himself before the king with his face to the earth, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted' up their 29 hand against my lord the king. And the king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, leven' me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it (30 was. And the king said, Turn aside,

and stand here. And he turned aside, 31 and stood still. And, behold, the Cushitel came; and 'the Cushite' said, Tidings for my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. 32 And the king said unto the Cushite', Is it well with the young man Absalom? And the Cushitel answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee 33 hurt, be as that young man is. And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

191

And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absa2 lom. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people for the people heard say that day, The king grieveth' for his son. 3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people 'that are ashamed steal away when they 4 flee in battle. And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O 5 Absalom, my son, my son! °And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the 6 lives of thy concubines; in that thou lovest them that hate thee', and hatest 'them that love thee'. For thou hast declared this day, that princes land' servants are nought unto thee': for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. 7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants : for I swear by the LORD, if thou go

1 Heb. Is there peace with &c.? 2 Or, and

not forth, there will not tarry la man' with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that hath befallen' thee from thy youth 8 until now. Then the king 'arose', and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate: and all the people came before the king.

Now Israel had fled every man to 9) his tent. And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the 10 land 'from Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

11

And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, to bring 12 him to his house. Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to (13 bring back the king? And say ye to

Amasa, Art thou not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of 14 Joab. And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent unto the king, saying, Return thou, and 15 all thy servants. "So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over Jordan.

16

And Shimei the son of Gera, 'the' Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men 17 of Judah to meet king David. And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went through' Jordan 18 in the presence of the king. And there went over a ferry boat to 'bring! over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, when he was come over Jor

19 dan. And 'he' said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take 20) it to his heart. For thy servant doth

know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to 21 meet my lord the king. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD'S 22 anointed? And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day 23 king over Israel? And the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.

24

And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and The 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' 25 in peace.

And it came to pass, 1when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou 26 with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go with the king; because thy servant is lame. 27 And he hath slandered thy servant

unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes. (28 °For all my father's house were but 'dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should cry any more unto the king? 29 And the king said unto him, Why

speakest thou any more of thy matters? I say!, Thou and Ziba divide (30 the land. And Mephibosheth said

32 him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old and he had provided the king Iwith sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. 33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will Isustain thee with me in Jerusalem. 34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How Imany are the days of the years of my life', that I should go up with the (35 king unto Jerusalem? I am this day fourscore years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? 36 Thy servant 'would but just go over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such (37 a reward? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto 38 thee. And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. 39 And all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over: 'and' the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.

40

So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him: and all the people of Judah 'brought the king lover', and also half the peo(41) ple of Israel. °And, behold, all the

men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and brought the king, and his household, over Jordan, and all 42 David's men with him? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he 43 given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye

5 Heb. choose to lay upon.

despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. 201 And there happened to be there a man of 2Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no 'portion' in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, 2 O Israel. So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.

3

4

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and provided them with sustenance, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Then said the king to Amasa, 'Call' me the men of Judah 'together within three days, and be thou here present. 5 So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had 6 appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape 'out 7 of our sight'. And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the 8) son of Bichri. °When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. And Joab was girded with his apparel of war that he had put on, and thereon was a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell 9 out. And Joab said to Amasa, 'Is it well with thee, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with 10 his right hand to kiss him. But

Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the belly', and shed out his bowels to the ground, and

1 Or, land were not \we the first to speak of bringing back our king?

Istruck him not again; and he died. 'And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of 11) Bichri. And there stood by him one of Joab's young' men, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him 'follow Joab. 12 °And Amasa lay wallowing in 'his' blood in the midst of the high way. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he 'carried' Amasa out of the high way into the field, and cast a garment over him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. 13 °When he was removed out of the high way, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son 14 of Bichri. And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maacah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and 15 went also after him. And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaacah, and they cast up a 'mount' against the city, and it stood against the rampart: and all the people that were with Joab 'battered the wall, to 16 throw it down. Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. (17 And he came near unto her; 'and' the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do 18 hear. Then she spake, saying, They

were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Ábel: (19 and so they ended the matter. °I am of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance 20 of the LORD? And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. 21 The matter is not so: but a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee 22 over the wall. "Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of

Sheba the son of Bichri, and 'threw it out to Joab. And he blew the! trumpet, and they were dispersed1 from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

23 Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites 24 and over the Pelethites: and Adorams was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the (25 recorder: and Sheva was scribe:

and Zadok and Abiathar were priests: 26 and Ira also the Jairite was "priest unto David.

211 And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David 'sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD 'said', It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he 'put to death' the Gibeon2 ites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal 'for' the children of Israel and Judah :) (3 land David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of 4 the LORD? And the Gibeonites said unto him, "It is no matter of silver or gold 'between us and1 Saul, lor his house; neither is it for us Ito put any man to death in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, 5 that will I do for you. And they Isaid unto the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us, 'that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders' of 6 Israel, let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD. And the king said, I will 7 give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son 8 of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,

whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bare to Adriel the son of Bar9 zillai the Meholathite: and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, and they fell all seven together: and they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, 'at the 10 beginning of barley harvest. °And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and 'she' suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the 11 field by night. And it was told Da

vid what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, 12 the concubine of Saul, had done. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the 'street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, 'in the day that the Philistines slew Saul in 13 Gilboa and he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were 14) hanged. And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

(15

And the Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David 16 waxed faint. And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the 10giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, 17 thought to have slain David. But

Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp' of

Israel.

I

Or, Iso that we have been destroyed

In 1 Sam. xviii. 19, Merab. Or, broad place 10 Heb. Raphah. 11 Or, new larmourl

18

1And it came to pass after this, that there was again war with the Philistines at 2Gob: then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was (19) of the sons of the giant. And there was again war with the Philistines Fat Gob; and' Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim 'thel Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose 20 spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was again war at1 Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to 21 the giant. And when he 'defied Israel, Jonathan the son of "Shimei Da22 vid's brother slew him. These four

were born to the giant in Gath; and 'they' fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. 22(1 ́ And David spake unto 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 2 the hand of Saul: and he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, 'even mine';

The God of my rock, in him will
I trust;

(3

The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice.

And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;

Lightning, and discomfited them. Then the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were

So shall I be saved from mine enemies.

19

He brought me forth also into a large place:

He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:

According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his judgements were before

me: