Beginning
8 1 David overcometh the Philistines, and other strange nations, and maketh them tributaries to Israel.
1 After (A)this now, David smote the Philistines and subdued them, and David took [a]the bridle of bondage out of the [b]hand of the Philistines.
2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a cord, and cast them down to the ground: he measured them with [c]two cords to put them to death, and with one full cord to keep them alive: so became the Moabites David’s servants, and brought gifts.
3 ¶ David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to [d]recover his border at the river [e]Euphrates.
4 And David took of them a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and David [f]destroyed all the chariots, but he reserved an hundred chariots of them.
5 ¶ Then came the [g]Aramites of [h]Dammesek to succor Hadadezer king of Zobah, but David slew of the Aramites two and twenty thousand men.
6 And David put a garrison in [i]Aram of Dammesek: and the Aramites became servants to David, [j]and brought gifts. And the Lord saved David wheresoever he went.
7 And David took the shields of gold that belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to [k]Jerusalem.
8 And out of Betah, and Berothai (cities of Hadadezer) king David brought exceedingly much brass.
9 ¶ Then Toi king of [l]Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
10 Therefore Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, [m]to salute him, and to [n][o]rejoice with him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and beaten him (for Hadadezer had war with Toi) who [p]brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass.
11 And king David dedicated them unto the Lord with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all the nations, which he had subdued:
12 Of [q]Aram, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob king of Zobah.
13 So David got a name after that he returned, and had slain of the Aramites in the [r]valley of salt eighteen thousand men.
14 And he put a garrison in Edom: throughout all Edom put he soldiers, and all they of Edom became David’s servants: and the Lord kept David [s]whithersoever he went.
15 Thus David reigned over all Israel, and executed [t]judgment and justice unto all his people.
16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was [u]Recorder.
17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the Priests, and Seraiah the Scribe.
18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [v]and the [w]Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were chief rulers.
9 9 David restoreth all the lands of Saul’s to Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan. 10 He appointeth Ziba to see to the profit of his lands.
1 And David said, Is there yet any man left of the house of Saul, that I may show him mercy for [x]Jonathan’s sake?
2 And there was of the household of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba, and when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, I thy servant am he.
3 Then the King said, Remaineth there yet none of the house of Saul, on whom I may show the [y]mercy of God? Ziba then answered the King, Jonathan hath yet a son (B)lame of his feet.
4 Then the King said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo Debar.
5 ¶ Then king David sent, and took him out of the house of Machir the son of [z]Ammiel of Lo Debar.
6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth? And he answered, Behold thy servant.
7 Then David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the [aa]fields of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
8 And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a [ab]dead dog as I am?
9 Then the king called Ziba Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s [ac]son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.
10 Thou therefore and [ad]thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him, and bring in that thy master’s son may have food to eat. And Mephibosheth thy master’s son shall eat bread always at my table (now Ziba had fifteen sons, and twenty servants.)
11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do, [ae]that Mephibosheth may eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.
12 Mephibosheth also had a young son named Micha, and all that dwelled in the house of Ziba, were servants unto Mephibosheth.
13 And Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table, and was lame on both his feet.
10 4 The messengers of David are villainously entreated of the king of Ammon. 7 Joab is sent against the Ammonites.
1 After this, the (C)King of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
2 Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father [af]showed kindness unto me. And David sent his servants to comfort him for his father. So David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, [ag]Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters to thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, [ah]to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?
4 Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the half of their beard, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
5 ¶ When it was told unto David, he sent to meet them (for the men were exceedingly ashamed) and the king said, Tarry at Jericho, until your beards be grown, then return.
6 ¶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they [ai]stank in the sight of David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the [aj]Aramites of the house of Rehob, and the Aramites of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ish-Tob twelve thousand men.
7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the strong men.
8 And the children of Ammon came out and put their army in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Aramites of [ak]Zoba, and of Rehob, and of Ish-Tob, and of Maacah were by themselves in the field.
9 When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Aramites.
10 And the rest of the people, he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon.
11 And he said, If the Aramites be stronger than I, thou shalt help me, and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, I will come and succor thee.
12 Be strong and let us be valiant for [al]our people, and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do that which is good in his eyes.
13 Then Joab, and the people that was with him, joined in battle with the Aramites, who fled before him.
14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Aramites fled, they fled also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
15 ¶ And when the Aramites saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered them together.
16 And [am]Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Aramites that were beyond the [an]River: and they came to Helam, and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadadezer went before them.
17 When it was showed David, then he gathered [ao]all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam: and the Aramites set themselves in array against David, and fought with him:
18 And the Aramites fled before Israel: and David destroyed [ap]seven hundred chariots of the Aramites, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of his host, who died there.
19 And when all the kings, that were servants to Hadadezer, saw that they fell before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. and the Aramites feared to help the children of Ammon anymore.
11 1 The city Rabbah is besieged. 4 David committeth adultery. 17 Uriah is slain. 27 David marrieth Bathsheba.
1 And when the year was [aq]expired in the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent (D)Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, who destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah: but David remained in Jerusalem.
2 And when it was evening-tide, David arose out of his [ar]bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s palace: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself: and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3 And David sent and inquired what woman it was: and one said, Is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, wife to Uriah the [as]Hittite?
4 Then David sent messengers, and took her away: and she came unto him and he lay with her: (now she was (E)purified from her uncleanness) and she returned unto her house.
5 And the woman conceived: therefore she sent and [at]told David, and said, I am with child.
6 ¶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
7 And when Uriah came unto him, David demanded him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.
8 Afterward David said to Uriah, [au]Go down to thine house, and wash thy feet. So Uriah departed out of the king’s palace, and the king sent a present after him.
9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s palace with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
10 Then they told David, saying, Uriah went not down to his house: and David said unto Uriah, Comest thou not from thy journey? why didst thou not go down to thine house?
11 Then Uriah answered David, [av]The Ark and Israel, and Judah dwell in tents: and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord abide in the open fields: shall I then go into mine house to eat and drink, and lie with my wife? by thy life, and by the life of thy soul, I will not do this thing.
12 Then David said unto Uriah, Tarry yet this day, and tomorrow I will send thee away. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
13 Then David called him, and he did eat and drink before him, and he made him [aw]drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.
14 And on the morrow David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15 And he wrote [ax]thus in the letter, [ay]Put ye Uriah in the forefront of the strength of the battle, and recule ye back from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
16 ¶ So when Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah unto a place, where he knew that strong men were.
17 And the men of the city came out, and fought with Joab: and there fell of the people of the servants of David, and Uriah the Hittite also died.
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war.
19 ¶ And he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling all the matters of the war unto the King,
20 [az]And if the king’s anger arise, so that he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye unto the city to fight? knew ye not that they would hurl from the wall?
21 Who smote Abimelech son of [ba]Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, and he died in Thebez? why went you nigh the wall? Then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.
22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.
23 And the messenger said unto David, Certainly the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, but we [bb]pursued them unto the entering of the gate.
24 But the shooters shot from the wall against thy servants, and some of the king’s servants be dead: and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.
25 Then David said unto the messenger, [bc]Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing trouble thee: for the sword devoureth [bd]one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and destroy it, and encourage thou him.
26 ¶ And when the wife of Uriah heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.
27 So when the mourning was past, David sent and took her into his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son: but the thing that David had done, [be]displeased the Lord.
12 1 David reproved by Nathan, confesseth his sin. 18 The child conceived in adultery, dieth. 24 Solomon is born. 30 Rabbah is taken. 31 The citizens are grievously punished.
1 Then the Lord sent [bf]Nathan unto David, who came to him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceedingly many sheep and oxen:
3 But the poor had none at all, save one little sheep which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up with him, and with his children also, and did eat of his own morsels, and drank of his own cup, and slept in his bosom, and was unto him as his daughter.
4 Now there came a [bg]stranger unto the rich man, who [bh]refused to take of his own sheep, and of his own oxen to dress for the stranger that was come unto him, but took the poor man’s sheep, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 Then [bi]David was exceedingly wroth with the man, and said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing, [bj]shall surely die,
6 And he shall restore the lamb (F)fourfold, because he did this thing, and had no pity thereof.
7 Then Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I (G)anointed thee King over Israel, and delivered thee out of the hand of Saul.
8 And gave thee thy lord’s [bk]house, and thy lord’s [bl]wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel, and of Judah, and would moreover (if that had been too little) have given thee [bm]such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the [bn]children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus said the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and will (H)take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of his [bo]sin.
12 For thou diddest it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
13 Then David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath [bp]put away thy sin, thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast caused the enemies of the Lord to [bq]blaspheme, the child that is born unto thee, shall surely die.
15 ¶ So Nathan departed unto his house: and the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was sick.
16 David therefore besought God for the child, and fasted and [br]went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
17 Then the Elders of his house arose to come unto him, and to cause him to rise from the ground: but he would not, neither did he eat [bs]meat with them.
18 So on the seventh day 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 alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how then shall we say unto him, The child is dead, [bt]to vex him more?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
20 Then David [bu]arose from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped, and afterward came to his own house, and bade that they should set bread before him, and he did eat.
21 Then [bv]said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise up, and eat meat,
22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted, and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will have mercy on me, that the child may live?
23 But now being dead, wherefore should I now fast? [bw]Can I bring him again anymore? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
24 ¶ And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her, (I)and she bare a son, and [bx]he called his name Solomon: also the Lord loved him.
25 For the Lord had sent [by]by Nathan the [bz]Prophet: therefore [ca](J)he called his name Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him.
26 ¶ Then Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the [cb]city of the Kingdom.
27 Therefore Joab sent messengers to David, saying, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of [cc]waters.
28 Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together, and besiege the city, that thou mayest take it, lest [cd]the victory be attributed to me.
29 So David gathered all the people together, and went against Rabbah, and besieged it, and took it.
30 (K)And he took their king’s crown from his head, (which weighed a [ce]talent of gold, with precious stones) and it was set on David’s head: and he brought away the spoil of the city in exceedingly great abundance.
31 And he carried away the people that was therein, and put them under [cf]saws, and under iron harrows, and under axes of iron, and cast them into the tile-kiln: even thus did he with all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
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