2SA 1:1 Now it
came about after the death of Saul, when David had
returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that
David remained two days in Ziklag.
2SA 1:2 And it happened on the third day,
that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul,
with his clothes torn and dust on his head. And it
came about when he came to David that he fell to the
ground and prostrated himself.
2SA 1:3 Then David said to him, "From where
do you come?" And he said to him, "I have escaped
from the camp of Israel."
2SA 1:4 And David said to him, "How did
things go? Please tell me." And he said, "The people
have fled from the battle, and also many of the
people have fallen and are dead; and Saul and
Jonathan his son are dead also."
2SA 1:5 So David said to the young man who
told him, "How do you know that Saul and his son
Jonathan are dead?"
2SA 1:6 And the young man who told him said,
"By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and
behold, Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold,
the chariots and the horsemen pursued him closely.
2SA 1:7 "And when he looked behind him, he
saw me and called to me. And I said, 'Here I am.'
2SA 1:8 "And he said to me, 'Who are you?'
And I answered him, 'I am an Amalekite.'
2SA 1:9 "Then he said to me, 'Please stand
beside me and kill me; for agony has seized me
because my life still lingers in me.'
2SA 1:10 "So I stood beside him and killed
him, because I knew that he could not live after he
had fallen. And I took the crown which was on his
head and the bracelet which was on his arm, and I
have brought them here to my lord."
2SA 1:11 Then David took hold of his clothes
and tore them, and so also did all the men who were
with him.
2SA 1:12 And they mourned and wept and fasted
until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for
the people of the Lord and the house of Israel,
because they had fallen by the sword.
2SA 1:13 And David said to the young man who
told him, "Where are you from?" And he answered, "I
am the son of an alien, an Amalekite."
2SA 1:14 Then David said to him, "How is it
you were not afraid to stretch out your hand to
destroy the Lord's anointed?"
2SA 1:15 And David called one of the young
men and said, "Go, cut him down." So he struck him
and he died.
2SA 1:16 And David said to him, "Your blood
is on your head, for your mouth has testified
against you, saying, 'I have killed the Lord's
anointed.'"
2SA 1:17 Then David chanted with this lament
over Saul and Jonathan his son,
2SA 1:18 and he told them to teach the sons
of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written
in the book of Jashar.
2SA 1:19 "Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on
your high places! How have the mighty fallen!
2SA 1:20 "Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it
not in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters
of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of
the uncircumcised exult.
2SA 1:21 "O mountains of Gilboa, Let not dew
or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; For
there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The
shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
2SA 1:22 "From the blood of the slain, from
the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not
turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return
empty.
2SA 1:23 "Saul and Jonathan, beloved and
pleasant in their life, And in their death they were
not parted; They were swifter than eagles, They were
stronger than lions.
2SA 1:24 "O daughters of Israel, weep over
Saul, Who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, Who
put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
2SA 1:25 "How have the mighty fallen in the
midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high
places.
2SA 1:26 "I am distressed for you, my brother
Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me. Your
love to me was more wonderful Than the love of
women.
2SA 1:27 "How have the mighty fallen, And the
weapons of war perished!"
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2SA 2:1 Then it
came about afterwards that David inquired of the
Lord, saying, "Shall I go up to one of the cities of
Judah?" And the Lord said to him, "Go up." So David
said, "Where shall I go up?" And He said, "To
Hebron."
2SA 2:2 So David went up there, and his two
wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the
widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
2SA 2:3 And David brought up his men who were
with him, each with his household; and they lived in
the cities of Hebron.
2SA 2:4 Then the men of Judah came and there
anointed David king over the house of Judah. And
they told David, saying, "It was the men of
Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul."
2SA 2:5 And David sent messengers to the men
of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, "May you be
blessed of the Lord because you have shown this
kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him.
2SA 2:6 "And now may the Lord show
lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will
show this goodness to you, because you have done
this thing.
2SA 2:7 "Now therefore, let your hands be
strong, and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead,
and also the house of Judah has anointed me king
over them."
2SA 2:8 But Abner the son of Ner, commander
of Saul's army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of
Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim.
2SA 2:9 And he made him king over Gilead,
over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, and
over Benjamin, even over all Israel.
2SA 2:10 Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty
years old when he became king over Israel, and he
was king for two years. The house of Judah, however,
followed David.
2SA 2:11 And the time that David was king in
Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and
six months.
2SA 2:12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went out
from Mahanaim to Gibeon with the servants of
Ish-bosheth the son of Saul.
2SA 2:13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the
servants of David went out and met them by the pool
of Gibeon; and they sat down, one on the one side of
the pool and the other on the other side of the
pool.
2SA 2:14 Then Abner said to Joab, "Now let
the young men arise and hold a contest before us."
And Joab said, "Let them arise."
2SA 2:15 So they arose and went over by
count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son
of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
2SA 2:16 And each one of them seized his
opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his
opponent's side; so they fell down together.
Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim,
which is in Gibeon.
2SA 2:17 And that day the battle was very
severe, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten
before the servants of David.
2SA 2:18 Now the three sons of Zeruiah were
there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel; and Asahel was
as swift-footed as one of the gazelles which is in
the field.
2SA 2:19 And Asahel pursued Abner and did not
turn to the right or to the left from following
Abner.
2SA 2:20 Then Abner looked behind him and
said, "Is that you, Asahel?" And he answered, "It is
I."
2SA 2:21 So Abner said to him, "Turn to your
right or to your left, and take hold of one of the
young men for yourself, and take for yourself his
spoil." But Asahel was not willing to turn aside
from following him.
2SA 2:22 And Abner repeated again to Asahel,
"Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike
you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face
to your brother Joab?"
2SA 2:23 However, he refused to turn aside;
therefore Abner struck him in the belly with the
butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at
his back. And he fell there and died on the spot.
And it came about that all who came to the place
where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.
2SA 2:24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner,
and when the sun was going down, they came to the
hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way
of the wilderness of Gibeon.
2SA 2:25 And the sons of Benjamin gathered
together behind Abner and became one band, and they
stood on the top of a certain hill.
2SA 2:26 Then Abner called to Joab and said,
"Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know
that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you
refrain from telling the people to turn back from
following their brothers?"
2SA 2:27 And Joab said, "As God lives, if you
had not spoken, surely then the people would have
gone away in the morning, each from following his
brother."
2SA 2:28 So Joab blew the trumpet; and all
the people halted and pursued Israel no longer, nor
did they continue to fight anymore.
2SA 2:29 Abner and his men then went through
the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the
Jordan, walked all morning, and came to Mahanaim.
2SA 2:30 Then Joab returned from following
Abner; when he had gathered all the people together,
nineteen of David's servants besides Asahel were
missing.
2SA 2:31 But the servants of David had struck
down many of Benjamin and Abner's men, so that three
hundred and sixty men died.
2SA 2:32 And they took up Asahel and buried
him in his father's tomb which was in Bethlehem.
Then Joab and his men went all night until the day
dawned at Hebron.
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2SA 3:1 Now there
was a long war between the house of Saul and the
house of David; and David grew steadily stronger,
but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.
2SA 3:2 Sons were born to David at Hebron:
his first-born was Amnon, by Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess;
2SA 3:3 and his second, Chileab, by Abigail
the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third,
Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai,
king of Geshur;
2SA 3:4 and the fourth, Adonijah the son of
Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;
2SA 3:5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David's
wife Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron.
2SA 3:6 And it came about while there was war
between the house of Saul and the house of David
that Abner was making himself strong in the house of
Saul.
2SA 3:7 Now Saul had a concubine whose name
was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth
said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's
concubine?"
2SA 3:8 Then Abner was very angry over the
words of Ish-bosheth and said, "Am I a dog's head
that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the
house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to
his friends, and have not delivered you into the
hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a
guilt concerning the woman.
2SA 3:9 "May God do so to Abner, and more
also, if as the Lord has sworn to David, I do not
accomplish this for him,
2SA 3:10 to transfer the kingdom from the
house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David
over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to
Beersheba."
2SA 3:11 And he could no longer answer Abner
a word, because he was afraid of him.
2SA 3:12 Then Abner sent messengers to David
in his place, saying, "Whose is the land? Make your
covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with
you to bring all Israel over to you."
2SA 3:13 And he said, "Good! I will make a
covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you,
namely, you shall not see my face unless you first
bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see
me."
2SA 3:14 So David sent messengers to
Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, "Give me my wife
Michal, to whom I was betrothed for a hundred
foreskins of the Philistines."
2SA 3:15 And Ish-bosheth sent and took her
from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish.
2SA 3:16 But her husband went with her,
weeping as he went, and followed her as far as
Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go, return." So he
returned.
2SA 3:17 Now Abner had consultation with the
elders of Israel, saying, "In times past you were
seeking for David to be king over you.
2SA 3:18 "Now then, do it! For the Lord has
spoken of David, saying, 'By the hand of My servant
David I will save My people Israel from the hand of
the Philistines and from the hand of all their
enemies.'"
2SA 3:19 And Abner also spoke in the hearing
of Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak in
the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good
to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.
2SA 3:20 Then Abner and twenty men with him
came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for
Abner and the men who were with him.
2SA 3:21 And Abner said to David, "Let me
arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the
king that they may make a covenant with you, and
that you may be king over all that your soul
desires." So David sent Abner away, and he went in
peace.
2SA 3:22 And behold, the servants of David
and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil
with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron,
for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.
2SA 3:23 When Joab and all the army that was
with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, "Abner the
son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him
away, and he has gone in peace."
2SA 3:24 Then Joab came to the king and said,
"What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why
then have you sent him away and he is already gone?
2SA 3:25 "You know Abner the son of Ner, that
he came to deceive you and to learn of your going
out and coming in, and to find out all that you are
doing."
2SA 3:26 When Joab came out from David, he
sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him
back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know
it.
2SA 3:27 So when Abner returned to Hebron,
Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to
speak with him privately, and there he struck him in
the belly so that he died on account of the blood of
Asahel his brother.
2SA 3:28 And afterward when David heard it,
he said, "I and my kingdom are innocent before the
Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
2SA 3:29 "May it fall on the head of Joab and
on all his father's house; and may there not fail
from the house of Joab one who has a discharge, or
who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or
who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread."
2SA 3:30 So Joab and Abishai his brother
killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel
to death in the battle at Gibeon.
2SA 3:31 Then David said to Joab and to all
the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and
gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner." And King
David walked behind the bier.
2SA 3:32 Thus they buried Abner in Hebron;
and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the
grave of Abner, and all the people wept.
2SA 3:33 And the king chanted a lament for
Abner and said, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?
2SA 3:34 "Your hands were not bound, nor your
feet put in fetters; As one falls before the wicked,
you have fallen." And all the people wept again over
him.
2SA 3:35 Then all the people came to persuade
David to eat bread while it was still day; but David
vowed, saying, "May God do so to me, and more also,
if I taste bread or anything else before the sun
goes down."
2SA 3:36 Now all the people took note of it,
and it pleased them, just as everything the king did
pleased all the people.
2SA 3:37 So all the people and all Israel
understood that day that it had not been the will of
the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death.
2SA 3:38 Then the king said to his servants,
"Do you not know that a prince and a great man has
fallen this day in Israel?
2SA 3:39 "And I am weak today, though
anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are
too difficult for me. May the Lord repay the
evildoer according to his evil."
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2SA 4:1 Now when
Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died
in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was
disturbed.
2SA 4:2 And Saul's son had two men who were
commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah
and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the
Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for Beeroth is
also considered part of Benjamin,
2SA 4:3 and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim,
and have been aliens there until this day).
2SA 4:4 Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son
crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the
report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and
his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that
in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And
his name was Mephibosheth.
2SA 4:5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite,
Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of
Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was
taking his midday rest.
2SA 4:6 And they came to the middle of the
house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the
belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
2SA 4:7 Now when they came into the house, as
he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck
him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took
his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all
night.
2SA 4:8 Then they brought the head of
Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the
king, "Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of
Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the
Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day
on Saul and his descendants."
2SA 4:9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah
his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said
to them, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my
life from all distress,
2SA 4:10 when one told me, saying,' Behold,
Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good
news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which
was the reward I gave him for his news.
2SA 4:11 "How much more, when wicked men have
killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed,
shall I not now require his blood from your hand,
and destroy you from the earth?"
2SA 4:12 Then David commanded the young men,
and they killed them and cut off their hands and
feet, and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron.
But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it
in the grave of Abner in Hebron.
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2SA 5:1 Then all
the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and
said, "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
2SA 5:2 "Previously, when Saul was king over
us, you were the one who led Israel out and in. And
the Lord said to you, 'You will shepherd My people
Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.'"
2SA 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to
the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant
with them before the Lord at Hebron; then they
anointed David king over Israel.
2SA 5:4 David was thirty years old when he
became king, and he reigned forty years.
2SA 5:5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven
years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned
thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
2SA 5:6 Now the king and his men went to
Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of
the land, and they said to David, "You shall not
come in here, but the blind and lame shall turn you
away"; thinking, "David cannot enter here."
2SA 5:7 Nevertheless, David captured the
stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David.
2SA 5:8 And David said on that day, "Whoever
would strike the Jebusites, let him reach the lame
and the blind, who are hated by David's soul,
through the water tunnel." Therefore they say, "The
blind or the lame shall not come into the house."
2SA 5:9 So David lived in the stronghold, and
called it the city of David. And David built all
around from the Millo and inward.
2SA 5:10 And David became greater and
greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him.
2SA 5:11 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent
messengers to David with cedar trees and carpenters
and stonemasons; and they built a house for David.
2SA 5:12 And David realized that the Lord had
established him as king over Israel, and that He had
exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people
Israel.
2SA 5:13 Meanwhile David took more concubines
and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron;
and more sons and daughters were born to David.
2SA 5:14 Now these are the names of those who
were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab,
Nathan, Solomon,
2SA 5:15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
2SA 5:16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.
2SA 5:17 When the Philistines heard that they
had anointed David king over Israel, all the
Philistines went up to seek out David; and when
David heard of it, he went down to the stronghold.
2SA 5:18 Now the Philistines came and spread
themselves out in the valley of Rephaim.
2SA 5:19 Then David inquired of the Lord,
saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Wilt
Thou give them into my hand?" And the Lord said to
David, "Go up, for I will certainly give the
Philistines into your hand."
2SA 5:20 So David came to Baal-perazim, and
defeated them there; and he said, "The Lord has
broken through my enemies before me like the
breakthrough of waters." Therefore he named that
place Baal-perazim.
2SA 5:21 And they abandoned their idols
there, so David and his men carried them away.
2SA 5:22 Now the Philistines came up once
again and spread themselves out in the valley of
Rephaim.
2SA 5:23 And when David inquired of the Lord,
He said, "You shall not go directly up; circle
around behind them and come at them in front of the
balsam trees.
2SA 5:24 "And it shall be, when you hear the
sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees,
then you shall act promptly, for then the Lord will
have gone out before you to strike the army of the
Philistines."
2SA 5:25 Then David did so, just as the Lord
had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines
from Geba as far as Gezer.
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2SA 6:1 Now David
again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty
thousand.
2SA 6:2 And David arose and went with all the
people who were with him to Baale-judah, to bring up
from there the ark of God which is called by the
Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is
enthroned above the cherubim.
2SA 6:3 And they placed the ark of God on a
new cart that they might bring it from the house of
Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio,
the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.
2SA 6:4 So they brought it with the ark of
God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the
hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark.
2SA 6:5 Meanwhile, David and all the house of
Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all
kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with
lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.
2SA 6:6 But when they came to the threshing
floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of
God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset
it.
2SA 6:7 And the anger of the Lord burned
against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his
irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.
2SA 6:8 And David became angry because of the
Lord's outburst against Uzzah, and that place is
called Perez-uzzah to this day.
2SA 6:9 So David was afraid of the Lord that
day; and he said, "How can the ark of the Lord come
to me?"
2SA 6:10 And David was unwilling to move the
ark of the Lord into the city of David with him; but
David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the
Gittite.
2SA 6:11 Thus the ark of the Lord remained in
the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and
the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
2SA 6:12 Now it was told King David, saying,
"The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all
that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God."
And David went and brought up the ark of God from
the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with
gladness.
2SA 6:13 And so it was, that when the bearers
of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he
sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
2SA 6:14 And David was dancing before the
Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a
linen ephod.
2SA 6:15 So David and all the house of Israel
were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting
and the sound of the trumpet.
2SA 6:16 Then it happened as the ark of the
Lord came into the city of David that Michal the
daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw
King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and
she despised him in her heart.
2SA 6:17 So they brought in the ark of the
Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which
David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
2SA 6:18 And when David had finished offering
the burnt offering and the peace offering, he
blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
2SA 6:19 Further, he distributed to all the
people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men
and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one
of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed
each to his house.
2SA 6:20 But when David returned to bless his
household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to
meet David and said, "How the king of Israel
distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself
today in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of
the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!"
2SA 6:21 So David said to Michal, "It was
before the Lord, who chose me above your father and
above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the
people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will
celebrate before the Lord.
2SA 6:22 "And I will be more lightly esteemed
than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but
with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I
will be distinguished."
2SA 6:23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had
no child to the day of her death.
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2SA 7:1 Now it
came about when the king lived in his house, and the
Lord had given him rest on every side from all his
enemies,
2SA 7:2 that the king said to Nathan the
prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but
the ark of God dwells within tent curtains."
2SA 7:3 And Nathan said to the king, "Go, do
all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you."
2SA 7:4 But it came about in the same night
that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,
2SA 7:5 "Go and say to My servant David,
'Thus says the Lord," Are you the one who should
build Me a house to dwell in?
2SA 7:6 "For I have not dwelt in a house
since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from
Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving
about in a tent, even in a tabernacle.
2SA 7:7 "Wherever I have gone with all the
sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the
tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My
people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built Me a
house of cedar?'"'
2SA 7:8 "Now therefore, thus you shall say to
My servant David, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts," I
took you from the pasture, from following the sheep,
that you should be ruler over My people Israel.
2SA 7:9 "And I have been with you wherever
you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from
before you; and I will make you a great name, like
the names of the great men who are on the earth.
2SA 7:10 "I will also appoint a place for My
people Israel and will plant them, that they may
live in their own place and not be disturbed again,
nor will the wicked afflict them any more as
formerly,
2SA 7:11 even from the day that I commanded
judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give
you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also
declares to you that the Lord will make a house for
you.
2SA 7:12 "When your days are complete and you
lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your
descendant after you, who will come forth from you,
and I will establish his kingdom.
2SA 7:13 "He shall build a house for My name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever.
2SA 7:14 "I will be a father to him and he
will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I
will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes
of the sons of men,
2SA 7:15 but My lovingkindness shall not
depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
removed from before you.
2SA 7:16 "And your house and your kingdom
shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be
established forever."' "
2SA 7:17 In accordance with all these words
and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
2SA 7:18 Then David the king went 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 this
far?
2SA 7:19 "And yet this was insignificant in
Thine eyes, O Lord God, for Thou hast spoken also of
the house of Thy servant concerning the distant
future. And this is the custom of man, O Lord God.
2SA 7:20 "And again what more can David say
to Thee? For Thou knowest Thy servant, O Lord God!
2SA 7:21 "For the sake of Thy word, and
according to Thine own heart, Thou hast done all
this greatness to let Thy servant know.
2SA 7:22 "For this reason Thou art great, O
Lord God; for there is none like Thee, and there is
no God besides Thee, according to all that we have
heard with our ears.
2SA 7:23 "And what one nation on the earth is
like Thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem for
Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself,
and to do a great thing for Thee and awesome things
for Thy land, before Thy people whom Thou hast
redeemed for Thyself from Egypt, from nations and
their gods?
2SA 7:24 "For Thou hast established for
Thyself Thy people Israel as Thine own people
forever, and Thou, O Lord, hast become their God.
2SA 7:25 "Now therefore, O Lord God, the word
that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant and his
house, confirm it forever, and do as Thou hast
spoken,
2SA 7:26 that Thy name may be magnified
forever, by saying,' The Lord of hosts is God over
Israel'; and may the house of Thy servant David be
established before Thee.
2SA 7:27 "For Thou, O Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel, hast made a revelation to Thy servant,
saying, 'I will build you a house'; therefore Thy
servant has found courage to pray this prayer to
Thee.
2SA 7:28 "And now, O Lord God, Thou art God,
and Thy words are truth, and Thou hast promised this
good thing to Thy servant.
2SA 7:29 "Now therefore, may it please Thee
to bless the house of Thy servant, that it may
continue forever before Thee. For Thou, O Lord God,
hast spoken; and with Thy blessing may the house of
Thy servant be blessed forever."
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2SA 8:1 Now after
this it came about that David defeated the
Philistines and subdued them; and David took control
of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.
2SA 8:2 And he defeated Moab, and measured
them with the line, making them lie down on the
ground; and he measured two lines to put to death
and one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites
became servants to David, bringing tribute.
2SA 8:3 Then David defeated Hadadezer, the
son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to restore
his rule at the River.
2SA 8:4 And David captured from him 1,700
horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David
hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of
them for 100 chariots.
2SA 8:5 And when the Arameans of Damascus
came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David killed
22,000 Arameans.
2SA 8:6 Then David put garrisons among the
Arameans of Damascus, and the Arameans became
servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord
helped David wherever he went.
2SA 8:7 And David took the shields of gold
which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and
brought them to Jerusalem.
2SA 8:8 And from Betah and from Berothai,
cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large
amount of bronze.
2SA 8:9 Now when Toi king of Hamath heard
that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer,
2SA 8:10 Toi sent Joram his son to King David
to greet him and bless him, because he had fought
against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer
had been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him
articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.
2SA 8:11 King David also dedicated these to
the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had
dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued:
2SA 8:12 from Aram and Moab and the sons of
Ammon and the Philistines and Amalek, and from the
spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
2SA 8:13 So David made a name for himself
when he returned from killing 18,000 Arameans in the
Valley of Salt.
2SA 8:14 And he put garrisons in Edom. In all
Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became
servants to David. And the Lord helped David
wherever he went.
2SA 8:15 So David reigned over all Israel;
and David administered justice and righteousness for
all his people.
2SA 8:16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over
the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was
recorder.
2SA 8:17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub and
Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and
Seraiah was secretary.
2SA 8:18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was
over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's
sons were chief ministers.
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2SA 9:1 Then
David said, "Is there yet anyone left of the house
of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's
sake?"
2SA 9:2 Now there was a servant of the house
of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to
David; and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" And
he said, "I am your servant."
2SA 9:3 And the king said, "Is there not yet
anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the
kindness of God?" And Ziba said to the king, "There
is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both
feet."
2SA 9:4 So the king said to him, "Where is
he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is in
the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar."
2SA 9:5 Then King David sent and brought him
from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from
Lo-debar.
2SA 9:6 And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan
the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face
and prostrated himself. And David said, "Mephibosheth."
And he said, "Here is your servant!"
2SA 9:7 And David said to him, "Do not fear,
for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake
of your father Jonathan, and will restore to you all
the land of your grandfather Saul; and you shall eat
at my table regularly."
2SA 9:8 Again he prostrated himself and said,
"What is your servant, that you should regard a dead
dog like me?"
2SA 9:9 Then the king called Saul's servant
Ziba, and said to him, "All that belonged to Saul
and to all his house I have given to your master's
grandson.
2SA 9:10 "And you and your sons and your
servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you
shall bring in the produce so that your master's
grandson may have food; nevertheless Mephibosheth
your master's grandson shall eat at my table
regularly." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty
servants.
2SA 9:11 Then Ziba said to the king,
"According to all that my lord the king commands his
servant so your servant will do." So Mephibosheth
ate at David's table as one of the king's sons.
2SA 9:12 And Mephibosheth had a young son
whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house
of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.
2SA 9:13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem,
for he ate at the king's table regularly. Now he was
lame in both feet.
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2SA 10:1 Now it
happened afterwards that the king of the Ammonites
died, and Hanun his son became king in his place.
2SA 10:2 Then David said, "I will show
kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his
father showed kindness to me." So David sent some of
his servants to console him concerning his father.
But when David's servants came to the land of the
Ammonites,
2SA 10:3 the princes of the Ammonites said to
Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David is
honoring your father because he has sent consolers
to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in
order to search the city, to spy it out and
overthrow it?"
2SA 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants and
shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their
garments in the middle as far as their hips, and
sent them away.
2SA 10:5 When they told it to David, he sent
to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated.
And the king said, "Stay at Jericho until your
beards grow, and then return."
2SA 10:6 Now when the sons of Ammon saw that
they had become odious to David, the sons of Ammon
sent and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the
Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the
king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob
with 12,000 men.
2SA 10:7 When David heard of it, he sent Joab
and all the army, the mighty men.
2SA 10:8 And the sons of Ammon came out and
drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city,
while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men
of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
2SA 10:9 Now when Joab saw that the battle
was set against him in front and in the rear, he
selected from all the choice men of Israel, and
arrayed them against the Arameans.
2SA 10:10 But the remainder of the people he
placed in the hand of Abishai his brother, and he
arrayed them against the sons of Ammon.
2SA 10:11 And he said, "If the Arameans are
too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if
the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I
will come to help you.
2SA 10:12 "Be strong, and let us show
ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and
for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what
is good in His sight."
2SA 10:13 So Joab and the people who were
with him drew near to the battle against the
Arameans, and they fled before him.
2SA 10:14 When the sons of Ammon saw that the
Arameans fled, they also fled before Abishai and
entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting
against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
2SA 10:15 When the Arameans saw that they had
been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves
together.
2SA 10:16 And Hadadezer sent and brought out
the Arameans who were beyond the River, and they
came to Helam; and Shobach the commander of the army
of Hadadezer led them.
2SA 10:17 Now when it was told David, he
gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan,
and came to Helam. And the Arameans arrayed
themselves to meet David and fought against him.
2SA 10:18 But the Arameans fled before
Israel, and David killed 700 charioteers of the
Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach
the commander of their army, and he died there.
2SA 10:19 When all the kings, servants of
Hadadezer, saw that they were defeated by Israel,
they made peace with Israel and served them. So the
Arameans feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore.
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2SA 11:1 Then it
happened in the spring, at the time when kings go
out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants
with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons
of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at
Jerusalem.
2SA 11:2 Now when evening came David arose
from his bed and walked around on the roof of the
king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman
bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in
appearance.
2SA 11:3 So David sent and inquired about the
woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the
daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
2SA 11:4 And David sent messengers and took
her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and
when she had purified herself from her uncleanness,
she returned to her house.
2SA 11:5 And the woman conceived; and she
sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant."
2SA 11:6 Then David sent to Joab, saying,
"Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to
David.
2SA 11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked
concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and
the state of the war.
2SA 11:8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down
to your house, and wash your feet." And Uriah went
out of the king's house, and a present from the king
was sent out after him.
2SA 11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the
king's house with all the servants of his lord, and
did not go down to his house.
2SA 11:10 Now when they told David, saying, "Uriah
did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah,
"Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not
go down to your house?"
2SA 11:11 And Uriah said to David, "The ark
and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary
shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my
lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go
to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my
wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will
not do this thing."
2SA 11:12 Then David said to Uriah, "Stay
here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go." So
Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
2SA 11:13 Now David called him, and he ate
and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in
the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his
lord's servants, but he did not go down to his
house.
2SA 11:14 Now it came about in the morning
that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by
the hand of Uriah.
2SA 11:15 And he had written in the letter,
saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the
fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he
may be struck down and die."
2SA 11:16 So it was as Joab kept watch on the
city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew
there were valiant men.
2SA 11:17 And the men of the city went out
and fought against Joab, and some of the people
among David's servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite
also died.
2SA 11:18 Then Joab sent and reported to
David all the events of the war.
2SA 11:19 And he charged the messenger,
saying, "When you have finished telling all the
events of the war to the king,
2SA 11:20 and if it happens that the king's
wrath rises and he says to you,' Why did you go so
near to the city to fight? Did you not know that
they would shoot from the wall?
2SA 11:21 'Who struck down Abimelech the son
of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper
millstone on him from the wall so that he died at
Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?' - - then
you shall say,' Your servant Uriah the Hittite is
dead also.' "
2SA 11:22 So the messenger departed and came
and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to
tell.
2SA 11:23 And the messenger said to David,
"The men prevailed against us and came out against
us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the
entrance of the gate.
2SA 11:24 "Moreover, the archers shot at your
servants from the wall; so some of the king's
servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the
Hittite is also dead."
2SA 11:25 Then David said to the messenger,
"Thus you shall say to Joab, 'Do not let this thing
displease you, for the sword devours one as well as
another; make your battle against the city stronger
and overthrow it'; and so encourage him."
2SA 11:26 Now when the wife of Uriah heard
that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her
husband.
2SA 11:27 When the time of mourning was over,
David sent and brought her to his house and she
became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the
thing that David had done was evil in the sight of
the Lord.
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2SA 12:1 Then the
Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and
said, "There were two men in one city, the one rich
and the other poor.
2SA 12:2 "The rich man had a great many
flocks and herds.
2SA 12:3 "But the poor man had nothing except
one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and
lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him.
2SA 12:4 "Now a traveler came to the rich
man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock
or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had
come to him; Rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb
and prepared it for the man who had come to him."
2SA 12:5 Then David's anger burned greatly
against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord
lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to
die.
2SA 12:6 "And he must make restitution for
the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had
no compassion."
2SA 12:7 Nathan then said to David, "You are
the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'It is I
who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who
delivered you from the hand of Saul.
2SA 12:8 'I also gave you your master's house
and your master's wives into your care, and I gave
you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had
been too little, I would have added to you many more
things like these!
2SA 12:9 'Why have you despised the word of
the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck
down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken
his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with
the sword of the sons of Ammon.
2SA 12:10 'Now therefore, the sword shall
never depart from your house, because you have
despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be your wife.'
2SA 12:11 "Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I
will raise up evil against you from your own
household; I will even take your wives before your
eyes, and give them to your companion, and he shall
lie with your wives in broad daylight.
2SA 12:12 'Indeed you did it secretly, but I
will do this thing before all Israel, and under the
sun.' "
2SA 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have
sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David,
"The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall
not die.
2SA 12:14 "However, because by this deed you
have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall
surely die."
2SA 12:15 So Nathan went to his house. Then
the Lord struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to
David, so that he was very sick.
2SA 12:16 David therefore inquired of God for
the child; and David fasted and went and lay all
night on the ground.
2SA 12:17 And the elders of his household
stood beside him in order to raise him up from the
ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food
with them.
2SA 12:18 Then it happened on the seventh day
that the child died. And the servants of David were
afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they
said, "Behold, while the child was still alive, we
spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How
then can we tell him that the child is dead, since
he might do himself harm!"
2SA 12:19 But when David saw that his
servants were whispering together, David perceived
that the child was dead; so David said to his
servants, "Is the child dead?" And they said, "He is
dead."
2SA 12:20 So David arose from the ground,
washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes;
and he came into the house of the Lord and
worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when
he requested, they set food before him and he ate.
2SA 12:21 Then his servants said to him,
"What is this thing that you have done? While the
child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the
child died, you arose and ate food."
2SA 12:22 And he said, "While the child was
still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who
knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the
child may live.'
2SA 12:23 "But now he has died; why should I
fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him,
but he will not return to me."
2SA 12:24 Then David comforted his wife
Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and
she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon.
Now the Lord loved him
2SA 12:25 and sent word through Nathan the
prophet, and he named him Jedidiah for the Lord's
sake.
2SA 12:26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of
the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city.
2SA 12:27 And Joab sent messengers to David
and said, "I have fought against Rabbah, I have even
captured the city of waters.
2SA 12:28 "Now therefore, gather the rest of
the people together and camp against the city and
capture it, lest I capture the city myself and it be
named after me."
2SA 12:29 So David gathered all the people
and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured
it.
2SA 12:30 Then he took the crown of their
king from his head; and its weight was a talent of
gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was
placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil
of the city in great amounts.
2SA 12:31 He also brought out the people who
were in it, and set them under saws, sharp iron
instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass
through the brickkiln. And thus he did to all the
cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the
people returned to Jerusalem.
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2SA 13:1 Now it
was after this that Absalom the son of David had a
beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the
son of David loved her.
2SA 13:2 And Amnon was so frustrated because
of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for
she was a virgin, and it seemed hard to Amnon to do
anything to her.
2SA 13:3 But Amnon had a friend whose name
was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother;
and Jonadab was a very shrewd man.
2SA 13:4 And he said to him, "O son of the
king, why are you so depressed morning after
morning? Will you not tell me?" Then Amnon said to
him, "I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my
brother Absalom."
2SA 13:5 Jonadab then said to him, "Lie down
on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father
comes to see you, say to him, 'Please let my sister
Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her
prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and
eat from her hand.'"
2SA 13:6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to
be ill; when the king came to see him, Amnon said to
the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make
me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat
from her hand."
2SA 13:7 Then David sent to the house for
Tamar, saying, "Go now to your brother Amnon's
house, and prepare food for him."
2SA 13:8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's
house, and he was lying down. And she took dough,
kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the
cakes.
2SA 13:9 And she took the pan and dished them
out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon
said, "Have everyone go out from me." So everyone
went out from him.
2SA 13:10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring
the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your
hand." So Tamar took the cakes which she had made
and brought them into the bedroom to her brother
Amnon.
2SA 13:11 When she brought them to him to
eat, he took hold of her and said to her, "Come, lie
with me, my sister."
2SA 13:12 But she answered him, "No, my
brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not
done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing!
2SA 13:13 "As for me, where could I get rid
of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one
of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak
to the king, for he will not withhold me from you."
2SA 13:14 However, he would not listen to
her; since he was stronger than she, he violated her
and lay with her.
2SA 13:15 Then Amnon hated her with a very
great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her
was greater than the love with which he had loved
her. And Amnon said to her, "Get up, go away!"
2SA 13:16 But she said to him, "No, because
this wrong in sending me away is greater than the
other that you have done to me!" Yet he would not
listen to her.
2SA 13:17 Then he called his young man who
attended him and said, "Now throw this woman out of
my presence, and lock the door behind her."
2SA 13:18 Now she had on a long-sleeved
garment; for in this manner the virgin daughters of
the king dressed themselves in robes. Then his
attendant took her out and locked the door behind
her.
2SA 13:19 And Tamar put ashes on her head,
and tore her long-sleeved garment which was on her;
and she put her hand on her head and went away,
crying aloud as she went.
2SA 13:20 Then Absalom her brother said to
her, "Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now
keep silent, my sister, he is your brother; do not
take this matter to heart." So Tamar remained and
was desolate in her brother Absalom's house.
2SA 13:21 Now when King David heard of all
these matters, he was very angry.
2SA 13:22 But Absalom did not speak to Amnon
either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because
he had violated his sister Tamar.
2SA 13:23 Now it came about after two full
years that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor,
which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the
king's sons.
2SA 13:24 And Absalom came to the king and
said, "Behold now, your servant has sheepshearers;
please let the king and his servants go with your
servant."
2SA 13:25 But the king said to Absalom, "No,
my son, we should not all go, lest we be burdensome
to you." Although he urged him, he would not go, but
blessed him.
2SA 13:26 Then Absalom said, "If not, please
let my brother Amnon go with us." And the king said
to him, "Why should he go with you?"
2SA 13:27 But when Absalom urged him, he let
Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.
2SA 13:28 And Absalom commanded his servants,
saying, "See now, when Amnon's heart is merry with
wine, and when I say to you, 'Strike Amnon,' then
put him to death. Do not fear; have not I myself
commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant."
2SA 13:29 And the servants of Absalom did to
Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the
king's sons arose and each mounted his mule and
fled.
2SA 13:30 Now it was while they were on the
way that the report came to David, saying, "Absalom
has struck down all the king's sons, and not one of
them is left."
2SA 13:31 Then the king arose, tore his
clothes and lay on the ground; and all his servants
were standing by with clothes torn.
2SA 13:32 And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah,
David's brother, responded, "Do not let my lord
suppose they have put to death all the young men,
the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead; because by
the intent of Absalom this has been determined since
the day that he violated his sister Tamar.
2SA 13:33 "Now therefore, do not let my lord
the king take the report to heart, namely, 'all the
king's sons are dead,' for only Amnon is dead."
2SA 13:34 Now Absalom had fled. And the young
man who was the watchman raised his eyes and looked,
and behold, many people were coming from the road
behind him by the side of the mountain.
2SA 13:35 And Jonadab said to the king,
"Behold, the king's sons have come; according to
your servant's word, so it happened."
2SA 13:36 And it came about as soon as he had
finished speaking, that behold, the king's sons came
and lifted their voices and wept; and also the king
and all his servants wept very bitterly.
2SA 13:37 Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai
the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. And David
mourned for his son every day.
2SA 13:38 So Absalom had fled and gone to
Geshur, and was there three years.
2SA 13:39 And the heart of King David longed
to go out to Absalom; for he was comforted
concerning Amnon, since he was dead.
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2SA 14:1 Now Joab
the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart
was inclined toward Absalom.
2SA 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought a
wise woman from there and said to her, "Please
pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning
garments now, and do not anoint yourself with oil,
but be like a woman who has been mourning for the
dead many days;
2SA 14:3 then go to the king and speak to him
in this manner."So Joab put the words in her mouth.
2SA 14:4 Now when the woman of Tekoa spoke to
the king, she fell on her face to the ground and
prostrated herself and said, "Help, O king."
2SA 14:5 And the king said to her, "What is
your trouble?" And she answered, "Truly I am a
widow, for my husband is dead.
2SA 14:6 "And your maidservant had two sons,
but the two of them struggled together in the field,
and there was no one to separate them, so one struck
the other and killed him.
2SA 14:7 "Now behold, the whole family has
risen against your maidservant, and they say, 'Hand
over the one who struck his brother, that we may put
him to death for the life of his brother whom he
killed, and destroy the heir also.' Thus they will
extinguish my coal which is left, so as to leave my
husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the
earth."
2SA 14:8 Then the king said to the woman, "Go
to your house, and I will give orders concerning
you."
2SA 14:9 And the woman of Tekoa said to the
king, "O my lord, the king, the iniquity is on me
and my father's house, but the king and his throne
are guiltless."
2SA 14:10 So the king said, "Whoever speaks
to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you
anymore."
2SA 14:11 Then she said, "Please let the king
remember the Lord your God, so that the avenger of
blood may not continue to destroy, lest they destroy
my son." And he said, "As the Lord lives, not one
hair of your son shall fall to the ground."
2SA 14:12 Then the woman said, "Please let
your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king."
And he said, "Speak."
2SA 14:13 And the woman said, "Why then have
you planned such a thing against the people of God?
For in speaking this word the king is as one who is
guilty, in that the king does not bring back his
banished one.
2SA 14:14 "For we shall surely die and are
like water spilled on the ground which cannot be
gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life,
but plans ways so that the banished one may not be
cast out from him.
2SA 14:15 "Now the reason I have come to
speak this word to my lord the king is because the
people have made me afraid; so your maidservant
said, 'Let me now speak to the king, perhaps the
king will perform the request of his maidservant.
2SA 14:16 'For the king will hear and deliver
his maidservant from the hand of the man who would
destroy both me and my son from the inheritance of
God.'
2SA 14:17 "Then your maidservant said,
'Please let the word of my lord the king be
comforting, for as the angel of God, so is my lord
the king to discern good and evil. And may the Lord
your God be with you.'"
2SA 14:18 Then the king answered and said to
the woman, "Please do not hide anything from me that
I am about to ask you." And the woman said, "Let my
lord the king please speak."
2SA 14:19 So the king said, "Is the hand of
Joab with you in all this?" And the woman answered
and said, "As your soul lives, my lord the king, no
one can turn to the right or to the left from
anything that my lord the king has spoken. Indeed,
it was your servant Joab who commanded me, and it
was he who put all these words in the mouth of your
maidservant;
2SA 14:20 in order to change the appearance
of things your servant Joab has done this thing. But
my lord is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of
God, to know all that is in the earth."
2SA 14:21 Then the king said to Joab, "Behold
now, I will surely do this thing; go therefore,
bring back the young man Absalom."
2SA 14:22 And Joab fell on his face to the
ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king;
then Joab said, "Today your servant knows that I
have found favor in your sight, O my lord, the king,
in that the king has performed the request of his
servant."
2SA 14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur,
and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
2SA 14:24 However the king said, "Let him
turn to his own house, and let him not see my face."
So Absalom turned to his own house and did not see
the king's face.
2SA 14:25 Now in all Israel was no one as
handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; from the
sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was
no defect in him.
2SA 14:26 And when he cut the hair of his
head (and it was at the end of every year that he
cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he
weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the
king's weight.
2SA 14:27 And to Absalom there were born
three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar;
she was a woman of beautiful appearance.
2SA 14:28 Now Absalom lived two full years in
Jerusalem, and did not see the king's face.
2SA 14:29 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send
him to the king, but he would not come to him. So he
sent again a second time, but he would not come.
2SA 14:30 Therefore he said to his servants,
"See, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has
barley there; go and set it on fire." So Absalom's
servants set the field on fire.
2SA 14:31 Then Joab arose, came to Absalom at
his house and said to him, "Why have your servants
set my field on fire?"
2SA 14:32 And Absalom answered Joab, "Behold,
I sent for you, saying, 'Come here, that I may send
you to the king, to say," Why have I come from
Geshur? It would be better for me still to be
there."'Now therefore, let me see the king's face;
and if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to
death."
2SA 14:33 So when Joab came to the king and
told him, he called for Absalom. Thus he came to the
king and prostrated himself on his face to the
ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.
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2SA 15:1 Now it
came about after this that Absalom provided for
himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men as
runners before him.
2SA 15:2 And Absalom used to rise early and
stand beside the way to the gate; and it happened
that when any man had a suit to come to the king for
judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, "From
what city are you?" And he would say, "Your servant
is from one of the tribes of Israel."
2SA 15:3 Then Absalom would say to him, "See,
your claims are good and right, but no man listens
to you on the part of the king."
2SA 15:4 Moreover, Absalom would say, "Oh
that one would appoint me judge in the land, then
every man who has any suit or cause could come to
me, and I would give him justice."
2SA 15:5 And it happened that when a man came
near to prostrate himself before him, he would put
out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.
2SA 15:6 And in this manner Absalom dealt
with all Israel who came to the king for judgment;
so Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of
Israel.
2SA 15:7 Now it came about at the end of
forty years that Absalom said to the king, "Please
let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the
Lord, in Hebron.
2SA 15:8 "For your servant vowed a vow while
I was living at Geshur in Aram, saying, 'If the Lord
shall indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will
serve the Lord.'"
2SA 15:9 And the king said to him, "Go in
peace." So he arose and went to Hebron.
2SA 15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout
all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you
hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say,
'Absalom is king in Hebron.'"
2SA 15:11 Then two hundred men went with
Absalom from Jerusalem, who were invited and went
innocently, and they did not know anything.
2SA 15:12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the
Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh,
while he was offering the sacrifices. And the
conspiracy was strong, for the people increased
continually with Absalom.
2SA 15:13 Then a messenger came to David,
saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with
Absalom."
2SA 15:14 And David said to all his servants
who were with him at Jerusalem, "Arise and let us
flee, for otherwise none of us shall escape from
Absalom. Go in haste, lest he overtake us quickly
and bring down calamity on us and strike the city
with the edge of the sword."
2SA 15:15 Then the king's servants said to
the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do
whatever my lord the king chooses."
2SA 15:16 So the king went out and all his
household with him. But the king left ten concubines
to keep the house.
2SA 15:17 And the king went out and all the
people with him, and they stopped at the last house.
2SA 15:18 Now all his servants passed on
beside him, all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites,
and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had come
with him from Gath, passed on before the king.
2SA 15:19 Then the king said to Ittai the
Gittite, "Why will you also go with us? Return and
remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and
also an exile; return to your own place.
2SA 15:20 "You came only yesterday, and shall
I today make you wander with us, while I go where I
will? Return and take back your brothers; mercy and
truth be with you."
2SA 15:21 But Ittai answered the king and
said, "As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king
lives, surely wherever my lord the king may be,
whether for death or for life, there also your
servant will be."
2SA 15:22 Therefore David said to Ittai, "Go
and pass over." So Ittai the Gittite passed over
with all his men and all the little ones who were
with him.
2SA 15:23 While all the country was weeping
with a loud voice, all the people passed over. The
king also passed over the brook Kidron, and all the
people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.
2SA 15:24 Now behold, Zadok also came, and
all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the
covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God,
and Abiathar came up until all the people had
finished passing from the city.
2SA 15:25 And the king said to Zadok, "Return
the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the
sight of the Lord, then He will bring me back again,
and show me both it and His habitation.
2SA 15:26 "But if He should say thus, 'I have
no delight in you,' behold, here I am, let Him do to
me as seems good to Him."
2SA 15:27 The king said also to Zadok the
priest, "Are you not a seer? Return to the city in
peace and your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz
and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
2SA 15:28 "See, I am going to wait at the
fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to
inform me."
2SA 15:29 Therefore Zadok and Abiathar
returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained
there.
2SA 15:30 And David went up the ascent of the
Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head
was covered and he walked barefoot. Then all the
people who were with him each covered his head and
went up weeping as they went.
2SA 15:31 Now someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom." And David
said, "O Lord, I pray, make the counsel of
Ahithophel foolishness."
2SA 15:32 It happened as David was coming to
the summit, where God was worshiped, that behold,
Hushai the Archite met him with his coat torn, and
dust on his head.
2SA 15:33 And David said to him, "If you pass
over with me, then you will be a burden to me.
2SA 15:34 "But if you return to the city, and
say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; as
I have been your father's servant in time past, so I
will now be your servant,' then you can thwart the
counsel of Ahithophel for me.
2SA 15:35 "And are not Zadok and Abiathar the
priests with you there? So it shall be that whatever
you hear from the king's house, you shall report to
Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
2SA 15:36 "Behold their two sons are with
them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son and Jonathan,
Abiathar's son; and by them you shall send me
everything that you hear."
2SA 15:37 So Hushai, David's friend, came
into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
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2SA 16:1 Now when
David had passed a little beyond the summit, behold,
Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a
couple of saddled donkeys, and on them were two
hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of
raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a jug of wine.
2SA 16:2 And the king said to Ziba, "Why do
you have these?" And Ziba said, "The donkeys are for
the king's household to ride, and the bread and
summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine,
for whoever is faint in the wilderness to drink."
2SA 16:3 Then the king said, "And where is
your master's son?" And Ziba said to the king,
"Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said,
'Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom
of my father to me.'"
2SA 16:4 So the king said to Ziba, "Behold,
all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours." And Ziba
said, "I prostrate myself; let me find favor in your
sight, O my lord, the king!"
2SA 16:5 When King David came to Bahurim,
behold, there came out from there a man of the
family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei,
the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as
he came.
2SA 16:6 And he threw stones at David and at
all the servants of King David; and all the people
and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at
his left.
2SA 16:7 And thus Shimei said when he cursed,
"Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and
worthless fellow!
2SA 16:8 "The Lord has returned upon you all
the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place
you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom
into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you
are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of
bloodshed!"
2SA 16:9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said
to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord
the king? Let me go over now, and cut off his head."
2SA 16:10 But the king said, "What have I to
do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if
the Lord has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall
say, 'Why have you done so?'"
2SA 16:11 Then David said to Abishai and to
all his servants, "Behold, my son who came out from
me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite?
Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has
told him.
2SA 16:12 "Perhaps the Lord will look on my
affliction and return good to me instead of his
cursing this day."
2SA 16:13 So David and his men went on the
way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel
with him and as he went he cursed, and cast stones
and threw dust at him.
2SA 16:14 And the king and all the people who
were with him arrived weary and he refreshed himself
there.
2SA 16:15 Then Absalom and all the people,
the men of Israel, entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel
with him.
2SA 16:16 Now it came about when Hushai the
Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, that
Hushai said to Absalom, "Long live the king! Long
live the king!"
2SA 16:17 And Absalom said to Hushai, "Is
this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go
with your friend?"
2SA 16:18 Then Hushai said to Absalom, "No!
For whom the Lord, this people, and all the men of
Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him I
will remain.
2SA 16:19 "And besides, whom should I serve?
Should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I
have served in your father's presence, so I will be
in your presence."
2SA 16:20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel,
"Give your advice. What shall we do?"
2SA 16:21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go
in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to
keep the house; then all Israel will hear that you
have made yourself odious to your father. The hands
of all who are with you will also be strengthened."
2SA 16:22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom
on the roof, and Absalom went in to his father's
concubines in the sight of all Israel.
2SA 16:23 And the advice of Ahithophel, which
he gave in those days, was as if one inquired of the
word of God; so was all the advice of Ahithophel
regarded by both David and Absalom.
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2SA 17:1
Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Please let
me choose 12,000 men that I may arise and pursue
David tonight.
2SA 17:2 "And I will come upon him while he
is weary and exhausted and will terrify him so that
all the people who are with him will flee. Then I
will strike down the king alone,
2SA 17:3 and I will bring back all the people
to you. The return of everyone depends on the man
you seek; then all the people shall be at peace."
2SA 17:4 So the plan pleased Absalom and all
the elders of Israel.
2SA 17:5 Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai
the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to
say."
2SA 17:6 When Hushai had come to Absalom,
Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has spoken thus.
Shall we carry out his plan? If not, you speak."
2SA 17:7 So Hushai said to Absalom, "This
time the advice that Ahithophel has given is not
good."
2SA 17:8 Moreover, Hushai said, "You know
your father and his men, that they are mighty men
and they are fierce, like a bear robbed of her cubs
in the field. And your father is an expert in
warfare, and will not spend the night with the
people.
2SA 17:9 "Behold, he has now hidden himself
in one of the caves or in another place; and it will
be when he falls on them at the first attack, that
whoever hears it will say, 'There has been a
slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'
2SA 17:10 "And even the one who is valiant,
whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will
completely lose heart; for all Israel knows that
your father is a mighty man and those who are with
him are valiant men.
2SA 17:11 "But I counsel that all Israel be
surely gathered to you, from Dan even to Beersheba,
as the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and
that you personally go into battle.
2SA 17:12 "So we shall come to him in one of
the places where he can be found, and we will fall
on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him
and of all the men who are with him, not even one
will be left.
2SA 17:13 "And if he withdraws into a city,
then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and
we will drag it into the valley until not even a
small stone is found there."
2SA 17:14 Then 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 ordained to thwart the good counsel of
Ahithophel, in order that the Lord might bring
calamity on Absalom.
2SA 17:15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to
Abiathar the priests, "This is what Ahithophel
counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this
is what I have counseled.
2SA 17:16 "Now therefore, send quickly and
tell David, saying, 'Do not spend the night at the
fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross
over, lest the king and all the people who are with
him be destroyed.'"
2SA 17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were
staying at En-rogel, and a maidservant would go and
tell them, and they would go and tell King David,
for they could not be seen entering the city.
2SA 17:18 But a lad did see them, and told
Absalom; so the two of them departed quickly and
came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a
well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.
2SA 17:19 And the woman took a covering and
spread it over the well's mouth and scattered grain
on it, so that nothing was known.
2SA 17:20 Then Absalom's servants came to the
woman at the house and said, "Where are Ahimaaz and
Jonathan?" And the woman said to them, "They have
crossed the brook of water." And when they searched
and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
2SA 17:21 And it came about after they had
departed that they came up out of the well and went
and told King David; and they said to David, "Arise
and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel
has counseled against you."
2SA 17:22 Then David and all the people who
were with him arose and crossed the Jordan; and by
dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the
Jordan.
2SA 17:23 Now when Ahithophel saw that his
counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and
arose and went to his home, to his city, and set his
house in order, and strangled himself; thus he died
and was buried in the grave of his father.
2SA 17:24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And
Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of
Israel with him.
2SA 17:25 And Absalom set Amasa over the army
in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man
whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to
Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah,
Joab's mother.
2SA 17:26 And Israel and Absalom camped in
the land of Gilead.
2SA 17:27 Now when David had come to Mahanaim,
Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of
Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and
Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,
2SA 17:28 brought beds, basins, pottery,
wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans, lentils,
parched seeds,
2SA 17:29 honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of
the herd, for David and for the people who were with
him, to eat; for they said, "The people are hungry
and weary and thirsty in the wilderness."
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2SA 18:1 Then
David numbered the people who were with him and set
over them commanders of thousands and commanders of
hundreds.
2SA 18:2 And David sent the people out, one
third under the command of Joab, one third under the
command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's
brother, and one third under the command of Ittai
the Gittite. And the king said to the people, "I
myself will surely go out with you also."
2SA 18:3 But the people said, "You should not
go out; for if we indeed flee, they will not care
about us, even if half of us die, they will not care
about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us;
therefore now it is better that you be ready to help
us from the city."
2SA 18:4 Then the king said to them,
"Whatever seems best to you I will do." So the king
stood beside the gate, and all the people went out
by hundreds and thousands.
2SA 18:5 And the king charged Joab and
Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Deal gently for my sake
with the young man Absalom." And all the people
heard when the king charged all the commanders
concerning Absalom.
2SA 18:6 Then the people went out into the
field against Israel, and the battle took place in
the forest of Ephraim.
2SA 18:7 And the people of Israel were
defeated there before the servants of David, and the
slaughter there that day was great, 20,000 men.
2SA 18:8 For the battle there was spread over
the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more
people that day than the sword devoured.
2SA 18:9 Now Absalom happened to meet the
servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his
mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of
a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak, so
he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while
the mule that was under him kept going.
2SA 18:10 When a certain man saw it, he told
Joab and said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an
oak."
2SA 18:11 Then Joab said to the man who had
told him, "Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you
not strike him there to the ground? And I would have
given you ten pieces of silver and a belt."
2SA 18:12 And the man said to Joab, "Even if
I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my
hand, I would not put out my hand against the king's
son; for in our hearing the king charged you and
Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Protect for me the young
man Absalom!'
2SA 18:13 "Otherwise, if I had dealt
treacherously against his life (and there is nothing
hidden from the king), then you yourself would have
stood aloof."
2SA 18:14 Then Joab said, "I will not waste
time here with you." So he took three spears in his
hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom
while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
2SA 18:15 And ten young men who carried
Joab's armor gathered around and struck Absalom and
killed him.
2SA 18:16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the
people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab
restrained the people.
2SA 18:17 And they took Absalom and cast him
into a deep pit in the forest and erected over him a
very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled, each
to his tent.
2SA 18:18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had
taken and set up for himself a pillar which is in
the King's Valley, for he said, "I have no son to
preserve my name." So he named the pillar after his
own name, and it is called Absalom's monument to
this day.
2SA 18:19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said,
"Please let me run and bring the king news that the
Lord has freed him from the hand of his enemies."
2SA 18:20 But Joab said to him, "You are not
the man to carry news this day, but you shall carry
news another day; however, you shall carry no news
today because the king's son is dead."
2SA 18:21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go,
tell the king what you have seen." So the Cushite
bowed to Joab and ran.
2SA 18:22 Now Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said
once more to Joab, "But whatever happens, please let
me also run after the Cushite." And Joab said, "Why
would you run, my son, since you will have no reward
for going?"
2SA 18:23 "But whatever happens," he said, "I
will run." So he said to him, "Run." Then Ahimaaz
ran by way of the plain and passed up the Cushite.
2SA 18:24 Now David was sitting between the
two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of
the gate by the wall, and raised his eyes and
looked, and behold, a man running by himself.
2SA 18:25 And the watchman called and told
the king. And the king said, "If he is by himself
there is good news in his mouth." And he came nearer
and nearer.
2SA 18:26 Then the watchman saw another man
running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper
and said, "Behold, another man running by himself."
And the king said, "This one also is bringing good
news."
2SA 18:27 And the watchman said, "I think the
running of the first one is like the running of
Ahimaaz the son of Zadok." And the king said, "This
is a good man and comes with good news."
2SA 18:28 And Ahimaaz called and said to the
king, "All is well." And he prostrated himself
before the king with his face to the ground. And he
said, "Blessed is the Lord your God, who has
delivered up the men who lifted their hands against
my lord the king."
2SA 18:29 And the king said, "Is it well with
the young man Absalom?" And Ahimaaz answered, "When
Joab sent the king's servant, and your servant, I
saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was."
2SA 18:30 Then the king said, "Turn aside and
stand here." So he turned aside and stood still.
2SA 18:31 And behold, the Cushite arrived,
and the Cushite said, "Let my lord the king receive
good news, for the Lord has freed you this day from
the hand of all those who rose up against you."
2SA 18:32 Then the king said to the Cushite,
"Is it well with the young man Absalom?" And the
Cushite answered, "Let the enemies of my lord the
king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be
as that young man!"
2SA 18:33 And the king was deeply moved and
went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And
thus he said as he walked, "O my son Absalom, my
son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of
you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"
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2SA 19:1 Then it
was told Joab, "Behold, the king is weeping and
mourns for Absalom."
2SA 19:2 And the victory that day was turned
to mourning for all the people, for the people heard
it said that day, "The king is grieved for his son."
2SA 19:3 So the people went by stealth into
the city that day, as people who are humiliated
steal away when they flee in battle.
2SA 19:4 And the king covered his face and
cried out with a loud voice, "O my son Absalom, O
Absalom, my son, my son!"
2SA 19:5 Then Joab came into the house to the
king and said, "Today you have covered with shame
the faces of all your servants, who today have saved
your life and the lives of your sons and daughters,
the lives of your wives, and the lives of your
concubines,
2SA 19:6 by loving those who hate you, and by
hating those who love you. For you have shown today
that princes and servants are nothing to you; for I
know this day that if Absalom were alive and all of
us were dead today, then you would be pleased.
2SA 19:7 "Now therefore arise, go out and
speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the
Lord, if you do not go out, surely not a man will
pass the night with you, and this will be worse for
you than all the evil that has come upon you from
your youth until now."
2SA 19:8 So the king arose and sat in the
gate. When they told all the people, saying,
"Behold, the king is sitting in the gate," then all
the people came before the king. Now Israel had
fled, each to his tent.
2SA 19:9 And all the people were quarreling
throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The
king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and
saved us from the hand of the Philistines, but now
he has fled out of the land from Absalom.
2SA 19:10 "However, Absalom, whom we anointed
over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you
silent about bringing the king back?"
2SA 19:11 Then King David sent to Zadok and
Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders
of Judah, saying, 'Why are you the last to bring the
king back to his house, since the word of all Israel
has come to the king, even to his house?
2SA 19:12 'You are my brothers; you are my
bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last
to bring back the king?'
2SA 19:13 "And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my
bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more
also, if you will not be commander of the army
before me continually in place of Joab.'"
2SA 19:14 Thus he turned the hearts of all
the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word
to the king, saying, "Return, you and all your
servants."
2SA 19:15 The king then returned and came as
far as the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal in order
to go to meet the king, to bring the king across the
Jordan.
2SA 19:16 Then Shimei the son of Gera, the
Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came
down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
2SA 19:17 And there were a thousand men of
Benjamin with him, with Ziba the servant of the
house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty
servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan
before the king.
2SA 19:18 Then they kept crossing the ford to
bring over the king's household, and to do what was
good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell
down before the king as he was about to cross the
Jordan.
2SA 19:19 So he said to the king, "Let not my
lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your
servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king
came out from Jerusalem, so that the king should
take it to heart.
2SA 19:20 "For your servant knows that I have
sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, the
first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet
my lord the king."
2SA 19:21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah
answered and said, "Should not Shimei be put to
death for this, because he cursed the Lord's
anointed?"
2SA 19:22 David then said, "What have I to do
with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this
day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to
death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am
king over Israel today?"
2SA 19:23 And the king said to Shimei, "You
shall not die." Thus the king swore to him.
2SA 19:24 Then Mephibosheth the son of Saul
came down to meet the king; and he had neither cared
for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed
his clothes, from the day the king departed until
the day he came home in peace.
2SA 19:25 And it was when he came from
Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to
him, "Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?"
2SA 19:26 So he answered, "O my lord, the
king, my servant deceived me; for your servant said,
'I will saddle a donkey for myself that I may ride
on it and go with the king,' because your servant is
lame.
2SA 19:27 "Moreover, he has slandered your
servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is
like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in
your sight.
2SA 19:28 "For all my father's household was
nothing but dead men before my lord the king; yet
you set your servant among those who ate at your own
table. What right do I have yet that I should
complain anymore to the king?"
2SA 19:29 So the king said to him, "Why do
you still speak of your affairs? I have decided,
'You and Ziba shall divide the land.'"
2SA 19:30 And Mephibosheth said to the king,
"Let him even take it all, since my lord the king
has come safely to his own house."
2SA 19:31 Now Barzillai the Gileadite had
come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan
with the king to escort him over the Jordan.
2SA 19:32 Now Barzillai was very old, being
eighty years old; and he had sustained the king
while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great
man.
2SA 19:33 And the king said to Barzillai,
"You cross over with me and I will sustain you in
Jerusalem with me."
2SA 19:34 But Barzillai said to the king,
"How long have I yet to live, that I should go up
with the king to Jerusalem?
2SA 19:35 "I am now eighty years old. Can I
distinguish between good and bad? Or can your
servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I
hear anymore the voice of singing men and women? Why
then should your servant be an added burden to my
lord the king?
2SA 19:36 "Your servant would merely cross
over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king
compensate me with this reward?
2SA 19:37 "Please let your servant return,
that I may die in my own city near the grave of my
father and my mother. However, here is your servant
Chimham, let him cross over with my lord the king,
and do for him what is good in your sight."
2SA 19:38 And the king answered, "Chimham
shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what
is good in your sight; and whatever you require of
me, I will do for you."
2SA 19:39 All the people crossed over the
Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then
kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to
his place.
2SA 19:40 Now the king went on to Gilgal, and
Chimham went on with him; and all the people of
Judah and also half the people of Israel accompanied
the king.
2SA 19:41 And behold, all the men of Israel
came to the king and said to the king, "Why had our
brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and
brought the king and his household and all David's
men with him over the Jordan?"
2SA 19:42 Then all the men of Judah answered
the men of Israel, "Because the king is a close
relative to us. Why then are you angry about this
matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense,
or has anything been taken for us?"
2SA 19:43 But the men of Israel answered the
men of Judah and said, "We have ten parts in the
king, therefore we also have more claim on David
than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt?
Was it not our advice first to bring back our king?"
Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than
the words of the men of Israel.
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2SA 20:1 Now a
worthless fellow happened to be there whose name was
Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew
the trumpet and said, "We have no portion in David,
Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse;
Every man to his tents, O Israel!"
2SA 20:2 So all the men of Israel withdrew
from following David, and followed Sheba the son of
Bichri; but the men of Judah remained steadfast to
their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
2SA 20:3 Then David came to his house at
Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, the
concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and
placed them under guard and provided them with
sustenance, but did not go in to them. So they were
shut up until the day of their death, living as
widows.
2SA 20:4 Then the king said to Amasa, "Call
out the men of Judah for me within three days, and
be present here yourself."
2SA 20:5 So Amasa went to call out the men of
Judah, but he delayed longer than the set time which
he had appointed him.
2SA 20:6 And David said to Abishai, "Now
Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than
Absalom; take your lord's servants and pursue him,
lest he find for himself fortified cities and escape
from our sight."
2SA 20:7 So Joab's men went out after him,
along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites and
all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem
to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
2SA 20:8 When they were at the large stone
which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now
Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it
was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at
his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out.
2SA 20:9 And Joab said to Amasa, "Is it well
with you, my brother?" And Joab took Amasa by the
beard with his right hand to kiss him.
2SA 20:10 But Amasa was not on guard against
the sword which was in Joab's hand so he struck him
in the belly with it and poured out his inward parts
on the ground, and did not strike him again; and he
died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued
Sheba the son of Bichri.
2SA 20:11 Now there stood by him one of
Joab's young men, and said, "Whoever favors Joab and
whoever is for David, let him follow Joab."
2SA 20:12 But Amasa lay wallowing in his
blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man
saw that all the people stood still, he removed
Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a
garment over him when he saw that everyone who came
by him stood still.
2SA 20:13 As soon as he was removed from the
highway, all the men passed on after Joab to pursue
Sheba the son of Bichri.
2SA 20:14 Now he went through all the tribes
of Israel to Abel even to Beth-maacah and all the
Berites; and they were gathered together and also
went after him.
2SA 20:15 And they came and besieged him in
Abel Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mound against
the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the
people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction
in order to topple the wall.
2SA 20:16 Then a wise woman called from the
city, "Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, 'Come here that
I may speak with you.'"
2SA 20:17 So he approached her, and the woman
said, "Are you Joab?" And he answered, "I am." Then
she said to him, "Listen to the words of your
maidservant." And he answered, "I am listening."
2SA 20:18 Then she spoke, saying, "Formerly
they used to say, 'They will surely ask advice at
Abel,' and thus they ended the dispute.
2SA 20:19 "I am of those who are peaceable
and faithful in Israel. You are seeking to destroy a
city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow
up the inheritance of the Lord?"
2SA 20:20 And Joab answered and said, "Far be
it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or
destroy!
2SA 20:21 "Such is not the case. But a man
from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of
Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King
David. Only hand him over, and I will depart from
the city." And the woman said to Joab, "Behold, his
head will be thrown to you over the wall."
2SA 20:22 Then the woman wisely came to all
the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the
son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the
trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each
to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at
Jerusalem.
2SA 20:23 Now Joab was over the whole army of
Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the
Cherethites and the Pelethites;
2SA 20:24 and Adoram was over the forced
labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the
recorder;
2SA 20:25 and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and
Abiathar were priests;
2SA 20:26 and Ira the Jairite was also a
priest to David.
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2SA 21:1 Now
there was a famine in the days of David for three
years, year after year; and David sought the
presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, "It is for
Saul and his bloody house, because he put the
Gibeonites to death."
2SA 21:2 So the king called the Gibeonites
and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of
the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the
Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant
with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his
zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah).
2SA 21:3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites,
"What should I do for you? And how can I make
atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the
Lord?"
2SA 21:4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, "We
have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his
house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in
Israel." And he said, "I will do for you whatever
you say."
2SA 21:5 So they said to the king, "The man
who consumed us, and who planned to exterminate us
from remaining within any border of Israel,
2SA 21:6 let seven men from his sons be given
to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in
Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord."And the king
said," I will give them."
2SA 21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the
oath of the Lord which was between them, between
David and Saul's son Jonathan.
2SA 21:8 So the king took the two sons of
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth
whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of
Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had born to
Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
2SA 21:9 Then he gave them into the hands of
the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain
before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell
together; and they were put to death in the first
days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.
2SA 21:10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah
took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the
rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained
on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the
birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the
beasts of the field by night.
2SA 21:11 When it was told David what Rizpah
the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had
done,
2SA 21:12 then David went and took the bones
of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the
men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the
open square of Bethshan, where the Philistines had
hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down
Saul in Gilboa.
2SA 21:13 And he brought up the bones of Saul
and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and
they gathered the bones of those who had been
hanged.
2SA 21:14 And they buried the bones of Saul
and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in
Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did
all that the king commanded, and after that God was
moved by entreaty for the land.
2SA 21:15 Now when the Philistines were at
war again with Israel, David went down and his
servants with him; and as they fought against the
Philistines, David became weary.
2SA 21:16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the
descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear
was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was
girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill
David.
2SA 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah
helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed
him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying,
"You shall not go out again with us to battle, that
you may not extinguish the lamp of Israel."
2SA 21:18 Now it came about after this that
there was war again with the Philistines at Gob;
then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who
was among the descendants of the giant.
2SA 21:19 And there was war with the
Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of
Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the
Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a
weaver's beam.
2SA 21:20 And there was war at Gath again,
where there was a man of great stature who had six
fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot,
twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to
the giant.
2SA 21:21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan
the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down.
2SA 21:22 These four were born to the giant
in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by
the hand of his servants.
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2SA 22:1 And
David spoke the words of this song to the Lord in
the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of
all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
2SA 22:2 And he said, "The Lord is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer;
2SA 22:3 My God, my rock, in whom I take
refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my
stronghold and my refuge; My savior, Thou dost save
me from violence.
2SA 22:4 "I call upon the Lord, who is worthy
to be praised; And I am saved from my enemies.
2SA 22:5 "For the waves of death encompassed
me; The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me;
2SA 22:6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
2SA 22:7 "In my distress I called upon the
Lord, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He
heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His
ears.
2SA 22:8 "Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of heaven were trembling And were
shaken, because He was angry.
2SA 22:9 "Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled
by it.
2SA 22:10 "He bowed the heavens also, and
came down With thick darkness under His feet.
2SA 22:11 "And He rode on a cherub and flew;
And He appeared on the wings of the wind.
2SA 22:12 "And He made darkness canopies
around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the
sky.
2SA 22:13 "From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.
2SA 22:14 "The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
2SA 22:15 "And He sent out arrows, and
scattered them, Lightning, and routed them.
2SA 22:16 "Then the channels of the sea
appeared, The foundations of the world were laid
bare, By the rebuke of the Lord, At the blast of the
breath of His nostrils.
2SA 22:17 "He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
2SA 22:18 "He delivered me from my strong
enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too
strong for me.
2SA 22:19 "They confronted me in the day of
my calamity, But the Lord was my support.
2SA 22:20 "He also brought me forth into a
broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in
me.
2SA 22:21 "The Lord has rewarded me according
to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of
my hands He has recompensed me.
2SA 22:22 "For I have kept the ways of the
Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God.
2SA 22:23 "For all His ordinances were before
me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from
them.
2SA 22:24 "I was also blameless toward Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
2SA 22:25 "Therefore the Lord has recompensed
me according to my righteousness, According to my
cleanness before His eyes.
2SA 22:26 "With the kind Thou dost show
Thyself kind, With the blameless Thou dost show
Thyself blameless;
2SA 22:27 With the pure Thou dost show
Thyself pure, And with the perverted Thou dost show
Thyself astute.
2SA 22:28 "And Thou dost save an afflicted
people; But Thine eyes are on the haughty whom Thou
dost abase.
2SA 22:29 "For Thou art my lamp, O Lord; And
the Lord illumines my darkness.
2SA 22:30 "For by Thee I can run upon a
troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.
2SA 22:31 "As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to
all who take refuge in Him.
2SA 22:32 "For who is God, besides the Lord?
And who is a rock, besides our God?
2SA 22:33 "God is my strong fortress; And He
sets the blameless in His way.
2SA 22:34 "He makes my feet like hinds' feet,
And sets me on my high places.
2SA 22:35 "He trains my hands for battle, So
that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
2SA 22:36 "Thou hast also given me the shield
of Thy salvation, And Thy help makes me great.
2SA 22:37 "Thou dost enlarge my steps under
me, And my feet have not slipped.
2SA 22:38 "I pursued my enemies and destroyed
them, And I did not turn back until they were
consumed.
2SA 22:39 "And I have devoured them and
shattered them, so that they did not rise; And they
fell under my feet.
2SA 22:40 "For Thou hast girded me with
strength for battle; Thou hast subdued under me
those who rose up against me.
2SA 22:41 "Thou hast also made my enemies
turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who
hated me.
2SA 22:42 "They looked, but there was none to
save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
2SA 22:43 "Then I pulverized them as the dust
of the earth, I crushed and stamped them as the mire
of the streets.
2SA 22:44 "Thou hast also delivered me from
the contentions of my people; Thou hast kept me as
head of the nations; A people whom I have not known
serve me.
2SA 22:45 "Foreigners pretend obedience to
me; As soon as they hear, they obey me.
2SA 22:46 "Foreigners lose heart, And come
trembling out of their fortresses.
2SA 22:47 "The Lord lives, and blessed be my
rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,
2SA 22:48 The God who executes vengeance for
me, And brings down peoples under me,
2SA 22:49 Who also brings me out from my
enemies; Thou dost even lift me above those who rise
up against me; Thou dost rescue me from the violent
man.
2SA 22:50 "Therefore I will give thanks to
Thee, O Lord, among the nations, And I will sing
praises to Thy name.
2SA 22:51 "He is a tower of deliverance to
His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever."
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2SA 23:1 Now
these are the last words of David. David the son of
Jesse declares, And the man who was raised on high
declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the
sweet psalmist of Israel,
2SA 23:2 "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
2SA 23:3 "The God of Israel said, The Rock of
Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men
righteously, Who rules in the fear of God,
2SA 23:4 Is as the light of the morning when
the sun rises, A morning without clouds, When the
tender grass springs out of the earth, Through
sunshine after rain.'
2SA 23:5 "Truly is not my house so with God?
For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my
salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make
it grow?
2SA 23:6 "But the worthless, every one of
them will be thrust away like thorns, Because they
cannot be taken in hand;
2SA 23:7 But the man who touches them Must be
armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they
will be completely burned with fire in their place."
2SA 23:8 These are the names of the mighty
men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite,
chief of the captains, he was called Adino the
Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one
time;
2SA 23:9 and after him was Eleazar the son of
Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with
David when they defied the Philistines who were
gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had
withdrawn.
2SA 23:10 He arose and struck the Philistines
until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and
the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and
the people returned after him only to strip the
slain.
2SA 23:11 Now after him was Shammah the son
of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were
gathered into a troop, where there was a plot of
ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the
Philistines.
2SA 23:12 But he took his stand in the midst
of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines;
and the Lord brought about a great victory.
2SA 23:13 Then three of the thirty chief men
went down and came to David in the harvest time to
the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the
Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim.
2SA 23:14 And David was then in the
stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines
was then in Bethlehem.
2SA 23:15 And David had a craving and said,
"Oh that someone would give me water to drink from
the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!"
2SA 23:16 So the three mighty men broke
through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water
from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate,
and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he
would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord;
2SA 23:17 and he said, "Be it far from me, O
Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood
of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?"
Therefore he would not drink it. These things the
three mighty men did.
2SA 23:18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab,
the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he
swung his spear against three hundred and killed
them, and had a name as well as the three.
2SA 23:19 He was most honored of the thirty,
therefore he became their commander; however, he did
not attain to the three.
2SA 23:20 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,
the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done
mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab.
He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of
a pit on a snowy day.
2SA 23:21 And he killed an Egyptian, an
impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his
hand, but he went down to him with a club and
snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand, and
killed him with his own spear.
2SA 23:22 These things Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three
mighty men.
2SA 23:23 He was honored among the thirty,
but he did not attain to the three. And David
appointed him over his guard.
2SA 23:24 Asahel the brother of Joab was
among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of
Bethlehem,
2SA 23:25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the
Harodite,
2SA 23:26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of
Ikkesh the Tekoite,
2SA 23:27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai
the Hushathite,
2SA 23:28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the
Netophathite,
2SA 23:29 Heleb the son of Baanah the
Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of
the sons of Benjamin,
2SA 23:30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of
the brooks of Gaash,
2SA 23:31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth
the Barhumite,
2SA 23:32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons
of Jashen, Jonathan,
2SA 23:33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son
of Sharar the Ararite,
2SA 23:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the
son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel
the Gilonite,
2SA 23:35 Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the
Arbite,
2SA 23:36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah,
Bani the Gadite,
2SA 23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the
Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
2SA 23:38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
2SA 23:39 Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in
all.
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2SA 24:1 Now
again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel,
and it incited David against them to say, "Go,
number Israel and Judah."
2SA 24:2 And the king said to Joab the
commander of the army who was with him, "Go about
now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to
Beersheba, and register the people, that I may know
the number of the people."
2SA 24:3 But Joab said to the king, "Now may
the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times
as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the
king still see; but why does my lord the king
delight in this thing?"
2SA 24:4 Nevertheless, the king's word
prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of
the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army
went out from the presence of the king, to register
the people of Israel.
2SA 24:5 And they crossed the Jordan and
camped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that
is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and toward
Jazer.
2SA 24:6 Then they came to Gilead and to the
land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and
around to Sidon,
2SA 24:7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and
to all the cities of the Hivites and of the
Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah,
to Beersheba.
2SA 24:8 So when they had gone about through
the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of
nine months and twenty days.
2SA 24:9 And Joab gave the number of the
registration of the people to the king; and there
were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men
who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five
hundred thousand men.
2SA 24:10 Now David's heart troubled him
after he had numbered the people. So David said to
the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I have
done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity
of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly."
2SA 24:11 When David arose in the morning,
the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad,
David's seer, saying,
2SA 24:12 "Go and speak to David, 'Thus the
Lord says," I am offering you three things; choose
for yourself one of them, which I may do to you."'"
2SA 24:13 So Gad came to David and told him,
and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine come
to you in your land? Or will you flee three months
before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall
there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now
consider and see what answer I shall return to Him
who sent me."
2SA 24:14 Then David said to Gad, "I am in
great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the
Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me
fall into the hand of man."
2SA 24:15 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon
Israel from the morning until the appointed time;
and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to
Beersheba died.
2SA 24:16 When the angel stretched out his
hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord
relented from the calamity, and said to the angel
who destroyed the people, "It is enough! Now relax
your hand!" And the angel of the Lord was by the
threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2SA 24:17 Then David spoke to the Lord when
he saw the angel who was striking down the people,
and said, "Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it
is I who have done wrong; but these sheep, what have
they done? Please let Thy hand be against me and
against my father's house."
2SA 24:18 So Gad came to David that day and
said to him, "Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on
the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
2SA 24:19 And David went up according to the
word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded.
2SA 24:20 And Araunah looked down and saw the
king and his servants crossing over toward him; and
Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground
before the king.
2SA 24:21 Then Araunah said, "Why has my lord
the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To
buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build
an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be held
back from the people."
2SA 24:22 And Araunah said to David, "Let my
lord the king take and offer up what is good in his
sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the
threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the
wood.
2SA 24:23 "Everything, O king, Araunah gives
to the king." And Araunah said to the king, "May the
Lord your God accept you."
2SA 24:24 However, the king said to Araunah,
"No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price,
for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my
God which cost me nothing." So David bought the
threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of
silver.
2SA 24:25 And David built there an altar to
the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by entreaty for
the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
