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

2 Samuel 1

1 It happened after the death of Sha'ul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the `Amaleki, and David had abode two days in Tziklag;

2 it happened on the third day, that behold, a man came out of the camp from Sha'ul, with his clothes torn, and dirt on his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the eretz, and did obeisance.

3 David said to him, From whence come you? He said to him, Out of the camp of Yisra'el am I escaped.

4 David said to him, How went the matter? Please tell me. He answered, The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Sha'ul and Yonatan his son are dead also.

5 David said to the young man who told him, How know you that Sha'ul and Yonatan his son are dead?

6 The young man who told him said, As I happened by chance on Mount Gilboa, behold, Sha'ul was leaning on his spear; and, behold, the chariots and the horsemen followed hard after him.

7 When he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. I answered, Here am I.

8 He said to me, Who are you? I answered him, I am an `Amaleki.

9 He said to me, Stand, I pray you, beside me, and kill me; for anguish has taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.

10 So I stood beside him, and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.

11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them; and likewise all the men who were with him:

12 and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Sha'ul, and for Yonatan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Yisra'el; because they were fallen by the sword.

13 David said to the young man who told him, Whence are you? He answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an `Amaleki.

14 David said to him, How were you not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?

15 David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall on him. He struck him, so that he died.

16 David said to him, Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed.

17 David lamented with this lamentation over Sha'ul and over Yonatan his son

18 (and he bade them teach the children of Yehudah [the song of] the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Yashar):

19 Your glory, Yisra'el, is slain on your high places! How are the mighty fallen!

20 Don't tell it in Gat, Don't publish it in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Pelishtim rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

21 You mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain on you, neither fields of offerings: For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Sha'ul, not anointed with oil.

22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Yonatan didn't turn back, The sword of Sha'ul didn't return empty.

23 Sha'ul and Yonatan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, In their death they were not divided: They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.

24 You daughters of Yisra'el, weep over Sha'ul, Who clothed you in scarlet delicately, Who put ornaments of gold on your clothing.

25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Yonatan is slain on your high places.

26 I am distressed for you, my brother Yonatan: Very pleasant have you been to me: Your love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women.

27 How are the mighty fallen, The weapons of war perished!

2 Samuel 2

1 It happened after this, that David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Yehudah? the LORD said to him, Go up. David said, Where shall I go up? He said, To Hevron.

2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Achino'am the Yizre`elite, and Avigayil the wife of Naval the Karmelite.

3 His men who were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they lived in the cities of Hevron.

4 The men of Yehudah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Yehudah. They told David, saying, The men of Yavesh-Gil`ad were those who buried Sha'ul.

5 David sent messengers to the men of Yavesh-Gil`ad, and said to them, Blessed be you of the LORD, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Sha'ul, and have buried him.

6 Now the LORD show lovingkindness and truth to you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because you have done this thing.

7 Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be you valiant; for Sha'ul your lord is dead, and also the house of Yehudah have anointed me king over them.

8 Now Aviner the son of Ner, captain of Sha'ul's host, had taken Ish-Boshet the son of Sha'ul, and brought him over to Machanayim;

9 and he made him king over Gil`ad, and over the Ashuri, and over Yizre`el, and over Efrayim, and over Binyamin, and over all Yisra'el.

10 Ish-Boshet, Sha'ul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Yisra'el, and he reigned two years. But the house of Yehudah followed David.

11 The time that David was king in Hevron over the house of Yehudah was seven years and six months.

12 Aviner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-Boshet the son of Sha'ul, went out from Machanayim to Giv`on.

13 Yo'av the son of Tzeru'yah, and the servants of David, went out, and met them by the pool of Giv`on; and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.

14 Aviner said to Yo'av, Please let the young men arise and play before us. Yo'av said, Let them arise.

15 Then they arose and went over by number: twelve for Binyamin, and for Ish-Boshet the son of Sha'ul, and twelve of the servants of David.

16 They caught everyone his fellow by the head, and [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: therefore that place was called Helkat-Hatztzurim, which is in Giv`on.

17 The battle was very severe that day: and Aviner was beaten, and the men of Yisra'el, before the servants of David.

18 The three sons of Tzeru'yah were there, Yo'av, and Avishai, and `Asa'el: and `Asa'el was as light of foot as a wild roe.

19 `Asa'el pursued after Aviner; and in going he didn't turn to the right hand nor to the left from following Aviner.

20 Then Aviner looked behind him, and said, Is it you, `Asa'el? He answered, It is I.

21 Aviner said to him, Turn you aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay you hold on one of the young men, and take you his armor. But `Asa'el would not turn aside from following him.

22 Aviner said again to `Asa'el, Turn you aside from following me: why should I strike you to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Yo'av your brother?

23 However he refused to turn aside: therefore Aviner with the hinder end of the spear struck him in the body, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it happened, that as many as came to the place where `Asa'el fell down and died stood still.

24 But Yo'av and Avishai pursued after Aviner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lies before Giach by the way of the wilderness of Giv`on.

25 The children of Binyamin gathered themselves together after Aviner, and became one band, and stood on the top of a hill.

26 Then Aviner called to Yo'av, and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Don't you know that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then, before you bid the people return from following their brothers?"

27 Yo'av said, As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone away, nor followed everyone his brother.

28 So Yo'av blew the shofar; and all the people stood still, and pursued after Yisra'el no more, neither fought they any more.

29 Aviner and his men went all that night through the `Aravah; and they passed over the Yarden, and went through all Bitron, and came to Machanayim.

30 Yo'av returned from following Aviner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and `Asa'el.

31 But the servants of David had struck of Binyamin, and of Aviner's men, [so that] three hundred sixty men died.

32 They took up `Asa'el, and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was in Beit-Lechem. Yo'av and his men went all night, and the day broke on them at Hevron.

2 Samuel 3

1 Now there was long war between the house of Sha'ul and the house of David: and David grew stronger and stronger, but the house of Sha'ul grew weaker and weaker.

2 To David were sons born in Hevron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Achino'am the Yizre`elite;

3 and his second, Chileab, of Avigayil the wife of Naval the Karmelite; and the third, Avshalom the son of Ma`akhah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;

4 and the fourth, Adoniyahu the son of Haggit; and the fifth, Shefatyah the son of Avital;

5 and the sixth, Yitre`am, of `Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hevron.

6 It happened, while there was war between the house of Sha'ul and the house of David, that Aviner made himself strong in the house of Sha'ul.

7 Now Sha'ul had a concubine, whose name was Ritzpah, the daughter of Ayah: and [Ish-Boshet] said to Aviner, Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?

8 Then was Aviner very angry for the words of Ish-Boshet, and said, Am I a dog's head that belongs to Yehudah? This day do I show kindness to the house of Sha'ul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me this day with a fault concerning this woman.

9 God do so to Aviner, and more also, if, as the LORD has sworn to David, I don't do even so to him;

10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Sha'ul, and to set up the throne of David over Yisra'el and over Yehudah, from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva.

11 He could not answer Aviner another word, because he feared him.

12 Aviner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying [also], Make your league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with you, to bring about all Yisra'el to you.

13 He said, Well; I will make a league with you; but one thing I require of you: that is, you shall not see my face, except you first bring Mikhal, Sha'ul's daughter, when you come to see my face.

14 David sent messengers to Ish-Boshet, Sha'ul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Mikhal, whom I pledged to be married to me for one hundred foreskins of the Pelishtim.

15 Ish-Boshet sent, and took her from her husband, even from Palti'el the son of Layish.

16 Her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bachurim. Then said Aviner to him, Go, return: and he returned.

17 Aviner had communication with the Zakenim of Yisra'el, saying, In times past you sought for David to be king over you:

18 now then do it; for the LORD has spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Yisra'el out of the hand of the Pelishtim, and out of the hand of all their enemies.

19 Aviner also spoke in the ears of Binyamin: and Aviner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hevron all that seemed good to Yisra'el, and to the whole house of Binyamin.

20 So Aviner came to David to Hevron, and twenty men with him. David made Aviner and the men who were with him a feast.

21 Aviner said to David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Yisra'el to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires. David sent Aviner away; and he went in shalom.

22 Behold, the servants of David and Yo'av came from a foray, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Aviner was not with David in Hevron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in shalom.

23 When Yo'av and all the host who was with him had come, they told Yo'av, saying, Aviner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he is gone in shalom.

24 Then Yo'av came to the king, and said, What have you done? behold, Aviner came to you; why is it that you have sent him away, and he is quite gone?

25 You know Aviner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you, and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you do.

26 When Yo'av was come out from David, he sent messengers after Aviner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah: but David didn't know it.

27 When Aviner was returned to Hevron, Yo'av took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of `Asa'el his brother.

28 Afterward, when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Aviner the son of Ner:

29 let it fall on the head of Yo'av, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Yo'av one who has an issue, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.

30 So Yo'av and Avishai his brother killed Aviner, because he had killed their brother `Asa'el at Giv`on in the battle.

31 David said to Yo'av, and to all the people who were with him, Tear your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Aviner. King David followed the bier.

32 They buried Aviner in Hevron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Aviner; and all the people wept.

33 The king lamented for Aviner, and said, Should Aviner die as a fool dies?

34 Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put into fetters: As a man falls before the children of iniquity, so did you fall. All the people wept again over him.

35 All the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, until the sun be down.

36 All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them; as whatever the king did pleased all the people.

37 So all the people and all Yisra'el understood that day that it was not of the king to kill Aviner the son of Ner.

38 The king said to his servants, "Don't you know that there a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Yisra'el?

39 I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Tzeru'yah are too hard for me. May the LORD reward the evil-doer according to his wickedness."

2 Samuel 4

1 When [Ish-Boshet], Sha'ul's son, heard that Aviner was dead in Hevron, his hands became feeble, and all the Yisra'elites were troubled.

2 [Ish-Boshet], Sha'ul's son, [had] two men who were captains of bands: the name of the one was Ba`anah, and the name of the other Rechav, the sons of Rimmon the Be'erotite, of the children of Binyamin (for Be'erot also is reckoned to Binyamin:

3 and the Be'erotites fled to Gittayim, and have been sojourners there until this day).

4 Now Yonatan, Sha'ul's son, had a son who was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Sha'ul and Yonatan out of Yizre`el; and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. His name was Mefivoshet.

5 The sons of Rimmon the Be'erotite, Rechav and Ba`anah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-Boshet, as he took his rest at noon.

6 They came there into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they struck him in the body: and Rechav and Ba`anah his brother escaped.

7 Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, they struck him, and killed him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the `Aravah all night.

8 They brought the head of Ish-Boshet to David to Hevron, and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ish-Boshet, the son of Sha'ul, your enemy, who sought your life; and the LORD has avenged my lord the king this day of Sha'ul, and of his seed.

9 David answered Rechav and Ba`anah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Be'erotite, and said to them, As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

10 when one told me, saying, Behold, Sha'ul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Tziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

11 How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the eretz?

12 David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hevron. But they took the head of Ish-Boshet, and buried it in the grave of Aviner in Hevron.

2 Samuel 5

1 Then came all the tribes of Yisra'el to David to Hevron, and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

2 In times past, when Sha'ul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Yisra'el: and the LORD said to you, You shall be shepherd of my people Yisra'el, and you shall be prince over Yisra'el.

3 So all the Zakenim of Yisra'el came to the king to Hevron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hevron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Yisra'el.

4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

5 In Hevron he reigned over Yehudah seven years and six months; and in Yerushalayim he reigned thirty-three years over all Yisra'el and Yehudah.

6 The king and his men went to Yerushalayim against the Yevusi, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here; thinking, David can't come in here.

7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Tziyon; the same is the city of David.

8 David said on that day, Whoever strikes the Yevusi, let him get up to the watercourse, and [strike] the lame and the blind, who are hated of David's soul. Therefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he can't come into the house.

9 David lived in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. David built round about from Millo and inward.

10 David grew greater and greater; for the LORD, the God Tzva'ot,, was with him.

11 Hiram king of Tzor sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house.

12 David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Yisra'el, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Yisra'el's sake.

13 David took him more concubines and wives out of Yerushalayim, after he was come from Hevron; and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

14 These are the names of those who were born to him in Yerushalayim: Shammua, and Shovav, and Natan, and Shlomo,

15 and Yivchar, and Elishua, and Nefeg, and Yafia,

16 and Elishama, and Elyada, and Elifelet.

17 When the Pelishtim heard that they had anointed David king over Yisra'el, all the Pelishtim went up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the stronghold.

18 Now the Pelishtim had come and spread themselves in the valley of Refa'im.

19 David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up against the Pelishtim? will you deliver them into my hand? the LORD said to David, Go up; for I will certainly deliver the Pelishtim into your hand.

20 David came to Ba`al-Peratzim, and David struck them there; and he said, the LORD has broken my enemies before me, like the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Ba`al-Peratzim.

21 They left their images there; and David and his men took them away.

22 The Pelishtim came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Refa'im.

23 When David inquired of the LORD, he said, You shall not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.

24 It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall bestir yourself; for then is the LORD gone out before you to strike the host of the Pelishtim.

25 David did so, as the LORD commanded him, and struck the Pelishtim from Geva until you come to Gezer.

2 Samuel 6

1 David again gathered together all the chosen men of Yisra'el, thirty thousand.

2 David arose, and went with all the people who were with him, from Ba`ale-Yeudah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, even the name of the LORD of Hosts who sits [above] the Keruvim.

3 They set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Avinadav that was in the hill: and Uzzah and Achyo, the sons of Avinadav, drove the new cart.

4 They brought it out of the house of Avinadav, which was in the hill, with the ark of God: and Achyo went before the ark.

5 David and all the house of Yisra'el played before the LORD with all manner of [instruments made of] fir-wood, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakhon, Uzzah put forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen stumbled.

7 The anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

8 David was displeased, because the LORD had broken forth on Uzzah; and he called that place Peretz-Uzzah, to this day.

9 David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?

10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD to him into the city of David; but David carried it aside into the house of `Oved-'Edom the Gittite.

11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of `Oved-'Edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed `Oved-'Edom, and all his house.

12 It was told king David, saying, the LORD has blessed the house of `Oved-'Edom, and all that pertains to him, because of the ark of God. David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of `Oved-'Edom into the city of David with joy.

13 It was so, that, when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

14 David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen efod.

15 So David and all the house of Yisra'el brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the shofar.

16 It was so, as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, that Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

17 They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD.

18 When David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Hosts.

19 He dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Yisra'el, both to men and women, to everyone a cake of bread, and a portion [of flesh], and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed everyone to his house.

20 Then David returned to bless his household. Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Yisra'el today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

21 David said to Mikhal, [It was] before the LORD, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of the LORD, over Yisra'el: therefore will I play before the LORD.

22 I will be yet more vile than this, and will be base in my own sight: but of the handmaids of whom you have spoken, of them shall I be had in honor.

23 Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul had no child to the day of her death.

2 Samuel 7

1 It happened, when the king lived in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies round about,

2 that the king said to Natan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.

3 Natan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart; for the LORD is with you.

4 It happened the same night, that the word of the LORD came to Natan, saying,

5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the LORD, Shall you build me a house for me to dwell in?

6 for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Yisra'el out of Mitzrayim, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tent.

7 In all places in which I have walked with all the children of Yisra'el, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Yisra'el, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Yisra'el, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar?

8 Now therefore thus shall you tell my servant David, Thus says the LORD of Hosts, I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Yisra'el;

9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the eretz.

10 I will appoint a place for my people Yisra'el, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,

11 and [as] from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Yisra'el; and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD tells you that the LORD will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;

15 but my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Sha'ul, whom I put away before you.

16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before you: your throne shall be established forever.

17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Natan speak to David.

18 Then David the king went in, and sat before the LORD; and he said, Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?

19 This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord GOD; but you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come; and this [too] after the manner of men, Lord GOD!

20 What can David say more to you? for you know your servant, Lord GOD.

21 For your word's sake, and according to your own heart, have you worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.

22 Therefore you are great, LORD God: for there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

23 What one nation in the eretz is like your people, even like Yisra'el, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeem to you out of Mitzrayim, [from] the nations and their gods?

24 You did establish to yourself your people Yisra'el to be a people to you forever; and you, LORD, became their God.

25 Now, LORD God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm you it forever, and do as you have spoken.

26 Let your name be magnified forever, saying, the LORD of hosts is God over Yisra'el; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.

27 For you, LORD of Hosts, the God of Yisra'el, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to you.

28 Now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant:

29 now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord GOD, have spoken it: and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever.

2 Samuel 8

1 After this it happened that David struck the Pelishtim, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Pelishtim.

2 He struck Mo'av, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Mo`avim became servants to David, and brought tribute.

3 David struck also Hadad`ezer the son of Rechov, king of Tzovah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River.

4 David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for one hundred chariots.

5 When the Aram of Dammesek came to help Hadad`ezer king of Tzovah, David struck of the Aram two and twenty thousand men.

6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Dammesek; and the Aram became servants to David, and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

7 David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadad`ezer, and brought them to Yerushalayim.

8 From Betach and from Berotai, cities of Hadad`ezer, king David took exceeding much brass.

9 When To`i king of Hamat heard that David had struck all the host of Hadad`ezer,

10 then To`i sent Yoram his son to king David, to Greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadad`ezer and struck him: for Hadad`ezer had wars with To`i. [Yoram] brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:

11 These also did king David dedicate to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued;

12 of Aram, and of Mo'av, and of the children of `Ammon, and of the Pelishtim, and of `Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadad`ezer, son of Rechov, king of Tzovah.

13 David got him a name when he returned from smiting the Aram in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men.

14 He put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edom became servants to David. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

15 David reigned over all Yisra'el; and David executed justice and righteousness to all his people.

16 Yo'av the son of Tzeru'yah was over the host; and Yehoshafat the son of Achilud was recorder;

17 and Tzadok the son of Achituv, and Achimelekh the son of Avyatar, were Kohanim; and Serayah was Sofer;

18 and Benayah the son of Yehoiada [was over] the Kereti and the Peleti; and David's sons were chief ministers.

2 Samuel 9

1 David said, Is there yet any who is left of the house of Sha'ul, that I may show him kindness for Yonatan's sake?

2 There was of the house of Sha'ul a servant whose name was Tziva, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Tziva? He said, Your servant is he.

3 The king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Sha'ul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? Tziva said to the king, Yonatan has yet a son, who is lame of his feet.

4 The king said to him, Where is he? Tziva said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Makhir the son of `Ammi'el, in Lo-Devar.

5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Makhir the son of `Ammi'el, from Lo-Devar.

6 Mefivoshet, the son of Yonatan, the son of Sha'ul, came to David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. David said, Mefivoshet. He answered, Behold, your servant!

7 David said to him, "Don't be afraid of him; for I will surely show you kindness for Yonatan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Sha'ul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.

8 He did obeisance, and said, What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?

9 Then the king called to Tziva, Sha'ul's servant, and said to him, All that pertained to Sha'ul and to all his house have I given to your master's son.

10 You shall till the land for him, you, and your sons, and your servants; and you shall bring in [the fruits], that your master's son may have bread to eat: but Mefivoshet your master's son shall eat bread always at my table. Now Tziva had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

11 Then said Tziva to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so shall your servant do. As for Mefivoshet, [said the king], he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.

12 Mefivoshet had a young son, whose name was Mikha. All that lived in the house of Tziva were servants to Mefivoshet.

13 So Mefivoshet lived in Yerushalayim; for he ate continually at the king's table. He was lame in both his feet.

2 Samuel 10

1 It happened after this, that the king of the children of `Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place.

2 David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nachash, as his father shown kindness to me. So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of `Ammon.

3 But the princes of the children of `Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Hasn't David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

4 So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

5 When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, Wait at Yericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

6 When the children of `Ammon saw that they were become odious to David, the children of `Ammon sent and hired the Aram of Beit-Rechov, and the Aram of Tzovah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Ma`akhah with one thousand men, and the men of Tov twelve thousand men.

7 When David heard of it, he sent Yo'av, and all the host of the mighty men.

8 The children of `Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate: and the Aram of Tzovah and of Rechov, and the men of Tov and Ma`akhah, were by themselves in the field.

9 Now when Yo'av saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Yisra'el, and put them in array against the Aram:

10 The rest of the people he committed into the hand of Avishai his brother; and he put them in array against the children of `Ammon.

11 He said, If the Aram be too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the children of `Ammon be too strong for you, then I will come and help you.

12 Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seems him good.

13 So Yo'av and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Aram: and they fled before him.

14 When the children of `Ammon saw that the Aram were fled, they likewise fled before Avishai, and entered into the city. Then Yo'av returned from the children of `Ammon, and came to Yerushalayim.

15 When the Aram saw that they were put to the worse before Yisra'el, they gathered themselves together.

16 Hadad`ezer sent, and brought out the Aram who were beyond the River: and they came to Helam, with Shovakh the captain of the host of Hadad`ezer at their head.

17 It was told David; and he gathered all Yisra'el together, and passed over the Yarden, and came to Helam. The Aram set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.

18 The Aram fled before Yisra'el; and David killed of the Aram [the men of] seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shovakh the captain of their host, so that he died there.

19 When all the kings who were servants to Hadad`ezer saw that they were put to the worse before Yisra'el, they made shalom with Yisra'el, and served them. So the Aram feared to help the children of `Ammon any more.

2 Samuel 11

1 It happened, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out [to battle], that David sent Yo'av, and his servants with him, and all Yisra'el; and they destroyed the children of `Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Yerushalayim.

2 It happened at evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look on.

3 David send and inquired after the woman. One said, Is not this Bat-Sheva, the daughter of Eli`am, the wife of Uriyah the Hittite?

4 David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.

5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

6 David sent to Yo'av, [saying], Send me Uriyah the Hittite. Yo'av sent Uriyah to David.

7 When Uriyah was come to him, David asked of him how Yo'av did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.

8 David said to Uriyah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. Uriyah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess [of food] from the king.

9 But Uriyah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and didn't go down to his house.

10 When they had told David, saying, Uriyah didn't go down to his house, David said to Uriyah, Haven't you come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house?

11 Uriyah said to David, The ark, and Yisra'el, and Yehudah, abide in booths; and my lord Yo'av, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.

12 David said to Uriyah, Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriyah abode in Yerushalayim that day, and the next day.

13 When David had called him, he ate and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn't go down to his house.

14 It happened in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Yo'av, and sent it by the hand of Uriyah.

15 He wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriyah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire you from him, that he may be struck, and die.

16 It happened, when Yo'av kept watch on the city, that he assigned Uriyah to the place where he knew that valiant men were.

17 The men of the city went out, and fought with Yo'av: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriyah the Hittite died also.

18 Then Yo'av sent and told David all the things concerning the war;

19 and he charged the messenger, saying, "When you have made an end of telling all the things concerning the war to the king,

20 it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he tells you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the wall?

21 who struck Avimelekh the son of Yerubeshet? Didn't a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Tevetz? Why did you go so near the wall?' then shall you say, 'Your servant Uriyah the Hittite is dead also.'"

22 So the messenger went, and came and shown David all that Yo'av had sent him for.

23 The messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate.

24 The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriyah the Hittite is dead also.

25 Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you tell Yo'av, Don't let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage you him.

26 When the wife of Uriyah heard that Uriyah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband.

27 When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

2 Samuel 12

1 The LORD sent Natan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds,

3 but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him like a daughter.

4 A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man who had come to him."

5 David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Natan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!

6 He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!"

7 Natan said to David, "You are the man. This is what the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, says: 'I anointed you king over Yisra'el, and I delivered you out of the hand of Sha'ul.

8 I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Yisra'el and of Yehudah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things.

9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriyah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of `Ammon.

10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriyah the Hittite to be your wife.'

11 This is what the LORD says: 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Yisra'el, and before the sun.'"

13 David said to Natan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Natan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin. You will not die.

14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the LORD's enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."

15 Natan departed to his house. The LORD struck the child that Uriyah's wife bore to David, and it was very sick.

16 David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the eretz.

17 The Zakenim of his house arose, [and stood] beside him, to raise him up from the eretz: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

18 It happened on the seventh day, that the child died. The servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he didn't listen to our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead!

19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? They said, He is dead.

20 Then David arose from the eretz, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he ate.

21 Then said his servants to him, What thing is this that you have done? you did fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, you did rise and eat bread.

22 He said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who knows whether the LORD will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?

23 But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

24 David comforted Bat-Sheva his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Shlomo. The LORD loved him;

25 and he sent by the hand of Natan the prophet; and he named him Yedidyah, for the LORD's sake.

26 Now Yo'av fought against Rabbah of the children of `Ammon, and took the royal city.

27 Yo'av sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yes, I have taken the city of waters.

28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

29 David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

30 He took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight of it was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

31 He brought forth the people who were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln: and thus did he to all the cities of the children of `Ammon. David and all the people returned to Yerushalayim.

2 Samuel 13

1 It happened after this, that Avshalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.

2 Amnon was so vexed that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.

3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Yehonadav, the son of Shim`a, David's brother; and Yehonadav was a very subtle man.

4 He said to him, Why, son of the king, are you thus lean from day to day? Won't you tell me? Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Avshalom's sister.

5 Yehonadav said to him, Lay you down on your bed, and feign yourself sick: and when your father comes to see you, tell him, Please let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand.

6 So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let her sister Tamar come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.

7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to your brother Amnon's house, and dress him food.

8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. She took dough, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.

9 She took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. Amnon said, Have out all men from me. They went out every man from him.

10 Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand. Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.

11 When she had brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.

12 She answered him, No, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Yisra'el. Don't you do this folly.

13 I, where shall I carry my shame? and as for you, you will be as one of the fools in Yisra'el. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.

14 However he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her.

15 Then Amnon hated her with exceeding great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. Amnon said to her, Arise, be gone.

16 She said to him, Not so, because this great wrong in putting me forth is [worse] than the other that you did to me. But he would not listen to her.

17 Then he called his servant who ministered to him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.

18 She had a garment of various colors on her; for with such robes were the king's daughters who were virgins dressed. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

19 Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.

20 Avshalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? but now hold your shalom, my sister: he is your brother; don't take this thing to heart. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Avshalom's house.

21 But when king David heard of all these things, he was very angry.

22 Avshalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Avshalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.

23 It happened after two full years, that Avshalom had sheep-shearers in Ba`al-Hatzor, which is beside Efrayim: and Avshalom invited all the king's sons.

24 Avshalom came to the king, and said, See now, your servant has sheep-shearers; let the king, I pray you, and his servants go with your servant.

25 The king said to Avshalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. He pressed him: however he would not go, but blessed him.

26 Then said Avshalom, If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us. The king said to him, Why should he go with you?

27 But Avshalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.

28 Avshalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark you now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, Smite Amnon, then kill him; don't be afraid; haven't I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.

29 The servants of Avshalom did to Amnon as Avshalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got him up on his mule, and fled.

30 It happened, while they were in the way, that the news came to David, saying, Avshalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left.

31 Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay on the eretz; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

32 Yehonadav, the son of Shim`a, David's brother, answered, Don't let my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead; for by the appointment of Avshalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.

33 Now therefore don't let my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead; for Amnon only is dead.

34 But Avshalom fled. The young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill-side behind him.

35 Yehonadav said to the king, Behold, the king's sons are come: as your servant said, so it is.

36 It happened, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up their voice, and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept very sore.

37 But Avshalom fled, and went to Talmai the son of `Ammihud, king of Geshur. [David] mourned for his son every day.

38 So Avshalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.

39 [the soul of] king David longed to go forth to Avshalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

2 Samuel 14

1 Now Yo'av the son of Tzeru'yah perceived that the king's heart was toward Avshalom.

2 Yo'av sent to Tekoa, and fetched there a wise woman, and said to her, please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, Please, and don't anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has a long time mourned for the dead:

3 and go in to the king, and speak on this manner to him. So Yo'av put the words in her mouth.

4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

5 The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, Of a truth I am a widow, and my husband is dead.

6 Your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one struck the other, and killed him.

7 Behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also. Thus will they quench my coal which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on the surface of the eretz.

8 The king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give charge concerning you.

9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house; and the king and his throne be guiltless.

10 The king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you any more.

11 Then said she, Please let the king remember the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. He said, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the eretz.

12 Then the woman said, Please let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king. He said, Say on.

13 The woman said, Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one.

14 For we must needs die, and are as water split on the ground, which can't be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him.

15 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and your handmaid said, I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.

16 For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

17 Then your handmaid said, Please let the word of my lord the king be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: and the LORD your God be with you.

18 Then the king answered the woman, Please don't hide anything from me that I shall ask you. The woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

19 The king said, Is the hand of Yo'av with you in all this? The woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Yo'av, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid;

20 to change the face of the matter has your servant Yo'av done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the eretz.

21 The king said to Yo'av, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Avshalom back.

22 Yo'av fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Yo'av said, Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.

23 So Yo'av arose and went to Geshur, and brought Avshalom to Yerushalayim.

24 The king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Avshalom turned to his own house, and didn't see the king's face.

25 Now in all Yisra'el there was none to be so much praised as Avshalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 When he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.

27 To Avshalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a beautiful face.

28 Avshalom lived two full years in Yerushalayim; and he didn't see the king's face.

29 Then Avshalom sent for Yo'av, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come.

30 Therefore he said to his servants, Behold, Yo'av's field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. Avshalom's servants set the field on fire.

31 Then Yo'av arose, and came to Avshalom to his house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?

32 Avshalom answered Yo'av, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it were better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.

33 So Yo'av came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Avshalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Avshalom.

2 Samuel 15

1 It happened after this, that Avshalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

2 Avshalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Avshalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Yisra'el.

3 Avshalom said to him, Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized of the king to hear you.

4 Avshalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!

5 It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.

6 In this manner Avshalom did to all Yisra'el who came to the king for judgment: so Avshalom stole the hearts of the men of Yisra'el.

7 It happened at the end of forty years, that Avshalom said to the king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hevron.

8 For your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Aram, saying, If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Yerushalayim, then I will serve the LORD.

9 The king said to him, Go in shalom. So he arose, and went to Hevron.

10 But Avshalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Yisra'el, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the shofar, then you shall say, Avshalom is king in Hevron.

11 With Avshalom went two hundred men out of Yerushalayim, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn't know anything.

12 Avshalom sent for Achitofel the Giloni, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Avshalom.

13 There came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Yisra'el are after Avshalom.

14 David said to all his servants who were with him at Yerushalayim, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Avshalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.

15 The king's servants said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king shall choose.

16 The king went forth, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.

17 The king went forth, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beit-Merhak.

18 All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Kereti, and all the Peleti, and all the Gitti, six hundred men who came after him from Gat, passed on before the king.

19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why go you also with us? return, and abide with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile; [return] to your own place.

20 Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us, seeing I go where I may? return you, and take back your brothers; mercy and truth be with you.

21 Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will your servant be.

22 David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him.

23 All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.

24 Behold, Tzadok also [came], and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God; and Avyatar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.

25 The king said to Tzadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation:

26 but if he say thus, I have no delight in you; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seems good to him.

27 The king said also to Tzadok the Kohen, "Aren't you a seer? Return into the city in shalom, and your two sons with you, Achima`atz your son, and Yonatan the son of Avyatar.

28 Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me."

29 Tzadok therefore and Avyatar carried the ark of God again to Yerushalayim: and they abode there.

30 David went up by the ascent of the [Mount of] Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people who were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

31 One told David, saying, Achitofel is among the conspirators with Avshalom. David said, LORD, please turn the counsel of Achitofel into foolishness.

32 It happened that when David had come to the top [of the ascent], where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Arki came to meet him with his coat torn, and dirt on his head.

33 David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me:

34 but if you return to the city, and tell Avshalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Achitofel.

35 Don't you have Tzadok and Avyatar the Kohanim there with you? therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Tzadok and Avyatar the Kohanim.

36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Achima`atz, Tzadok's son, and Yonatan, Avyatar's son; and by them you shall send to me everything that you shall hear.

37 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Avshalom came into Yerushalayim.

2 Samuel 16

1 When David was a little past the top [of the ascent], behold, Tziva the servant of Mefivoshet met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

2 The king said to Tziva, What do you mean by these? Tziva said, The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.

3 The king said, Where is your master's son? Tziva said to the king, Behold, he abides at Yerushalayim; for he said, Today will the house of Yisra'el restore me the kingdom of my father.

4 Then said the king to Tziva, Behold, all that pertains to Mefivoshet is yours. Tziva said, I do obeisance; let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.

5 When king David came to Bachurim, behold, a man of the family of the house of Sha'ul came out, whose name was Shim`i, the son of Gera. He came out, and cursed still as he came.

6 He cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

7 Thus said Shim`i when he cursed, Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and base fellow:

8 The LORD has returned on you all the blood of the house of Sha'ul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Avshalom your son; and, behold, you are [taken] in your own mischief, because you are a man of blood.

9 Then said Avishai the son of Tzeru'yah to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head."

10 The king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Tzeru'yah? Because he curses, and because the LORD has said to him, Curse David; who then shall say, Why have you done so?

11 David said to Avishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life: how much more [may] this Binyamini now [do it]? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has invited him.

12 It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will requite me good for [his] cursing of me this day.

13 So David and his men went by the way; and Shim`i went along on the hill-side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.

14 The king, and all the people who were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there.

15 Avshalom, and all the people, the men of Yisra'el, came to Yerushalayim, and Achitofel with him.

16 It happened, when Hushai the Arki, David's friend, was come to Avshalom, that Hushai said to Avshalom, [Long] live the king, [Long] live the king.

17 Avshalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn't you go with your friend?

18 Hushai said to Avshalom, No; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Yisra'el have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I abide.

19 Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn't I serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in your father's presence, so will I be in your presence.

20 Then said Avshalom to Achitofel, Give your counsel what we shall do.

21 Achitofel said to Avshalom, Go in to your father's concubines, that he has left to keep the house; and all Yisra'el will hear that you are abhorred of your father: then will the hands of all who are with you be strong.

22 So they spread Avshalom a tent on the top of the house; and Avshalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Yisra'el.

23 The counsel of Achitofel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Achitofel both with David and with Avshalom.

2 Samuel 17

1 Moreover Achitofel said to Avshalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

2 and I will come on him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people who are with him shall flee; and I will strike the king only;

3 and I will bring back all the people to you: the man whom you seek is as if all returned: [so] all the people shall be in shalom.

4 The saying pleased Avshalom well, and all the Zakenim of Yisra'el.

5 Then said Avshalom, Call now Hushai the Arki also, and let us hear likewise what he says.

6 When Hushai was come to Avshalom, Avshalom spoke to him, saying, Achitofel has spoken after this manner: shall we do [after] his saying? if not, speak up.

7 Hushai said to Avshalom, The counsel that Achitofel has given this time is not good.

8 Hushai said moreover, You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some [other] place: and it will happen, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, There is a slaughter among the people who follow Avshalom.

10 Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Yisra'el knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.

11 But I counsel that all Yisra'el be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.

12 So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one.

13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Yisra'el bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there not be one small stone found there.

14 Avshalom and all the men of Yisra'el said, The counsel of Hushai the Arki is better than the counsel of Achitofel. For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Achitofel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil on Avshalom.

15 Then said Hushai to Tzadok and to Avyatar the Kohanim, Thus and thus did Achitofel counsel Avshalom and the Zakenim of Yisra'el; and thus and thus have I counseled.

16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Don't lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.

17 Now Yonatan and Achima`atz were staying by `En-Rogel; and a maid-servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David: for they might not be seen to come into the city.

18 But a boy saw them, and told Avshalom: and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bachurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.

19 The woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed bruised grain thereon; and nothing was known.

20 Avshalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, Where are Achima`atz and Yonatan? The woman said to them, They have gone over the brook of water. When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Yerushalayim.

21 It happened, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, Arise you, and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Achitofel counseled against you.

22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Yarden: by the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Yarden.

23 When Achitofel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and got him home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

24 Then David came to Machanayim. Avshalom passed over the Yarden, he and all the men of Yisra'el with him.

25 Avshalom set `Amasa over the host instead of Yo'av. Now `Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Yitra the Yisra'elite, who went in to Avigayil the daughter of Nachash, sister to Tzeru'yah, Yo'av's mother.

26 Yisra'el and Avshalom encamped in the land of Gil`ad.

27 It happened, when David was come to Machanayim, that Shovi the son of Nachash of Rabbah of the children of `Ammon, and Makhir the son of `Ammi'el of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gil`adite of Roglim,

28 brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched [grain], and beans, and lentils, and parched [pulse],

29 and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat: for they said, The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

2 Samuel 18

1 David numbered the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.

2 David sent forth the people, a third part under the hand of Yo'av, and a third part under the hand of Avishai the son of Tzeru'yah, Yo'av's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.

3 But the people said, You shall not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us out of the city.

4 The king said to them, What seems you best I will do. The king stood by the gate-side, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.

5 The king commanded Yo'av and Avishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Avshalom. All the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Avshalom.

6 So the people went out into the field against Yisra'el: and the battle was in the forest of Efrayim.

7 The people of Yisra'el were struck there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men.

8 For the battle was there spread over the surface of all the country; and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

9 Avshalom happened to meet the servants of David. Avshalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the sky and eretz; and the mule that was under him went on.

10 A certain man saw it, and told Yo'av, and said, Behold, I saw Avshalom hanging in an oak.

11 Yo'av said to the man who told him, Behold, you saw it, and why didn't you strike him there to the ground? and I would have given you ten [pieces of] silver, and a sash.

12 The man said to Yo'av, Though I should receive a thousand [pieces of] silver in my hand, I still wouldn't put forth my hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king charged you and Avishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Avshalom.

13 Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hid from the king), then you yourself would have set yourself against [me].

14 Then said Yo'av, I may not wait thus with you. He took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Avshalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

15 Ten young men who bore Yo'av's armor compassed about and struck Avshalom, and killed him.

16 Yo'av blew the shofar, and the people returned from pursuing after Yisra'el; for Yo'av held back the people.

17 They took Avshalom, and cast him into the great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones: and all Yisra'el fled everyone to his tent.

18 Now Avshalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar, which is in the king's dale; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called Avshalom's monument, to this day.

19 Then said Achima`atz the son of Tzadok, Let me now run, and bear the king news, how that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.

20 Yo'av said to him, You shall not be the bearer of news this day, but you shall bear news another day; but this day you shall bear no news, because the king's son is dead.

21 Then said Yo'av to the Kushite, Go, tell the king what you have seen. The Kushite bowed himself to Yo'av, and ran.

22 Then said Achima`atz the son of Tzadok yet again to Yo'av, But come what may, Please let me also run after the Kushite. Yo'av said, Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?

23 But come what may, [said he], I will run. He said to him, Run. Then Achima`atz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Kushite.

24 Now David was sitting between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate to the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man running alone.

25 The watchman cried, and told the king. The king said, If he be alone, there is news in his mouth. He came apace, and drew near.

26 The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the porter, and said, Behold, [another] man running alone. The king said, He also brings news.

27 The watchman said, I think the running of the foremost is like the running of Achima`atz the son of Tzadok. The king said, He is a good man, and comes with good news.

28 Achima`atz called, and said to the king, All is well. He bowed himself before the king with his face to the eretz, and said, Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

29 The king said, Is it well with the young man Avshalom? Achima`atz answered, When Yo'av sent the king's servant, even me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I don't know what it was.

30 The king said, Turn aside, and stand here. He turned aside, and stood still.

31 Behold, the Kushite came; and the Kushite said, News for my lord the king; for the LORD has avenged you this day of all those who rose up against you.

32 The king said to the Kushite, Is it well with the young man Avshalom? The Kushite answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.

33 The king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, my son Avshalom, my son, my son Avshalom! would I had died for you, Avshalom, my son, my son!

2 Samuel 19

1 It was told Yo'av, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Avshalom.

2 The victory that day was turned into mourning to all the people; for the people heard say that day, The king grieves for his son.

3 The people got them by stealth that day into the city, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

4 The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, my son Avshalom, Avshalom, my son, my son!

5 Yo'av came into the house to the king, and said, You have shamed this day the faces of all your servants, who this day have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines;

6 in that you love those who hate you, and hate those who love you. For you have declared this day, that princes and servants are nothing to you: for this day I perceive that if Avshalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased you well.

7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably to your servants; for I swear by the LORD, if you don't go forth, there will not stay a man with you this night: and that will be worse to you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.

8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. They told to all the people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate: and all the people came before the king. Now Yisra'el had fled every man to his tent.

9 All the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Yisra'el, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Pelishtim; and now he is fled out of the land from Avshalom.

10 Avshalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why don't you speak a word of bringing the king back?

11 King David sent to Tzadok and to Avyatar the Kohanim, saying, Speak to the Zakenim of Yehudah, saying, Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Yisra'el is come to the king, [to bring him] to his house.

12 You are my brothers, you are my bone and my flesh: why then are you the last to bring back the king?

13 Say you to `Amasa, Aren't you my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you aren't captain of the host before me continually in the room of Yo'av.

14 He bowed the heart of all the men of Yehudah, even as [the heart of] one man; so that they sent to the king, [saying], Return you, and all your servants.

15 So the king returned, and came to the Yarden. Yehudah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Yarden.

16 Shim`i the son of Gera, the Binyamini, who was of Bachurim, hurried and came down with the men of Yehudah to meet king David.

17 There were a thousand men of Binyamin with him, and Tziva the servant of the house of Sha'ul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went through the Yarden in the presence of the king.

18 There went over a ferry-boat to bring over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. Shim`i the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over the Yarden.

19 He said to the king, Don't let my lord impute iniquity to me, neither do you remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Yerushalayim, that the king should take it to his heart.

20 For your servant does know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come this day the first of all the house of Yosef to go down to meet my lord the king.

21 But Avishai the son of Tzeru'yah answered, Shall Shim`i not be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?

22 David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Tzeru'yah, that you should this day be adversaries to me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Yisra'el? for don't I know that I am this day king over Yisra'el?

23 The king said to Shim`i, You shall not die. The king swore to him.

24 Mefivoshet the son of Sha'ul came down to meet the king; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in shalom.

25 It happened, when he was come to Yerushalayim to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why didn't you go with me, Mefivoshet?

26 He answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for your servant said, I will saddle me a donkey, that I may ride thereon, and go with the king; because your servant is lame.

27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in your eyes.

28 For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more to the king?

29 The king said to him, Why speak you any more of your matters? I say, You and Tziva divide the land.

30 Mefivoshet said to the king, yes, let him take all, because my lord the king is come in shalom to his own house.

31 Barzillai the Gil`adite came down from Roglim; and he went over the Yarden with the king, to conduct him over the Yarden.

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old: and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Machanayim; for he was a very great man.

33 The king said to Barzillai, Come you over with me, and I will sustain you with me in Yerushalayim.

34 Barzillai said to the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Yerushalayim?

35 I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?

36 Your servant would but just go over the Yarden with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

37 Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your servant Kemoham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to you.

38 The king answered, Kemoham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you: and whatever you shall require of me, that will I do for you.

39 All the people went over the Yarden, and the king went over: and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.

40 So the king went over to Gilgal, and Kemoham went over with him: and all the people of Yehudah brought the king over, and also half the people of Yisra'el.

41 Behold, all the men of Yisra'el came to the king, and said to the king, Why have our brothers the men of Yehudah stolen you away, and brought the king, and his household, over the Yarden, and all David's men with him?

42 All the men of Yehudah answered the men of Yisra'el, Because the king is a close relative to us: why then are you angry for this matter? have we eaten at all at the king's cost? or has he given us any gift?

43 The men of Yisra'el answered the men of Yehudah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more [right] in David than you: why then did you despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? The words of the men of Yehudah were fiercer than the words of the men of Yisra'el.

2 Samuel 20

1 There happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheva, the son of Bikhri, a Binyamini: and he blew the shofar, and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Yishai: every man to his tents, Yisra'el.

2 So all the men of Yisra'el went up from following David, and followed Sheva the son of Bikhri; but the men of Yehudah joined with their king, from the Yarden even to Yerushalayim.

3 David came to his house at Yerushalayim; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in custody, and provided them with sustenance, but didn't go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

4 Then said the king to `Amasa, Call me the men of Yehudah together within three days, and be here present.

5 So `Amasa went to call [the men of] Yehudah together; but he stayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

6 David said to Avishai, Now will Sheva the son of Bikhri do us more harm than did Avshalom: take your lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fortified cities, and escape out of our sight.

7 There went out after him Yo'av's men, and the Kereti and the Peleti, and all the mighty men; and they went out of Yerushalayim, to pursue after Sheva the son of Bikhri.

8 When they were at the great stone which is in Giv`on, `Amasa came to meet them. Yo'av was girded with his apparel of war that he had put on, and thereon was a sash with a sword fastened on his loins in the sheath of it; and as he went forth it fell out.

9 Yo'av said to `Amasa, Is it well with you, my brother? Yo'av took `Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

10 But `Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Yo'av's hand: so he struck him therewith in the body, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and didn't strike him again; and he died. Yo'av and Avishai his brother pursued after Sheva the son of Bikhri.

11 There stood by him one of Yo'av's young men, and said, He who favors Yo'av, and he who is for David, let him follow Yo'av.

12 `Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the midst of the highway. When the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried `Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Yo'av, to pursue after Sheva the son of Bikhri.

14 He went through all the tribes of Yisra'el to Hevel, and to Beit-Ma`akha, and all the Beri`i: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

15 They came and besieged him in Hevel of Beit-Ma`akha, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Yo'av battered the wall, to throw it down.

16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear! Please say to Yo'av, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.'"

17 He came near to her; and the woman said, Are you Yo'av? He answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. He answered, I do hear.

18 Then she spoke, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask [counsel] at Hevel: and so they ended [the matter].

19 I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Yisra'el: you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Yisra'el: why will you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

20 Yo'av answered, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

21 The matter is not so: but a man of the hill-country of Efrayim, Sheva the son of Bikhri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. The woman said to Yo'av, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.

22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheva the son of Bikhri, and threw it out to Yo'av. He blew the shofar, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Yo'av returned to Yerushalayim to the king.

23 Now Yo'av was over all the host of Yisra'el; and Benayah the son of Yehoiada was over the Kereti and over the Peleti;

24 and Adoram was over the men subject to forced labor; and Yehoshafat the son of Achilud was the recorder;

25 and Sheva was Sofer; and Tzadok and Avyatar were Kohanim;

26 and also `Ira the Ya'irite was chief minister to David.

2 Samuel 21

1 There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, It is for Sha'ul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Giv`onim.

2 The king called the Giv`onim, and said to them (now the Giv`onim were not of the children of Yisra'el, but of the remnant of the Amori; and the children of Yisra'el had sworn to them: and Sha'ul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Yisra'el and Yehudah);

3 and David said to the Giv`onim, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

4 The Giv`onim said to him, It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Sha'ul, or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Yisra'el. He said, What you shall say, that will I do for you.

5 They said to the king, The man who consumed us, and who devised against us, [that] we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Yisra'el,

6 let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gevah of Sha'ul, the chosen of the LORD. The king said, I will give them.

7 But the king spared Mefivoshet, the son of Yonatan the son of Sha'ul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Yonatan the son of Sha'ul.

8 But the king took the two sons of Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, whom she bore to Sha'ul, Armoni and Mefivoshet; and the five sons of Mikhal the daughter of Sha'ul, whom she bore to `Adri'el the son of Barzillai the Mecholati:

9 He delivered them into the hands of the Giv`onim, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, and they fell [all] seven together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.

10 Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.

11 It was told David what Ritzpah the daughter of Ayah, the concubine of Sha'ul, had done.

12 David went and took the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Yonatan his son from the men of Yavesh-Gil`ad, who had stolen them from the street of Beit-Shan, where the Pelishtim had hanged them, in the day that the Pelishtim killed Sha'ul in Gilboa;

13 and he brought up from there the bones of Sha'ul and the bones of Yonatan his son: and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.

14 They buried the bones of Sha'ul and Yonatan his son in the country of Binyamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. After that God was entreated for the land.

15 The Pelishtim had war again with Yisra'el; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Pelishtim. David grew faint;

16 and Yishbi-Benov, who was of the sons of the Rafa, the weight of whose spear was three hundred [shekels] of brass in weight, he being girded with a new [sword], thought to have slain David.

17 But Avishai the son of Tzeru'yah helped him, and struck the Pelishti, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall go no more out with us to battle, that you don't quench the lamp of Yisra'el.

18 It came to pass after this, that there was again war with the Pelishtim at Gov: then Sibbekhai the Hushatite killed Saf, who was of the sons of the Rafa.

19 There was again war with the Pelishtim at Gov; and Elchanan the son of Ya`are-Oregim the Beit-hallachmite killed Golyat the Gittite's brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

20 There was again war at Gat, where was a man of great stature, who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the Rafa.

21 When he defied Yisra'el, Yonatan the son of Shim`i, David's brother, killed him.

22 These four were born to the Rafa in Gat; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

2 Samuel 22

1 David spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Sha'ul:

2 and he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;

3 God, my rock, in him will I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge; My savior, you save me from violence.

4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from my enemies.

5 For the waves of death compassed me; The floods of ungodliness made me afraid:

6 The cords of She'ol were round about me; The snares of death came on me.

7 In my distress I called on the LORD; Yes, I called to my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, My cry [came] into his ears.

8 Then the eretz shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked Were shaken, because he was angry.

9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, Fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.

10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; Thick darkness was under his feet.

11 He rode on a Keruv, and did fly; Yes, he was seen on the wings of the wind.

12 He made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

13 At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled.

14 The LORD thundered from heaven, The Elyon uttered his voice.

15 He sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and confused them.

16 Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

17 He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters;

18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

19 They came on me in the day of my calamity; But the LORD was my stay.

20 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.

22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God.

23 For all his ordinances were before me; As for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

24 I was also perfect toward him; I kept myself from my iniquity.

25 Therefore has the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight.

26 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; With the perfect man you will show yourself perfect;

27 With the pure you will show yourself pure; With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.

28 The afflicted people you will save; But your eyes are on the haughty, that you may bring them down.

29 For you are my lamp, LORD; The LORD will lighten my darkness.

30 For by you I run on a troop; By my God do I leap over a wall.

31 As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

32 For who is God, save the LORD? Who is a rock, save our God?

33 God is my strong fortress; He guides the perfect in his way.

34 He makes his feet like hinds' [feet], Sets me on my high places.

35 He teaches my hands to war, So that my arms do bend a bow of brass.

36 You have also given me the shield of your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great.

37 You have enlarged my steps under me; My feet have not slipped.

38 I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again until they were consumed.

39 I have consumed them, and struck them through, so that they can't arise: Yes, they are fallen under my feet.

40 For you have girded me with strength to the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

41 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, That I might cut off those who hate me.

42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but he didn't answer them.

43 Then did I beat them small as the dust of the eretz, I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad.

44 You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me.

45 The foreigners shall submit themselves to me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.

46 The foreigners shall fade away, Shall come trembling out of their close places.

47 The LORD lives; Blessed be my rock; Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,

48 Even the God who executes vengeance for me, Who brings down peoples under me,

49 Who brings me forth from my enemies: Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me; You deliver me from the violent man.

50 Therefore I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations, Will sing praises to your name.

51 Great deliverance gives he to his king, Shows lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, forevermore.

2 Samuel 23

1 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Yishai says, The man who was raised on high says, The anointed of the God of Ya`akov, The sweet psalmist of Yisra'el:

2 The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, His word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Yisra'el said, The Rock of Yisra'el spoke to me: One who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God,

4 [He shall be] as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, [When] the tender grass [springs] out of the eretz, Through clear shining after rain

5 Most assuredly my house is not so with God; Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things, and sure: For it is all my salvation, and all [my] desire, Although he doesn't make it grow.

6 But the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away, Because they can't be taken with the hand

7 But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear: They shall be utterly burned with fire in [their] place

8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Yoshev-Bashshevet a Tachkemonite, chief of the captains; the same was `Adino the Etznite, against eight hundred slain at one time.

9 After him was El`azar the son of Dodo the son of an Achochi, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Pelishtim who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Yisra'el were gone away.

10 He arose, and struck the Pelishtim until his hand was weary, and his hand froze to the sword; and the LORD worked a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to take spoil.

11 After him was Shammah the son of Agee a Harari. The Pelishtim were gathered together into a troop, where was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the Pelishtim.

12 But he stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and killed the Pelishtim; and the LORD worked a great victory.

13 Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of `Adullam; and the troop of the Pelishtim was encamped in the valley of Refa'im.

14 David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Pelishtim was then in Beit-Lechem

15 David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beit-Lechem, which is by the gate!

16 The three mighty men broke through the host of the Pelishtim, and drew water out of the well of Beit-Lechem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD.

17 He said, Be it far from me, LORD, that I should do this: [shall I drink] the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

18 Avishai, the brother of Yo'av, the son of Tzeru'yah, was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.

19 Wasn't he most honorable of the three? therefore he was made their captain: however he didn't attain to the [first] three

20 Benayah the son of Yehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kavtz'el, who had done mighty deeds, he killed the two [sons of] Ari'el of Mo'av: he went down also and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.

21 He killed a Mitzrian, a goodly man: and the Mitzrian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Mitzrian's hand, and killed him with his own spear

22 These things did Benayah the son of Yehoiada, and had a name among the three mighty men.

23 He was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn't attain to the [first] three. David set him over his guard.

24 `Asa'el the brother of Yo'av was one of the thirty; Elchanan the son of Dodo of Beit-Lechem,

25 Shammah the Harodi, Elika the Harodi,

26 Heletz the Paltite, `Ira the son of `Ikkesh the Tekoite,

27 Avi-Ezer the `Antotite, Mevunnai the Hushatite,

28 Tzalmon the Achochi, Maharai the Netofatite,

29 Helev the son of Ba`anah the Netofatite, Ittai the son of Rivai of Gevah of the children of Binyamin,

30 Benayah a Pir`atonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Ga`ash.

31 Avi-Alvon the `Arvati, `Azmavet the Barchumite,

32 Elyachba the Sha`alvonite, the sons of Yashen, Yonatan,

33 Shammah the Harari, Achi'am the son of Sharar the Ararite,

34 Elifelet the son of Achasbai, the son of the Ma`akhatite, Eli`am the son of Achitofel the Giloni,

35 Hetzro the Karmelite, Pa`arai the Arbi,

36 Yig'al the son of Natan of Tzovah, Bani the Gadite

37 Tzelek the `Ammonite, Naharai the Be'erotite, armor bearers to Yo'av the son of Tzeru'yah,

38 `Ira the Yitri, Garev the Yitri

39 Uriyah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

2 Samuel 24

1 Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Yisra'el, and he moved David against them, saying, Go, number Yisra'el and Yehudah.

2 The king said to Yo'av the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now back and forth through all the tribes of Yisra'el, from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva, and number you the people, that I may know the sum of the people.

3 Yo'av said to the king, Now the LORD your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?

4 Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Yo'av, and against the captains of the host. Yo'av and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Yisra'el.

5 They passed over the Yarden, and encamped in `Aro`er, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and to Ya`zer:

6 then they came to Gil`ad, and to the land of Tachtim-Hodshi; and they came to Dan-Ya`an, and round about to Tzidon,

7 and came to the stronghold of Tzor, and to all the cities of the Hivvi, and of the Kana`anim; and they went out to the south of Yehudah, at Be'er-Sheva.

8 So when they had gone back and forth through all the land, they came to Yerushalayim at the end of nine months and twenty days.

9 Yo'av gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: and there were in Yisra'el eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword; and the men of Yehudah were five hundred thousand men.

10 David's heart struck him after that he had numbered the people. David said to the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done: but now, the LORD, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

11 When David rose up in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

12 Go and speak to David, Thus says the LORD, I offer you three things: choose you one of them, that I may do it to you.

13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? now advise you, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.

14 David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.

15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Yisra'el from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Be'er-Sheva seventy thousand men.

16 When the angel stretched out his hand toward Yerushalayim to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay your hand. The angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Aravna the Yevusi.

17 David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father's house.

18 Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Aravna the Yevusi.

19 David went up according to the saying of Gad, as the LORD commanded.

20 Aravna looked forth, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Aravna went out, and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

21 Aravna said, Why is my lord the king come to his servant? David said, To buy the threshing floor of you, to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

22 Aravna said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him: behold, the oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood:

23 all this, king, does Aravna give to the king. Aravna said to the king, the LORD your God accept you.

24 The king said to Aravna, No; but I will most assuredly buy it of you at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25 David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace-offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Yisra'el.