2 SAMUEL
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2 Samuel 1
1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from
the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;
2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the
camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and [so] it was,
when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou?
And he said unto him, Out of the camp of
4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray
thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are
fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul
and Jonathan his son are dead also.
5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul
and Jonathan his son be dead?
6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened
by chance upon
7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered,
Here [am]
8 And he said unto me, Who [art] thou? And I answered him,
I [am] an Amalekite.
9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish
is come upon me, because my life [is] yet whole in me.
10 So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live
after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that [was] upon his head, and
the bracelet that [was] on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.
11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men
that [were] with him:
12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for
Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of
13 And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence
[art] thou? And he answered, I [am] the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.
14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid
to stretch forth thine hand to destroy Yahweh's anointed?
15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, [and] fall upon
him. And he smote him that he died.
16 And David said unto him, Thy blood [be] upon thy head; for thy mouth hath
testified against thee, saying, I have slain Yahweh's anointed.
17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:
18 (Also he bade them teach the children of
19 The beauty of
20 Tell [it] not in
21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, [let there be] no dew, neither [let there be] rain,
upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely
cast away, the shield of Saul not anointed with oil.
22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan
turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
23 Saul 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.
24 Ye daughters of
25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, [thou
wast] slain in thine high places.
26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been
unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
1 And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go up
into any of the cities of
2 So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess,
and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite.
3 And his men that [were] with him did David bring up, every man with his
household: and they dwelt in the cities of
4 And the men of
5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and said unto them, Blessed [be] ye of Yahweh, that ye have shewed this kindness
unto your lord, [even] unto Saul, and have buried him.
6 And now Yahweh shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you
this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
7 Therefore now let your hands be
strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of
Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
9 And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and
over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
10 Ishbosheth Saul's son [was] forty years old when he began to reign over
11 And the time that David was king in
12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul,
went out from Mahanaim to
13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met
together by the pool of
14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And
Joab said, Let them arise.
15 Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which
[pertained] to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
16 And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and [thrust] his sword in
his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called
Helkathhazzurim, which [is] in
17 And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men
of
18 And there were three sons of
Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel [was as] light of foot
as a wild roe.
19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not
to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, [Art] thou Asahel? And he answered,
I [am].
21 And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and
lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel
would not turn aside from following of him.
22 And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore
should I smite thee to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab
thy brother?
23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the
spear smote him under the fifth [rib], that the spear came out behind him; and
he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, [that] as
many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
24 Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they
were come to the hill of Ammah, that [lieth] before Giah by the way of the
wilderness of
25 And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and
became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill.
26 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter
end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the
people return from following their brethren?
27 And Joab said, [As] God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the
morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
28 So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after
29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed
over
30 And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the
people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel.
31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, [so
that] three hundred and threescore men died.
32 And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father,
which [was in]
1 Now there was long war between
the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and
stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.
2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of
Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
3 And 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;
4 And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the
son of Abital;
5 And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in
6 And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the
house of David, that Abner made himself strong for the
house of Saul.
7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name [was] Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and
[Ishbosheth] said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's
concubine?
8 Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, [Am] I a
dog's head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of
Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered
thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault
concerning this woman?
9 So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as Yahweh hath sworn to David,
even so I do to him;
10 To 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.
11 And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him.
12 And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose
[is] the land? saying [also], Make thy league with me,
and, behold, my hand [shall be] with thee, to bring about all
13 And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require
of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal
Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.
14 And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth Saul's son, saying, Deliver [me] my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for an
hundred foreskins of the Philistines.
15 And Ishbosheth sent, and took her from [her] husband, [even] from Phaltiel
the son of Laish.
16 And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said
Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.
17 And Abner had communication with the elders of
18 Now then do [it]: for Yahweh
hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of My
servant David I will save My people
19 And Abner also spake in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner went also 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.
20 So Abner came to David to
21 And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all
22 And, 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
23 When Joab and all the host that [was] with him were come, they told Joab,
saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and
he is gone in peace.
24 Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast
thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why [is] it
[that] thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?
25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know
thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.
26 And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which
brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew [it] not.
27 And when Abner was returned to
28 And afterward when David heard
[it], he said, I and my kingdom [are] guiltless before Yahweh for ever from the
blood of Abner the son of Ner:
29 Let 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 that hath an issue, or that is a
leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that
lacketh bread.
30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their
brother Asahel at
31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that [were] with him, Rend
your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David [himself] followed the bier.
32 And they buried Abner in
33 And the king lamented over
Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
34 Thy hands [were] not bound, nor thy feet put into
fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, [so] fellest thou. And all the
people wept again over him.
35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet
day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or
ought else, till the sun be down.
36 And all the people took notice [of it], and it pleased them: as whatsoever
the king did pleased all the people.
37 For all the people and all
38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and
a great man fallen this day in
39 And I [am] this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of
Zeruiah [be] too hard for me: Yahweh shall reward the doer of evil according to
his wickedness.
1 And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in
2 And Saul's son had two men [that were] captains of bands: the name of the 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.
3 And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until this
day.)
4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son [that was] lame of [his] feet. He was five
years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his
nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee,
that he fell, and became lame. And his name [was] Mephibosheth.
5 And 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.
6 And they came thither into the midst of the house, [as though] they would
have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth [rib]: and Rechab and
Baanah his brother escaped.
7 For when they came into the house, he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, and
they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and gat them
away through the plain all night.
8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to
9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the
Beerothite, and said unto them, [As] Yahweh liveth, Who hath redeemed my soul
out of all adversity,
10 When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought
good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who [thought] that I
would have given him a reward for his tidings:
11 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own
house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require
his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?
12 And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their
hands and their feet, and hanged [them] up over the pool in
1 Then came all the tribes of
2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out
and broughtest in
3 So all the elders of
4 David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign, [and] he reigned forty years.
5 In
6 And the king and his men went to
7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of
8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to
the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, [that are]
hated of David's soul, [he shall be chief and captain]. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of
10 And David went on, and grew great, and Yahweh, God of hosts, [was] with him.
11 And Hiram king of
12 And David perceived that Yahweh had established him king over
13 And David took [him] more concubines and wives out of
14 And these [be] the names of those that were born unto him in
15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.
17 But 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.
18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the
19 And David enquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt Thou deliver them into mine hand? And Yahweh said unto
David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, Yahweh
hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters.
Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.
21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the
23 And when David enquired of Yahweh, He said, Thou shalt not go up; [but]
fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry
trees.
24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the
mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall Yahweh go
out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
25 And David did so, as Yahweh had commanded him; and smote the Philistines
from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
1 Again, David gathered together all [the] chosen [men] of
2 And David arose, and went with all the people that [were] with him from Baale
of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the
name of Yahweh of hosts That dwelleth [between] the cherubims.
3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house
of Abinadab that [was] in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which [was] at Gibeah,
accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.
5 And David and all the house of
6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth [his hand] to
the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook [it].
7 And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there
for [his] error; and there he died by the ark of God.
8 And David was displeased, because Yahweh had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he
called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day.
9 And David was afraid of Yahweh that day, and said, How
shall the ark of Yahweh come to me?
10 So David would not remove the ark of Yahweh unto him into the city of
11 And the ark of Yahweh continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three
months: and Yahweh blessed Obededom, and all his
household.
12 And it was told king David, saying, Yahweh hath
blessed the house of Obededom, and all that [pertaineth] unto 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
13 And it was [so], that when they that bare the ark of Yahweh had gone six
paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
14 And David danced before Yahweh with all [his] might; and David [was] girded
with a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of
16 And as the ark of Yahweh came into the city of
17 And they brought in the ark of Yahweh, and set it in his place, in the midst
of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.
18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace
offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts.
19 And he dealt among all the people, [even] among the whole multitude of
20 Then 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
21 And David said unto Michal, [I danced] before Yahweh, Which chose me before
thy father, and before all His house, to appoint me
ruler over the people of Yahweh, over
22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be
base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of
them shall I be had in honour.
23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
1 And it came to pass, when the
king sat in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest round about from all his
enemies;
2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of
cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that [is] in thine heart; for Yahweh
[is] with thee.
4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of Yahweh came unto Nathan,
saying,
5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith Yahweh, Shalt thou build Me an house
for Me to dwell in?
6 Whereas I have not dwelt in [any] house since the time that I brought up the
children of
7 In all [the places] wherein I have walked with all the children of
8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto My servant David, Thus saith Yahweh of
hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler
over My people, over Israel:
9 And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine
enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name
of the great [men] that [are] in the earth.
10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them,
that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall
the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
11 And as since the time that I commanded judges [to be] over My people Israel,
and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also Yahweh telleth thee
that He will make thee an house.
12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I
will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I
will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build an house for My name, and I will
stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
14 I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he
commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes
of the children of men:
15 But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took [it] from Saul, whom
I put away before thee.
16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee:
thy throne shall be established for ever.
17 According to all these words,
and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
18 Then went king David in, and sat before Yahweh, and
he said, Who [am] I, O Lord Yahweh? and what [is] my
house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?
19 And this was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Lord Yahweh; but Thou hast
spoken also of Thy servant's house for a great while to come. And [is] this the
manner of man, O Lord Yahweh?
20 And what can David say more unto Thee? for Thou,
Lord Yahweh, knowest Thy servant.
21 For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all
these great things, to make Thy servant know [them].
22 Wherefore Thou art great, O Yahweh God: for [there is] none like Thee,
neither [is there any] God beside Thee, according to all that we have heard
with our ears.
23 And what one nation in the earth [is] like Thy 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 things and terrible, for Thy land, before Thy people, which
Thou redeemedst to Thee from Egypt, [from] the nations and their gods?
24 For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people
25 And now, O Yahweh God, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy
servant, and concerning his house, establish [it] for ever, and do as Thou hast
said.
26 And let Thy name be magnified for ever, saying, Yahweh of hosts [is] the God
over
27 For Thou, O Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to Thy servant,
saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath Thy
servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee.
28 And now, O Lord Yahweh, Thou [art] that God, and Thy words be true, and Thou
hast promised this goodness unto Thy servant:
29 Therefore now let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant, that it
may continue for ever before Thee: for Thou, O Lord Yahweh, hast spoken [it]:
and with Thy blessing let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever.
1 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and
subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
2 And he smote
3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to
recover his border at the river
4 And David took from him a thousand [chariots], and seven hundred horsemen,
and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot [horses], but
reserved of them [for] an hundred chariots.
5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah,
David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became
servants to David, [and] brought gifts. And Yahweh preserved David
whithersoever he went.
7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer,
and brought them to
8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king
David took exceeding much brass.
9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of
Hadadezer,
10 Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless
him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer
had wars with Toi. And [Joram] brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels
of gold, and vessels of brass:
11 Which also king David did dedicate unto Yahweh, with the silver and gold
that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;
12 Of 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.
13 And David gat [him] a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in
the valley of salt, [being] eighteen thousand [men].
14 And he put garrisons in
15 And David reigned over all
16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of
Ahilud [was] recorder;
17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, [were] the
priests; and Seraiah [was] the scribe;
18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was over] both the Cherethites and the
Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.
1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of
the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
2 And [there was] of the house of Saul a servant whose name [was] Ziba. And
when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, [Art] thou Ziba?
And he said, Thy servant [is he].
3 And the king said, [Is] there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may
shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath
yet a son, [which is] lame on [his] feet.
4 And the king said unto him, Where [is] he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he [is] in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.
5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the
house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.
6 Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David,
he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he
answered, Behold thy servant!
7 And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for
Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy
father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
8 And he bowed himself, and said, What [is] thy
servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I [am]?
9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given
unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all
his house.
10 Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him,
and thou shalt bring in [the fruits], that thy master's son may have food to
eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now
Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath
commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, [said the
king], he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.
12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name [was] Micha. And all that dwelt
in the house of Ziba [were] servants unto Mephibosheth.
13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in
1 And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon
died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
2 Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his
father shewed kindness unto 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.
3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest
thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath
sent comforters unto thee? hath not David [rather]
sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to
overthrow it?
4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their
beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, [even] to their buttocks, and
sent them away.
5 When they told [it] unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were
greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at
6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children
of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba,
twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob
twelve thousand men.
7 And when David heard of [it], he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty
men.
8 And 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.
9 When 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:
10 And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his
brother, that he might put [them] in array against the children of Ammon.
11 And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me,
then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee,
then I will come and help thee.
12 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the
cities of our God: and Yahweh do that which seemeth
Him good.
13 And Joab drew nigh, and the people that [were] with him, unto the battle
against the Syrians: and they fled before him.
14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled
they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the
children of Ammon, and came to
15 And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before
16 And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that [were] beyond the
river: and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer
[went] before them.
17 And when it was told David, he gathered all
18 And the Syrians fled before
19 And when all the kings [that were] servants to Hadarezer saw that they were
smitten before
1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go
forth [to battle], that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all
2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and
walked upon 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 upon.
3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And [one] said, [Is] not this
Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay
with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her
house.
5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I [am] with
child.
6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah
to David.
7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded [of him] how Joab did, and
how the people did, and how the war prospered.
8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah
departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess [of meat] from
the king.
9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his
lord, and went not down to his house.
10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house,
David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from [thy] journey? why
[then] didst thou not go down unto thine house?
11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and
12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let
thee depart. So Uriah abode in
13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made
him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his
lord, but went not down to his house.
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and
sent [it] by the hand of Uriah.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the
hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah
unto a place where he knew that valiant men [were].
17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell
[some] of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the
matters of the war unto the king,
20 And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore
approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew
ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did
not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in
Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then
say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him
for.
23 And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and
came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering
of the gate.
24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and [some] of the
king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not
this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make
thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou
him.
26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she
mourned for her husband.
27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and
she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing
that David had done displeased Yahweh.
1 And Yahweh sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto
him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and
the other poor.
2 The rich [man] had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor [man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought
and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it
did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and
was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his
own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come
unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was
come to him.
5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan,
[As] Yahweh liveth, the man that hath done this [thing] shall surely die:
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and
because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith Yahweh, God of Israel,
I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom,
and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too
little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of Yahweh, to do evil in His
sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the
sword, and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife, and hast slain him with the
sword of the children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou
hast despised Me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith Yahweh, Behold, I will raise up evil
against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine
eyes, and give [them] unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in
the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst [it] secretly: but I will do this thing before all
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Yahweh. And Nathan said
unto David, Yahweh also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast greatly blasphemed Yahweh, the child
also [that is] born unto thee shall surely die.
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And Yahweh struck the child that Uriah's
wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in,
and lay all night upon the earth.
17 And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to raise him up from
the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
18 And it came to pass 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 spake unto him,
and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we
tell him that the child is dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the
child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is
the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed [himself], and
changed his apparel, and came into the house of Yahweh, and worshipped: then he
came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he
did eat.
21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing [is]
this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for
the child, [while it was] alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise
and eat bread.
22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I
fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] Yahweh will be gracious to
me, that the child may live?
23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I
bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with
her: and she bare a son, and he called his name
Solomon: and Yahweh loved him.
25 And He sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and He called his name
Jedidiah, because of Yahweh.
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal
city.
27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah,
and have taken the city of waters.
28 Now 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.
29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought
against it, and took it.
30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof [was] a
talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And
he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.
31 And he brought forth the people that [were] therein, and put [them] under
saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass
through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of
Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto
1 And it came to pass after this,
that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name [was] Tamar; and
Amnon the son of David loved her.
2 And Amnon was so vexed, 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.
3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name [was] Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's
brother: and Jonadab [was] a very subtil man.
4 And he said unto him, Why [art]
thou, [being] the king's son, lean from day to day? wilt
thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's
sister.
5 And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick:
and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my
sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may
see [it], and eat [it] at her hand.
6 So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see
him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make
me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.
7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon's house,
and dress him meat.
8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. And she
took flour, and kneaded [it], and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the
cakes.
9 And she took a pan, and poured [them] out before him; but he refused to eat.
And Amnon said, Have out all men from me. And they went out every man from him.
10 And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber,
that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had
made, and brought [them] into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
11 And when she had brought [them] unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and
said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister.
12 And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force
me; for no such thing ought to be done in
13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as
for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in
14 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she,
forced her, and lay with her.
15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her
[was] greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto
her, Arise, be gone.
16 And she said unto him, [There is] no cause: this evil in sending me away
[is] greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken
unto her.
17 Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this
[woman] out from me, and bolt the door after her.
18 And [she had] a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were
the king's daughters [that were] virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought
her out, and bolted the door after her.
19 And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that
[was] on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.
20 And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with
thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister: he [is] thy
brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother
Absalom's house.
21 But when king David heard of all these things, he
was very wroth.
22 And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom
hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
23 And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in
Baalhazor, which [is] beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king's sons.
24 And Absalom came to the king, and said, Behold now, thy servant hath
sheepshearers; let the king, I beseech thee, and his servants go with thy
servant.
25 And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be
chargeable unto thee. And he pressed him: howbeit he would not go, but blessed
him.
26 Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my
brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, Why
should he go with thee?
27 But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all
the king's sons go with him.
28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's
heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him,
fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and
be valiant.
29 And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then
all the king's sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule, and fled.
30 And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David,
saying, Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them
left.
31 Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay
on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent.
32 And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered and said, Let not
my lord suppose [that] they have slain all the young men the king's sons; for
Amnon only is dead: for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined
from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.
33 Now therefore let not my lord the king take the
thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for Amnon only
is dead.
34 But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes,
and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill side
behind him.
35 And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king's sons come: as thy servant
said, so it is.
36 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that, behold,
the king's sons came, and lifted up their voice and wept: and the king also and
all his servants wept very sore.
37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur.
And [David] mourned for his son every day.
38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
39 And [the soul of] king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was
comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah
perceived that the king's heart [was] toward Absalom.
2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her,
I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel,
and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned
for the dead:
3 And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the
words in her mouth.
4 And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the
ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And
she answered, I [am] indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and
[there was] none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
7 And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said,
Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his
brother whom he slew; 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 upon the earth.
8 And the king said unto the woman,
Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O kng, the iniquity [be]
on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.
10 And the king said, Whosoever saith [ought] unto
thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember Yahweh thy God, that thou
wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they
destroy my son. And he said, [As] Yahweh liveth, there shall not one hair of
thy son fall to the earth.
12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak [one] word unto
my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou
thought such a thing against the people of God? for
the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth
not fetch home again his banished.
14 For we must needs die, and [are] as water spilt on the ground, which cannot
be gathered up again; neither doth God respect [any] person: yet doth He devise
means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.
15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king,
[it is] because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will
now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of
his handmaid.
16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man
[that would] destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.
17 Then thine 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 Yahweh thy God will be with thee.
18 Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray
thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said,
Let my lord the king now speak.
19 And the king said, [Is not] the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the
woman answered and said, [As] thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn
to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken:
for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of
thine handmaid:
20 To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab 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.
21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the
king: and Joab said, To day thy servant knoweth that I
have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in that the king hath fulfilled
the request of his servant.
23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to
24 And 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 saw not the king's face.
25 But in all
26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that 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.
27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name [was]
Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in
29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would
not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he
hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field
on fire.
31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto [his] house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
32 And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say,
Wherefore am I come from Geshur? [it had been] good
for me [to have been] there still: now therefore let me see the king's face;
and if there be [any] iniquity in me, let him kill me.
33 So 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.
1 And it came to pass after this,
that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was
[so], that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment,
then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city [art] thou? And he said, Thy servant [is] of one of the tribes of
3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters [are] good and right; but [there
is] no man [deputed] of the king to hear thee.
4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any
suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
5 And it was [so], that when any man came nigh [to him] to do him obeisance, he
put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
6 And on this manner did Absalom to all
7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I
pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto Yahweh, in
8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If
Yahweh shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.
9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to
10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon
as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in
Hebron.
11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of
12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his
city, [even] from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was
strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The
hearts of the men of
14 And David said unto all his servants that [were] with him at
15 And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants [are ready
to do] whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.
16 And the king went forth, and all his household
after him. And the king left ten women, [which were] concubines, to keep the
house.
17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a
place that was far off.
18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all
the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from
19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou [art]
a stranger, and also an exile.
20 Whereas thou camest [but] yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down
with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and
take back thy brethren: mercy and truth [be] with thee.
21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, [As] Yahweh liveth, and [as] my lord
the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in
death or life, even there also will thy servant be.
22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed
over, and all his men, and all the little ones that [were] with him.
23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over:
the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron,
and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
24 And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites [were] 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 done passing out of the city.
25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I
shall find favour in the eyes of Yahweh, He will bring me again, and shew me
[both] it, and His habitation:
26 But if He thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, [here am] I, let Him
do to me as seemeth good unto Him.
27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, [Art not] thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you,
Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from
you to certify me.
29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to
30 And David went up by the ascent of [mount] Olivet, and wept as he went up,
and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that [was]
with him covered every man his head, and they went up,
weeping as they went up.
31 And [one] told David, saying, Ahithophel [is] among the conspirators with
Absalom. And David said, O Yahweh, I pray Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into foolishness.
32 And it came to pass, that [when] David was come to the top [of the mount],
where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his
coat rent, and earth upon his head:
33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a
burden unto me:
34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant,
O king; [as] I [have been] thy father's servant hitherto, so [will] I now also
[be] thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
35 And [hast thou] not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, [that] what thing soever thou shalt
hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell [it] to Zadok and Abiathar the
priests.
36 Behold, [they have] there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's [son],
and Jonathan Abiathar's [son]; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing
that ye can hear.
37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom came into
1 And 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 upon them
two hundred [loaves] of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an
hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses [be] for the king's household to ride on; and the
bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be
faint in the wilderness may drink.
3 And the king said, And where [is] thy master's son?
And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at
4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine [are] all that [pertained] unto
Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee [that] I may find grace in
thy sight, my lord, O king.
5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence
came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was] Shimei, the
son of
6 And 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.
7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and
thou man of Belial:
8 Yahweh hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose
stead thou hast reigned; and Yahweh hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of
Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief, because thou
[art] a bloody man.
9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why
should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go
over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye
sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because Yahweh hath
said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore
hast thou done so?
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which
came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now [may this]
Benjamite [do it]? let him alone, and let him curse; for
Yahweh hath bidden him.
12 It may be that Yahweh will behold with His eye, and that Yahweh will requite
me good for his cursing this day.
13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's
side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast
dust.
14 And the king, and all the people that [were] with him, came weary, and
refreshed themselves there.
15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of
16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto
Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God
save the king.
17 And Absalom said to Hushai, [Is] this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
18 And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom Yahweh, and this people, and all
the men of
19 And again, whom should I serve? [should I] not
[serve] in the presence of his son? as I have served
in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.
20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.
21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all
22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in
unto his father's concubines in the sight of all
23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, [was] as
if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so [was] all the counsel of
Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto
Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue
after David this night:
2 And I will come upon him while he [is] weary and weak handed, and will make
him afraid: and all the people that [are] with him shall flee; and I will smite
the king only:
3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest
[is] as if all returned: [so] all the people shall be in peace.
4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of
5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise
what he saith.
6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying,
Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do [after] his saying? if not; speak thou.
7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given [is] not
good at this time.
8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that
they [be] mighty men, and they [be] chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of
her whelps in the field: and thy father [is] a man of war, and will not lodge
with the people.
9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place: and it will come
to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth
it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
10 And he also [that is] valiant, whose heart [is] as the heart of a lion,
shall utterly melt: for all
11 Therefore I counsel that all
12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will
light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men
that [are] with him there shall not be left so much as one.
13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all
14 And Absalom and all the men of
15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus
and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of
16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in
the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be
swallowed up, and all the people that [are] with him.
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to
come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.
18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them
away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his
court; whither they went down.
19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread
ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where
[is] Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They
be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find
[them], they returned to
21 And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the
well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly
over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.
22 Then David arose, and all the people that [were] with him, and they passed
over
23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled [his]
ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his
household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the
sepulchre of his father.
24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the
men of
25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa
[was] a man's son, whose name [was] Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail
the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.
26 So
27 And it came to pass, when David
was come to Mahanaim, that 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,
28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and
flour, and parched [corn], and beans, and lentiles, and parched [pulse],
29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the
people that [were] with him, to eat: for they said, The people [is] hungry, and
weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.
1 And David numbered the people that [were] with him, and set captains of
thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
2 And David sent forth 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 unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.
3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they
will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now
[thou art] worth ten thousand of us: therefore now [it is] better that thou
succour us out of the city.
4 And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I
will do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people came out by
hundreds and by thousands.
5 And 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.
6 So the people went out into the field against
7 Where the people of
8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the
wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon 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 the heaven and the earth; and the mule
that [was] under him went away.
10 And a certain man saw [it], and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom
hanged in an oak.
11 And Joab said unto the man that told him, And,
behold, thou sawest [him], and why didst thou not smite him there to the
ground? and I would have given thee ten [shekels] of
silver, and a girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive
a thousand [shekels] of silver in mine hand, [yet] would I not put forth mine
hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and
Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none [touch] the young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there
is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself
against [me].
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in
his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he [was] yet
alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom,
and slew him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after
17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a
very great heap of stones upon him: and all
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar,
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 unto
this day, Absalom's place.
19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king
tidings, how that Yahweh hath avenged him of his enemies.
20 And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt
bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the
king's son is dead.
21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi
bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me,
I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore
wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?
23 But howsoever, [said he], let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran
Cushi.
24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went
up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked,
and behold a man running alone.
25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he [be]
alone, [there is] tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.
26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the
porter, and said, Behold [another] man running alone. And the
king said, He also bringeth tidings.
27 And the watchman said, Me thinketh 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 cometh with good tidings.
28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is
well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said,
Blessed [be] Yahweh thy God, Which hath delivered up the men that lifted up
their hand against my lord the king.
29 And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When
Joab sent the king's servant, and [me] thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I
knew not what [it was].
30 And the king said [unto him], Turn aside, [and] stand here. And he turned
aside, and stood still.
31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for
Yahweh hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.
32 And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi
answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all
that rise against thee to do [thee] hurt, be as [that] young man [is].
33 And the king was much 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 God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.
2 And the victory that day was [turned] into mourning unto all the people: for
the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.
3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the
city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son
Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day
the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the
lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the
lives of thy concubines;
6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast
declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this
day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then
it had pleased thee well.
7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I
swear by Yahweh, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this
night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from
thy youth until now.
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people,
saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before
the king: for
9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why
speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?
11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the
priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of
12 Ye [are] my brethren, ye [are] my bones and my
flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?
13 And say ye to Amasa, [Art] thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so
to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the
host before me continually in the room of Joab.
14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of
15 So the king returned, and came to
16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a
Benjamite, which [was] of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah
to meet king David.
17 And [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
18 And there went over a ferry boat 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, as he was come over Jordan;
19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do
thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the
king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come
the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the
king.
21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said,
Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Yahweh's anointed?
22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons
of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? Shall there any man
be put to death this day in
23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And
the king sware unto him.
24 And 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.
25 And it came to pass, when he was come to
26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant
deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride
thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant [is] lame.
27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the
king [is] as an angel of God: do therefore [what is] good in thine eyes.
28 For all [of] my father's house were but dead men
before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat
at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to
cry any more unto the king?
29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I
have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.
30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him
take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own
house.
31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over
32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, [even] fourscore years old: and he had
provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he [was] a very
great man.
33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed
thee with me in
34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I
to live, that I should go up with the king unto
35 I [am] this day fourscore years old: [and] can I discern between good and
evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I
drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men
and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant
be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
36 Thy servant will go a little way over
37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own
city, [and be buried] by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold
thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what
shall seem good unto thee.
38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him
that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me,
[that] will I do for thee.
39 And all the people went over
40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the
people of
41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king,
Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the
king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?
42 And all the men of
43 And the men of
1 And 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, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to
his gods, O Israel.
2 So every man of
3 And David came to his house at
4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of
5 So Amasa went to assemble [the men of]
6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall
7 And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the
Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of
8 When they [were] at the great stone which [is] in
9 And Joab said to Amasa, [Art] thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa
by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that [was] in Joab's hand: so he smote
him therewith in the fifth [rib], and shed out his bowels to the ground, and
struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued
after Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he
that [is] for David, [let him go] after Joab.
12 And 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 upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him
stood still.
13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab,
to pursue after
14 And he went through all the tribes of
15 And 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 that
[were] with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear;
say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.
17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, [Art] thou Joab? And he
answered, I [am he]. Then she said unto him, Hear the
words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.
18 Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in
old time, saying, They shall surely ask [counsel] at Abel: and so they ended
[the matter].
19 I [am one of them that are] peaceable [and] faithful in
20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it
from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.
21 The matter [is] not so: but a man of
22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the
head of
23 Now Joab [was] over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
[was] over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:
24 And Adoram [was] over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was]
recorder:
25 And Sheva [was] scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the priests:
26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year;
and David enquired of Yahweh. And Yahweh answered, [It is] for Saul, and for
[his] bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites
[were] not of the children of
3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless
the inheritance of Yahweh?
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no
silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man
in
5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised
against us [that] we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto
Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, [whom] Yahweh did choose. And the king said, I will give [them].
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of Yahweh's oath that [was] between them,
between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare
unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of [Michal's sister] the
daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the
Meholathite:
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them
in the hill before Yahweh: 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.
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon
the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of
heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor
the beasts of the field by night.
11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of
Saul, had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son
from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of
Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain
Saul in Gilboa:
13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan
his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they
in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of
15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with
16 And Ishbibenob, which [was] of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose
spear [weighed] three hundred [shekels] of brass in weight, he being girded
with a new [sword], thought to have slain David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and
killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more
out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the
Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which [was] of the
sons of the giant.
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the
son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew [the brother of] Goliath the Gittite,
the staff of whose spear [was] like a weaver's beam.
20 And there was yet a battle in
21 And when he defied
22 These four were born to the giant in
1 And David spake unto Yahweh the
words of this song in the day [that] Yahweh had delivered him out of the hand
of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:
2 And he said, Yahweh [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
3 The 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 saviour; Thou savest me from
violence.
4 I will call on Yahweh, [Who is] worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved
from mine enemies.
5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me
afraid;
6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
7 In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and cried to my God: and He did hear my
voice out of His temple, and my cry [did enter] into His ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook,
because He was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth
devoured: coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness [was] under His feet.
11 And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and He was seen upon the wings of
the wind.
12 And He made darkness pavilions round about Him, dark waters, [and] thick
clouds of the skies.
13 Through the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled.
14 Yahweh thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered His voice.
15 And He sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.
16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the
foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of Yahweh, at the
blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, [and] from them that hated me: for
they were too strong for me.
19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but Yahweh was my stay.
20 He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because He
delighted in me.
21 Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness
of my hands hath He recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my
God.
23 For all His judgments [were] before me: and [as for] His statutes, I did not
depart from them.
24 I was also upright before Him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.
25 Therefore Yahweh hath recompensed me according to my righteousness;
according to my cleanness in His eye sight.
26 With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful,
[and] with the upright man Thou wilt shew Thyself upright.
27 With the pure Thou wilt shew Thyself pure; and with
the froward Thou wilt shew Thyself unsavoury.
28 And the afflicted people Thou wilt save: but Thine eyes [are] upon the
haughty, [that] Thou mayest bring [them] down.
29 For Thou [art] my lamp, O Yahweh: and Yahweh will lighten my darkness.
30 For by Thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
31 [As for] God, His way [is] perfect; the word of Yahweh [is] tried: He [is] a
buckler to all them that trust in Him.
32 For who [is] God, save Yahweh? and who [is] a rock, save our God?
33 God [is] my strength [and] power: and He maketh my way perfect.
34 He maketh my feet like hinds' [feet]: and setteth me upon my high places.
35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
36 Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy gentleness hath
made me great.
37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.
38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until
I had consumed them.
39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea,
they are fallen under my feet.
40 For Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against
me hast Thou subdued under me.
41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them
that hate me.
42 They looked, but [there was] none to save; [even] unto Yahweh, but He
answered them not.
43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as
the mire of the street, [and] did spread them abroad.
44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, Thou hast kept
me [to be] head of the heathen: a people [which] I
knew not shall serve me.
45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall
be obedient unto me.
46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close
places.
47 Yahweh liveth; and blessed [be] my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock
of my salvation.
48 It [is] God That avengeth me, and That bringeth down the people under me,
49 And That bringeth me forth from mine enemies: Thou also hast lifted me up on
high above them that rose up against me: Thou hast delivered me from the
violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O Yahweh, among the heathen, and I
will sing praises unto Thy name.
51 [He is] the tower of salvation for His king: and sheweth mercy to His anointed,
unto David, and to his seed for evermore.
1 Now these [be] 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,
2 The Spirit of Yahweh spake by me, and His word [was] in my tongue.
3 The God of
4 And [he shall be] as the light of the morning, [when] the sun riseth, [even]
a morning without clouds; [as] the tender grass [springing] out of the earth by
clear shining after rain.
5 Although my house [be] not so with God; yet He hath made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all [things], and sure: for [this is] all my
salvation, and all [my] desire, although He make [it] not to grow.
6 But [the sons] of Belial [shall be] all of them as thorns thrust away,
because they cannot be taken with hands:
7 But the man [that] 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.
8 These [be] the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that
sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same [was] Adino the Eznite: [he
lift up his spear] against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
9 And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, [one] of the three
mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines [that] were there
gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:
10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand
clave unto the sword: and Yahweh wrought a great victory that day; and the
people returned after him only to spoil.
11 And after him [was] Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the
Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground
full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the
Philistines: and Yahweh wrought a great victory.
13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest
time unto the
14 And David [was] then in an hold, and the garrison of
the Philistines [was] then [in]
15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of
the well of
16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew
water out of the well of
17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Yahweh, that I
should do this: [is not this] the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of
their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These
things did these three mighty men.
18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three.
And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, [and] slew [them], and had
the name among three.
19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he
was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the [first] three.
20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who
had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and
slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:
21 And he slew 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 slew him with his own spear.
22 These [things] did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three
mighty men.
23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the [first]
three. And David set him over his guard.
24 Asahel the brother of Joab [was] one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo
of Bethlehem,
25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,
26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of
Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,
31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of
Ahithophel the Gilonite,
35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
37 Zelek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of
Zeruiah,
38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,
39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.
1 And again the anger of Yahweh was kindled against
2 For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which [was] with him, Go
now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye
the people, that I may know the number of the people.
3 And Joab said unto the king, Now Yahweh thy God add unto the people, how many
soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of
my lord the king may see [it]: but why doth my lord the king delight in this
thing?
4 Notwithstanding 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
5 And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the
city that [lieth] in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:
6 Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to
Danjaan, and about to Zidon,
7 And 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.
8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to
9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there
were in
10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David
said unto Yahweh, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech
Thee, O Yahweh, take away the iniquity of Thy servant;
for I have done very foolishly.
11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of Yahweh came unto the
prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith Yahweh, I offer thee three [things];
choose thee one of them, that I may [do it] unto thee.
13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of
famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee
three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or
that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now
advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him That sent me.
14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the
hand of Yahweh; for His mercies [are] great: and let me not fall into the hand
of man.
15 So Yahweh sent a pestilence upon
16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon
17 And David spake unto Yahweh when he saw the angel that smote the people, and
said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have
they done? let Thine hand, I pray Thee, be against me,
and against my father's house.
18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him,
Go up, rear an altar unto Yahweh in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as Yahweh commanded.
20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him:
and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the
ground.
21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king
come to his servant? And David said, To buy the
threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto Yahweh, that the plague may be
stayed from the people.
22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what
[seemeth] good unto him: behold, [here be] oxen for burnt sacrifice, and
threshing instruments and [other] instruments of the oxen for wood.
23 All these [things] did Araunah, [as] a king, give unto the king. And Araunah
said unto the king, Yahweh thy God accept thee.
24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy [it] of thee at a
price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto Yahweh my God of that which
doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty
shekels of silver.
25 And David built there an altar unto Yahweh, and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings. So Yahweh was intreated for the land, and the plague was
stayed from