²¹ Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant^(A) with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.”^(B) So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned^(A) against heaven and against you.

³⁶ This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt,^(A) so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

²⁴ And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.^(A)

²⁷ You will never come back to the land you long to return^(A) to.”