In any way where I went among the children of Israel, spake I one word with any of the tribes of Israel which I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying: why build ye not me a house of cedar trees?'

But my mercy will I not take away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put down before thee.

And David said, "Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan's sake and will restore thee all the fields of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat meat on mine own table always."

But Uriah slept at the door of the king's palace with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

Then they told David, saying, "Uriah descended not into his house." Then said David unto Uriah, "Seeing that thou art come from journeying, why dost thou not go down unto thine house?"

And Uriah said unto David, "The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in pavilions; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord lie in tents upon the flat earth - and should I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By thy life and as sure as thy soul liveth, I will not do that thing."

And David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk. And at even he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of the lord, and went not down to his house.

if he begin to fume and say unto thee, 'Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city to fight? Wist ye not that men would hurl and shoot from the walls?

Who smote Abimelech son of Jerubbosheth? Did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from off the walls, that he died in Thebes? Why then went ye nigh the walls?" Then say thou, 'Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'"

Then said David unto the messenger, "Thus wise say unto Joab, 'Let not that thing trouble thee. For the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city and destroy it, and see that thou courage, Joab."

And there came a stranger unto the rich man. And he could not find in his heart to take of his own sheep nor of his beasts to dress for the stranger that was come unto him. But took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him."

Then said David unto Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said again to David, "The LORD hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

And David besought God for the boy and fasted and went and lay all night upon the earth.

And the elders of his house arose and went to him to take him up from the earth. But he would not, neither yet eat meat with them.

And it happened the seventh day that the child died. But the servants of David durst not tell him that the child was dead. For they said, "See, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice. How much more then will he vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead?"

But now, seeing it is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him again any more? I shall go to him: but he shall not come again to me."

And he said unto him, "How cometh it that thou, being the king's son, art thus consumed every morning? Mayest thou not tell it me?" And Amnon answered him, "I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister."

and took a platter and poured them out before him. And Amnon would not eat, but commanded to have out all men from him. And they went all out from him.

And she answered him, "Nay, my brother, do not force me, for it ought not to be so in Israel. Do not this folly.

For whither shall I go with my shame? And thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. But speak unto the king, and he shall not deny me unto thee."

Howbeit, he would not hearken unto her voice but was too strong for her and forced her and lay with her.

Then she said unto him, "This great cruelness, that thou puttest me away, passeth the other that thou didst unto me." Nevertheless he would not hear her,

Then Absalom her brother said unto her, "Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? Now then, be still my sister: for he is thy brother. And let not this thing grieve thine heart." And so Tamar remained discomforted in her brother Absalom's house.

And the king said unto Absalom, "Oh nay my son let us not go every one of us that we be not chargeable unto thee." And Absalom lay sore upon him: howbeit, he would not go, but blessed him.

Then Absalom commanded his young men, saying, "Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I bid you smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not, for it is I that bid you. Be bold therefore and play the lusty bloods."

Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah David's brother answered and said, "Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons: save Amnon only is dead. For that hath been ever in Absalom's mouth since he forced his sister Tamar.

Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing so grievously to think that all the king's sons were dead, when Amnon only is dead."

he sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, "Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel. And anoint not thyself with oil. But be as a woman that had long time mourned for the death of somebody.

Then said she, "Let the king remember his LORD God, that the next of the blood gather not on heaps together to destroy, and that they slay not my son." And he said, "As sure as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son's head fall to the earth."

And the woman said, "Wherefore then hast thou determined on this same manner against the people of God? - That the king should speak this thing and be faulty therein, so that the king should not fetch home again his banished.

For we must needs die, and perish as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again: and God will not take away the life, but find the means that the banished be not utterly expelled from him.

Then the king answered and said unto the woman, "Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee." And the woman said, "Let my lord the king say on."

Then said the king, "Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this matter?" And the woman answered, and said, "As sure as thy soul liveth, my lord king, it is neither on the righthand nor on the left that my lord the king hath spoken. For thy servant Joab he bade me, and he put all these words even in the mouth of thine handmaid.

Then said the king, "Let him turn to his own house, but see that he come not in my presence." And so Absalom went to his own house, but came not in the king's presence.

Moreover, in all Israel there was not so goodly a man as Absalom, or so greatly praised - from the sole of his foot to the top of his head there was no blemish in him.

But he would not come to him. And he sent again, and for all that he would not come.

Then said David unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, "Up, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart; lest he come suddenly and catch us and bring some mischief upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword."

And Absalom said again to Hushai, "Is this the kindness thou owest to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with him?"

And Hushai said unto Absalom, "Nay, not so: but whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I dwell.

Then Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me choose out, I pray thee, twelve thousand men. And I will up and follow after David by night.

When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him saying, "Ahithophel hath given such counsel: whether it be best we do after his saying, or not, tell thou."

Then said Hushai to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and the men that are with him, how that they be strong men. And they be chafed in their minds, even as a bear robbed of her whelps. And thy father is a man practiced in war, and will not lie a nights among the common people.

And we will come upon him in one place or other, where we shalt find him, and we will pitch a field against him, even as thick as the dew falleth on the ground. And there shall not one of them be left, neither he nor any of all that are with him.

Moreover, if he take a town then shall all the men of Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one stone found upon another."

Now therefore send quickly and show David, saying, 'Tarry not all night in the fields of the wilderness, but get thee over, lest the king be devoured and all the people that are with him.'"

As for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, they stood by the well of Rogel, and a damsel went thither and told them. They went on their way and told King David, for they durst not be seen to come into the city.

And the wife took and spread a coverlet on the top of the well and strawed thereon steeped barley to dry. And the thing was not spied.

And when Absalom's servants came to the wife to the house and asked where one Ahimaaz and Jonathan were, the wife said unto them, "They be gone over the little brook of water." And when they had sought them and could not find them, then they returned to Jerusalem.

Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they were come over Jordan by that it was day, that there lacked not one of them that was not come over Jordan.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and gat him home to his own house and to his own city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

And the people answered, "Nay, for if we flee, our adversaries will not care for us: neither, though half of us were slain, shall they regard us. But thou were worth ten thousand of us. And therefore it is better that thou be ready to succor us out of the city."

And Joab said unto him that told him, "Lo, sawest thou him? And why didst thou not there smite him to the ground, that I should have given thee ten sicles of silver and a soldier's girdle?"

And the man answered Joab, "Though I had a thousand sicles of silver told in my hand yet would I not stretch out mine hand against the king's son. For we heard with our ears when the king charged thee, Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Spare me the lad Absalom.'

Then said Joab, "I may not stand tarrying with thee. And therewith he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive on the body of the tree.

And the king said, "Is the lad Absalom safe?" And Ahimaaz answered, "I saw a great ado, when the king's servant Joab sent me thy servant. But I know not what it was."

Now therefore up and come out, and speak kindly unto thy servants, I swear by the LORD, except thou come out, there will not tarry one man with thee this night. And that will be worse unto thee, than all the evil that fell on thee from thine youth unto this hour."

And now he is fled out of the land for Absalom. But Absalom whom we anointed over us is dead in battle. Now therefore why are ye so still, that ye bring not the king again?"

And say to Amasa, 'Art thou not my bone and my flesh? And God do so to me and so thereto: except thou be captain of the host to me forever in the room of Joab.'"

and said unto him, "Let not my lord impute wickedness unto me, nor let him not remember the wickedness that thy servant did, when my lord the king departed out of Jerusalem that the king should take it to heart.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, "Shall Shimei not die for that cause: which cursed the LORD's anointed?"

And the king said unto Shimei, "Thou shalt not die," and sware unto him.

And when he was come to Jerusalem toward the king, the king said unto him, "Wherefore went not thou with me Mephibosheth?"

And the king said, "It needeth thee not to speak any more, for I have said that thou and Ziba shall divide the lands between you."

I am this day four score year old: and therefore can not discern savoury from unsavoury, neither hath thy servant pleasure in that he eateth or drinketh: nor yet delectation in the songs of men or women. It is no need that thy servant be a burden unto my lord the king:

And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, "We have ten parts in the king, and have thereto more right to David than ye. Why then did ye despise us, that our advice had not been first had in restoring our king again?" And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

The matter is not so: But there is a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, which hath lifted up his hand against king David. Deliver us him only, and I will depart from the city." And the woman said unto Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown through the wall to thee."

And the king called the Gibeonites and spake unto them. Now these Gibeonites are not of the children of Israel, but a remnant of the Amorites - and the children of Israel sware unto them. And yet Saul sought to slay them, for a zeal that he had to the children of Israel and of Judah.

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it under her upon the rock, even from the beginning of harvest until rain dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to fall on them by day nor beasts of the field by night.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him and smote the Philistine and killed him. Then the servants of David sware unto him, saying, "Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that the light of Israel be not put out."

And thou madest me space to walk in, that my feet should not stumble.

I followed mine enemies and destroyed them, and turned not again until I had consumed them.

I wasted them and so clouted them, that they could not arise: but fell under my feet.

They looked for help, but none came to save them: unto the LORD they cried, but he heard them not.

And thou deliveredst me from the dissension of my people, and keepest me to be a head over nations, for the people which I knew not became my servants.

And is not mine house so with God? In that he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, perfect in all points. And in that he shall fulfill all that is healthsome unto me, and all my desires thereto;

And anon the three mighty brake through the Host of the Philistines and fetched water out of the well of Bethlehem that was in the gate, and took and brought it to David: Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but offered it unto the LORD

and said, "The LORD forbid that I should do so! Should I drink the blood of men that were in jeopardy of their lives?" And so he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

For he was nobler man than the three and was their captain. Howbeit he attained not unto those three in acts.

Such things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and was the noblest of thirty: But not like to any of the three in facts of war.

Then said David unto Gad, "I am in a marvelous strait. But let me fall I pray thee, into the hands of the LORD, for much is his mercy, and let me not fall into the hands of men.

But the king said unto Araunah, "Not so, but I will buy it of thee at a price, and will not offer sacrifice unto the LORD my God that shall cost me nought." And so David bought the threshing floor, and the oxen for fifty sicles of silver.

And the damsel was exceeding fair, and cherished the king and ministered to him: But the king knew her not.

And his father rebuked him not at any time, nor said so much to him as "Why dost thou so?" And he was thereto a goodly man and his mother bare him next, after Absalom.

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and the men of might which were with David, favored not Adonijah.

But Nathan the prophet and Benaiah and the mighty men and Solomon his brother he bade not.

Whereupon Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, "Hast thou not heard how that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, unwitting unto our master David?

Go and get thee unto king David, and say unto him, 'Didst thou not, my lord king, sware unto thy handmaid saying: Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my seat? Why, then, is Adonijah made king?'

But now see, Adonijah is king and thou my lord king knowest it not.

And he hath offered oxen, fatlings and sheep abundantly, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the Host. But Solomon thy servant hath he not bidden.

But me, thy servant, and Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon he hath not called.

Is this thing done of my lord the king and yet wouldest not show me thy servant, who should sit on the seat of my lord the king after him?"

And it was told Solomon, how that Adonijah for fear of king Solomon hath caught handfast by the horns of the altar, saying, "Let king Solomon swear unto me this day, that he will not slay his servant with the sword."

And Solomon said, "If he will be a child of virtue, there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth. But and if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die for it."

Deal with him therefore according to thy wisdom and see that thou bring not his hoar head down to the grave in peace.

And see, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin of Bahurim, which cursed me with a bitter curse what time I went to Mahanaim. But he came against me to Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, "I will not slay thee with the sword."

But pardon thou him not. Thou art a man of wisdom and shalt know what to do to him, see therefore that thou bring his hoar head to the grave with blood."

And he said, "Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel put their eyes on me, that I should reign. Howbeit, the kingdom was turned away and given to my brother, for it was appointed him of the LORD: and now I ask a petition of thee, whereof deny me not."

Then he said, "Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king - for he will not say thee nay - that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife."

Then she said, "I must desire a little petition of thee: say me not nay." And the king said unto her, "Ask on my mother: for I will not say thee nay."