Chronological
19 7 Joab encourageth the king. 8 David is restored. 23 Shimei is pardoned. 24 Mephibosheth meeteth the king. 39 Barzillai departeth. 41 Israel striveth with Judah.
1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the King weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.
2 Therefore the [a]victory of that day was turned into mourning to all the people: for the people heard say that day, The King sorroweth for his son.
3 And the people went that day into the city [b]secretly, as people confounded hide themselves when they flee in battle.
4 So the King [c]hid his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, My son Absalom, Absalom my son, my son.
5 ¶ Then Joab came into the [d]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 lives of thy concubines,
6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends: for thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither thy [e]princes, nor servants: therefore this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and we all had died this day, that then it would have [f]pleased thee well.
7 Now therefore up, come out, and speak [g]comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the Lord, except thou come out, there will not tarry one man with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee, than all the evil that fell on thee from thy youth hitherto.
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the [h]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: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
9 ¶ Then all the people were at [i]strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The King saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle: therefore why are ye so slow to bring the king again?
11 But King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the [j]Priests, saying, Speak unto the Elders of Judah, and say, Why are ye behind to bring the King again to his house (for the saying of all Israel is come unto the King, even to his house.)
12 Ye are my brethren: my bones and my flesh are ye: Wherefore then are ye the last that bring the King again?
13 Also 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 to me forever in the [k]room of Joab.
14 So he bowed the hearts of all the men of Judah, as of one man: therefore they sent to the King, saying, Return thou with all thy servants.
15 ¶ So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, for to go to meet the king, and to conduct him over Jordan.
16 ¶ And [l]Shimei the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David,
17 And a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and (A)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants with him: and they went over Jordan before the king.
18 And there went over a boat to carry over the king’s household, and to do him pleasure. Then Shimei the son of Gera fell before the king, when he was come over Jordan,
19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute (B)wickedness unto me, nor remember the thing that thy servant did [m]wickedly when my lord the King departed out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
20 For thy servant doth know, that I have done amiss: therefore behold, I am the first this day of all the house of [n]Joseph, that am come to go down to meet my lord the king.
21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, and said, Shall not Shimei die for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?
22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that this day ye should be adversaries unto me? shall there any man die this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not [o]die, and the king swore unto him.
24 ¶ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither washed his feet, nor dressed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the time the king departed, until he returned in peace.
25 And when [p]he was come to Jerusalem, and met the king, the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?
26 And he answered, My lord the King, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I would have mine ass saddled to ride thereon, for to go with the king, because thy servant is lame.
27 And he hath (C)accused thy servant unto my lord the king: but my lord the king is as an [q]angel of God: do therefore thy pleasure.
28 For all my father’s house were [r]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 to cry anymore unto the king?
29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou anymore of thy matters? I have said, Thou, and Ziba, divide the [s]lands.
30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, seeing my lord the king is come home in peace.
31 ¶ Then Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old, and he had provided the king of sustenance, while he lay at Mahanaim: for he was a man of very great substance.
33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
34 And Barzillai said unto the king, [t]How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good or evil? Hath thy servant any taste in that I eat, or in that I drink? Can I hear anymore the voice of singing men and women? wherefore then should thy servant be anymore a [u]burthen unto my lord the king?
36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king, and why will the king recompense it me with such a reward?
37 I pray thee, let thy servant turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried in the grave of my father and of my mother: but behold thy servant [v]Chimham, let him go with my lord the King, and do to him what shall please thee.
38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go with me, and I will do to him that thou shalt be content with: and whatsoever thou shalt [w]require of me, that will I do for thee.
39 So all the people went over Jordan: and the king passed over: and the king kissed Barzillai, and [x]blessed him, and he returned unto his own place.
40 ¶ Then the King went to [y]Gilgal, and Chimham went with him, and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of [z]Israel.
41 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 have brought the king and his household, and all David’s men with him over [aa]Jordan?
42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: and wherefore now be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten of the king’s cost, or have we taken any bribes?
43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and have also more right to David than ye: Why then did ye despise us [ab]that our advise should not be first had in restoring our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
20 1 Sheba raiseth Israel against David. 10 Joab killeth Amasa traitorously. 22 The head of Sheba is delivered to Joab. 23 David’s chief officers.
1 Then there was come [ac]thither a wicked man (named Sheba the son of Bichri, a man of Benjamin) and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no part in [ad]David, neither have we inheritance in the son [ae]of Ishai: every man to his tents, O Israel.
2 So every man of Israel went from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave fast unto their King, from [af]Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3 When David then came to his house to Jerusalem, the king took the ten women his (D)concubines, that he had left behind him to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but lay no more with them: but they were enclosed unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 ¶ Then said the King to [ag]Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.
5 So Amasa went to assemble Judah, but he tarried longer than the time which he had appointed him.
6 Then David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou therefore thy [ah]lord’s servants and follow after him, lest he get him walled cities, and escape us.
7 And there went out after him Joab’s men, and the (E)Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they departed out of Jerusalem, to follow after Sheba the son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them, and Joab’s [ai]garment, that he had put on, was girded unto him, and upon it was a sword girded, which hanged on his loins in the sheath, and as he went, it used to fall out.
9 And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in [aj]health, my brother? and Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand: for therewith he smote him in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and [ak]smote him not the second time: so he died: then Joab and Abishai his brother followed after Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 And one of Joab’s men [al]stood by him, and said, He that favoreth Joab, and he that is of David’s part, let him go after Joab.
12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the way: and when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the way into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, because he saw that everyone that came by him, stood still.
13 ¶ When he was removed out of the way, every man went after Joab, to follow after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and [am]Beth Maachah and all places of Berim: and they gathered together, and went also after him.
15 So they came, and besieged him in Abel, near to Beth Maachah, and they cast up a mount against the city, and the people thereof stood on the rampart, and all the people that was with Joab, [an]destroyed and cast down the wall.
16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear, I pray you, say unto Joab, Come thou hither, that I may speak with thee.
17 And when he came near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, Yea. And she said to him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.
18 Then she spake thus, [ao]They spake in the old time, saying, They should ask of Abel: and so they have continued.
19 I am [ap]one of them that are peaceable, and faithful in Israel: and thou goest about to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou devour the inheritance of the Lord?
20 And Joab answered, and said, God forbid, God forbid it me, that I should devour, or destroy it.
21 The [aq]matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim (Sheba the son of Bichri by name) hath lift up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver us him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.
22 Then the woman went unto all the people with her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it to Joab: then he blew the trumpet, and [ar]they retired from the city, every man to his tent: and Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the King.
23 ¶ (F)Then Joab was over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the Cherethites, and over the Pelethites,
24 And Adoram over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud the Recorder,
25 And Sheva was Scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar the Priests
26 And also Ira the Jairite was [as]chief about David.
21 1 Three dear years. 9 The vengeance of the sins of Saul lighteth on his seven sons, which are hanged. 15 Four great battles, which David had against the Philistines.
1 Then there was a famine in the days of David, three years [at]together: and David [au]asked counsel of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the [av]Gibeonites.
2 Then the King called the Gibeonites, and said unto them, (Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but a (G)remnant of the Amorites, unto whom the children of Israel had sworn: but Saul sought to slay them for his zeal toward the children of Israel and Judah)
3 And David said unto the Gibeonites, [aw]What shall I do for you, and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?
4 The Gibeonites then answered him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul nor of his house, neither for us shalt thou kill [ax]any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say that will I do for you.
5 Then they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that imagined evil against us, so that we are destroyed from remaining in any coast of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his [ay]sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up [az]unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the Lord’s chosen, And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the king had compassion on Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the (H)Lord’s oath, that was between them, even between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, even Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of [ba]Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she bare to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9 And he delivered them unto the hands of the Gibeonites, which hanged them in the mountain before the Lord: so they [bb]died all seven together: and they were slain in the time of harvest: in the [bc]first days, and in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took [bd]sackcloth and hanged it up for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest, until [be]water dropped upon them from the heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to [bf]light on them by day, nor beasts of the field by night.
11 ¶ And it was told David, what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah the concubine of Saul had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had (I)hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa.
13 So he brought thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the grave of Kish his father: and when they had performed all that the King had commanded, God was then [bg]appeased with the land.
15 ¶ Again the Philistines hath war with Israel: and David went down, and his servants with him, and they fought against the Philistines, and David fainted.
16 Then Ishbi-Benob which was of the sons of [bh]Haraphah (the head of whose spear weighed three hundred [bi]shekels of brass) even he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou quench the [bj]light of Israel.
18 ¶ And after this also there was a battle with the Philistines at [bk]Gob, then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was one of the sons of Haraphah.
19 And there was yet another battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim, a Bethlehemite slew [bl]Goliath the Gittite: the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20 Afterward there was also a battle in Gath, where was a man of a great stature, and had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number: who was also the son of Haraphah.
21 And when he reviled Israel, Jonathan the son of (J)Shimea the brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to Haraphah in Gath, and died by the hand of David, and by the hands of his servants.
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