Samuel-2 Chapters

David Learns of Saul’s Death

1 | •  ¹After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days. ²On the third day, a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he approached David, the man threw himself to the ground in homage. ³David asked him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” ⁴David then said, “Tell me what happened.” And the man told him, “The soldiers fled from the battle, but many fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan—they too are dead.”

⁵Then David asked the young man who reported this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶The young man replied, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and I saw Saul leaning on his spear while chariots and horsemen were closing in on him. ⁷He turned around and, seeing me, called me. ⁸I said, ‘Here I am.’ He asked, ‘Who are you?’ and I replied, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹He then said to me, ‘Come here and kill me for I feel dizzy though I am fully alive.’ ¹⁰So I went over and killed him, for I knew that he would fall and not rise again. Then I removed the crown from his head and the armlet from his arm, which I have here to give you, my lord.”

¹¹At this, David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and his men did the same. ¹²And they mourned, weeping and fasting until evening, for the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, for all the people of Judah and the nation of Israel.

¹³David asked the young man who told him this, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of an Amalekite immigrant.” ¹⁴David said, “Why were you not afraid to lay your hands on the Lord’s anointed and kill him?” ¹⁵He then called one of his men and ordered him, “Come and strike him down.” He struck down the Amalekite and killed him.

¹⁶David declared, “You will answer for your own blood, for you condemned yourself when you said, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

¹⁷David sang this song of lamentation for Saul and his son Jonathan and had it taught to the people of Judah. It is called “The Bow” ¹⁸and is found in the Book of the Just.

¹⁹“Your glory, O Israel, is slain upon your mountains!

How the mighty ones have fallen!

²⁰Tell it not in Gath,

proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon

lest the Philistine women rejoice,

lest foreign maidens exult.

²¹Mountains of Gilboa,

let neither dew nor rain visit you,

no more fertile fields on you!

For on you, the shield of the valiant was defiled.

²²The shield of Saul was not anointed with oil;

but with the blood of the slain.

From the fat of the warriors,

the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,

nor did the sword of Saul return unstained.

²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished,

neither in life nor in death were they parted;

swifter than eagles, they were

and stronger than lions.

²⁴Women of Israel, weep over Saul

who clothed you in precious scarlet.

²⁵How the valiant have fallen!

In the battle, Jonathan lies slain on your mountains.

²⁶I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan;

how dear have you been to me!

Your love for me was wonderful,

even more than the love of women.

²⁷How the valiant have fallen!

The weapons of war have perished!”

David Is Anointed King Over Judah

2 | •  ¹After this, David consulted the Lord, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord answered him, “Go!” Then David asked, “Where shall I go?” He answered, “To Hebron.” ²So David went up to Hebron with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³David also brought up his men with their families, and they settled in the towns of Hebron. ⁴ Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the nation of Judah.

David learned that the men of Jabesh-Gilead had buried Saul, ⁵so he sent messengers to them with these words, “May the Lord bless you for you have dealt kindly with Saul, your master, and have buried him. ⁶May the Lord show his love and fidelity to you! I, in turn, will be kind to you for doing this. ⁷Now be brave and strong, for although your master Saul is dead, the people of Judah have anointed me their king.”

⁸Now Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s general, had taken Ishbaal, son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim ⁹where he made him king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and the rest of Israel. ¹⁰Ishbaal, Saul’s son, was forty when he began reigning over Israel and reigned for two years. Only the people of Judah followed David. ¹¹David was their king in Hebron, and he ruled over them for seven years and six months.

Civil War

¹²Abner, son of Ner, and the menservants of Ishbaal, Saul’s son, left Mahanaim for Gibeon ¹³where Joab, son of Zeruiah, and the men of David met them at the pool of Gibeon. There they sat, one group on one side of the pool, the other on the opposite side. ¹⁴Abner told Joab, “Let the young men rise and perform for us.” Joab replied, “Let them rise!” ¹⁵So they rose and were counted off: twelve of the Benjaminites of Ishbaal, Saul’s son, and twelve of David’s men. ¹⁶Each one caught his opponent’s head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, falling down together. Therefore, that place in Gibeon was called the field of the fighting.

¹⁷After a very fierce battle that day, David's troops defeated Abner and the men of Israel. ¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiah—Joab, Abishai, and Asahel—were there. ¹⁹Asahel, who ran as fast as a wild gazelle, pursued Abner, turning neither to the right nor the left. ²⁰Abner turned around and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied, “Yes, it is I.” ²¹Abner said, “Turn right or left, go after one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel refused to desist from following him, ²²so Abner again said, “Stop following me! I will surely strike you down, and then, how could I face your brother Joab?” ²³ But Asahel would not heed, and Abner, without turning back, struck him in the belly with his spear, which ran through him and came out his back. He fell and died on the spot, and all who came to the place where Asahel fell dead, stopped there.

²⁴Joab and Abishai, however, pursued Abner and, by sunset, arrived at the hill of Ammah, which lies near Geba and toward the desert of Gibeon. ²⁵The Benjaminites then rallied around Abner, forming one band, and took their position on the hilltop. ²⁶Then Abner called to Joab, “When will the sword rest? Do you not realize that this will bring you more bitterness? When will you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?” ²⁷Joab replied, “As God lives if you had not spoken, my men would have continued pursuing their brothers until morning.” ²⁸So Joab blew the trumpet, and the men desisted from pursuing and fighting the Israelites.

²⁹Abner and his men marched all night through the lowland, crossed the Jordan, and marched the whole morning until they reached Mahanaim. ³⁰As for Joab, he stopped pursuing Abner and gathered all his men. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s servants were missing. ³¹But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty of Abner’s men from among the Benjaminites. ³²Asahel was taken and buried in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.

3 | ¹There was a long war between Saul’s party and that of David, but David grew stronger while Saul’s party grew weaker.

² • Sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam from Jezreel; ³ the second Chileab, of Abigail, widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom, son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; ⁴ the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah, the son of Abital; ⁵ and the sixth, Ithream, of David’s wife Eglah.

⁶While war was going on between the party of Saul and that of David, Abner was strengthening his position in Saul’s family. ⁷Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, on whose account Ishbaal chided Abner, “Why have you slept with my father’s concubine?” ⁸Abner was very angry because of Ishbaal’s remark and exclaimed, “Am I a dog’s head? Up to now, I have been loyal to the family of Saul, your father, and his brothers and friends, but I have not delivered you into the hands of David, and you have come accusing me because of this woman. ⁹May God deal with me severely if I do not do for David what the Lord swore to him—¹⁰to transfer the kingdom from the family of Saul to that of David and make him king of Israel and Judah to rule over all the land from Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹Ishbaal could no longer say a word to Abner for he feared him.

¹²Abner then sent messengers to David at Hebron saying, “To whom does the land belong? Agree with me, and I shall help you obtain all Israel.” ¹³David replied, “I will make an agreement with you, but on one condition: you may appear before me when you bring me Saul’s daughter, Michal.”

•  ¹⁴Then David sent messengers to Ishbaal, Saul’s son, to tell him, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I married for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.” ¹⁵Ishbaal sent for her and took her away from her husband Paltiel, son of Laish, ¹⁶who followed her weeping all the way to Bahurim. Abner said to him, “Go back!” and he turned back.

¹⁷Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and told them, “You have long wanted to have David as your king. ¹⁸Well, make it come true; for the Lord made a promise to David and said: ‘By my servant David, I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and all their enemies.’” ¹⁹Abner also spoke to the people of Benjamin. Then he went to tell David at Hebron the proposals of Israel and the Benjaminites.

Joab Murders Abner

²⁰When Abner came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast for him and the twenty men who were with him. ²¹Then Abner said to David, “I will now go and assemble all Israel for my master the king, that they may enter into an agreement with you, and that you may reign over all those you want to rule.”

²²Just then, David’s men and Joab arrived from a raid, taking a great deal of booty. Abner was no longer with David at Hebron, for he had departed quietly after David had dismissed him. ²³When Joab arrived with his troops, he was told, “Abner, son of Ner, came to see the king; then the king sent him on his way, and he went in peace.” ²⁴Joab then asked the king, “What did you do? When Abner came to you, why did you allow him to leave? ²⁵You know what Abner, son of Ner, is like. He came to you deceitfully to observe and discover what you are doing.”

²⁶Joab departed from David, then sent messengers afterward to Abner, who was at the well of Sirah, telling him to return without David knowing. ²⁷When Abner arrived at Hebron, Joab took him aside within the city gate as though to speak with him privately. There, he stabbed him in the belly, and he died. Joab did so in revenge for the murder of his brother, Asahel.

²⁸Later on, David heard about this. Then he said, “The Lord will not punish me and my kingdom for the blood of Abner, son of Ner. ²⁹May justice for his blood fall on Joab and on all his father’s family, and may there be forever among them some member who has a discharge, or is sick with leprosy, or who is only fit to hold a spindle, or who falls by the sword or hunger!”

³⁰Joab and his brother Abishai slew Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

³¹David then told Joab and those with him, “Tear off your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” King David himself followed the corpse. ³²They buried Abner at Hebron. The king wept aloud over his grave, and everyone joined in the lamentation.

³³The king began the mourning song for Abner with these words: “Should Abner die as a fool dies? ³⁴Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You have fallen as one falls at the hands of the wicked.” And all the people again wept over him.

³⁵Then the people tried to persuade David to take some food while it was still day. But David swore, “May God do so to me and more if I touch food before sundown!” ³⁶The people heeded this, which pleased them; they were pleased with whatever the king said. ³⁷This day, they realized, as did all the people of Israel, that the king had no part in the murder of Abner, son of Ner. ³⁸The king asked his servants, “Do you realize that a general and valiant warrior passed away today in Israel? ³⁹Although I am the anointed king, today I feel helpless to control the sons of Zeruiah. May the Lord repay the one who does evil.”

Ishbaal Is Murdered

4 | ¹When Ishbaal, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, he was stunned, and the Israelites were disheartened. ²Saul’s son had two men, captains of raiding bands: one was Baanah, the other Rechab, both sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from Beeroth. For Beeroth was still considered part of Benjamin. ³The Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have remained there as immigrants to the present day.

⁴(Jonathan, son of Saul, had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the news came from Jezreel about the death of Saul and Jonathan. His nurse took him up and fled so hastily that the boy fell and became lame. He was called Meribbaal.)

⁵Now Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon, the Beerothite, went their way and arrived in the heat of the day at the house of Ishbaal, who was taking a nap. ⁶His doorkeeper had been cleaning wheat, but feeling drowsy, she slept; Rechab and his brother Baanah got into the house. ⁷They rushed into Ishbaal’s bedroom as he lay asleep in his bed and struck him dead. They beheaded him, took his head, and left, walking all night by the way of the Arabah. ⁸They brought Ishbaal’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ishbaal, son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. This day, the Lord has avenged my lord the king, on Saul and his son.”

⁹But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “Let the Lord hear, he who has saved me from all adversities. ¹⁰When somebody reported Saul’s death to me, thinking he was bringing me good news, I took hold of him and killed him at Ziklag instead of rewarding him. ¹¹ Will I do less when wicked men have murdered just one in his own house and on his bed? Shall I not now demand his blood from your hands and sweep you away?”

¹²So David commanded his young men to kill them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung them beside the pool at Hebron. Then they took Ishbaal’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

David Is Anointed King Over Israel

5 | •  ¹All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your bone and flesh. ²In the past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel. And the Lord said to you, ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be commander over Israel.’” ³Before the Lord, King David agreed with the elders of Israel who came to him at Hebron, and they anointed him king of Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years: ⁵he reigned over Judah, from Hebron, seven and a half years; and over Israel and Judah, from Jerusalem, for thirty-three years.

David Captures Jerusalem

⁶The king and his men set out for Jerusalem to fight the Jebusites who lived there. They said to David, “If you try to break in here, the blind and the lame will drive you away,” which meant that David could not get in. ⁷Yet David captured the fortress of Zion that became the “city of David.”

⁸That day, David said, “Whoever wants to defeat the Jebusites, let him reach these lame and blind David’s enemies through the tunnel for fetching water.” From this came the saying, “The blind and the lame shall not enter the house.” ⁹David lived in the fortress, calling it the city of David, and proceeded to build the city around it, from the Millo and inside as well. ¹⁰David grew more powerful, for the Lord, the God of Hosts, was with him.

¹¹Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messengers to David with cedar trees, carpenters, and masons to build a house for David. ¹²David then understood that the Lord had made him king over Israel and had exalted his reign for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³After David had come from Hebron, he took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they went to search for him. On hearing this, David went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸When the Philistines overran the valley of Rephaim, ¹⁹David consulted the Lord, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?” The Lord answered David, “Go ahead, for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hands.” ²⁰So David came to Baal-perazim, where he defeated them. He said, “The Lord has scattered my enemies before me like a sudden bursting flood.” That place is called Baal-perazim. ²¹There, the Philistines left their idols, and David and his men picked them up.

²²The Philistines went up again and overran the valley of Rephaim. ²³David consulted the Lord who said, “Do not go up straight but circle around and attack them from behind when you are in front of the balsam trees. ²⁴Once you hear a marching sound on top of the balsam trees, act quickly, for the Lord is going ahead of you to attack the Philistine army.” ²⁵David obeyed the Lord’s command and struck down the Philistines from Giba to as far as Gezer.

The Ark Is Brought to Jerusalem

6 | •  ¹David gathered together once more all the picked men of Israel, numbering thirty thousand in all. ²Then he, and all the people with him in Baala-Judah, set forth to bring up from there the Ark of God on which the Lord of Hosts pronounced and put his Name, he who rests on the cherubim. ³They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding cart ⁴with the Ark of the Lord, and Ahio was walking before it. ⁵David and the Israelites celebrated joyfully before the Lord, singing and playing on lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

⁶When they came to the threshing floor of Nodan, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah stretched his hand to the Ark of God to hold it. ⁷The Lord’s anger burnt against Uzzah, and God struck him there; Uzzah died there beside the Ark of God. ⁸David was angry because the Lord had struck Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-Uzzah to the present day.

⁹David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰So David refused to take the Ark of the Lord into the city of David but had it brought, instead, to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹The Lord’s Ark remained there for three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹²King David was told that the Lord had blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that belonged to him because of the Ark of God, so he went to bring up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David, rejoicing. ¹³After those who carried the Ark of the Lord had walked six paces, they sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

•  ¹⁴David whirled round dancing with all his heart before the Lord, wearing a linen ephod, ¹⁵for he and all the Israelites brought up the Ark of the Lord, shouting joyfully and sounding the horn.

¹⁶As the Ark of the Lord entered David's city, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and whirling around before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷They brought the Ark of the Lord and laid it in its place in the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸Once the offerings had been made, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts, ¹⁹and distributed to each of them, to each man and woman of the entire assembly of Israel, a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a raisin cake. With this, all the people left for their homes.

²⁰When David returned to bless his household, Michal, Saul’s daughter, met him and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, exposing himself before his servants’ maids as uncouth men do!” ²¹David told Michal, “I did that before the Lord who chose me instead of your father and his family, making me commander over Israel, the Lord’s people. I swear by the Lord’s life, I will dance and whirl again before him. ²²I will still humble myself, and you might look at me, but I will not be rejected by the maids you spoke about.” ²³And Michal, Saul’s daughter, had no child to the day she died.

The Prophecy of Nathan

7 | • ¹When the king had settled in his palace, and the Lord had rid him of all his surrounding enemies, ² he told Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God is housed in a tent.” ³Nathan replied, “Do as it seems fit to you, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴But that very night, the Lord’s word came to Nathan, ⁵“Go and tell my servant David, this is what the Lord says: Are you able to build a house for me to live in? ⁶I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. But I went about with a tent for shelter. ⁷As long as I walked with the Israelites, did I say anything to the chiefs of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel? Did I say: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?

⁸Now you will tell my servant David, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of my people Israel. ⁹I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you. Now, I will make your name great, as the name of the great ones on earth. ¹⁰I will provide a place for my people, Israel, and plant them so that they may live there in peace. They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppress them as before. ¹¹From the time when I appointed judges over my people Israel, it is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. The Lord also tells you that he will build you a house.

¹²When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise your son after you, the one born of you, and secure his reign. ¹³He shall build a house for my name, and I will firmly establish his kingship forever. ¹⁴I will be a father to him, and he shall be my son. If he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod, as men do. ¹⁵But I will not withdraw my kindness from him as I did from Saul when I removed him from your way. ¹⁶Your house and your reign shall last forever before me, and your throne shall remain firm.”

¹⁷Nathan repeated these words and related this vision to David.

¹⁸Then King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and who is my family that you have brought me so far? ¹⁹Yet this was not enough for you, O Lord God, for you have also spoken of your servant’s house reaching into the future. Is this how men act, O Lord God? ²⁰What more can David say to you? You know your servant, O Lord God! ²¹You fulfill your promise and carry out your plan, as you do now, bringing about all these great things and revealing them to your servant. ²²Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is no one like you, nor is there a God other than you from all we have heard. ²³Is there on earth another nation like your people, Israel, whom God has come to redeem and to make his people? Indeed, you made them famous when you did, for your glory, great and awesome things, rescuing them out of Egypt from their people and their gods. ²⁴You have set apart your people Israel to become your people forever; and you, Lord, have become their God.

²⁵Now, O Lord God, keep the promise you made forever and have revealed to me regarding myself and my family, ²⁶that your name may be honored forever and people may say, ‘the Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.’ The house of your servant David will be secure before you ²⁷because you, O Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, have made it known to your servant and have said to him: ‘Your family will last forever.’ This is why I have dared to address this prayer to you.

²⁸So now, O Lord God, since you are the faithful God, and have promised me this good thing, ²⁹please bless my descendants, that they may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing, my family shall be blessed forever.”

David’s Victories

8 | •  ¹After this, David defeated the Philistines, crushing them so they were no longer in control of the land. ²Then he defeated the Moabites. He had them measured with a line and made them lie down on the ground; two-thirds of them were to be executed, and one-third to be spared. And so the Moabites became David’s servants and paid tribute to him.

³David also defeated Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he tried to retake the Euphrates valley. ⁴ David captured a thousand and seven hundred horsemen and twenty-thousand foot soldiers from him. He hamstrung all the chariot horses but left a sufficient number for a hundred chariots. ⁵The Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. Still, David killed twenty-two thousand of their men. ⁶Then David set up governors in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became David’s servants, paying tribute to him.

The Lord made David victorious wherever he went. ⁷David took the golden shields carried by Hadadezer's servants and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 He also took a great quantity of bronze from Tebah and Berothai, Hadadezer's cities.

⁹When Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰he sent his son Hadoram to King David to greet him and thank him for having fought against Hadadezer and defeating him, for the latter had often been at war with Toi. Hadoram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze ¹¹which King David consecrated to the Lord together with the silver and gold which he consecrated from all the nations he subdued: ¹²from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, as well as the booty of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

•  ¹³David became famous after defeating an army of eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴He set up governors in Edom, and the Edomites became his servants. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

¹⁵David reigned over all of Israel, issuing decrees and administering justice to all his people. ¹⁶Joab, son of Zeruiah, was the commander of the army; Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, recorder; ¹⁷Zadok, son of Ahitub and Ahimelech, son of Abiathar, priests; Shavsha, secretary; ¹⁸and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in charge of the Cherethites and the Pelethites. David’s sons were priests.

9 | ¹David asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?” ²So they called a servant of Saul, named Ziba, and brought him to David, who asked, “So you are Ziba?” He replied, “I am your servant.” ³Then the king asked him, “Is there still someone of the house of Saul to whom I can give God’s favor?” Ziba answered the king, “A son of Jonathan whose feet are crippled still lives.” ⁴The king asked him, “Where is he?” And Ziba replied, “He is in the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, at Lodebar.” ⁵So King David sent for him and had him brought from the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, at Lodebar.

⁶When Meribbaal, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, arrived, he fell on the ground and paid homage to David, who said, “Meribbaal!” He replied, “Your servant listens.” ⁷David then told him, “Do not be afraid. I will do you a favor for the sake of your father, Jonathan, and give you back all the land of Saul, your father. Also, you shall always eat at my table.” ⁸He bowed and said, “What is your servant that you should show concern for a dead dog like myself?”

⁹The king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said, “I have turned over to your master’s son everything that Saul and his family possessed. ¹⁰You, your sons and servants shall till the land for him and carry in the harvest so that your master’s family may have food, although your master’s son Meribbaal shall always eat at my table.” Ziba, who had fifteen sons and twenty servants, ¹¹said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands. Yet Meribbaal ate at my table like a king’s son.” ¹²Meribbaal had a young son named Mica, and all who lived in Ziba’s house became Meribbaal’s servants. ¹³But Meribbaal lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. He was lame on both feet.

10 | ¹When the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun, his son, reigned in his place, 2 David said, “I will be kind to Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father was kind to me.” So David sent his servants to comfort him over his father’s death. When David’s servants arrived in the land of the Ammonites, ³the Ammonite chiefs told Hanun, their lord, “Do you think that, by sending men with condolences, David is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to explore the city, spy on it, and overthrow it?”

⁴At this, Hanun seized David’s servants, shaved off half their beard, cut away the lower halves of their garments even up to their hips, and sent them away. ⁵When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet these men who felt greatly ashamed and to tell them, “Stay in Jericho and return after your beards have grown.”

⁶The Ammonites saw that David could no longer bear with them, so they sent for and hired the Arameans of Beth-Rehob and of Zobah, numbering twenty thousand foot soldiers, the king of Maacah with one thousand men and also twelve thousand men of Tob. ⁷On hearing this, David sent out Joab with all the warriors. ⁸The Ammonites came out in battle formation at the entrance gate while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah grouped separately in the open country.

⁹When Joab saw two battlefronts, one in front of him and the other behind, he selected the men of Israel and arranged them in battle formation against the Syrians. ¹⁰Then he entrusted the rest of his army to Abishai, his brother, and arranged them in battle formation against the Ammonites. ¹¹And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come to your assistance. ¹²Take courage! Let us act like men for the sake of our people and God’s cities, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”

¹³Joab and the people who were with him launched the attack against the Arameans and put them to flight. ¹⁴When the Ammonites saw the Arameans fleeing, they fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from his battle against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ They gathered together when the Arameans saw that Israel had defeated them. ¹⁶Hadadezer sent for the Syrians and brought them from beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam with Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army, leading them. ¹⁷This was reported to David, who, in turn, gathered together all of Israel and came to Helam after crossing the Jordan. The Arameans then arranged themselves in battle formation and fought against David. ¹⁸But they fled before Israel. David had seven hundred of the men in chariots and forty thousand horsemen killed. Shobach, too, the commander of their army, was slain and died there. ¹⁹After being defeated by Israel, all the kings who depended on Hadadezer made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So, the Arameans no longer dared to help the Ammonites.

David and Bathsheba

11 | •  ¹In the spring of that year, when kings usually set out to fight, David sent out Joab, his officers, and all the Israelite troops. They slaughtered the Ammonites and attacked Rabbah while David remained in Jerusalem.

²One afternoon, David got up from his siesta and walked on the royal house's roof. From the rooftop, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. ³David sent to inquire about the woman and was told, “She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah, the Hittite.” ⁴So David sent messengers to have her brought to him, and he had intercourse with her just after she had purified herself after her monthly period. Then she returned to her house.

⁵As the woman saw she was with child, she told David, “I am with child.”

⁶David then told Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷When Uriah came, David asked him about Joab, the people, and how the war proceeded. ⁸Then he told Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”

Uriah left the palace while the king had a portion from his table sent to him. ⁹Uriah, however, did not go down to his house but slept by the door of the king’s palace with all the servants of his lord. ¹⁰David was told that Uriah did not go down to his house, and he said, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹Uriah replied, “The Ark, the men of Israel and Judah are housed in tents while my lord Joab and his servants are encamped in the open country. Shall I go to my house to eat, drink, and sleep with my wife? As you live, I will not do this!” ¹²David told Uriah, “Remain here today, and I will dismiss you tomorrow.” Uriah, therefore, stayed in Jerusalem that day and the day after. ¹³David invited him to the table, and he ate and drank until he was drunk. When evening fell, however, he went to lie down on his couch with the guards of his lord instead of going down to his house.

¹⁴The following day, David wrote Joab a letter to be taken by hand by Uriah, ¹⁵in which he said, “Place Uriah in the front row where the fighting is very fierce and then withdraw from him so that he may be struck down and die.” ¹⁶When Joab was attacking the city, he assigned Uriah to a place he knew was being defended by strong warriors. ¹⁷And the defenders attacked the men of Joab. Some of David’s soldiers and officers were killed; Uriah the Hittite also died.

¹⁸Then Joab sent a messenger to tell David everything that had happened during the battle. ¹⁹And he said to him, “When you have finished recounting the outcome of the battle to the king, ²⁰perhaps he will get angry and ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who killed Abimelech, son of Jerubbaal? Was it not a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ then you shall say: Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

²²So the messenger went to tell David all that Joab instructed him. ²³He answered the king and explained, “These men had overcome us and pushed us in the field; then we drove them back to the entrance gate. ²⁴But the archers aimed at your guard from the top of the wall, killing some of them. Your servant Uriah the Hittite has also been killed.”

²⁵David told the messenger, “Try to encourage Joab with this message: Do not let this thing disturb you, for the sword devours one this time and another at another time. Intensify your attacks against the city and overthrow it.”

²⁶When Uriah’s wife heard of her husband's death, she mourned for him. ²⁷ After her mourning was over, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son, but the Lord was displeased with what David had done.

12 | •  ¹So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan told the king, “There were two men in a city: one was rich; the other, poor. ²The rich man had many sheep and cattle, ³but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb he had bought. He fed it, and it grew with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and slept on his lap. It was like a daughter to him. ⁴A traveler came to the rich man, but he would not take from his own flock or herd to prepare food for the traveler. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared that for his visitor.”

⁵David was furious because of this man and told Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves death! ⁶He must return the lamb fourfold for acting like this and showing no compassion.”

⁷Nathan said to David, “You are this man! The Lord, God of Israel, speaks: ‘I anointed you king over Israel and saved you from Saul’s hands; ⁸I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives; I also gave you the nation of Israel and Judah. But if this were not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹Why did you despise the Lord by doing what displeases him? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife for yourself. Yes, you killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰Now, the sword will never be far from your family because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself.

¹¹Thus says the Lord: Your misfortune will rise from your own house! I will take your wives from you and give them to your neighbor, who shall lie with them in broad daylight. ¹²What you did was done secretly, but what I do will be done before Israel in broad daylight.”

¹³David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan answered, “The Lord has forgiven your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴However, because you have dared to despise the Lord by doing such a thing, the child that is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵Then Nathan went to his home.

•  The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. ¹⁶David entreated God for the child. He kept a strict fast and lay on the ground the whole night. ¹⁷The elders of his house asked him to rise from the ground, but he refused. Nor did he join them to eat. ¹⁸On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “When the child was still alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to us. What will he do if we tell him the child is dead?”

¹⁹When David saw his servants whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead and asked them, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “He is dead.” ²⁰Then David rose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He entered the house of the Lord and worshiped.

After that, he went to his own house, asked for food, and ate. ²¹His servants asked him, “Why are you acting like this? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive, but after it died, you got up and took food.” ²²David answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, thinking: who knows? Perhaps the Lord will be kind to me and let my child live. ²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back to life? I can go to him, but he cannot return to me.”

²⁴David comforted his wife, Bathsheba. He went in and slept with her, and she bore a son whom he named Solomon. The Lord loved him ²⁵and made it known through Nathan the prophet, who named him Jedidiah on the Lord’s behalf.

²⁶Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and conquered the king’s city. ²⁷Then he sent messengers to David and told him, “I have fought against Rabbah and conquered the city of waters. ²⁸Gather, then, the rest of the people to attack and capture the city, lest I myself do it and the city be called by my name.” ²⁹So David mustered the people, attacked and captured Rabbah. ³⁰He took the crown off Milcom’s head, the weight of which was a gold talent and had a precious stone embedded in it. This they put on David’s head. He carried off an amount of booty ³¹and brought away the people he set to labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, making them work at the brick kilns. David dealt like this with all the Ammonite cities, then returned to Jerusalem with all the people.

Amnon and Tamar

13 | •  ¹David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. It happened that Amnon, another of David’s sons, loved her. ²Amnon was so obsessed that he became ill and, as Tamar was a virgin, he could not do anything. ³Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab, a very shrewd man, said to him, ⁴“Oh, son of the king, why do you look so miserable morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon replied, “I love Tamar, sister of my brother Absalom.” ⁵So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; and when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come to give me bread to eat and let her prepare the food in my presence so that I may eat it from her hand.” ⁶So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see him, he told the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come to make some cakes in my presence; I will eat from her hand.”

⁷So David sent for Tamar and told her, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare him some food.” ⁸Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, where he was lying down. She took the dough and made and baked cakes before him. ⁹But when she took the pan and set the cakes before him, he refused to eat and said, “Send everyone outside.” After they all left, ¹⁰Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom and let me eat from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom. ¹¹But when she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” ¹²She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me. No such thing is done in Israel. Do not commit this foolishness. ¹³Where will I hide my shame? And all the people would regard you as a foolish man. So please, talk to the king, for he will not keep me from you.” ¹⁴But he refused to listen to her and, being stronger than she, forced her and lay with her.

¹⁵Afterwards, Amnon hated her with a hatred exceeding his love for her, and he told Tamar, “Get up and leave.” ¹⁶But she answered him, “No, my brother. Sending me away is a greater offense than you did to me.” But Amnon refused to listen. ¹⁷He called his servant and said, “Get this woman out and bolt the door behind her.” ¹⁸ (Tamar was wearing a long robe with sleeves like the virgin daughters of the king used to wear.) So the servant brought her out, bolting the door behind her. ¹⁹Tamar then put ashes on her head and tore the long robe she was wearing. Laying her hand on her head, she went away crying aloud.

²⁰Her brother Absalom asked her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be calm, and do not take this to heart, for he is your brother.” Desolate as she was, Tamar stayed in her brother Absalom’s house.

²¹When King David heard of this, he was irate but did not like to scold Amnon because he loved him as his firstborn. ²²Absalom, for his part, no longer spoke to Amnon. He hated him for having raped his sister Tamar.

²³Two years later, when Absalom had celebrated the shearing of his flock at Baal-Hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons. ²⁴He went to the king and said, “I have shearers, so please let the king and his servants accept my invitation.” ²⁵But the king answered Absalom, “No, my son, not all of us should go lest we be a burden to you.” As Absalom urged him, the king refused to go personally but gave him his blessing. ²⁶Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, please let my brother Amnon come with us.” The king replied, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷But Absalom insisted until the king allowed Amnon and all the king’s sons to go with him. Absalom prepared a royal feast. ²⁸Then he commanded his servants, “Watch until Amnon gets drunk, and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ kill him. Have no fear, for I have given you this order myself. Be brave and determined.” ²⁹So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon what he had commanded. Seeing this, all the king's sons hastily mounted their mules and fled.

³⁰While they were on the way, a report reached David, “Absalom has slain all the king’s sons, leaving no one alive.” ³¹At this, the king tore his garments and lay on the ground, and all his servants around him also tore their garments. ³²But Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “Don’t imagine that they have killed all your sons. Only Amnon is dead, for Absalom had decided to kill him from the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar. ³³So let not my lord the king believe that all his sons are dead: Amnon alone is dead.”

³⁴Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. Then, the young watchman saw many people coming from Bahurim's direction by the side of the mountain. ³⁵Jonadab asked the king, “Was it not true what I said to you? It is your sons who are coming.” ³⁶As soon as he had spoken, the king’s sons came, crying aloud; the king, too, and all his servants wept bitterly.

^37-38As for Absalom, he fled to Talmai, son of Ammihud, king of Geshur, where he remained for three years. ³⁹ All this time, King David mourned for his son. And when he had recovered from Amnon's death, he began to yearn for Absalom.

14 | ¹Joab, son of Zeruiah, saw that the king was yearning for Absalom. ² So he sent a messenger to Tekoa to fetch a wise woman and told her, "Please pretend to be a mourner. Put on mourning garments and do not perfume yourself with oil so that you may look like a woman who has been mourning for several days for the dead ³and go to the king with this message.” And Joab told her what to say.

⁴When the woman of Tekoa appeared before the king, she fell on her face in homage and said, “Help me, O king!” ⁵The king asked her, “What is wrong?” She answered, “Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶I, your handmaid, had two sons who quarreled with one another in the field. Since there was no one to part them, one struck the other and killed him. ⁷Now, the entire family demands that I give up the one who struck his brother. And they say: ‘We will kill him and avenge his brother’s death.’ So they want to quench my remaining hope; with this, they will leave my husband without name or posterity on the earth.”

⁸The king told the woman, “Go home, and I will give orders on your behalf.” ⁹But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “Let me and my family be blamed, my lord the king, and let the king and his throne not be criticized for this.” ¹⁰The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never bother you again.” ¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king swear by the Lord, his God, that the avenger of blood may not deepen my disgrace by killing my son.” The king replied, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall perish.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Please allow me to say something to my lord the king.” The king told her, “Speak.” ¹³She went on, “Why do you act against the people of God? In making this decision, the king condemns himself for not bringing his banished son back home. ¹⁴We are all mortals, and as water spilled on the ground cannot be gathered up again, God does not make the soul return. So, let the king find a way to bring back his banished son. ¹⁵Now, if I have come to talk about this to my lord the king, it is because the people scared me, and I thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will listen to me. ¹⁶If he agrees to help me when I tell him about the man who seeks to cut off both me and my son from the inheritance God gave us, ¹⁷he will surely give the decision which will bring us peace. My lord, the king, is like an angel of God in understanding everything. The Lord your God be with you!”

¹⁸The king told the woman, “Do not hide anything from me when I question you.” The woman replied, “Let my lord the king speak.” ¹⁹The king asked, “Is Joab behind you in all this?” The woman answered, “As you surely live, my lord the king, all is as my lord the king says. Your servant Joab ordered me and taught me everything I had to say. ²⁰Joab did this to disguise the purpose. But my lord is as wise as an angel of God, knowing all things that happen on earth.”

²¹Then the king told Joab, “Well, I shall do it. Go, fetch the young man Absalom.” ²²Joab fell on his face to the ground in homage and blessed the king, saying, “Today I know that you look kindly on me, my lord the king, because you have granted this my request.” ²³Joab went to Geshur to fetch Absalom and bring him to Jerusalem. ²⁴The king told him, “Let him stay in his own house, for I shall not receive him.” So Absalom stayed in his own house and was not received by the king.

²⁵In all Israel, no one was as praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom; from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head, he was without defect.

²⁶When he cut his hair (every year, he cut his hair when it became too heavy for him), he weighed it, and it weighed two hundred shekels by the king’s weight. ²⁷There were born to Absalom three sons and a daughter named Tamar, a beautiful woman.

²⁸Absalom stayed in Jerusalem for two years, but the king did not receive him. ²⁹Absalom called for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to see him. He called for him a second time, but Joab would not come. ³⁰So Absalom said to his servants, “You know Joab’s field, next to mine, planted with barley. Go set it on fire.” And so they did. Then, the servants of Joab came to him to tell him, “The servants of Absalom set your field on fire.” ³¹Then Joab went to Absalom’s house and asked him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” ³²Absalom replied, “Come over, for I want to send you to the king with this message, ‘Why did you let me return from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there yet.’ Now, I want to be received by the king. If I am guilty, let him send me to death!” ³³Joab went to the king and brought him the message. So the king called for Absalom, who appeared before the king, bowing low with his face to the ground. And the king embraced Absalom.

15 | ¹After this, Absalom got a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run before him. ²Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the gateway. Whenever a man with a grievance came before the king’s tribunal, Absalom would call to him and say, “From which city are you?” Should he say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe in Israel,” ³Absalom would tell him, “Your cause is good and just, but there is no one to hear you on behalf of the king.”

⁴Absalom added, “I wish I were a judge in the land! Then, every man with a grievance or cause could come to me, and I would give him justice.” ⁵Whenever a man approached to pay him homage, he would stretch out his arms to hold and embrace him.

⁶Absalom did this to all Israelites who came to the king's tribunal, winning their hearts for himself.

⁷After four years, Absalom said to the king, “Please allow me to go and fulfill the vow I have to pay to the Lord in Hebron. ⁸For while I lived at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the Lord really brings me back to Jerusalem, I shall go there to worship him!’” ⁹The king said to him, “Go in peace,” and he left for Hebron.

Absalom’s Rebellion

•  ¹⁰Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this instruction, “As soon as you hear the trumpet sound, proclaim: ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem had left with Absalom as invited guests. But nothing of his purpose dawned on them. ¹²Absalom was offering the sacrifices, so he sent for Ahithophel, the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, Giloh. In the meantime, the conspiracy grew strong, and the number of people with Absalom kept increasing.

¹³A messenger reported to David that the Israelites were siding with Absalom. ¹⁴Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let us flee, for we cannot resist Absalom. Go quickly, lest he come hurriedly and overtake us. Surely, he will put the city to the sword if he can bring disaster upon us.” ¹⁵The king’s servants answered, “Your servants are with you in whatever, my lord, the king decides.”

¹⁶The king departed with all his household but left ten concubines behind to take care of the house. ¹⁷The king left on foot, and the people followed him. They stopped at the last house of the city, and ¹⁸ his servants marched past him, as well as the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath and went ahead of him.

¹⁹The king told the commander, Ittai, the Gittite, “Why are you also coming with us? Go back and stay with your king, for you are a foreigner, an exile from your home. ²⁰Are you setting out when you have just arrived? Shall I make you wander about with us? Return, take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness. ²¹Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether in life or death, there also will your servant be.”

²²Then David told Ittai, “Go then, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and all the children who were with him. ²³Meanwhile, everyone in the countryside wept aloud as everyone passed by. Then the king crossed the brook Kidron, and everyone moved to the desert.

²⁴The priest Zadok came with all the Levites bearing the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God where Abiathar stood until the people had all left the city; ²⁵after which the king said to Zadok, “Carry the Ark of God back into the city. If the Lord looks kindly on me, he will bring me back and allow me to see the Ark and its lodging place again. ²⁶But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ I am here; let him do to me what seems good to him.”

²⁷The king also told the priest Zadok, “See, better go back to the city in peace and take with you your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan, son of Abiathar. ²⁸I will wait in the desert fords until you send word for me.” ²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.

³⁰David himself went up the Mount of Olives, weeping. He was barefooted and had his head covered, and all the people who were with him had their heads covered and wept as they went.

Humiliation for David

³¹When David was informed that Ahithophel was among the conspirators with Absalom, he said, “O Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into folly.”

³²When David reached the summit where God is worshiped, Hushai the Archite met him with his coat torn and dust strewn on his head. ³³David said to him, “If you come with me, you will be a burden to me. ³⁴It would be better for you to return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king! Just as I have been your father’s servant in the past, I will now be your servant.’ In that way, you will be useful to me in thwarting the counsel of Ahithophel. ³⁵The priests Zadok and Abiathar are there to help you. Report whatever you hear from the king’s house. ³⁶Both their sons are there, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son, and you shall report to me through them everything you hear.” ³⁷So David’s friend Hushai arrived in the city just as Absalom entered Jerusalem.

16 | ¹When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba, the steward of Meribbaal met him with saddled asses laden with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine. ²The king then asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The asses are for the king’s household to ride on. The bread and summer fruit are for your servants to eat, while the wine is a drink for those who faint in the desert.”

³The king asked him, “Where is your master’s son?” Ziba replied, “He is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the Israelites will give me back my father’s kingdom!” ⁴To this, the king said, “Everything that belongs to Meribbaal is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage to my lord the king. May I always find favor with you.”

⁵When King David came to Bahurim, a man from the clan of Saul’s family named Shimei, son of Gera, came out cursing him. ⁶He threw stones at David and his officers, although the king’s men and warriors flanked the king on the right and left. ⁷As he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Leave! Leave! You man of bloodshed, you wicked man! ⁸The Lord has brought down on your head all the blood of the family of Saul. You became king in his place, but God has now placed the kingdom in the hands of your son Absalom. Ruin has come upon you because you are a wicked man.”

⁹Then Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go and cut his head off.” ¹⁰But the king said, “Why should I listen to you, sons of Zeruiah? If the Lord has ordered him to curse me, who shall ask him why he acts like this?” ¹¹Then David said to Abishai and his officers, “If my own son wants to kill me, how much more this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse me if the Lord has ordered him to do so. ¹²Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and turn to good things the curses heaped on me today.” ¹³So David and his men went their way. At the same time, Shimei, following on the hillside opposite him, continued to curse as he threw stones and flung dust at him. ¹⁴The king and his men arrived exhausted at the Jordan, where he refreshed himself.

¹⁵Now Absalom, accompanied by Ahithophel, entered Jerusalem with all the Israelites. ¹⁶When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, appeared before Absalom and exclaimed, “Long live the king!” ¹⁷Absalom asked Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸Hushai said to Absalom, “No, I will be with the one Lord and this person and the Israelites have chosen, and with him, I will remain. ¹⁹Whom am I now to serve? Are you not his son? As I have served your father, so will I serve you.”

²⁰Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Have a meeting to decide what we shall do.” ²¹Ahithophel told Absalom, “Go and be with the concubines your father has left to keep his house. When the Israelites hear that you have made yourself odious to your father, your party's members will be strengthened.” ²²So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the terrace, and Absalom went into his father’s concubines in the sight of the Israelites. ²³In those days, Ahithophel’s counsel was deemed as sound as the oracle of God, and so it was deemed by both David and Absalom.

17 | ¹Ahitophel told Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men that I may set out and pursue David tonight. ²I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged and throw him into a panic. All those with him will flee so I will strike down only the king. ³I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. Seek the death of only one man, and then all the people will be unharmed.” ⁴The advice pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵Then Absalom said, “Call in Hushai the Archite to hear what he has to say.” ⁶When Hushai came before Absalom, Absalom asked him, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Shall we follow it? If not, you speak.” ⁷So Hushai told Absalom, “This time, Ahithophel’s advice is not good. ⁸You know that your father and his men are warriors. When enraged, they are like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert enough in war not to spend the night with his men. ⁹Right now; he is hiding in one of the pits or some other place. If some of your men fall in the first attack, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the men who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰Then even the valiant man whose heart is like that of a lion will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a warrior, as are the men who are with him. ¹¹My advice is for you to gather all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba, as many as the sands of the sea, and go to battle in person. ¹²Then we shall find him wherever he is and fall on him as the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. ¹³If he withdraws into a city, all Israel will bring ropes and drag it into the valley until not even a pebble of it remains.” ¹⁴Absalom and all the Israelites said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had decreed that the good counsel of Ahithophel be defeated so that he might bring evil upon Absalom.

¹⁵Then Hushai reported to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel in this way, but I have advised them in this manner. ¹⁶Therefore, send word to David quickly, ‘Do not lodge tonight at the desert fords. Go beyond them lest the king and all the men with him be trapped!”

¹⁷Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-Rogel, where a maidservant regularly went to report to them so they could go and tell King David, for they should not have been seen in the city. ¹⁸Still, a lad saw them and reported to Absalom. The two hurriedly left the place and entered the house of a man of Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they got down into it. ¹⁹The woman spread a covering over the well’s mouth, then scattered grain over it without anyone noticing. ²⁰When Absalom’s servants came to the woman’s house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman answered them, “They left, following the brook.” They looked for them but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹After they had gone, the men came up out of the well and went to tell David, “Hurry and cross over the river, for this is what Ahithophel has counseled against you.” ²²So David and all those with him crossed over the Jordan, and by daybreak, not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled his ass and rode back home to his own city. After setting his house in order, he hanged himself and died. He was then buried in the tomb of his father.

²⁴David had already entered Mahanaim when Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the Israelites. ²⁵Absalom had put Amasa in charge of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of Ithra, an Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, Isai's daughter, Zeruiah's sister, and Joab's mother. ²⁶The Israelites and Absalom pitched camp in the land of Gilead.

²⁷When David arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, ²⁸brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, and sheep and cheese from the herd. All this was for David and the people with him to eat ²⁹for they said, “The people are hungry, weary and thirsty in the desert.”

18 | ¹David then mustered the men with him and set over them commanders of a thousand men and a hundred men. He sent forth the army, of which one-third was under the command of Joab, ²one-third under the command of Abishai, son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one-third under the command of Ittai, the Gittite. Then the king said to the men, “I will go out with you.” ³But the men replied, “You shall not go out. They could not care less if we flee or if half of us die. But you are worth ten thousand of us, and it would be better if you could send us assistance from the city.” ⁴So the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” Then the king stood by the side of the gate while the entire army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵The king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Don’t hurt the young man Absalom for my sake.” The entire army heard the king giving orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom.

Defeat and Death of Absalom

•  ⁶David's army went out into the field against Israel. The battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim, ⁷where the men of David defeated the Israelites. The slaughter there on that day was great, numbering twenty thousand men. ⁸The battle spread over the entire country, and more people perished in the ravines of the forest than were killed by the sword that day.

⁹Absalom was riding a mule and happened to meet David's guards. As the mule passed under the thick branches of a big oak tree, his head was caught in the oak tree, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth while the mule he was riding went its way. ¹⁰Someone reported to Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree.” ¹¹Joab said to the man who reported this, “What! You saw him but did not strike him at once? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” ¹²But the man answered Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son, for we heard the king command you, Abishai and Ittai: ‘For my sake, spare the young man Absalom.’ ¹³If I had not done my duty, the king would come to know about it, and you would have kept your distance.” ¹⁴Joab replied, “I will not waste time talking with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s heart while still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵Then ten guards, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him down.

¹⁶Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing the Israelites as Joab restrained them. ¹⁷They then took Absalom, threw him into a deep pit in the forest, and covered him with a great heap of stones. In the meantime, all the Israelites fled, each one to his own home.

¹⁸During his lifetime, Absalom created a memorial for himself in the King’s Valley, saying, “I have no son by whom my name may be remembered.” He called the pillar after his name and, to this day, it is called Absalom’s monument.

¹⁹Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said, “Let me run and report to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the power of his enemies.” ²⁰Joab told him, “Today you would not be a bearer of good news; another day you will run, but today there is no good news because the king’s son is dead.” ²¹Joab then said to a Cushite, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab and ran. ²²But Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, again said to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run behind the Cushite.” Joab asked, “Why must you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for this news?” ²³Ahimaaz insisted, “It does not matter, I will run.” So Joab allowed him to go, and Ahimaaz ran by the plain, outrunning the Cushite.

David Is Told of Absalom’s Death

²⁴David was sitting between the two gates. The watchman posted at the roof of the gate, on the wall, saw a man running alone. ²⁵So he called out and reported to the king who said, “If he is alone, he brings good news.” As he was drawing near, ²⁶the watchman saw another man running. So he called to the gatekeeper and said, “Look, another man is running alone!” The king said, “He also brings good news.” ²⁷The watchman said, “The first man runs like Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok.” The king replied, “He is a good man, so he comes with good news.”

²⁸Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” Bowing before the king with his face to the ground, he said, “Blessed be the Lord your God who has delivered up the men who rebelled against my lord the king!” ²⁹The king asked him, “How is the young Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent your servant, I saw a great tumult but did not know what it was all about.” ³⁰The king said, “Move away and stand here.” He moved aside and stayed there.

³¹The Cushite arrived and said, “Good news for my lord the king! The Lord has done you justice today and saved you from all those who rebelled against you.” ³²The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rebel against you end up like that young man.”

19 | ¹The king was greatly disturbed and, going up to the room over the gate, he wept and said, “O, my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

²It was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” ³So the victory that day turned into mourning for everyone when they heard that the king was grieving over his son. ⁴The people quietly entered the city that day, like those fleeing battle in shame. ⁵The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁶Joab then came to the king’s house and said, “You have today put to shame all your servants who saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, and your wives and concubines. ⁷Yes, you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. Today, you have made it clear that your commanders and guards mean nothing to you. If Absalom were alive today and all of us dead, you would be pleased. ⁸You must now show yourself and say a good word to your guards for, I swear by the Lord, if you do not, no one will stay with you tonight, and this will be worse than all the evil that has happened to you from your youth to the present day.”

⁹So the king took his seat at the gate, and as the people were informed that the king was sitting at the gate, they came before him because the people of Israel had fled, each man to his own home. ¹⁰Yet throughout all the tribes of Israel, the people were arguing, “The king who delivered us from the Philistines has had to flee because of Absalom, ¹¹but Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Why, then,

Should you remain silent about restoring the king to his palace?

David Returns to Jerusalem

¹²King David heard what the Israelites said. So he sent this message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Say to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house? ¹³You are relatives of my own race. Why should you be the last to bring back the king?’ ¹⁴Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not of my own family? I swear before God that I will make you general of my army instead of Joab.”

¹⁵So he won over the men of Judah and, as one man, they sent word to the king, “Please return with your servants.” ¹⁶So the king came back, and the men of Judah went over to Gilgal to welcome him and help him cross the Jordan.

¹⁷Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried down with the people of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁸He had taken with him a thousand men from Benjamin. Ziba, the steward of Saul’s family, hurried down to the Jordan before the king with his fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹⁹He helped the king’s household cross the Ford and attended to his needs.

Shimei, the son of Gera, fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan, ²⁰and said to him, “Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember the wrong your servant did when my lord the king left Jerusalem. Let not the king remember this, ²¹for I confess that I have sinned; therefore I have come today, the first from Joseph’s tribes to welcome my lord the king.”

²²Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for having cursed the Lord’s anointed?” ²³But David said, “Far be it from me to listen to you, you sons of Zeruiah! This is bad advice; no one shall be put to death in Israel today. Do I not know that I am ruling again over Israel this day?” ²⁴The king swore to Shimei, “You shall not die.”

²⁵Meribbaal, the son of Saul, came down from Jerusalem to meet the king. He had not washed his feet, trimmed his beard, or cleaned his clothes since the king departed. ²⁶When he arrived to meet the king, the king said, “Why did you not go with me, Meribbaal?” ²⁷He answered, “My lord, O king! My steward deceived me. For I said to him, ‘Saddle an ass for me so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ since I am lame. ²⁸But he has slandered me to my lord the king. And yet, my lord the King is like an angel of God. Do, therefore, what seems good to you. ²⁹My father’s family was doomed to die before my lord the king, but you counted your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right do I have to complain to the king?” ³⁰The king said to him, “Why talk more? I have decided—you and Ziba shall divide the land.” ³¹Meribbaal answered, “Oh, let him take it all since my lord the king has come home safely.”

³²Now, Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim and crossed the Jordan with him; then he said goodbye to him. ³³Barzillai was a very old man of eighty, who, being a very wealthy man, had provided the king with food when he remained in Mahanaim. ³⁴The king said to Barzillai, “Come, join me and stay with me; I will take care of you in Jerusalem.” ³⁵But Barzillai asked the king, “How many more years will I live that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁶Today, I am eighty years old and can discern neither pleasant nor not. Can your servant still taste what he eats or drinks or listen to the voices of men and women singing? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? ³⁷Your servant will accompany the king just a little past the Jordan. Why should the king reward me for this? ³⁸Please allow me to return to my city where I may die and be buried near the graves of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him go with my lord the king. You can do whatever it pleases you for him. ³⁹The king answered, “Chimham will come with me, and I will give him whatever seems fit to you. Besides, I will do for you whatever you desire of me.” ⁴⁰As all the people had crossed the Jordan, the king also crossed. Then, the king embraced and blessed Barzillai, who returned to his home.

•  ⁴¹The king went on to Gilgal accompanied by Chimham, the men of Judah, and some Israelites. ⁴²Then the Israelites came to the king and asked, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, grabbed you and brought the king and his entire family over the Jordan with all your soldiers?” ⁴³The men of Judah answered the Israelites, “Because the king is our immediate relative. But why does this rouse your anger? Have we fed ourselves at the king’s expense or received any gift from him?” ⁴⁴But the Israelites answered the men of Judah, “We have more right to the king than you because we are ten tribes. Why did you disregard us? Were we not the first to have the king brought back?” But the men of Judah argued more vehemently than the Israelites.

Sheba Rebels Against David

20 | ¹There was a wicked man named Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, who sounded the trumpet and said, “We have nothing to do with David. What can we expect from the son of Jesse? Go back, O Israelites, each man to his home!” ²So all the Israelites left David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri. The men of Judah, however, steadfastly followed their king from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

³When David reached his house in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to keep the palace and put them under guard. He provided for them but had no relations with them. So they were secluded until the day of their death and lived like widows.

⁴The king said to Amasa, “Assemble all the men of Judah within three days; then come here to me.” ⁵So Amasa left to summon the men of Judah, but he failed to show up at the appointed time. ⁶David said to Abishai, “Sheba, son of Bichri, will do us more harm than Absalom. Take my guards and pursue him lest he flee to any fortified city and escape from us.” ⁷So Abishai, with the men of Joab, the Cherethites, Pelethites, and all the warriors, left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, son of Bichri. ⁸When they reached the big stone in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing over his tunic a belt with a sheathed sword. The sword slipped out. ⁹Joab asked Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” And he held Amasa’s beard with his right hand as if to embrace him, ¹⁰Amasa did not notice the sword which he held until Joab stabbed him, shedding his entrails to the ground. Amasa died on the spot without the need for a second thrust.

Then Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued Sheba, son of Bichri. ¹¹Meantime, one of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa and said, “Let him who is for Joab and stands by David follow Joab.” ¹²Amasa then lay bathed in his blood, lying on the highway. When the man saw the people stopping to look, he carried Amasa into the field and covered him with a garment. ¹³When he was removed from the highway, the people followed Joab in pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri.

¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel and entered Abel of Beth-maacah with all his allies who had assembled to follow him. ¹⁵Joab’s men came and attacked him in Abel of Bet-maacah. They set up a mound against the city, and all the men of Joab dug under the wall to throw it down.

¹⁶Then, a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so that I may speak to him.” ¹⁷As Joab approached, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” ¹⁸The woman continued, “They used to say in olden days: to settle a matter, ‘Seek advice at Abel if you want to know the ancient customs ¹⁹of the faithful of Israel.’ And you want to destroy a city which is a mother city in Israel. Why do you want to destroy the heritage of the Lord?” ²⁰Joab answered, “By no means do I want to destroy it! ²¹But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba, son of Bichri, has rebelled against King David. Only surrender him, and I will withdraw from the city.” So the woman said to Joab, “We shall throw his head over the wall to you.” ²²The woman then gathered the inhabitants and spoke to them so persuasively that they beheaded Sheba, son of Bichri, and threw his head out to Joab, who then sounded the trumpet for the people to depart from the city. Then, everyone went home, and Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

²³Joab was in command of the army of Israel, while Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites. ²⁴ Adoram was in charge of forced labor, and Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was the recorder. Sheva was secretary, ²⁵Zadok and Abiathar were priests, ²⁶and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

The Great Famine

21 | • ¹There was a famine during the reign of David for three consecutive years, and David consulted the Lord. The answer was, “There is blood guilt on Saul and his family because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

²The Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but descendants of the Amorites. Although the Israelites had sworn to spare them, Saul had attempted to wipe them out on behalf of the people of Israel and Judah. ³David called the Gibeonites and asked them, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I repay you that you may bless the people of the Lord?” ⁴The Gibeonites answered him, “Our quarrel with Saul and his family is not over silver or gold, nor is it our task to put any Israelite to death.” The king asked again, “Tell me then what I shall do for you”; ⁵and they replied, “That man slaughtered us and planned our destruction so that we would no longer occupy any place in Israel. ⁶Surrender seven of his sons to us so that we may hang them up before the Lord at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord.” To this, the king said, “I will surrender them.”

⁷David spared Meribbaal, son of Jonathan, Saul’s son, because of the oath David and Jonathan took before the Lord. ⁸But he took the two sons of Rizpah, daughter of Aiah whom she bore to Saul—Armoni and Meribbaal; and the five sons of Merob, daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel, son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, who hanged them on the mountain of the Lord, where all seven perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹⁰Then Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock from the beginning of harvest until rain fell on them from the heavens. She did not allow the birds of the air to come on them by day or the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹When David was told what Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter and Saul’s concubine, had done, ¹²he asked the men of Jabesh-Gilead for the bones of Saul and those of his son Jonathan. (They had taken them from the wall of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had nailed them when they killed Saul on Gilboa.) ¹³So David had brought up from there the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan, and the bones of those who had been hanged were gathered. ¹⁴All of them were buried in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish, their father. When all that the king had commanded was done, God had pity on the land.

¹⁵The Philistines waged war again with Israel, and David went down with his servants to fight against them. When David grew tired, ¹⁶Dadu, one of the descendants of the giants whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze and who had put on a new sword, thought of killing David. ¹⁷But Abishai, son of Zeruiah, came to his help, attacking and killing the Philistine. Then David’s men urged him, “You shall not join us anymore in battle lest the lamp of Israel be extinguished.”

¹⁸After this, there was more fighting with the Philistines at Gob; there, Sibbecai, the Hushathite, slew Saph, one of the descendants of the giants. ¹⁹There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob where Elhanan, son of Jair, the Bethlehemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was the size of a weaver’s beam. ²⁰In another encounter at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, numbering twenty-four. He, too, was a descendant of the giants. ²¹When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, son of Shimei, David’s brother, slew him. ²²All four descendants of the giants fell by the hand of David and his guards.

David’s Song of Praise

22 | •  ¹David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord delivered him from his enemies and from Saul. ²He said,

The Lord is my rock, my rampart,

my deliverer ³and my God,

the rock in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield, my salvation,

my stronghold, and my refuge,

my Savior; you save me from violence.

⁴I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise;

he saves me from my enemies.

⁵Waters of death carried me along,

torrents of destruction terrified me.

⁶Caught, as by the cords of the grave,

I was utterly helpless before the snares of death.

⁷But I called upon the Lord in my distress,

to my God, I cried for help;

and from his temple, he heard my voice,

my cry of grief reached his ears.

⁸Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations of the heavens shook;

they trembled in his fury.

⁹From his nostrils, smoke rose,

from his mouth, a devouring fire

throwing off live embers.

¹⁰He bent the heavens and came down

with dark clouds under his feet.

¹¹He rode on a cherub and flew;

he was seen on the wings of the wind.

¹²He set darkness around him as his tent,

a heap of waters in the thick clouds.

¹³Then, from the brightness of his presence

flared up fiery embers.

¹⁴From heaven, the Lord thundered;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁵Sending out a hail of arrows,

he scattered them;

flashing forth bolts of lightning,

he routed them.

¹⁶The beds of the seas lay uncovered

as the foundations of the world

were laid bare,

at your rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast from your nostril’s breath.

¹⁷Reaching down from above,

he drew me out of the deep water.

¹⁸Too strong for me were my enemies,

but he rescued me from my adversaries.

¹⁹They launched their attack

on a suitable day,

but the Lord was my stay.

²⁰In the open, he has set me free.

How great indeed is his love for me!

²¹The Lord rewarded me according to my justice,

and according to my righteousness.

²²For I have been faithful to the Lord’s way

and not fallen away from him.

²³With his ordinances all before me,

I have always followed his statutes.

²⁴Before him, I have done uprightly

and kept myself from iniquity.

²⁵Therefore, the Lord has given me

recompense according to my righteousness.

²⁶To the faithful, you show yourself faithful;

to the blameless, you show yourself blameless;

²⁷to the pure you show yourself pure;

but to the crooked, you show yourself astute.

²⁸For you raise up the humble

and humiliate the arrogant.

²⁹The Lord, you are my lamp.

O my God, you brighten up my darkness.

³⁰Yes, with you, I can crush an armed band,

and by my God, I can leap over a wall.

³¹This God—his way is perfect;

the word of the Lord is always fulfilled.

To those who seek refuge in him, he is a shield.

³²There is no other God but the Lord;

there is no other rock but our God.

³³This God is my stronghold

and keeps my path unerring and safe.

³⁴He has made my feet as swift as the hinds;

he has set me secure on the heights.

³⁵He trains my hands for war

and my arms to bend a bow of brass.

³⁶You have given me your shield for protection,

and your help has made me great.

³⁷You have given wide room for my steps,

so that they have never faltered.

³⁸I have pursued my enemies and wiped them out,

I did not turn back till I had destroyed them.

³⁹Thrusting them through,

I did not give them time to rise

as they fell under my feet.

⁴⁰You have given me strength for the battle;

you have subdued my adversaries beneath me;

⁴¹you have put my enemies to flight

and destroyed those who opposed me.

⁴²They cried for help, but no one came.

They cried to the Lord;

he did not answer them.

⁴³I pulverized them as dust of the earth;

like mud in the streets, I trampled on them.

⁴⁴You have delivered me from

the people’s assault

and have made me head over the nations.

They came to serve me—

people I had not known.

⁴⁵Foreigners approached me,

cringing and fawning.

At the sound of my voice,

they rose to obey.

⁴⁶Foreigners succumbed

or locked themselves in their fortresses.

⁴⁷The Lord lives! Praise be my rock!

Exalted be my savior, God—

⁴⁸the God who grants me vengeance

and subdues the people for me.

⁴⁹He brings me out from my foes;

he exalts me above my adversaries;

he rescues me from men of violence.

⁵⁰For this, I will praise you, Lord,

among the nations;

I will sing praise to your name.

⁵¹You have given your king great victory;

you have shown your love forever

to your anointed, to David, and his

descendants.

23 | ¹These are the last words of David: The oracle of David, son of Jesse, the oracle of the man whom God exalted, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the singer of the songs of Israel:      

²“The spirit of the Lord speaks through me; his word is on my tongue.

³The God of Israel has spoken,

the Rock of Israel has said to me:

when one rules justly over people,

ruling in the fear of God,

⁴he dawns on them like the morning light,

like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,

making grass sprout from the ground after the rain.

⁵Yes, is not my family like this before God? He has made with me an eternal covenant, orderly and secure.

Will he not complete my salvation and fulfill my desire?

⁶But the godless are like thorns that are thrown away.

They cannot be held with one’s hand

⁷but are uprooted with iron and the shaft of a spear,

and they are burned in fire.”

David’s Champions

•  ⁸These are the names of David’s warriors: Ishbaal, the son of Hachamoni, was head of the officers. He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle.

⁹Next was Eleazar, son of Dodo and son of Ahohi, who was with David when they challenged the Philistines, who were gathered there for battle. When he saw the Israelites' retreat, ¹⁰fought and struck down the Philistines until his hand grew tired from holding the sword without pause. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The others returned after him, but only to strip the slain.

¹¹Next was Shammah, son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where a plot of ground was planted to barley, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹²But Shammah stood in the middle of the plot to defend it and slew the Philistines. And the Lord worked a great victory.

¹³At the time of the harvest, three of the thirty leaders went down to David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴David was in the stronghold while the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵David longed for water and said, “Who will give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶At this, the three warriors broke through the Philistine camp, drew water out of the well by the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it to David. But David refused to drink of it and poured it out as an offering to the Lord. ¹⁷He said, “By no means should I do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who risked their lives?” Therefore, he refused to drink it. These were the deeds of the three warriors.

¹⁸Abishai, son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, was head of the three. He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ¹⁹From the three, he was given the honor and became their officer, even though he was not one of the three.

²⁰Benaiah, son of Jehoiada and a warrior of Kabzeel, was a man of outstanding achievements who killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also fell into a pit on a snowy day and slew a lion. ²¹He slew a handsome Egyptian who held a spear. Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²²Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, did these things and won a name beside the thirty warriors. ²³He received honor from the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁴Included with the thirty were the following: Asahel, the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem; ²⁵Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod; ²⁶Helez, the Paltite; Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa; ²⁷Abiezer of Anathoth; Sibbecai, the Hushathite, ²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai of Netophah; ²⁹Jeleb, the son of Baanah of Netophah; Ittai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjaminites; ³⁰Benaiah of Pirathon; Hiddai, of the brooks of Gaash; ³¹Abibaal, the Arbathite; Azmaveth of Bahurim; ³²Eliahba of Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen, Jonathan; ³³Shammah, the Hararite; Ahiam, the son of Sharar, the Hararite, ³⁴Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai of Maacah; Eliam, the son of Ahithophel of Gilo; ³⁵Hezrai of Carmel; Paarai the Arbite; ³⁶Igal, the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani, the Gadite; ³⁷Zelek the Ammonite; Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸Ira, from Jattir; Gareb from Jattir; ³⁹Uriah, the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.

The Census

24 | •  ¹Again, the anger of the Lord blazed out against Israel. So he let David harm them in this way, “Count the people of Israel and Judah.” ²The king said to Joab and the commanders of the army who were with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and count the people that I may know how many they are.”

³Joab told the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the people a hundred times, and may my lord the king see this blessing. But why does my lord the king want to take a census?”

⁴But the king’s word prevailed so that Joab and the army commanders went out from the king’s presence to count the people of Israel. ⁵They crossed the Jordan and started with Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, and went on toward Gad and to Jazer. ⁶Then they proceeded to Gilead and Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. They then went to Dan, from Dan to Sidon, ⁷and arrived at the fortress of Tyre and the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. They went out through the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba and, ⁸after having gone through all the land, returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹Joab gave the total count of the people to the king: eight hundred thousand sword-wielding warriors in Israel and five hundred thousand men in Judah.

¹⁰But after he had the people counted, David felt remorse and said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, O Lord, I ask you to forgive my sin for I have acted foolishly.”

¹¹The following day, before David awoke, the Lord’s word had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, ¹²“Go, and give David this message: I offer you three things, and I will let one of them befall you according to your own choice.” ¹³So Gad asked David, “Do you want three years of famine in your land? Or do you want to be pursued for three months by your foes while you flee from them? Or do you want three days’ pestilence in your land? Now, think and decide what answer I shall give him who sent me.”

¹⁴David answered Gad, “I am distraught. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord whose mercy is abundant, but let me not fall into human hands.”

¹⁵So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from morning until the appointed time, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan to Beersheba. ¹⁶When the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord would punish no more and said to the angel, causing destruction among the people, “It is enough; hold back your hand.” The angel of the Lord was already on the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

¹⁷When David saw the angel striking the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, “I have sinned and acted wickedly, but these are only the sheep; what have they done? Let your hand strike me and my father’s family.”

¹⁸Gad went to David that day and said, “Go, set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹So David left to follow the Lord’s command made through Gad. ²⁰When Araunah saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he paid homage to the king with his face to the ground and said, ²¹“Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David answered, “I will buy your threshing floor to build an altar to the Lord so that the plague may end among the people.” ²²Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take the threshing floor and offer the sacrifice that seems good to him: here you have my oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sleds, and the oxen’s yokes for the wood. ²³All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king. May the Lord your God hear you.”

²⁴But the king said to Araunah, “No, I will pay you for all this, for I will not offer to the Lord my God something that costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵David built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt and peace offerings. So the Lord had mercy on the land, and the plague ended in Israel.