2nd. SAMUEL

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Fred Miller's Revised King James' Version

2nd. SAMUEL

CHAPTERS: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

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2nd. Samuel 1
¹Now after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and David abode two days in Ziklag, ²On the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn and earth upon his head and when he came to David, he fell to the earth and did obeisance. ³And David said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I have escaped out of the camp of Israel. ⁴And David said to him, I beseech you, how did the matter go? tell me. And he answered, The people have fled from the battle and many of the people also have fallen and are dead and Saul and Jonathan his son are also dead. ⁵And David said to the young man who told him, How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead? ⁶And the young man who told him said, As I happened by chance on Mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned on his spear and lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. ⁷And when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me and I answered, Here I am. ⁸And he said to me, Who are you? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite. ⁹He said to me again, I beseech you stand on me and kill me for anguish is come on me because my life is yet whole in me. ¹⁰So I stood on him and killed him because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen and I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.
¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them and likewise all the men who were with him ¹²And they mourned and wept and fasted for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, until evening because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said to the young man who told him, Where are you from? And he answered, I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite. ¹⁴And David said to him, How were you not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy the LORD'S anointed? ¹⁵And David called one of the young men and said, Go near and fall on him. And he struck him so that he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, Your blood is on your head for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have killed the LORD'S anointed.
¹⁷And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. ¹⁸He also bade them to teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, behold, it is written in the book of Jasher. ¹⁹The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places. How are the mighty fallen! ²⁰Tell it not in Gath, publish it nor in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. ²¹You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor let there be rain on you nor fields of offerings for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. ²²From the blood of the slain, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back from the fat of the mighty and the sword of Saul did not return empty. ²³Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. ²⁴You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. ²⁵How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, you were killed in your high places. ²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me, your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. ²⁷How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished!
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Chapter 2
¹And after this David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said to him, Go up. And David said, Where shall I go up? And he said, to Hebron. ²So David went up and also his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail Nabal the Carmelite's wife. ³And David brought up his men who were with him, every man with his household and they dwelled in the cities of Hebron. ⁴And the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabeshgilead buried Saul. ⁵And David sent messengers to the men of Jabeshgilead and said to them, Blessed are you of the LORD for you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul and have buried him. ⁶And now let the LORD show kindness and truth to you and I also will return you this kindness because you have done this thing. ⁷Therefore now let your hands be strengthened and be valiant for your master Saul is dead and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.
⁸But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim ⁹And made him king over Gilead and over the Ashurites and over Jezreel and over Ephraim and over Benjamin and over all Israel. ¹⁰Ishbosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. ¹²And Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David, went out and met together by the pool of Gibeon and they sat down, the one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now rise and play before us and Joab said, Let them rise. ¹⁵Then there rose twelve of Benjamin and they went over by number who pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And they caught every one his neighbor by the head and thrust his sword in his neighbor's side so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath hazzurim (Field of Swords), which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷And there was a very sore battle that day and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
¹⁸And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁹And Asahel pursued after Abner and in going he did not turn to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. ²⁰Then Abner looked behind him and said, are you Asahel? And he answered, I am. ²¹And Abner said to him, Turn aside to your right hand or to your left and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²²And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab your brother? ²³But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him with the hind end of the spear under the fifth rib so that the spear came out behind him and he fell down there and died in the same place. And when many came to the place where Asahel fell down and died they stood still. ²⁴Joab and also Abishai pursued after Abner and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
²⁵And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner and became one troop and stood on the top of a hill. ²⁶Then Abner called to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then, before you bid the people to return from following their brothers? ²⁷And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone up every one from following his brother. ²⁸So Joab blew a trumpet and all the people stood still and did not pursue after Israel any more nor did they fight any more. ²⁹And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain and passed over the Jordan and went through all Bithron and they came to Mahanaim. ³⁰And Joab returned from following Abner and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked nineteen men of David's servants and Asahel. ³¹But the servants of David had struck Benjamin so that three hundred sixty of Abner's men died. ³²And they took up Asahel and buried him in the sepulcher of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night and they came to Hebron at the break of day.
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Chapter 3
¹Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David but David grew stronger and the house of Saul grew weaker. ²And sons were born to David in Hebron and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, ³And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur ⁴And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital, ⁵And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron. ⁶And while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul.
⁷And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why have you gone in to my father's concubine? ⁸Then Abner was very angry at the words of Ishbosheth and said, Am I a dog's head that you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? (Me, who, against Judah, shows kindness this day to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends and I have not delivered you into the hand of David. ⁹Let God do to Abner and more also, except, as the LORD has sworn to David, even so I do to him, ¹⁰To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba. ¹¹And he could not answer Abner a word again because he feared him. ¹²And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? Also saying, Make your league with me and behold, my hand shall be with you, to bring all Israel around to you. ¹³And he said, Good, I will make a league with you but one thing I require of you, that is, you shall not see my face, except you first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face. ¹⁴And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I espoused to me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. ¹⁵And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, Go, return. And he returned. ¹⁷And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, you sought for David in times past to be king over you. ¹⁸Now then do it for the LORD has spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and out of the hand of all their enemies. ¹⁹And Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin and Abner also went to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin. ²⁰So Abner came to David to Hebron and twenty men with him and David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹And Abner said to David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make a league with you and that you may reign over all that your heart desires. And David sent Abner away and he went in peace.
²²And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop and brought in a great spoil with them but Abner was not with David in Hebron for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace. ²³When Joab and all the host which was with him had come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king and he has sent him away and he is gone in peace. ²⁴Then Joab came to the king and said, What have you done? behold, Abner came to you, why is it that you have sent him away and he is quite gone? ²⁵You know Abner the son of Ner that he came to deceive you and to know your going out and your coming in and to know all that you do. ²⁶And when Joab had come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him again from the well of Sirah but David did not know it. ²⁷And when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and struck him there under the fifth rib so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother. ²⁸And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ²⁹Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father's house and let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue or who is a leper or who leans on a staff or who falls on the sword or who lacks bread. ³⁰So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle ³¹And David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, Tear your clothes and gird yourselves with sackcloth and mourn before Abner and king David himself followed the coffin. ³²And they buried Abner in Hebron and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner and all the people wept. ³³And the king lamented over Abner and said, Abner died as a fool dies? ³⁴Your hands were not bound nor your feet put into fetters, as a man falls before wicked men, so you fell and all the people wept over him again. ³⁵And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, till the sun is down. ³⁶And all the people took notice of it and it pleased them as what ever the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to kill Abner the son of Ner. ³⁸And the king said to his servants, Do you not know that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹And this day I am weak, though anointed king and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me. The LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
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Chapter 4
¹And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble and all the Israelites were troubled. ²And Saul's son had two men who were captains of bands. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin (for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin ³And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and were sojourners there until this day.) ⁴And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel and his nurse took him up and fled and as she hurried to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. ⁵And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon. ⁶And they came there in the midst of the house, as though they would have brought wheat and they struck him under the fifth rib and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. ⁷For Ishbosheth lay on his bed in his bedchamber and they struck him, when they came in the house and killed him and beheaded him and took his head and got away through the plain all night. ⁸And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to Hebron to David and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life and the LORD has avenged my lord the king of Saul and of his seed this day.
⁹And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite and said to them, As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity, ¹⁰When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him and killed him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his news. ¹¹How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood at your hand and take you away from the earth? ¹²And David commanded his young men and they killed them and cut off their hands and their feet and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the sepulcher of Abner in Hebron.
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Chapter 5
¹Then all the tribes of Israel came to David to Hebron and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. ²Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were he who led out and brought in Israel and the LORD said to you, You shall feed my people Israel and you shall be a captain over Israel. ³So all the elders of Israel came to the king in Hebron and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD and they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned over all Israel and Judah forty years. ⁵He reigned over Judah in Hebron seven years and six months and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty three years.
⁶And the king and his men went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land who spoke to David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here. Thinking, David cannot come in here. ⁷But David took the strong hold of Zion, the same is the city of David. ⁸And David said on that day, Whoever gets up to the gutter and strikes the Jebusites and the lame and the blind, who are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Therefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. ⁹So David dwelled in the fort and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. ¹⁰And David went on and grew great and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
¹¹And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David and cedar trees and carpenters and masons and they built a house for David. ¹²And David perceived that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. ¹³And David took more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron and there were still sons and daughters born to David. ¹⁴And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem, Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar also and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia, ¹⁶And Elishama and Eliada and Eliphalet.
¹⁷But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David and David heard of it and went down to the hold. ¹⁸The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹And David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand? And the LORD said to David, Go up for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand. ²⁰And David came to Baal Perazim (The lord of breaking) and David struck them there and said, The LORD has broken out on my enemies before me, as a bursting of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim (The lord of breaking). ²¹And the Philistines left their images there and David and his men burned them. ²²And the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. ²³And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, You shall not go up, but go around behind them and come on them opposite the mulberry trees. ²⁴And let it be, when you hear the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees that then you shall stir yourself for then the LORD shall go out before you to strike the host of the Philistines. ²⁵And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him and he struck the Philistines from Geba until you come to Gazer.
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Chapter 6
¹Again, David gathered together thirty thousand, all the chosen men of Israel. ²And David rose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who dwells between the cherubim. ³And they set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was in Gibeah and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. ⁴And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God and Ahio went before the ark. ⁵And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, on harps and on psalteries and on timbrels and on cornets and on cymbals.
⁶And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen shook it. ⁷And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah and God struck him there for his error and there he died by the ark of God. ⁸And David was displeased because the LORD had made a breach on Uzzah and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day. ⁹And David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? ¹⁰So David would not remove the ark of the LORD to him into the city of David but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite. ¹¹And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months and the LORD blessed Obededom and all his household.
¹²And king David was told, saying, The LORD has blessed the house of Obededom and all that pertains to him because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness. ¹³And when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. ¹⁴And David danced before the LORD with all his might and David was girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. ¹⁶And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷And they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. ¹⁸And as soon as David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. ¹⁹And he divided among all the people, a cake of bread and a good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine to every one among the whole multitude of Israel, to the women as well as men. So all the people departed every one to his house.
²⁰Then David returned to bless his household and Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! ²¹And David said to Michal, It was before the LORD, who chose me before your father and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play before the LORD ²²And I will be still more vile than this and will be base in my own sight and I shall be had in honor by the maidservants of whom you have spoken. ²³Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
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Chapter 7
¹And when the king sat in his house and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies, ²The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar but the ark of God dwells within curtains. ³And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart for the LORD is with you.
⁴But that night, the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, ⁵Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the LORD, Shall you build me a house for me to dwell in? ⁶Whereas I have not dwelled in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day but I have walked to and fro in a tent and in a Miskan. (Mishkan. Dwelling place of the Shekinah) ⁷In all the places in which I have walked with all the children of Israel did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why do you not build a house of cedar for me? ⁸Now therefore so shall you say to my servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel ⁹And I was with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies out of your sight and have made you a great name, like the names of the great men who are in the earth. ¹⁰I will also appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and not move anymore nor shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as they did previously ¹¹From the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel and now I have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that he will make you a house. ¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. ¹⁴I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men ¹⁵But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. ¹⁶And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. ¹⁷So Nathan spoke to David according to all these words and according to all this vision.
¹⁸Then king David went in and sat before the LORD and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹And this was yet a small thing in your sight, O Lord GOD, but you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? ²⁰And what can David say more to you? for you, Lord GOD, know your servant. ²¹For your word's sake and according to your own heart, you have done all these great things, to make your servant know them. ²²Therefore you are great, O LORD God for there is no one like you nor is there any God beside you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³And what one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself and to make him a name and to do for you great and terrible things for your land, before your people, who you redeemed to you from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? ²⁴For you have confirmed to yourself your people Israel to be a people to you for ever and you, LORD, have become their God. ²⁵And now, O LORD God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, do as you have said and establish it forever. ²⁶And let your name be magnified forever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel and let the house of your servant David be established before you. ²⁷For you, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house. Therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸And now, O Lord GOD, you are that God and your words are true and you have promised this goodness to your servant. ²⁹Therefore now let it please you to bless the house of your servant so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken it and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever.
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Chapter 8
¹And after this David struck the Philistines and subdued them and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines. ²And he struck Moab and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground, even with two lines, with one line he measured to put to death and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants and brought gifts. ³David also struck Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. ⁴And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen and David hamstringed all the chariot horses but reserved a hundred chariots from them. ⁵And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succor Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty two thousand men of the Syrians. ⁶Then David put garrisons in Syrian Damascus and the Syrians became servants to David and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David wherever he went. ⁷And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer and king David took exceedingly much brass.
⁹When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the host of Hadadezer, ¹⁰Then Toi sent Joram his son to king David, to salute him and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought vessels of silver and vessels of gold and vessels of brass with him ¹¹Which also king David dedicated to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all nations which he subdued, ¹²Of Syria and of Moab and of the children of Ammon and of the Philistines and of Amalek and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. ¹³And David created a name for himself when he returned from striking the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men. ¹⁴And he put garrisons in Edom, he put garrisons throughout all Edom and all those of Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved David wherever he went.
¹⁵And David reigned over all Israel and David executed judgment and justice to all his people. ¹⁶And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, ¹⁷And Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests and Seraiah was the scribe, ¹⁸And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites and David's sons were chief rulers.
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Chapter 9
¹And David said, Is there anyone of the house of Saul who is left yet that I may show kindness to him for Jonathan's sake? ²And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him to David, the king said to him, are you Ziba? and he said, Your servant is he. ³And the king said, Is there not anyone yet of the house of Saul so that I may show the kindness of God to him? and Ziba said to the king, Jonathan still has a son, who is lame in his feet. ⁴And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar. ⁵Then king David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. ⁶Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul had come to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold your servant! ⁷And David said to him, Fear not for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father and you shall eat bread at my table continually. ⁸And he bowed himself and said, What is your servant that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?
⁹Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant and said to him, I have given to your master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰You therefore and your sons and your servants, shall till the land for him and you shall bring in the fruits so that your master's son may have food to eat but Mephibosheth your master's son shall always eat bread at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so shall your servant do. As for Mephibosheth, the king said, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons. ¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all who dwelled in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth dwelled in Jerusalem for he ate continually at the king's table and was lame on both his feet.
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Chapter 10
¹And after this, the king of the children of Ammon died and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ²Then David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me and David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. ³And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that David honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has not David rather sent his servants to you, to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it? ⁴Therefore Hanun took David's servants and shaved off one half of their beards and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks and sent them away. ⁵When they told it to David, he sent to meet them because the men were greatly ashamed and the king said, Wait at Jericho until your beards are grown and then return.
⁶And when the children of Ammon saw that they reeked before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen and a thousand men of king Maacah and twelve thousand men of Ishtob. ⁷And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. ⁸And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate and the Syrians of Zoba and of Rehob and Ishtob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. ⁹When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians ¹⁰And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother so that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon. ¹¹And he said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ¹²Be of good courage and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God and the LORD do that which seems good to him. ¹³And Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Syrians and they fled before him. ¹⁴And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, then they also fled before Abishai and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem. ¹⁵And when the Syrians saw that they were struck before Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶And Hadarezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the river and they came to Helam and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them. ¹⁷And when David was told, he gathered all Israel together and passed over the Jordan and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David and fought with him. ¹⁸And the Syrians fled before Israel and David killed the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians and forty thousand horsemen and struck Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. ¹⁹And when all the kings who were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were struck before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the children of Ammon any more.
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Chapter 11
¹And after the year was expired, at the time when kings go out to battle David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David waited still at Jerusalem. ²And on one evening, David rose from off his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself and the woman was very beautiful to look on. ³And David sent and inquired about the woman and one said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? ⁴And David sent messengers and took her and she came in to him and he lay with her for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned to her house. ⁵And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am with child.
⁶And David sent to Joab, saying, Send Uriah the Hittite to me. And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷And when Uriah had come to him, David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did and how the war was prospering. ⁸And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and wash your feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house and a portion of meat from the king followed him ⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all of his lord's servants and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰And when they told David, saying, Uriah did not go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Did you not come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house? ¹¹And Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah, abide in tents and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camped in the open fields. Shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. ¹²And David said to Uriah, Wait here today also and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³And when David had called him, he ate and drank before him and he made him drunk and at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord but did not go down to his house.
¹⁴And in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire from him so that he may be struck and die. ¹⁶And when Joab observed the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that valiant men were. ¹⁷And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab and some of the people of the servants of David fell there and Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, ¹⁹And charged the messenger, saying, When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, ²⁰And if the king's anger rises and he says to you, Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall? then say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead. ²²So the messenger went and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³And the messenger said to David, Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us into the field and we were on them even to the entering of the gate. ²⁴And the shooters shot from off the wall on your servants and some of the king's servants are dead and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead. ²⁵Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Let not this thing displease you for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city and overthrow it and you shall encourage him. ²⁶And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷And when the mourning was past, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
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Chapter 12
¹And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said to him, There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds ³But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought up and nourished and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom and was to him like a daughter. ⁴And a traveler came to the rich man and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man who had come to him but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man who had come to him. ⁵And David's anger was kindled greatly against the man and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives, the man who has done this thing shall surely die ⁶And he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. ⁷And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul ⁸And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little, I would also have given to you such and such things. ⁹Wherefore have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. ¹¹Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹²For you did it secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. ¹³And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said to David, The LORD has also put away your sin, you shall not die. ¹⁴But because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme the child also who is born to you shall surely die.
¹⁵And Nathan departed to his house and the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David and it was very sick. ¹⁶David therefore sought God for the child and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the earth. ¹⁷And the elders of his house rose and went to him, to raise him up from the earth but he would not nor would he eat bread with them. ¹⁸And it was on the seventh day that the child died and the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voice. How then will he vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? ¹⁹But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. ²⁰Then David rose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house and when he required, they set bread before him and he ate. ²¹Then his servants said to him, What thing is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child, while he was alive but when the child was dead, you rose and ate bread. ²²And he said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me so that the child may live? ²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him but he shall not return to me. ²⁴And David comforted Bathsheba his wife and lay with her and went in to her and she bore a son and he called his name Solomon and the LORD loved him. ²⁵And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet and he called his name Jedidiah (beloved of YAH) because of the LORD.
²⁶And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon and took the royal city. ²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah and have taken the city of waters. ²⁸Now therefore gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name. ²⁹And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. ³⁰And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight of it was a talent of gold with the precious stones and it was set on David's head and he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance. ³¹And he brought forth the people who were in it and put them under saws and under harrows of iron and under axes of iron and made them pass through the brickkiln and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
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Chapter 13
¹And after this, Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar and Amnon the son of David loved her. ²And Amnon was vexed so that he fell sick for his sister Tamar for she was a virgin and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her. ³But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother and Jonadab was a very subtle man. ⁴And he said to him, Why, as the king's son, are you lean from day to day? Will you not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister. ⁵And Jonadab said to him, Lay down on your bed and make yourself sick and when your father comes to see you, say to him, I beseech you, let my sister Tamar come and give me food and dress the food in my sight so that I may see it and eat it at her hand. ⁶So Amnon lay down and made himself sick and when the king had come to see him, Amnon said to the king, I beseech you, let Tamar my sister come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight so that I may eat at her hand. ⁷Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to your brother Amnon's house and dress food for him. ⁸So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house and he was lying down. And she took flour and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. ⁹And she took a pan and poured them out before him but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, All men go out from me and every man went out from him ¹⁰And Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber so that I may eat of your hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother into the chamber. ¹¹And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, Come lie with me, my sister. ¹²And she answered him, No, my brother, do not force me for no such thing should be done in Israel. Do not do this folly. ¹³And I, where shall I cause my shame to go? and as for you, you shall be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I beseech you, speak to the king for he will not withhold me from you. ¹⁴But he would not listen to her voice but, being stronger than she, forced her and lay with her. ¹⁵Then Amnon hated her exceedingly so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her and Amnon said to her, Rise, be gone. ¹⁶And she said to him, There is no cause, this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me. But he would not listen to her. ¹⁷Then he called his servant who ministered to him and said, Put this woman out from me now and bolt the door after her. ¹⁸And she had a garment of divers colors on her for with such robes the king's daughters who were virgins were dressed. Then his servant brought her out and bolted the door after her ¹⁹And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her garment of divers colors which was on her and laid her hand on her head and went on crying. ²⁰And Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother, do not regard this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house.
²¹But when king David heard of all these things, he was very angry. ²²But Absalom did not speak to his brother Amnon good or bad and Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. ²³And after two full years, Absalom had sheep shearers in Baalhazor, which is beside Ephraim and Absalom invited all the king's sons. ²⁴And Absalom came to the king and said, Behold now, your servant has sheep shearers, let the king, I beseech you and his servants go with your servant. ²⁵And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we are chargeable to you. And he pressed him but he would not go but blessed him. ²⁶Then Absalom said, If not, I beseech you, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with you? ²⁷But Absalom pressed him so that he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. ²⁸Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Now mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine and when I say to you, Strike Amnon, then kill him. Do not fear. Haven't I commanded you? be courageous and be valiant. ²⁹And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons rose and every man went on his mule and fled.
³⁰And while they were in the way news came to David, saying, Absalom has killed all the king's sons and there is not one of them left. ³¹Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth and all his servants stood by with their torn clothes. ³²And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon only is dead for by the appointment of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. ³³Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead for only Amnon is dead. ³⁴But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, many people came by the way of the hillside behind him. ³⁵And Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons come, as your servant said, so it is. ³⁶And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voices and wept and the king also and all his servants wept very sore. ³⁷But Absalom fled and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. ³⁸So Absalom fled and went to Geshur and was there three years. ³⁹And the soul of king David longed to go forth to Absalom for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
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Chapter 14
¹Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. ²And Joab sent to Tekoah and brought a wise woman from there and said to her, I beseech you, feign yourself to be a mourner and now put on mourning apparel but do not anoint yourself with oil but be as a woman who had mourned a long time for the dead ³And come to the king and speak on this manner to him. So Joab put the words in her mouth ⁴And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said, Help, O king. ⁵And the king said to her, What troubles you? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman and my husband is dead. ⁶And your handmaid had two sons and the two struggled together in the field and there was no one to separate them and one struck the other and killed him. ⁷And, behold, the whole family has risen against your handmaid and they said, Deliver him who struck his brother so that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed and we will destroy the heir also and so they shall quench my coal which is left and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on the earth. ⁸And the king said to the woman, Go to your house and I will give charge concerning you. ⁹And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me and on my father's house and the king and his throne be guiltless. ¹⁰And the king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me and he shall not touch you any more. ¹¹Then she said, I beseech you, let the king remember the LORD your God, that you would not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth. ¹²Then the woman said, Let your handmaid, I beseech you, speak one word to my lord the king and he said, Say on. ¹³And the woman said, Why then have you thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king speaks this thing as one who is faulty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished. ¹⁴For we must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, neither does God respect any person. Yet he devises means so that his banished are not expelled from him. ¹⁵Now therefore I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid and your handmaid said, I will now speak to the king. It may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid ¹⁶For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. ¹⁷Then your handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. Therefore the LORD your God will be with you. ¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, Do not hide from me, I beseech you, the thing that I shall ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. ¹⁹And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken for your servant Joab, bade me and put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid ²⁰To bring about this form of speech your servant Joab has done this thing and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
²¹And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I will do this thing. Go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. ²²And Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself and thanked the king and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant. ²³So Joab rose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴And the king said, Let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house and did not see the king's face. ²⁵But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. There was no blemish in him from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head. ²⁶And when he polled his head, (for at every year's end he polled it because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight. ²⁷And there were born to Absalom three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of a fair countenance.
²⁸So Absalom dwelled two full years in Jerusalem and did not see the king's face. ²⁹Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king but he would not come to him and when he sent again the second time, he would not come. ³⁰Therefore he said to his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine and he has barley there, go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. ³¹Then Joab arose and came to Absalom to his house and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire? ³²And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here so that I may send you to the king, to say, Why have I come from Geshur? It would have been better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king's face and if there is any iniquity in me, let him kill me. ³³So Joab came to the king and told him and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed Absalom.
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Chapter 15
¹And after this, Absalom prepared chariots and horses and fifty men to run before him. ²And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate and when any man who had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him and said, Of what city are you? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. ³And Absalom said to him, See, your matters are good and right, but there is no man deputed of the king to hear you. ⁴Absalom also said, Oh that I were made judge in the land so that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me and I would do him justice! ⁵And when any man came near to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him. ⁶And in this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
⁷And at the end four years, (Heb. Forty years) Absalom said to the king, I beseech you, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron. ⁸For your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD. ⁹And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose and went to Hebron. ¹⁰But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron. ¹¹And two hundred men went with Absalom out of Jerusalem, who were called and they went in their simplicity and they did not know any thing. ¹²And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom.
¹³And a messenger came to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. ¹⁴And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise and let us flee, for we shall not otherwise escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. ¹⁵And the king's servants said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do what ever my lord the king shall appoint. ¹⁶And the king went out and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. ¹⁷And the king went out and all the people after him and waited in a place that was far off. ¹⁸And all his servants passed on beside him and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites passed on before the king, six hundred men who came after him from Gath. ¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you also go with us? Return to your place and abide with the king for you are a foreigner and also an exile. ²⁰Whereas you only came yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us? Seeing I go where I may. Return and take your brothers back. Let mercy and truth be with you. ²¹And Ittai answered the king and said, As the LORD lives and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there your servant will also be. ²²And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over and all his men and all the little ones who were with him. ²³And all the country wept with a loud voice and all the people passed over. The king himself also passed over the brook Kidron and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.
²⁴And lo, Zadok also and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God and they set down the ark of God and Abiathar went up, until all the people had finished passing out of the city. ²⁵And the king said to Zadok, Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I shall find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again and show me both it and his habitation. ²⁶But if he says thus, I have no delight in you, behold, here I am, let him do to me as seems good to him. ²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, are you a seer? return into the city in peace and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. ²⁸See, I will wait in the plain of the wilderness, until word comes from you to certify me. ²⁹Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem and they waited there. ³⁰And David went up by the ascent of Olivet and wept as he went up and had his head covered and he went barefoot and all the people who were with him, every man covered his head and they went up, weeping as they went up.
³¹And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I beseech you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. ³²And when David had come to the top of the mount, where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and earth on his head, ³³To whom David said, If you pass on with me, then you shall be a burden to me. ³⁴But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, I will be your servant, O king, as I have been your father's servant before, so I will now also be your servant, then you may defeat the counsel of Ahithophel for me. ³⁵And you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. ³⁶Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son and Jonathan Abiathar's son and by them you shall send to me every thing that you can hear. ³⁷So David's friend Hushai came into the city and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
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Chapter 16
¹And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled and on them two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred bunches of raisins and a hundred summer fruits and a bottle of wine. ²And the king said to Ziba, What do you mean by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride on and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat and the wine so that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink. ³And the king said and where is your master's son? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem for he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore the kingdom of my father to me. ⁴Then the king said to Ziba, Behold, all that pertains to Mephibosheth is yours. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech you that I may find grace in your sight, my lord, O king.
⁵And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of the house of Saul came out from there, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed while he came. ⁶And he cast stones at David and at all the servants of king David and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. ⁷And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, you bloody man and you man of Belial. ⁸The LORD has returned on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son and behold, you are taken in your mischief because you are a bloody man. ⁹Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I beseech you, let me go over and take off his head. ¹⁰And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Why have you done so? ¹¹And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth of my bowels, seeks my life, how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has bidden him. ¹²It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction and that the LORD will return good to me for his cursing this day. ¹³And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and cast dust. ¹⁴And the king and all the people who were with him, came weary and refreshed themselves there.
¹⁵And Absalom and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel with him. ¹⁶And when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, God save the king, God save the king. ¹⁷And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness to your friend? why did you not go with your friend? ¹⁸And Hushai said to Absalom, No, but whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel, choose, I be will his and I will abide with him. ¹⁹And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in your father's presence, so will I be in your presence. ²⁰Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. ²¹And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines, who he has left to keep the house and all Israel shall hear that you are abhorred of your father, then the hands of all who are with you shall be strong. ²²So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. ²³And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God, so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
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Chapter 17
¹Also Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men and I will arise and pursue after David this night. ²And I will come on him while he is weary and weak handed and will make him afraid and all the people who are with him shall flee and I will strike only the king. ³And I will bring back all the people to you. The return of everyone depends only on the man you seek. So all the people shall be in peace. ⁴And the saying pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel. ⁵Then Absalom said, Now also call Hushai the Archite and let us hear likewise what he says. ⁶And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, Ahithophel has spoken after this manner. Shall we do after his saying? if not, speak. ⁷And Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. ⁸For, Hushai said, you know your father and his men that they are mighty men and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field and your father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people. ⁹Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place and it will be, when some of them are overthrown at the first that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom. ¹⁰And he also who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and they who are with him are valiant men. ¹¹Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude and that you go to battle in your own person. ¹²So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground and there shall not be left so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him. ¹³Also, if he is gone into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city and we will draw it into the river, until there is not one small stone found there. ¹⁴And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil on Absalom.
¹⁵Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel and thus and thus have I counseled. ¹⁶Now therefore send quickly and tell David, saying, Do not lodge this night in the plains of the wilderness but speedily pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up. ¹⁷Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel so that they might not be seen to come into the city and a maidservant went and told them and they went and told king David. ¹⁸But a lad saw them and told Absalom, but both of them went away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, where they went down. ¹⁹And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and spread ground corn on it and the thing was not known. ²⁰And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They are gone over the brook of water. And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. ²¹And after they had departed, they came up out of the well and went and told king David and said to David, Arise and pass quickly over the water for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you. ²²Then David arose and all the people who were with him and they passed over the Jordan, by the morning light there did not lack one of them who had not gone over the Jordan. ²³And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and went home to his house, to his city and put his household in order and hanged himself and died and was buried in the sepulcher of his father. ²⁴Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. ²⁵And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab, which Amasa was the son of a man an Israelite whose name was Ithra who had gone into Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother. ²⁶So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. ²⁷And when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, ²⁸Brought beds and basins and earthen vessels and wheat and barley and flour and parched corn and beans and lentils and parched vegetables, ²⁹And honey and butter and sheep and cow's cheese for David and for the people who were with him, to eat for they said, The people are hungry and weary and thirsty, in the wilderness.
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Chapter 18
¹And David numbered the people who were with him and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. ²And David sent out a third part of the people under the hand of Joab and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, I will also surely go out with you myself. ³But the people answered, You shall not go out for if we flee away, they will not care for us nor if half of us die, will they care for us but now you are worth ten thousand of us therefore now it is better that you support us out of the city. ⁴And the king said to them, Whatever seems best to you I will do. And the king stood by the gate side and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. ⁶So the people went out into the field against Israel and the battle was in the woods of Ephraim, ⁷Where the people of Israel were killed before the servants of David and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men. ⁸For the battle was scattered there over the face of all the country and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
⁹And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode on a mule and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak and his head caught hold of the oak and he was taken up between heaven and earth and the mule that was under him went away. ¹⁰And a certain man saw it and told Joab and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. ¹¹And Joab said to the man who told him and behold, you saw him and why did you not strike him there to the ground? and I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a girdle. ¹²And the man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, yet I would not put forth my hand against the king's son for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom. ¹³Otherwise I should have worked folly against my own life for there is no matter hidden from the king and you yourself would have set yourself against me. ¹⁴Then Joab said, I can not wait with you. And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was still alive in the midst of the oak. ¹⁵And ten young men who bore Joab's armor surrounded and struck Absalom and killed him. ¹⁶And Joab blew the trumpet and the people returned from pursuing after Israel for Joab held back the people. ¹⁷And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the woods and laid a very great heap of stones on him and all Israel fled every one to his tent. ¹⁸Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up a pillar for himself, which is in the king's dale for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance and he called the pillar after his own name and it is called Absalom's place to this day.
¹⁹Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, Let me now run and bear news to the king, how that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies. ²⁰And Joab said to him, You shall not bear news this day but you shall bear news another day but this day you shall bear no news because the king's son is dead. ²¹Then Joab said to Cushi, Go tell the king what you have seen. And Cushi bowed himself to Joab and ran. ²²Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said yet again to Joab but however, I beseech you, let me also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Why will you run, my son, seeing that you have no news ready? ²³But he said, let me run. And he said to him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain and overran Cushi. ²⁴And David sat between the two gates and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate to the wall and lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man was running alone. ²⁵And the watchman cried and told the king. And the king said, If he is alone, there is news in his mouth. And he came quickly and drew near. ²⁶And the watchman saw another man running and the watchman called to the porter and said, Behold another man is running alone. And the king said, He also brings news. ²⁷And the watchman said, I think the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man and comes with good news. ²⁸And Ahimaaz called and said to the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth on his face before the king and said, Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king. ²⁹And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant and me your servant, I saw a great tumult but I did not know what it was. ³⁰And the king said to him, Turn aside and stand here. And he turned aside and stood still. ³¹And, behold, Cushi came and Cushi said, News, my lord the king for the LORD has avenged you this day of all those who rose up against you. ³²And the king said to Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king and all who rise against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is. ³³And the king was greatly moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would to God I had died for you, O Absalom, my son, my son!
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Chapter 19
¹And Joab was told, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom. ²And the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people for the people heard it said that day how the king was grieved for his son. ³And the people came by stealth into the city that day, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. ⁴But the king covered his face and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! ⁵And Joab came into the house to the king and said, You have shamed the faces of all your servants this day, who this day have saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines, ⁶In that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared this day that you regard neither princes nor servants for this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived and this day we had all died, then it would please you well. ⁷Now therefore rise, go out and speak comfortably to your servants for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go out, there will not be one to wait with you this night and that will be worse to you than all the evil that befell you from your youth until now. ⁸Then the king rose and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying, Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people came before the king for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
⁹And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines and now he has fled out of the land for Absalom. ¹⁰And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you not speak a word of bringing the king back? ¹¹And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. ¹²You are my brothers, you are my bones and my flesh, why then are you the last to bring back the king? ¹³And say to Amasa, are you not of my bone and of my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you will not be captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. ¹⁴And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man so that they sent this word to the king, Return and all your servants. ¹⁵So the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over the Jordan.
¹⁶And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David. ¹⁷And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him and they went over the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸And a ferry boat went over to carry over the king's household and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he came over the Jordan, ¹⁹And said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to me nor remember that which your servant perversely did the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem that the king should take it to his heart. ²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king. ²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the LORD'S anointed? ²²And David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah that you should this day be adversaries to me? Shall there be any man put to death this day in Israel? for do I not know that I am king over Israel this day? ²³Therefore the king said to Shimei, You shall not die. And the king swore to him.
²⁴And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king and had neither dressed his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace. ²⁵And when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth? ²⁶And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me for your servant said, I will saddle me an ass so that I may ride on it and go to the king, because your servant is lame. ²⁷And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is as an angel of God. Therefore do what is good in your eyes. ²⁸For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king, yet you set your servant among them who ate at your own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more to the king? ²⁹And the king said to him, Why do you speak any more of your matters? I have said, You and Ziba divide the land. ³⁰And Mephibosheth said to the king, Yes, let him take it all forasmuch as my lord the king has come again in peace to his own house.
³¹And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and went over the Jordan with the king, to conduct him over the Jordan. ³²Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. ³³And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me and I will feed you with me in Jerusalem. ³⁴And Barzillai said to the king, How long have I to live that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁵I am eighty years old this day and can I discern between good and evil? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king? ³⁶Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king and why should the king recompense me with such a reward? ³⁷ I beseech you, let your servant turn back again so that I may die in my own city and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold your servant Chimham, let him go over with my lord the king and do to him what shall seem good to you. ³⁸And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you and what ever you shall require of me, that I will do for you. ³⁹And all the people went over the Jordan. And when the king had come over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him and he returned to his own place.
⁴⁰Then the king went on to Gilgal and Chimham went on with him and all the people of Judah conducted the king and also half the people of Israel. ⁴¹And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and have brought the king and his household and all David's men with him, over the Jordan? ⁴²And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel because the king is near of kin to us. Why then are you angry for this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's cost? Or has he given us any gift? ⁴³And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, We have ten parts in the king and we also have more right in David than you. Why then did you despise us so that our advice should not be had first in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
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Chapter 20
¹And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite and he blew a trumpet and said, We have no part in David nor have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. O Israel, every man to his tent. ²So every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri but the men of Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem. ³And David came to his house at Jerusalem and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house and put them in custody and fed them but did not go into them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
⁴Then the king said to Amasa, Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days and you be present here. ⁵So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah but he waited longer than the set time which he had appointed him. ⁶And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue after him, lest he get fenced cities and escape from us. ⁷And Joab's men went out after him and the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. ⁸When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded to him and on it a girdle with a sword fastened on his loins in its sheath and as he went out it fell out. ⁹And Joab said to Amasa, are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. ¹⁰But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand. So he struck him with it in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground and did not strike him again and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. ¹¹And one of Joab's men stood by him and said, He who favors Joab and he who is for David, let him go after Joab. ¹²And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and cast a cloth on him, when he saw that every one who came by him stood still. ¹³When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
¹⁴And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and to Bethmaachah and all the Berites and they were gathered together and also went after him. ¹⁵And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah and they cast up a bank against the city and it stood in the trench and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. ¹⁶Then a wise woman cried out of the city, Hear, hear, I beseech you, say to Joab, Come near here so that I may speak with you. ¹⁷And when he had come near to her, the woman said, are you Joab? And he answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. And he answered, I hear. ¹⁸Then she spoke, saying, They used to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel and so they ended the matter. ¹⁹I am peaceable and faithful in Israel and you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? ²⁰And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy. ²¹The matter is not so but a man of Mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Deliver him only and I will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall. ²²Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
²³Now Joab was over all the host of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites ²⁴And Adoram was over the tribute and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder ²⁵And Sheva was scribe and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests. ²⁶And also Ira the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
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Chapter 21
¹Then there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul and for his bloody house, because he killed the Gibeonites. ²And the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them, (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites and the children of Israel had sworn to protect them and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.) ³Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and with what shall I make the atonement so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD? ⁴And the Gibeonites said to him, We will have no silver nor gold from Saul nor from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us. And he said, Whatever you say, that I will do for you. ⁵And they answered the king, The man who consumed us and who devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, ⁶Let seven men of his sons be delivered to us and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose. And the king said, I will give them. ⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite ⁹And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD and they fell all seven together and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
¹⁰And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped on them out of heaven and did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the animals of the field by night. ¹¹And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹²And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, who had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had killed Saul in Gilboa ¹³And he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. ¹⁴And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulcher of Kish his father and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was entreated for the land.
¹⁵Also the Philistines still had war again with Israel and David went down and his servants with him and fought against the Philistines and David grew faint. ¹⁶And Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass and he being girded with a new sword, thought to kill David. ¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah supported him and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall not go out to battle with us anymore so that you do not quench the light of Israel. ¹⁸And after this that there was a battle again with the Philistines at Gob, then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹And there was a battle again in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ²⁰And there was another battle in Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had on every hand six fingers and on every foot six toes, twenty four in number and he also was born to the giant. ²¹And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David killed him. ²²These four were born to the giant in Gath and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
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Chapter 22
¹And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul.
²And he said, The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, ³The God of my rock, in him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge, my savior, you saved me from violence. ⁴I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies. ⁵When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid, ⁶The sorrows of hades surrounded me, the snares of death went before me, ⁷In my distress I called on the LORD and cried to my God and he heard my voice out of his temple and my cry entered into his ears. ⁸Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations of heaven moved and shook because he was angry. ⁹A smoke went up out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured, coals were kindled by it. ¹⁰He bowed the heavens also and came down and darkness was under his feet. ¹¹And he rode on a cherub and flew and he was seen on the wings of the wind. ¹²And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. ¹³ Coals of fire were kindled through the brightness before him. ¹⁴The LORD thundered from heaven and the most High uttered his voice. ¹⁵And he sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and confused them. ¹⁶And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. ¹⁷He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters, ¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me for they were too strong for me. ¹⁹They went before me in the day of my calamity but the LORD was my stay. ²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me. ²¹The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me. ²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not departed wickedly from my God. ²³For all his judgments were before me and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. ²⁴I was also upright before him and have kept myself from my iniquity. ²⁵Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eye sight. ²⁶With the merciful you will show yourself merciful and with the upright man you will show yourself upright. ²⁷With the pure you will show yourself pure and with the perverse you will show yourself unsavory. ²⁸And you will save the afflicted people but your eyes are on the haughty, that you may bring them down. ²⁹For you are my lamp, O LORD and the LORD will lighten my darkness. ³⁰For by you I have run through a troop, by my God I have leaped over a wall. ³¹As for God, his way is perfect, the word of the LORD is tried. He is a buckler to all those who trust in him. ³²For who is God, except the LORD? and who is a rock, beside our God? ³³God is my strength and power and he makes my way perfect. ³⁴He makes my feet like hinds' feet and sets me on my high places. ³⁵He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by my arms. ³⁶You have also given me the shield of your salvation and your gentleness has made me great. ³⁷You have enlarged my steps under me so that my feet did not slip. ³⁸I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them and did not turn again until I had consumed them. ³⁹And I have consumed them and wounded them so that they could not rise, yes, they have fallen under my feet. ⁴⁰For you have girded me with strength to battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. ⁴¹You have also given me the necks of my enemies so that I might destroy those who hate me. ⁴²They looked but there was no one to save, even to the LORD but he did not answer them. ⁴³Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I stamped them as the mire of the street and spread them abroad. ⁴⁴You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people, you have kept me to be head of the heathen. a people who I did not know shall serve me. ⁴⁵Foreigners shall submit themselves to me, as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient to me. ⁴⁶Foreigners shall fade away and they shall be afraid out of their close places. ⁴⁷The LORD lives and blessed be my rock and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. ⁴⁸It is God who avenges me and who brings down the people under me, ⁴⁹And who brings me forth from my enemies, you also have lifted me up on high above those who rose up against me, you have delivered me from the violent man. ⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks to you among the heathen, O LORD and I will sing praises to your name. ⁵¹He is the tower of salvation for his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David and to his seed forevermore.
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Chapter 23
¹Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, ²The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me and his word was in my tongue. ³The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. ⁴And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. ⁵Although my house is not so with God, yet he has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire, even if he does not make it grow. ⁶But the sons of Belial, all of them are thrust away as thorns because they cannot be taken with hands ⁷But the man who shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.
⁸These are the names of the mighty men whom David had. The Tachmonite who sat in the seat, chief among the captains, the same was Adino the Eznite, he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he killed at one time. ⁹And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there together to battle and the men of Israel were gone away, ¹⁰He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clung to the sword and the LORD worked a great victory that day and the people returned after him only to spoil. ¹¹And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where a piece of ground full of lentils was and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹²But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and killed the Philistines and the LORD worked a great victory. ¹³And three of the thirty chief went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴And David was then in a hold and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵And David longed and said, Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! ¹⁶And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David but he would not drink it but poured it out to the LORD. ¹⁷And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD that I should do this. This is the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives. therefore he would not drink it. These things these three mighty men did. ¹⁸And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them and had the name among three. ¹⁹Was he not most honorable of three? therefore he was their captain but he did not attain to the first three. ²⁰And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he killed two lion-like men of Moab, he went down also and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow, ²¹And he killed an Egyptian, a goodly man and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a staff and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. ²²These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did and had the name among three mighty men. ²³He was more honorable than the thirty but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard. ²⁴Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, ³⁰Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, ³¹Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armorbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite, ³⁹Uriah the Hittite, thirty seven in all.

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Chapter 24
¹And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them saying, Go, number Israel and Judah. ²For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba and number the people so that I may know the number of the people. ³And Joab said to the king, Now the LORD your God add to the people a hundredfold. how many soever they are and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it but why does my lord the king delight in this thing? ⁴But the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. ⁵And they passed over the Jordan and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lies in the midst of the river of Gad and toward Jazer. ⁶Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtimhodshi and they came to Danjaan and about to Zidon, ⁷And came to the strong hold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba. ⁸So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people to the king and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
¹⁰And David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, I have sinned greatly in what I have done and now, I beseech you, O LORD, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly. ¹¹For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, ¹²Go and say to David, Thus says the LORD, I offer you three things, choose one of them so that I may do it to you. ¹³So Gad came to David and told him and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? or will you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? or that there are three days' pestilence in your land? now advise and see what answer I shall return to him who sent me. ¹⁴And David said to Gad, I am in a great strait, let us fall now into the hand of the LORD, for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hand of man. ¹⁵So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning even to the time appointed and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. ¹⁶And when the angel stretched out his hand on Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil and said to the angel who destroyed the people, It is enough, stay now your hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷And David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people and said, Lo, I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I beseech you, be against me and against my father's house.
¹⁸And Gad came that day to David and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁹And David went up, according to the saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded. ²⁰And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him and Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king on his face on the ground. ²¹And Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD so that the plague may be stayed from the people. ²²And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. ²³ Araunah did all these things, as a king gives to the king. And Araunah said to the king, The LORD your God accept you. ²⁴And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will surely buy it from you at a price nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God of that which costs me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵And David built an altar there to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land and the plague was stayed from Israel.
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