the LORD, that I die not:
20:15 But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for
ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one
from the face of the earth.
20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let
the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies.
20:17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him:
for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
20:18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou
shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
20:19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down
quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the
business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
20:20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I
shot at a mark.
20:21 And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows.
If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of
thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no
hurt; as the LORD liveth.
20:22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are
beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.
20:23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of,
behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.
20:24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come,
the king sat him down to eat meat.
20:25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a
seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and
David's place was empty.
20:26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought,
Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
20:27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the
month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his
son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday,
nor to day?
20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to
go to Bethlehem:
20:29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a
sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there:
and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray
thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's
table.
20:30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto
him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou
hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the
confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt
not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him
unto me, for he shall surely die.
20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him,
Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
20:33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew
that it was determined of his father to slay David.
20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no
meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because
his father had done him shame.
20:35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into
the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.
20:36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I
shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
20:37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan
had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow
beyond thee?
20:38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And
Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
20:39 But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the
matter.
20:40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him,
Go, carry them to the city.
20:41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward
the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three
times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until
David exceeded.
20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have
sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me
and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and
departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was
afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone,
and no man with thee?
21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded
me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the
business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I
have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
21:3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of
bread in mine hand, or what there is present.
21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread
under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept
themselves at least from women.
21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women
have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the
vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common,
yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.
21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there
but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread
in the day when it was taken away.
21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day,
detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the
chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
21:8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine
hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons
with me, because the king's business required haste.
21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou
slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth
behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other
save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
21:10 And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to
Achish the king of Gath.
21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the
king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances,
saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of
Achish the king of Gath.
21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad
in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his
spittle fall down upon his beard.
21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad:
wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
21:15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play
the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam:
and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went
down thither to him.
22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt,
and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and
he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four
hundred men.
22:3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king
of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be
with you, till I know what God will do for me.
22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with
him all the while that David was in the hold.
22:5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart,
and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into
the forest of Hareth.
22:6 When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were
with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his
spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;)
22:7 Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye
Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and
vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of
hundreds;
22:8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that
sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and
there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my
son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this
day?
22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of
Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the
son of Ahitub.
22:10 And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and
gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
22:11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of
Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and
they came all of them to the king.
22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here
I am, my lord.
22:13 And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and
the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and
hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in
wait, as at this day?
22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful
among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and
goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?
22:15 Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let
not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of
my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.
22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all
thy father's house.
22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and
slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and
because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the
servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the
priests of the LORD.
22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests.
And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on
that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the
sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses,
and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named
Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
22:21 And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD's priests.
22:22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the
Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the
death of all the persons of thy father's house.
22:23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh
thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.
23:1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against
Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
23:2 Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite
these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the
Philistines, and save Keilah.
23:3 And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah:
how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the
Philistines?
23:4 Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered
him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the
Philistines into thine hand.
23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the
Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great
slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
23:6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to
David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
23:7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said,
God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering
into a town that hath gates and bars.
23:8 And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to
Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
23:9 And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him;
and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
23:10 Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly
heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my
sake.
23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come
down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee,
tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.
23:12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into
the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.
23:13 Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and
departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was
told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go
forth.
23:14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in
a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but
God delivered him not into his hand.
23:15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David
was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
23:16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood,
and strengthened his hand in God.
23:17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father
shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be
next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.
23:18 And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in
the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
23:19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not
David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of
Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
23:20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of
thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the
king's hand.
23:21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion
on me.
23:22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his
haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth
very subtilly.
23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where
he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I
will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that
I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
23:24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his
men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of
Jeshimon.
23:25 Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David;
wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon.
And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of
Maon.
23:26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men
on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear
of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to
take them.
23:27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and
come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.
23:28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went
against the Philistines: therefore they called that place
Selahammahlekoth.
23:29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at
Engedi.
24:1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the
Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the
wilderness of Engedi.
24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and
went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
24:3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and
Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the
sides of the cave.
24:4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the
LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand,
that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David
arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.
24:5 And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him,
because he had cut off Saul's skirt.
24:6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this
thing unto my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand
against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
24:7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them
not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on
his way.
24:8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried
after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him,
David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.
24:9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying,
Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had
delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill
thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine
hand against my lord; for he is the LORD's anointed.
24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my
hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not,
know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine
hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to
take it.
24:12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of
thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
24:13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from
the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou
pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
24:15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and
see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
24:16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these
words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And
Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.
24:17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou
hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
24:18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with
me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou
killedst me not.
24:19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?
wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this
day.
24:20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and
that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
24:21 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut
off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my
father's house.
24:22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his
men gat them up unto the hold.
25:1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and
lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and
went down to the wilderness of Paran.
25:2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and
the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand
goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife
Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful
countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was
of the house of Caleb.
25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
25:5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young
men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
25:6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be
both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that
thou hast.
25:7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds
which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing
unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.
25:8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young
men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray
thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son
David.
25:9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to
all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
25:10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and
who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break
away every man from his master.
25:11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have
killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence
they be?
25:12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came
and told him all those sayings.
25:13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And
they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword:
and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred
abode by the stuff.
25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying,
Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our
master; and he railed on them.
25:15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither
missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we
were in the fields:
25:16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we
were with them keeping the sheep.
25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is
determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is
such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
25:18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two
bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of
parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes
of figs, and laid them on asses.
25:19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come
after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
25:20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the
covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against
her; and she met them.
25:21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this
fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that
pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
25:22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of
all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against
the wall.
25:23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass,
and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
25:24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this
iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine
audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25:25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even
Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is
with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom
thou didst send.
25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood,
and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies,
and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
25:27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my
lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
25:28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD
will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the
battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
25:29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the
soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy
God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of
the middle of a sling.
25:30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my
lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and
shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
25:31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto
my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord
hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my
lord, then remember thine handmaid.
25:32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,
which sent thee this day to meet me:
25:33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me
this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine
own hand.
25:34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath
kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to
meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light
any that pisseth against the wall.
25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and
said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to
thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
25:36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his
house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him,
for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more,
until the morning light.
25:37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of
Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died
within him, and he became as a stone.
25:38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote
Nabal, that he died.
25:39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the
LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal,
and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the
wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with
Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
25:40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel,
they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to
him to wife.
25:41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and
said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the
servants of my lord.
25:42 And Abigail hasted, and arose and rode upon an ass, with five
damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers
of David, and became his wife.
25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of
them his wives.
25:44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti
the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.
26:1 And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David
hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?
26:2 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having
three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the
wilderness of Ziph.
26:3 And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon,
by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came
after him into the wilderness.
26:4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come
in very deed.
26:5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and
David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the
captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched
round about him.
26:6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to
Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down
with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul
lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his
bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.
26:8 Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into
thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with
the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second
time.
26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch
forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?
26:10 David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite
him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and
perish.
26:11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the
LORD's anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at
his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
26:12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's
bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither
awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was
fallen upon them.
26:13 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an
hill afar off; a great space being between them:
26:14 And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner,
saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art
thou that criest to the king?
26:15 And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is
like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the
king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.
26:16 This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye
are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD's
anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water
that was at his bolster.
26:17 And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son
David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.
26:18 And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant?
for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?
26:19 Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of
his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept
an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before
the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the
inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.
26:20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face
of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when
one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
26:21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no
more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day:
behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.
26:22 And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one
of the young men come over and fetch it.
26:23 The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his
faithfulness; for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I
would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD's anointed.
26:24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so
let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver
me out of all tribulation.
26:25 Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt
both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his
way, and Saul returned to his place.
27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand
of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily
escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me,
to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his
hand.
27:2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that
were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
27:3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with
his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess,
and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.
27:4 And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no
more again for him.
27:5 And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine
eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may
dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with
thee?
27:6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth
unto the kings of Judah unto this day.
27:7 And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was
a full year and four months.
27:8 And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the
Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the
inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of
Egypt.
27:9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and
took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and
the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
27:10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David
said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the
Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
27:11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to
Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so
will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the
Philistines.
27:12 And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel
utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
28:1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered
their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said
unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to
battle, thou and thy men.
28:2 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant
can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of
mine head for ever.
28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried
him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had
familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
28:4 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and
pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they
pitched in Gilboa.
28:5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and
his heart greatly trembled.
28:6 And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
28:7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a
familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his
servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar
spirit at Endor.
28:8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went,
and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said,
I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up,
whom I shall name unto thee.
28:9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath
done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the
wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my
life, to cause me to die?
28:10 And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth,
there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said,
Bring me up Samuel.
28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and
the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art
Saul.
28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou?
And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
28:14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man
cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it
was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed
himself.
28:15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me
up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make
war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more,
neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that
thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
28:16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the
LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
28:17 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD
hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour,
even to David:
28:18 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst
his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing
unto thee this day.
28:19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand
of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me:
the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the
Philistines.
28:20 Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore
afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in
him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
28:21 And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled,
and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I
have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which
thou spakest unto me.
28:22 Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of
thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat,
that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.
28:23 But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants,
together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their
voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.
28:24 And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and
killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread
thereof:
28:25 And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they
did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.
29:1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek:
and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
29:2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by
thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish.
29:3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews
here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this
David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me
these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he
fell unto me unto this day?
29:4 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the
princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that
he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him
not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to
us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it
not be with the heads of these men?
29:5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances,
saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
29:6 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD
liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with
me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee
since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the
lords favour thee not.
29:7 Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the
lords of the Philistines.
29:8 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast
thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this
day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
29:9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in
my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the
Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
29:10 Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's
servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the
morning, and have light, depart.
29:11 So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to
return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to
Jezreel.
30:1 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on
the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag,
and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
30:2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not
any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their
way.
30:3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned
with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were
taken captives.
30:4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice
and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
30:5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning
him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his
sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his
God.
30:7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray
thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod
to David.
30:8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this
troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou
shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
30:9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and
came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
30:10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode
behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
30:11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David,
and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;
30:12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of
raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had
eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.
30:13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art
thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite;
and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.
30:14 We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon
the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we
burned Ziklag with fire.
30:15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company?
And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor
deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to
this company.
30:16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad
upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the
great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and
out of the land of Judah.
30:17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of
the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred
young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
30:18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and
David rescued his two wives.
30:19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great,
neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had
taken to them: David recovered all.
30:20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave
before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
30:21 And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that
they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the
brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people
that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted
them.
30:22 Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that
went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not
give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man
his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.
30:23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which
the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company
that came against us into our hand.
30:24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is
that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the
stuff: they shall part alike.
30:25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and
an ordinance for Israel unto this day.
30:26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the
elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you
of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;
30:27 To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south
Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,
30:28 And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in
Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,
30:29 And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the
cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the
Kenites,
30:30 And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in
Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,
30:31 And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where
David himself and his men were wont to haunt.
31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel
fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
31:2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and
the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul's
sons.
31:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and
he was sore wounded of the archers.
31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me
through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through,
and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid.
Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
31:5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise
upon his sword, and died with him.
31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his
men, that same day together.
31:7 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the
valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of
Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the
cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
31:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to
strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount
Gilboa.
31:9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent
into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house
of their idols, and among the people.
31:10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they
fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the
Philistines had done to Saul;
31:12 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body
of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came
to Jabesh, and burnt them there.
31:13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh,
and fasted seven days.
2 Samuel
Chapter
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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;
1:2 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.
1:3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto
him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.
1:4 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.
1:5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou
that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?
1:6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon
mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots
and horsemen followed hard after him.
1:7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I
answered, Here am I.
1:8 And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an
Amalekite.
1:9 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.
1:10 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.
1:11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise
all the men that were with him:
1:12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and
for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house
of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
1:13 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.
1:14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth
thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?
1:15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall
upon him. And he smote him that he died.
1:16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth
hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.
1:17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over
Jonathan his son:
1:18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow:
behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
1:19 The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the
mighty fallen!
1:20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest
the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the
uncircumcised triumph.
1:21 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, as though he had not
been anointed with oil.
1:22 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.
1:23 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.
1:24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet,
with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
1:25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan,
thou wast slain in thine high places.
1:26 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.
1:27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
2:1 And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD,
saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said
unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said,
Unto Hebron.
2:2 So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite.
2:3 And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with
his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
2:4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over
the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of
Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul.
2:5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and said
unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness
unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him.
2:6 And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will
requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
2:7 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.
2:8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth
the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
2:9 And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over
Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
2:10 Ishbosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign
over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed
David.
2:11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah
was seven years and six months.
2:12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of
Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
2:13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out,
and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on
the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.
2:14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play
before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
2:15 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.
2:16 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 Gibeon.
2:17 And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten,
and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
2:18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and
Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.
2:19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the
right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
2:20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he
answered, I am.
2:21 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.
2:22 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?
2:23 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.
2:24 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 Gibeon.
2:25 And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after
Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill.
2:26 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?
2:27 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.
2:28 So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued
after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
2:29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and
passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to
Mahanaim.
2:30 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.
2:31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's
men, so that three hundred and threescore men died.
2:32 And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his
father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and
they came to Hebron at break of day.
3:1 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.
3:2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was
Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
3:3 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;
3:4 And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth,
Shephatiah the son of Abital;
3:5 And the sixth, Ithream, by Eglah David's wife. These were born to
David in Hebron.
3:6 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.
3:7 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?
3:8 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?
3:9 So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath sworn to
David, even so I do to him;
3:10 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.
3:11 And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him.
3:12 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 Israel unto thee.
3:13 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.
3:14 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.
3:15 And Ishbosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from
Phaltiel the son of Laish.
3:16 And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim.
Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.
3:17 And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, Ye
sought for David in times past to be king over you:
3:18 Now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the
hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of
the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.
3:19 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.
3:20 So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And
David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.
3:21 And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all
Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and
that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David
sent Abner away; and he went in peace.
3:22 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 Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace.
3:23 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.
3:24 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?
3:25 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.
3:26 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.
3:27 And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the
gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib,
that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
3:28 And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are
guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of
Ner:
3:29 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.
3:30 So Joab, and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain
their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
3:31 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.
3:32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice,
and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.
3:33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool
dieth?
3:34 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.
3:35 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.
3:36 And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as
whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.
3:37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was
not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.
3:38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a
prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?
3:39 And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the
sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of
evil according to his wickedness.
4:1 And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands
were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
4:2 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.
4:3 And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and were sojourners there until
this day.)
4:4 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.
4:5 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.
4:6 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.
4:7 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.
4:8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and
said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine
enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king
this day of Saul, and of his seed.
4:9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon
the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath
redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
4:10 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:
4:11 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?
4:12 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 Hebron.
But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of
Abner in Hebron.
5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake,
saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
5:2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that
leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou
shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.
5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king
David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they
anointed David king over Israel.
5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
forty years.
5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in
Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.
5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the
inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou
take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither:
thinking, David cannot come in hither.
5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the
city of David.
5:8 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.
5:9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And
David built round about from Millo and inward.
5:10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was
with him.
5:11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees,
and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
5:12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over
Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's
sake.
5:13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem,
after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters
born to David.
5:14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in
Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
5:15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
5:16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.
5:17 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.
5:18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of
Rephaim.
5:19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the
Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said
unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into
thine hand.
5:20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and
said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the
breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place
Baalperazim.
5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned
them.
5:22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the
valley of Rephaim.
5:23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up;
but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the
mulberry trees.
5:24 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 the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
5:25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the
Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
6:1 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty
thousand.
6:2 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 the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the
cherubims.
6:3 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.
6:4 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.
6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all
manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on
psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
6:6 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.
6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote
him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
6:8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon
Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day.
6:9 And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the
ark of the LORD come to me?
6:10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the
city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the
Gittite.
6:11 And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the
Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his
household.
6:12 And it was told king David, saying, The LORD 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 David with gladness.
6:13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had
gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was
girded with a linen ephod.
6:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD
with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
6:16 And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal
Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and
dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
6:17 And they brought in the ark of the LORD, 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 the LORD.
6:18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings
and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of
hosts.
6:19 And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude
of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread,
and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people
departed every one to his house.
6:20 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
Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids
of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth
himself!
6:21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me
before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over
the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the
LORD.
6:22 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.
6:23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of
her death.
7:1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD
had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
7:2 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.
7:3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for
the LORD is with thee.
7:4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto
Nathan, saying,
7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build
me an house for me to dwell in?
7:6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought
up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have
walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
7:7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of
Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded
to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
7:8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the
sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
7:9 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.
7:10 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,
7:11 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 the
LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
7:12 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.
7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne
of his kingdom for ever.
7:14 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:
7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from
Saul, whom I put away before thee.
7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever
before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so
did Nathan speak unto David.
7:18 Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who
am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me
hitherto?
7:19 And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; 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 GOD?
7:20 And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest
thy servant.
7:21 For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou
done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.
7:22 Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee,
neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have
heard with our ears.
7:23 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?
7:24 For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people
unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God.
7:25 And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy
servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou
hast said.
7:26 And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts
is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be
established before thee.
7:27 For thou, O LORD 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.
7:28 And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and
thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:
7:29 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 GOD, hast
spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed
for ever.
8:1 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.
8:2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down
to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with
one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's
servants, and brought gifts.
8:3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he
went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.
8:4 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.
8:5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of
Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
8:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians
became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved
David whithersoever he went.
8:7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of
Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8:8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David
took exceeding much brass.
8:9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of
Hadadezer,
8:10 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:
8:11 Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver
and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;
8:12 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.
8:13 And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the
Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.
8:14 And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons,
and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved
David whithersoever he went.
8:15 And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and
justice unto all his people.
8:16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the
son of Ahilud was recorder;
8:17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar,
were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
8:18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and
the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief rulers.
9:1 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?
9:2 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.
9:3 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.
9:4 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.
9:5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir,
the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar.
9:6 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!
9:7 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.
9:8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?
9:9 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.
9:10 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.
9:11 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.
9:12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Micha. And all
that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth.
9:13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at
the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.
10:1 And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of
Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
10:2 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.
10:3 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?
10:4 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.
10:5 When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men
were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your
beards be grown, and then return.
10:6 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.
10:7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the
mighty men.
10:8 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.
10:9 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:
10:10 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.
10:11 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.
10:12 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and
for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good.
10:13 And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the
battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.
10:14 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 Jerusalem.
10:15 And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel,
they gathered themselves together.
10:16 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.
10:17 And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and
passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in
array against David, and fought with him.
10:18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of
seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and
smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.
10:19 And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that
they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served
them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.
11:1 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 Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and
besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
11:2 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.
11:3 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?
11:4 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.
11:5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am
with child.
11:6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab
sent Uriah to David.
11:7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab
did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
11:8 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.
11:9 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.
11:10 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?
11:11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide
in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in
the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink,
and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will
not do this thing.
11:12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I
will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the
morrow.
11:13 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.
11:14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to
Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
11:15 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.
11:16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned
Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.
11:17 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.
11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
11:19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of
telling the matters of the war unto the king,
11:20 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?
11:21 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.
11:22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had
sent him for.
11:23 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.
11:24 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.
11:25 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.
11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead,
she mourned for her husband.
11:27 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 the LORD.
12:1 And the LORD 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.
12:2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
12:3 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.
12:4 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.
12:5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said
to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall
surely die:
12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing,
and because he had no pity.
12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God
of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of
the hand of Saul;
12:8 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.
12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do
evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword,
and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the
sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10 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.
12:11 Thus saith the LORD, 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.
12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all
Israel, and before the sun.
12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And
Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt
not die.
12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to
the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto
thee shall surely die.
12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child
that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
12:16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and
went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
12:17 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.
12:18 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?
12:19 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.
12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself,
and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and
worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they
set bread before him, and he did eat.
12:21 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.
12:22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for
I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child
may live?
12:23 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.
12:24 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
the LORD loved him.
12:25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his
name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
12:26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took
the royal city.
12:27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against
Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
12:28 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.
12:29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah,
and fought against it, and took it.
12:30 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.
12:31 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 brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of
the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto
Jerusalem.
13:1 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.
13:2 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 anything to
her.
13:3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah
David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.
13:4 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.
13:5 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.
13:6 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.
13:7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother
Amnon's house, and dress him meat.
13:8 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.
13:9 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.
13:10 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.
13:11 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.
13:12 And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no
such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.
13:13 And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou
shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee,
speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.
13:14 Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger
than she, forced her, and lay with her.
13:15 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.
13:16 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.
13:17 Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put
now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.
13:18 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.
13:19 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.
13:20 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.
13:21 But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.
13:22 And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for
Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
13:23 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.
13:24 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.
13:25 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.
13:26 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?
13:27 But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all the king's sons
go with him.
13:28 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.
13:29 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.
13:30 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.
13:31 Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth;
and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent.
13:32 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.
13:33 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.
13:34 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.
13:35 And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king's sons come: as
thy servant said, so it is.
13:36 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.
13:37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of
Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.
13:38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
13:39 And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he
was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was
toward Absalom.
14:2 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:
14:3 And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab
put the words in her mouth.
14:4 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.
14:5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I
am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.
14:6 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.
14:7 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.
14:8 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will
give charge concerning thee.
14:9 And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the
iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne
be guiltless.
14:10 And the king said, Whoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me,
and he shall not touch thee any more.
14:11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy
God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any
more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there
shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
14:12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one
word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
14:13 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.
14:14 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.
14:15 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.
14:16 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.
14:17 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 the LORD thy God will be with thee.
14:18 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.
14:19 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:
14:20 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.
14:21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing:
go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.
14:22 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.
14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to
Jerusalem.
14:24 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.
14:25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom
for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head
there was no blemish in him.
14:26 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.
14:27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter,
whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
14:28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the
king's face.
14:29 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.
14:30 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.
14:31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto
him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?
14:32 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.
14:33 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.
15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots
and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
15:2 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 Israel.
15:3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but
there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.
15:4 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!
15:5 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.
15:6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king
for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
15:7 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 the
LORD, in Hebron.
15:8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria,
saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I
will serve the LORD.
15:9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to
Hebron.
15:10 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.
15:11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were
called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing.
15:12 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.
15:13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men
of Israel are after Absalom.
15:14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at
Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from
Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring
evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
15:15 And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants
are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.
15:16 And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the
king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.
15:17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried
in a place that was far off.
15:18 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 Gath, passed on before the king.
15:19 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.
15:20 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.
15:21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD 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.
15:22 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.
15:23 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.
15:24 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.
15:25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the
city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me
again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:
15:26 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.
15:27 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.
15:28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come
word from you to certify me.
15:29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to
Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
15:30 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.
15:31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators
with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of
Ahithophel into foolishness.
15:32 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:
15:33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt
be a burden unto me:
15:34 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.
15:35 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.
15:36 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.
15:37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom came into
Jerusalem.
16:1 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.
16:2 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.
16:3 And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said
unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day
shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
16:4 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.
16:5 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
Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
16:6 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.
16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou
bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
16:8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of
Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the
kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in
thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.
16:9 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.
16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?
so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who
shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
16:11 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 the LORD
hath bidden him.
16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the
LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
16:13 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.
16:14 And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary,
and refreshed themselves there.
16:15 And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to
Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16:16 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.
16:17 And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend?
why wentest thou not with thy friend?
16:18 And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this
people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him
will I abide.
16:19 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.
16:20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we
shall do.
16:21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's
concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall
hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all
that are with thee be strong.
16:22 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 Israel.
16:23 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.
17:1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve
thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
17:2 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:
17:3 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.
17:4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
17:5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us
hear likewise what he saith.
17:6 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.
17:7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath
given is not good at this time.
17:8 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.
17:9 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.
17:10 And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a
lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a
mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.
17:11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto
thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for
multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
17:12 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.
17:13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring
ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be
not one small stone found there.
17:14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai
the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had
appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that
the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
17:15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and
thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus
and thus have I counselled.
17:16 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.
17:17 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.
17:18 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.
17:19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth,
and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
17:20 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 Jerusalem.
17:21 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.
17:22 Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they
passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them
that was not gone over Jordan.
17:23 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.
17:24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he
and all the men of Israel with him.
17:25 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.
17:26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.
17:27 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,
17:28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and
barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and
parched pulse,
17:29 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.
18:1 And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains
of thousands, and captains of hundreds over them.
18:2 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.
18:3 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.
18:4 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.
18:5 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.
18:6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the
battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
18:7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David,
and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
18:8 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.
18:9 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.
18:10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw
Absalom hanged in an oak.
18:11 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.
18:12 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.
18:13 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.
18:14 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.
18:15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and
smote Absalom, and slew him.
18:16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing
after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
18:17 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 Israel fled every
one to his tent.
18:18 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.
18:19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the
king tidings, how that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies.
18:20 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.
18:21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And
Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
18:22 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?
18:23 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.
18:24 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.
18:25 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.
18:26 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.
18:27 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.
18:28 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 the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up
their hand against my lord the king.
18:29 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.
18:30 And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he
turned aside, and stood still.
18:31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the
king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up
against thee.
18:32 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.
18:33 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!
19:1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for
Absalom.
19:2 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.
19:3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as
people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
19:4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud
voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
19:5 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;
19:6 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.
19:7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy
servants: for I swear by the LORD, 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.
19:8 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 Israel had fled every man to his tent.
19:9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of
Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he
delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out
of the land for Absalom.
19:10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now
therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?
19:11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying,
Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the
king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the
king, even to his house.
19:12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then
are ye the last to bring back the king?
19:13 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.
19:14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart
of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and
all thy servants.
19:15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to
Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.
19:16 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.
19:17 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 Jordan before the king.
19:18 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;
19:19 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.
19:20 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.
19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei
be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?
19:22 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 Israel? for do not I know that I am this day
king over Israel?
19:23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the
king sware unto him.
19:24 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.
19:25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the
king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me,
Mephibosheth?
19:26 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.
19:27 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.
19:28 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?
19:29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy
matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.
19:30 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.
19:31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over
Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
19:32 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.
19:33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I
will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
19:34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I
should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?
19:35 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?
19:36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and
why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?