[Is] it peace for the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz said, "I saw the great commotion when Joab the servant of the king sent your servant, but I do not know what [it was all about]."

So then, get up and go out and {speak kindly to your servants}, for I swear by Yahweh, if you do not go out, no man will lodge this night with you, and this disaster [will be] greater for you than any disaster that has come upon you from your childhood until now!"

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.'"

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!

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?"

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 all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because the king [is] my close relative! Why [are] you this angry over this matter? {Have we by any means eaten [anything] from the king? Did we take by any means anything that was not ours}?"

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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?"

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."

For I have kept the ways of Yahweh; I have not acted wickedly against my God.

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

You have broadened my steps beneath me; my ankles have not wobbled.

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.

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

You delivered me from the strife of my people; you preserved me as the head of the nations. A people I had not known served me.

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.

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.