Some time later, David inquired of the Lord: “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?”

The Lord answered him, “Go.”

Then David asked, “Where should I go?”

“To Hebron,” the Lord replied.

Zeruiah's son Joab and some of David's staff went out to meet them at the pool of Gibeon. One side encamped on one side of the pool while the other encamped on the other side of the pool.

Abner told him, "Go off to your right or left after one of the young men and grab some war spoils." But Asahel would not stop following him,

The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died.

The word of Abner {came to} the elders of Israel, saying, "{For quite some time} you were seeking David as king over you.

May it come on the head of Joab and all his father's family: among the men of Joab's family may there ever be some who are diseased or lepers, or who do the work of women, or are put to the sword, or are wasted from need of food!

Now Saul's son had two officers in charge of some raiding parties. One was named Baanah and the other was named Rechab. They were sons of Rimmon, a descendant of Benjamin from Beeroth, which was considered to belong to the tribe of Benjamin.

They entered the house as though they intended to obtain some grain and stabbed him in the abdomen. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.

{For some time}, when Saul was king over us, {you were leading Israel in and out}. Yahweh had said to you, 'You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be the leader over Israel.'"

including Aram, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amelek. This also included some of the plunder taken from King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.

Some time later the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites,

Now when Joab saw that the battlefront was against him in front and in the rear, he selected some of all the choice men in Israel and set them in battle formation to meet the Arameans (Syrians).

So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home.

And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice; and how shall we say to him, The child is dead? he may do some harm.

And he brought out the people that was therein and sawed them and drew harrows of iron upon them, and shred some of them with shredding knives of iron, and thrust some into furnaces. And so he served all the cities of the children of Ammon. And then David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

Some time passed. David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David’s son Amnon was infatuated with her.

And Jonadab said unto him: Take to thy bed, and feign thyself ill, - and, when thy father cometh in to see thee, then shalt thou say unto him - I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, that she may give me food, and let her prepare, before mine eyes, some delicacy, to the end that I may see it made , and so eat at her hand.

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to visit him, Amnon asked the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make some of her bread especially for me, so she can feed it to me personally."

So David sent for Tamar back at the palace, telling her, "Please go to your brother Amnon's home and prepare some food for him."

Tamar went to her brother Amnon's home, where he was lying down. She brought along some dough, kneaded it, prepared some cakes especially for him, baked them,

Two full years later, Absalom took some men to Baal-hazor near Ephraim to shear his sheep. He also invited all of the king's sons to come.

Absalom had gone to the king to ask him, "I've brought some men to shear the sheep. Won't you please come and join me, along with your senior staff?"

So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, "Pretend to be in mourning and put on garments for mourning. Don't anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time.

So he said to his servants, "Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire." So Absalom's servants set Joab's portion of the field on fire.

Some time later Absalom managed to acquire a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard.

Then said David unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, "Up, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart; lest he come suddenly and catch us and bring some mischief upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword."

The king and all the people set out on foot, pausing at a spot some distance away.

All his servants were leaving with him, along with all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites -- some six hundred men who had come on foot from Gath. They were leaving with the king.

And see, I will tarry in the fields of the wilderness until there come some word from you to be told me."

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

The man's wife grabbed a sheet, covered the mouth of the well with it, and spread some dried grain over it. As a result, nobody could tell it was a hiding place.

And Absalom came across some of David's men. And Absalom was seated on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great tree, and his head became fixed in the tree and he was lifted up between earth and heaven, and the beast under him went on.

But Joab said to him, "You will not be a bearer of good news today. You will bear good news some other day, but not today, for the king's son is dead."

The king responded, "If he's alone, he's bringing some news to report." As the man continued to draw near and approach the palace, the watchman observed another man running. So he called out to the gatekeeper, "There's another man running by himself!" The king replied, "He's also bringing some news to report!"

So get up now, and go out and say some kind words to your servants; for, by the Lord, I give you my oath, that if you do not go out, not one of them will keep with you tonight; and that will be worse for you than all the evil which has overtaken you from your earliest years.

And David said to Abishai, Sheba, the son of Bichri, will do us more damage than Absalom did; so take some of your lord's servants and go after him, before he makes himself safe in the walled towns, and gets away before our eyes.

Then Aiah's daughter Rizpah grabbed some sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock where her children had been hanged from the beginning of harvest until the first rain fell from the sky. She would not allow any scavenger birds to land on them during the day nor the beasts of the field to approach them at night.

David was thirsty and said, "How I wish someone would give me some water to drink from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate!"

So the Three elite warriors broke through the Philistine ranks, drew some water from the Bethlehem well that was next to the city gate, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out in the LORD's presence,