2 Samuel 3 Cross References - BBE

¹ Now there was a long war between Saul's people and David's people; and David became stronger and stronger, but those on Saul's side became more and more feeble. ² While David was in Hebron he became the father of sons: the oldest was Amnon, son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; ³ And the second, Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom, son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; ⁴ And the fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah, the son of Abital; ⁵ And the sixth, Ithream, whose mother was David's wife Eglah. These were the sons of David, whose birth took place in Hebron. ⁶ Now while there was war between Saul's people and David's people, Abner was making himself strong among the supporters of Saul. ⁷ Now Saul had among his wives a woman named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Why have you taken my father's wife? ⁸ And Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, Am I a dog's head of Judah? I am this day doing all in my power for the cause of your father Saul and for his brothers and his friends, and have not given you up into the hands of David, and now you say I have done wrong with a woman. ⁹ May God's punishment be on Abner, if I do not for David as the Lord in his oath has said, ¹⁰ And if I do not take away the kingdom from the family of Saul and make David ruler over Israel and Judah from Dan as far as Beer-sheba! ¹¹ And so great was Ish-bosheth's fear of Abner that he was not able to say a word in answer. ¹² And Abner sent men to David at Hebron, saying, Make an agreement with me, and I will give you my support in getting all Israel on your side. ¹³ And he said, It is well; I will make an agreement with you, but on one condition, which is, that when you come before me, Saul's daughter Michal is to come with you; till she comes you will not see my face. ¹⁴ And David sent men to Saul's son Ish-bosheth, saying, Give me back Michal, my wife, whom I made mine for the price of the private parts of a hundred Philistines. ¹⁵ So Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel, the son of Laish. ¹⁶ And her husband went with her as far as Bahurim, weeping while he went. Then Abner said to him, Go back. And he went back. ¹⁷ Then Abner had a talk with the chief men of Israel, saying, In the past it was your desire to make David your king: so now, do it: ¹⁸ For the Lord has said of David, By the hand of my servant David I will make my people Israel safe from the Philistines, and from all who are against them. ¹⁹ And Abner said the same things to Benjamin: and he went to David in Hebron to make clear to him what seemed good to Israel and to all the people of Benjamin. ²⁰ So Abner, with twenty men, came to Hebron, to David. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ And Abner said to David, Now I will go, and make all Israel come to my lord the king, so that they may make an agreement with you, and your kingdom may be as wide as your heart's desire. Then David sent Abner away and he went in peace. ²² Now the servants of David and Joab had been out attacking a band of armed men, and they came back with a great store of goods taken in the fight: but Abner was no longer in Hebron with David, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and his men came, news was given them that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to the king, who had let him go away again in peace. ²⁴ Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? when Abner came to you why did you send him away and let him go? ²⁵ Is it not clear to you that Abner, the son of Ner, came with deceit to get knowledge of your going out and your coming in and of all you are doing? ²⁶ And when Joab had come out from David, he sent men after Abner, and they overtook him at the water-spring of Sirah, and made him come back with them: but David had no knowledge of it. ²⁷ And when Abner was back in Hebron, Joab took him on one side by the doorway of the town to have a word with him quietly, and there he gave him a wound in the stomach, causing his death in payment for the death of his brother Asahel. ²⁸ And when David had word of it he said, May I and my kingdom be clear for ever in the eyes of the Lord from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner: ²⁹ 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! ³⁰ So Joab and Abishai his brother put Abner to death, because he had put to death their brother Asahel in the fight at Gibeon. ³¹ And David said to Joab and all the people who were with him, Go in grief and put haircloth about you, in sorrow for Abner. And King David went after the dead body. ³² And they put Abner's body to rest in Hebron; and the king and all the people were weeping loudly by the resting-place of Abner's body. ³³ And the king made a song of grief for Abner and said, Was the death of Abner to be like the death of a foolish man? ³⁴ Your hands were free, your feet were not chained: like the downfall of a man before evil men, so was your fall. And the weeping of the people over him went on again. ³⁵ And the people came to make David take food, while it was still day, but David with an oath said, May God's punishment be on me if I take a taste of bread or any other thing till the sun has gone down! ³⁶ And all the people took note of it and were pleased: like everything the king did, it was pleasing to the people. ³⁷ So it was clear to Israel and to all the people on that day that the king was not responsible for the death of Abner, the son of Ner. ³⁸ And the king said to his servants, Do you not see that a chief and a great man has come to his end today in Israel? ³⁹ While I, though I am crowned king, have little strength, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are out of my control: may the Lord give to the evil-doer the reward of his evil-doing!

¹⁵ And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.

¹⁰ And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth.

⁶ Whoever takes a man's life, by man will his life be taken; because God made man in his image.

³⁰ Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and drink.

⁵⁴ And Jacob made an offering on the mountain, and gave orders to his people to take food: so they had a meal and took their rest that night on the mountain.

²⁹ Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,

³⁴ Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.

⁹ Then the memory of his dreams about them came back to Joseph, and he said to them, You have come secretly to see how poor the land is.

¹² And he said to them, No, but you have come to see how poor the land is.

¹⁶ Send one of your number to get your brother, and the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are true; if not, by the life of Pharaoh, your purpose is certainly secret.

³ And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.

²³ But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again.

²⁶ And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us.

³ Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power: ⁴ But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean.

¹² He who gives a man a death-blow is himself to be put to death.

⁴⁴ He is a leper and unclean; the priest is to say that he is most certainly unclean: the disease is in his head. ⁴⁵ And the leper who has the disease on him is to go about with signs of grief, with his hair loose and his mouth covered, crying, Unclean, unclean. ⁴⁶ While the disease is on him, he will be unclean. He is unclean: let him keep by himself, living outside the tent-circle.

² Say to the children of Israel: If a man has an unclean flow from his flesh, it will make him unclean.

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, What have you done to me? I sent for you so that my haters might be cursed, and see, you have given them a blessing.

¹⁷ To go out and come in before them and be their guide; so that the people of the Lord may not be like sheep without a keeper.

³³ So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

¹⁴ Jair, the son of Manasseh, took all the land of Argob, as far as the country of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, naming it, Bashan, Havvoth-Jair after himself, as it is to this day.}

¹ If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death: ² Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured; ³ And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke; ⁴ And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken: ⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged: ⁶ And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it. ⁸ Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death. ⁹ So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

¹⁸ Do not take into the house of the Lord your God, as an offering for an oath, the price of a loose woman or the money given to one used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods: for these two things are disgusting to the Lord your God.

²⁴ Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's life secretly. And let all the people say, So be it.

⁶ A blessing will be on your coming in and on your going out.

⁶ Then Joshua, in great grief, went down on the earth before the ark of the Lord till the evening, and all the chiefs of Israel with him, and they put dust on their heads.

¹³ However, the people of Israel did not send out the Geshurites, or the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath are living among Israel to this day.

²⁴ So that punishment for the violent attack made on the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, and for their blood, might come on Abimelech, their brother, who put them to death, and on the townsmen of Shechem who gave him their help in putting his brothers to death.

⁵⁶ In this way Abimelech was rewarded by God for the evil he had done to his father in putting his seventy brothers to death; ⁵⁷ And God sent back on to the heads of the men of Shechem all the evil they had done, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal, came on them.

³⁵ And when he saw her he was overcome with grief, and said, Ah! my daughter! I am crushed with sorrow, and it is you who are the chief cause of my trouble; for I have made an oath to the Lord and I may not take it back.

²¹ So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes; then they took him down to Gaza, and, chaining him with bands of brass, put him to work crushing grain in the prison-house.

¹ Then all the children of Israel took up arms, and the people came together like one man, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and the land of Gilead, before the Lord at Mizpah.

²⁶ Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up to Beth-el, weeping and waiting there before the Lord, going without food all day till evening, and offering burned offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.

¹⁷ Wherever death comes to you, death will come to me, and there will be my last resting-place; the Lord do so to me and more if we are parted by anything but death.

³² And never again will there be an old man in your family. ³³ But one man of your family will not be cut off by my hand, and his eyes will be made dark, and grief will be in his heart: and all the offspring of your family will come to their end by the sword of men. ³⁴ And this will be the sign to you, which will come on Hophni and Phinehas, your sons; death will overtake them on the same day. ³⁵ And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind: and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end; and his place will be before my holy one for ever. ³⁶ Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food.

¹⁷ And he said, What did the Lord say to you? Do not keep it from me: may God's punishment be on you if you keep from me anything he said to you.

²⁰ And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord.

¹⁶ Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me.

²⁰ So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. ²¹ Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen.

¹⁴ But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do.

⁴⁴ And Saul said, May God's punishment be on me if death is not your fate, Jonathan.

⁵⁰ The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, brother of Saul's father. ⁵¹ Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel.

²⁸ And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you.

¹ And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons.

¹ And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons. ² And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord. ³ And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you. ⁴ And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace? ⁵ And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering. ⁶ Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him. ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart. ⁸ Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. ¹⁰ And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these. ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here. ¹² So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he. ¹³ Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah.

²⁰ And Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased. ²¹ And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time. ²² And Saul gave his servants orders saying, Have talk with David secretly and say to him, See how the king has delight in you, and how you are loved by all his servants: then be the king's son-in-law. ²³ And Saul's servants said these things to David. And David said, Does it seem to you a small thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, of no great name? ²⁴ And the servants of Saul gave him an account of what David had said. ²⁵ And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines.

²⁵ And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines. ²⁶ And when his servants said these words to David, he was well pleased to be the son-in-law of the king. And the days were still not past. ²⁷ So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife.

²⁷ So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. ²⁸ And it was clear to Saul that the Lord was with David; and he was loved by all Israel.

¹¹ Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning. ¹² So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away. ¹³ Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat's hair at its head, and she put clothing over it. ¹⁴ And when Saul sent men to take David, she said, He is ill. ¹⁵ And Saul sent his men to see David, saying, Do not come back without him, take him in his bed, so that I may put him to death. ¹⁶ And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head ¹⁷ And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death.

¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel come out? for whom are you searching? for a dead dog, an insect. ¹⁵ So let the Lord be judge, and give a decision between me and you, and see and give support to my cause, and keep me from falling into your hands.

³ Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.

²² May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

⁴² Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife.

⁴² Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife. ⁴³ And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives. ⁴⁴ Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.

⁸ And David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for these were the people who were living in the land from Telam on the way to Shur, as far as Egypt.

¹⁷ And the Lord himself has done what I said: the Lord has taken the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbour David;

⁴ But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him, and said to him, Make the man go back to the place you have given him; do not let him go down with us to the fight, or he may be turned against us and be false to us: for how will this man make peace with his lord? will it not be with the heads of these men? ⁵ Is this not David, who was named in their songs, when in the dance they said to one another, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? ⁶ Then Achish sent for David and said to him, By the living Lord, you are upright, and everything you have done with me in the army has been pleasing to me: I have seen no evil in you from the day when you came to me till now: but still, the lords are not pleased with you.

⁴ Then David and the people who were with him gave themselves up to weeping till they were able to go on weeping no longer.

² On the third day a man came from Saul's tents, with his clothing out of order and earth on his head: and when he came to David, he went down on the earth and gave him honour.

¹¹ Then David gave way to bitter grief, and so did all the men who were with him: ¹² And till evening they gave themselves to sorrow and weeping, and took no food, weeping for Saul and for Jonathan, his son, and for the people of the Lord and for the men of Israel; because they had come to their end by the sword.

¹⁶ And David said to him, May your blood be on your head; for your mouth has given witness against you, saying, I have put to death the man marked with the holy oil. ¹⁷ Then David made this song of grief for Saul and Jonathan, his son:

² So David went there, taking with him his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

⁸ Now Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth over to Mahanaim,

⁸ Now Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth over to Mahanaim, ⁹ And made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and over Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin, that is, over all Israel.

⁹ And made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and over Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin, that is, over all Israel. ¹⁰ Saul's son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was ruler for two years. But Judah was on the side of David.

¹⁷ And there was hard fighting that day; and Abner and the men of Israel gave way before the servants of David.

¹⁹ Asahel went running after Abner, not turning to the right or to the left. ²⁰ Then Abner, looking back, said, Is it you, Asahel? And he said, It is I. ²¹ And Abner said, Then go to the right or to the left and put your hands on one of the fighting-men and take his arms. But Asahel would not be turned away from going after Abner. ²² Then again Abner said to Asahel, Go to one side, do not keep on coming after me: why will you make me put an end to you? for then I will be shamed before your brother Joab. ²³ But still he did not go to one side: so Abner gave him a back blow in the stomach with his spear, so that the spear came out at his back; and he went down on the earth, wounded to death: and all those who came to the place where Asahel went down dead, came to a stop.

⁸ And Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, Am I a dog's head of Judah? I am this day doing all in my power for the cause of your father Saul and for his brothers and his friends, and have not given you up into the hands of David, and now you say I have done wrong with a woman. ⁹ May God's punishment be on Abner, if I do not for David as the Lord in his oath has said, ¹⁰ And if I do not take away the kingdom from the family of Saul and make David ruler over Israel and Judah from Dan as far as Beer-sheba!

¹² And Abner sent men to David at Hebron, saying, Make an agreement with me, and I will give you my support in getting all Israel on your side.

¹⁸ For the Lord has said of David, By the hand of my servant David I will make my people Israel safe from the Philistines, and from all who are against them.

²⁰ So Abner, with twenty men, came to Hebron, to David. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ And Abner said to David, Now I will go, and make all Israel come to my lord the king, so that they may make an agreement with you, and your kingdom may be as wide as your heart's desire. Then David sent Abner away and he went in peace.

²¹ And Abner said to David, Now I will go, and make all Israel come to my lord the king, so that they may make an agreement with you, and your kingdom may be as wide as your heart's desire. Then David sent Abner away and he went in peace. ²² Now the servants of David and Joab had been out attacking a band of armed men, and they came back with a great store of goods taken in the fight: but Abner was no longer in Hebron with David, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace. ²³ When Joab and his men came, news was given them that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to the king, who had let him go away again in peace.

²⁷ And when Abner was back in Hebron, Joab took him on one side by the doorway of the town to have a word with him quietly, and there he gave him a wound in the stomach, causing his death in payment for the death of his brother Asahel.

³⁵ And the people came to make David take food, while it was still day, but David with an oath said, May God's punishment be on me if I take a taste of bread or any other thing till the sun has gone down!

³⁹ While I, though I am crowned king, have little strength, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are out of my control: may the Lord give to the evil-doer the reward of his evil-doing!

¹ Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh. ² In the past when Saul was king over us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel and their ruler.

² In the past when Saul was king over us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel and their ruler. ³ So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel.

⁸ And he went down on his face before the king, and said, What is your servant, for you to take note of a dead dog such as I am?

³ But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father by sending comforters to you? has he not sent his servants to go through the town and make secret observation of it, and overcome it?

⁸ I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things.

¹⁷ And the chief men of his house got up and went to his side to make him get up from the earth, but he would not; and he would not take food with them.

¹ Now after this, it came about that Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and David's son Amnon was in love with her. ² And he was so deeply in love that he became ill because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin, and so it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her. ³ But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother: and Jonadab was a very wise man. ⁴ And he said to him, O son of the king, why are you getting thinner day by day? will you not say what your trouble is? And Amnon said to him, I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister. ⁵ Then Jonadab said to him, Go to your bed, and let it seem that you are ill: and when your father comes to see you, say to him, Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread, and get the food ready before my eyes, so that I may see it and take it from her hand. ⁶ So Amnon went to bed and made himself seem ill: and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let my sister Tamar come and make me one or two cakes before my eyes, so that I may take food from her hand. ⁷ Then David sent to the house for Tamar and said, Go now to your brother Amnon's house and get a meal for him. ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was in bed. And she took paste and made cakes before his eyes, cooking them over the fire. ⁹ And she took the cooking-pot, and put the cakes before him, but he would not take them. And Amnon said, Let everyone go away from me. So they all went out. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, Take the food and come into my bedroom, so that I may take it from your hand. So Tamar took the cakes she had made and went with them into her brother Amnon's bedroom. ¹¹ And when she took them to give them to him, he put his arms round her and said, Come to bed, my sister. ¹² And answering him, she said, O my brother, do not put shame on me; it is not right for such a thing to be done in Israel: do not this evil thing.

¹² And answering him, she said, O my brother, do not put shame on me; it is not right for such a thing to be done in Israel: do not this evil thing. ¹³ What will become of me in my shame? and as for you, you will be looked down on with disgust by all Israel. Now then, go and make your request to the king, for he will not keep me from you.

¹³ What will become of me in my shame? and as for you, you will be looked down on with disgust by all Israel. Now then, go and make your request to the king, for he will not keep me from you. ¹⁴ But he would not give attention to what she said: but being stronger than she, he took her by force, and had connection with her. ¹⁵ Then Amnon was full of hate for her, hating her with a hate greater than his earlier love for her. And he said to her, Get up and be gone. ¹⁶ And she said to him, Not so, my brother, for this great wrong in sending me away is worse than what you did to me before. But he gave no attention to her. ¹⁷ Then he gave a cry to the servant who was waiting on him and said, Put this woman out, and let the door be locked after her. ¹⁸ Now she had on a long robe, such as in past times the king's virgin daughters were dressed in. Then the servant put her out, locking the door after her. ¹⁹ And Tamar, in her grief, put dust on her head; and she put her hand on her head and went away crying loudly. ²⁰ And her brother Absalom said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? but now, let there be an end to your crying, my sister: he is your brother, do not take this thing to heart. So Tamar went on living uncomforted in her brother's house.

²⁰ And her brother Absalom said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? but now, let there be an end to your crying, my sister: he is your brother, do not take this thing to heart. So Tamar went on living uncomforted in her brother's house. ²¹ But when King David had news of all these things he was very angry; but he did not make trouble for Amnon his son, for he was dear to David, being his oldest son.

²¹ But when King David had news of all these things he was very angry; but he did not make trouble for Amnon his son, for he was dear to David, being his oldest son. ²² But Absalom said nothing to his brother Amnon, good or bad: for he was full of hate for him, because he had taken his sister Tamar by force.

²² But Absalom said nothing to his brother Amnon, good or bad: for he was full of hate for him, because he had taken his sister Tamar by force. ²³ Now after two full years, Absalom had men cutting the wool of his sheep in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim: and he sent for all the king's sons to come to his feast.

²³ Now after two full years, Absalom had men cutting the wool of his sheep in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim: and he sent for all the king's sons to come to his feast. ²⁴ And Absalom came to the king and said, See now, your servant is cutting the wool of his sheep; will the king and his servants be pleased to come?

²⁴ And Absalom came to the king and said, See now, your servant is cutting the wool of his sheep; will the king and his servants be pleased to come? ²⁵ And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, or the number will be over-great for you. And he made his request again, but he would not go, but he gave him his blessing.

²⁵ And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, or the number will be over-great for you. And he made his request again, but he would not go, but he gave him his blessing. ²⁶ Then Absalom said, If you will not go, then let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Is there any reason for him to go with you?

²⁶ Then Absalom said, If you will not go, then let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Is there any reason for him to go with you? ²⁷ But Absalom went on requesting him till he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. And Absalom made a great feast like a feast for a king.

²⁷ But Absalom went on requesting him till he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. And Absalom made a great feast like a feast for a king. ²⁸ Now Absalom had given orders to his servants, saying, Now take note when Amnon's heart is glad with wine; and when I say to you, Make an attack on Amnon, then put him to death without fear: have I not given you orders? be strong and without fear.

²⁸ Now Absalom had given orders to his servants, saying, Now take note when Amnon's heart is glad with wine; and when I say to you, Make an attack on Amnon, then put him to death without fear: have I not given you orders? be strong and without fear. ²⁹ So Absalom's servants did to Amnon as Absalom had given them orders. Then all the king's sons got up, and every man got on his beast and went in flight.

³⁷ So Absalom went in flight and came to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur, where he was for three years. ³⁸ And the king was sorrowing for his son all the time.

²⁴ And the king said, Let him go to his house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom went back to his house and did not see the face of the king.

⁶ And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of the men of Israel.

¹³ And one came to David and said, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.

⁵ And when King David came to Bahurim, a man of Saul's family named Shimei, the son of Gera, came out from there, calling curses after him.

⁹ Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, Is this dead dog to go on cursing my lord the king? let me go over and take off his head.

²¹ And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's women who are here looking after his house; then all Israel will have the news that you are hated by your father, and the hands of your supporters will be strong. ²² So they put up the tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father's women before the eyes of all Israel.

¹ Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me take out twelve thousand men and this very night I will go after David: ² And I will come up with him when he is tired and feeble, and make him full of fear: and all the people with him will go in flight; and I will make an attack on the king only: ³ And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace. ⁴ And the saying was pleasing to Absalom and to the responsible men of Israel. ⁵ Then Absalom said, Now send for Hushai the Archite, and let us give ear to what he has to say. ⁶ And when Hushai came, Absalom said to him, This is what Ahithophel has said: are we to do as he says? if not, what is your suggestion? ⁷ And Hushai said to Absalom, Ahithophel's idea is not a good one at this time. ⁸ Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people; ⁹ But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side. ¹⁰ Then even the strongest, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will become like water; for all Israel is conscious that your father is a man of war, and those who are with him are strong and without fear. ¹¹ But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them.

¹¹ But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them. ¹² Then we will come on him in some place, wherever he may be, falling on him as the dew comes on the earth: and of him and all the men who are with him not one will get away with his life. ¹³ And if he has gone into some town, then let all Israel take strong cords to that town, and we will have it pulled into the valley, till not one small stone is to be seen there. ¹⁴ Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, Hushai's suggestion is better than that of Ahithophel. For it was the purpose of the Lord to make the wise designs of Ahithophel without effect, so that the Lord might send evil on Absalom.

¹⁸ But a boy saw them, and gave word of it to Absalom: so the two of them went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a water-hole in his garden, and they went down into it.

⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And a certain man saw it and said to Joab, I saw Absalom hanging in a tree. ¹¹ And Joab said to the man who had given him the news, If you saw this, why did you not put your sword through him, and I would have given you ten bits of silver and a band for your robe? ¹² And the man said to Joab, Even if you gave me a thousand bits of silver, I would not put out my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king gave orders to you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take care that the young man Absalom is not touched. ¹³ And if I had falsely put him to death and nothing may be kept secret from the king, you would have had nothing to do with me. ¹⁴ Then Joab said, I would have made it safe for you. And he took three spears in his hand, and put them through Absalom's heart, while he was still living, in the branches of the tree. ¹⁵ And ten young men, servants of Joab, came round Absalom and put an end to him. ¹⁶ And Joab had the horn sounded, and the people came back from going after Israel, for Joab kept them back. ¹⁷ And they took Absalom's body and put it into a great hole in the wood, and put a great mass of stones over it: and every man of Israel went in flight to his tent. ¹⁸ Now Absalom, before his death, had put up for himself a pillar in the king's valley, naming it after himself; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in memory: and to this day it is named Absalom's pillar.

³³ Then the king was much moved, and went up into the room over the door, weeping, and saying, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! if only my life might have been given for yours, O Absalom, my son, my son!

⁵ And Joab came into the house to the king and said, Today you have put to shame the faces of all your servants who even now have kept you and your sons and your daughters and your wives and all your women safe from death; ⁶ For your haters, it seems, are dear to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your eyes.

⁶ For your haters, it seems, are dear to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your eyes. ⁷ 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.

¹³ And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God's punishment be on me, if I do not make you chief of the army before me at all times in place of Joab! ¹⁴ And the hearts of the men of Judah were moved like one man; so that they sent to the king, saying, Come back, with all your servants.

¹⁶ And Shimei, the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, got up quickly and went down with the men of Judah for the purpose of meeting King David;

⁴¹ Then the men of Israel came to the king and said, Why have our countrymen of Judah taken you away in secret and come over Jordan with the king and all his family, because all his people are David's men?

⁹ And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well, my brother? And with his right hand he took him by the hair of his chin to give him a kiss. ¹⁰ But Amasa did not see danger from the sword which was now in Joab's left hand, and Joab put it through his stomach so that his inside came out on to the earth, and he did not give him another blow. So Joab and his brother Abishai went on after Sheba, the son of Bichri.

⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Saul to whom Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had given birth; and the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, whose father was Adriel, the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: ⁹ And he gave them up to the Gibeonites, and they put them to death, hanging them on the mountain before the Lord; all seven came to their end together in the first days of the grain-cutting, at the start of the cutting of the barley. ¹⁰ And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took haircloth, placing it on the rock as a bed for herself, from the start of the grain-cutting till rain came down on them from heaven; and she did not let the birds of the air come near them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ And news was given to David of what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, one of Saul's wives, had done.

² And the king said to Joab and the captains of the army, who were with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, and have all the people numbered, so that I may be certain of the number of the people.

⁵ Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, lifting himself up in pride, said, I will become king; and he made ready his carriages of war and his horsemen, with fifty runners to go before him. ⁶ Now all his life his father had never gone against him or said to him, Why have you done so? and he was a very good-looking man, and younger than Absalom. ⁷ And he had talk with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they were on his side and gave him their support. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei, and David's men of war did not take the side of Adonijah. ⁹ Then Adonijah put to death sheep and oxen and fat beasts by the stone of Zoheleth, by En-rogel; and he sent for all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants, to come to him: ¹⁰ But he did not send for Nathan the prophet and Benaiah and the other men of war and Solomon his brother. ¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon, Has it not come to your ears that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has made himself king without the knowledge of David our lord? ¹² So now, let me make a suggestion, so that you may keep your life safe and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Come now, go to King David and say to him, Did you not, O my lord, take an oath to me, your servant, saying, Truly Solomon your son will be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom? why then is Adonijah acting as king? ¹⁴ And while you are still talking there with the king, see, I will come in after you and say that your story is true. ¹⁵ Then Bath-sheba went into the king's room; now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was waiting on him. ¹⁶ And Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour. And he said, What is your desire? ¹⁷ And she said to him, My lord, you took an oath by the Lord your God and gave your word to your servant, saying, Truly, Solomon your son will be king after me, seated on the seat of my kingdom. ¹⁸ And now, see, Adonijah has made himself king without my lord's knowledge;

⁵ Now you have knowledge of what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and to the two captains of the army of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he put to death, taking payment for the blood of war in time of peace, and making the band of my clothing and the shoes on my feet red with the blood of one put to death without cause.

⁵ Now you have knowledge of what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and to the two captains of the army of Israel, Abner, the son of Ner, and Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he put to death, taking payment for the blood of war in time of peace, and making the band of my clothing and the shoes on my feet red with the blood of one put to death without cause. ⁶ So be guided by your wisdom, and let not his white head go down to the underworld in peace.

⁸ Now you have with you Shimei, the son of Gera the Benjamite of Bahurim, who put a bitter curse on me on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to see me at Jordan, and I gave him my oath by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death by the sword.

¹³ Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Come you in peace? And he said, Yes, in peace. ¹⁴ Then he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Say on. ¹⁵ And he said, You saw how the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had the idea that I would be their king; but now the kingdom is turned about, and has become my brother's, for it was given to him by the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I have one request to make to you, and do not say, No, to me. And she said to him, Say on. ¹⁷ Then he said, Will you go to Solomon the king for he will not say, No, to you and put before him my request that he will give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife?

¹⁷ Then he said, Will you go to Solomon the king for he will not say, No, to you and put before him my request that he will give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife? ¹⁸ And Bath-sheba said, Good! I will make your request to the king. ¹⁹ So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to have talk with him on Adonijah's account. And the king got up to come to her, and went down low to the earth before her; then he took his place on the king's seat and had a seat made ready for the king's mother and she took her place at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, I have one small request to make to you; do not say, No, to me. And the king said, Say on, my mother, for I will not say, No, to you. ²¹ And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife.

²¹ And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife. ²² Then King Solomon made answer and said to his mother, Why are you requesting me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Take the kingdom for him in addition, for he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, are on his side.

²² Then King Solomon made answer and said to his mother, Why are you requesting me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Take the kingdom for him in addition, for he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, are on his side. ²³ Then King Solomon took an oath by the Lord, saying, May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life. ²⁴ Now by the living Lord, who has given me my place on the seat of David my father, and made me one of a line of kings, as he gave me his word, truly Adonijah will be put to death this day. ²⁵ And King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he made an attack on him and put him to death.

³¹ And the king said, Do as he has said and make an attack on him there, and put his body into the earth; so that you may take away from me and from my family the blood of one put to death by Joab without cause. ³² And the Lord will send back his blood on his head, because of the attack he made on two men more upright and better than himself, putting them to the sword without my father's knowledge; even Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

³² And the Lord will send back his blood on his head, because of the attack he made on two men more upright and better than himself, putting them to the sword without my father's knowledge; even Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. ³³ So their blood will be on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for ever; but for David and his seed and his family and the seat of his kingdom, there will be peace for ever from the Lord. ³⁴ So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up, and falling on him, put him to death; and his body was put to rest in his house in the waste land.

²⁵ So Judah and Israel were living safely, every man under his vine and his fig-tree, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

³⁷ And you I will take, and you will be king over Israel, ruling over whatever is the desire of your soul.

³⁰ And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

¹⁶ Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

³² And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

² Then Jezebel sent a servant to Elijah, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

¹ Now Naaman, chief of the army of the king of Aram, was a man of high position with his master, and greatly respected, because by him the Lord had given salvation to Aram; but he was a leper.

²⁷ Because of what you have done, the disease of Naaman the leper will take you in its grip, and your seed after you, for ever. And he went out from before him a leper as white as snow.

¹³ And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.

²³ And Jehu, with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the house of Baal; and he said to the servants of Baal, Make a search with care, to see that no servant of the Lord is with you, but only servants of Baal.

³² Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe.

¹ And on hearing it, King Hezekiah took off his robe, and put on haircloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

¹⁵ Ozem, the sixth, David, the seventh; ¹⁶ And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And Zeruiah had three sons: Abishai and Joab and Asahel.

¹ Now these were David's sons, whose birth took place in Hebron: the oldest Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite woman;

¹ Now these were David's sons, whose birth took place in Hebron: the oldest Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite woman; ² The third Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, the son of Haggith; ³ The fifth Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth Ithream, by Eglah his wife. ⁴ He had six sons in Hebron; he was ruling there for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

¹ Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh. ² In the past, when Saul was king, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in; and the Lord your God said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel, and their ruler. ³ So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel, as the Lord had said by Samuel.

²³ These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said.

²⁹ And of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand; for up to that time the greater part of them had been true to Saul.

³⁸ All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king. ³⁹ For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them. ⁴⁰ And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.

²⁹ And when the ark of the agreement of the Lord came into the town of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looking out of the window, saw King David dancing and playing; and to her mind he seemed foolish.

⁵ And David said, Solomon my son is young and untested, and the house which is to be put up for the Lord is to be very great, a thing of wonder and glory through all countries; so I will make ready what is needed for it. So David got ready a great store of material before his death.

⁶ And said to the judges, Take care what you do, for you are judging not for man but for the Lord, and he is with you in the decisions you give. ⁷ So now let the fear of the Lord be in you; do your work with care; for in the Lord our God there is no evil, or respect for high position, or taking of payment to do wrong.

⁸ But go yourself, and be strong in war; God will not let you go down before those who are fighting against you; for God has power to give help or to send you down before your attackers.

²⁵ And Jeremiah made a song of grief for Josiah; and to this day Josiah is named by all the makers of melody, men and women, in their songs of grief; they made it a rule in Israel; and the songs are recorded among the songs of grief.

³ In the third year of his rule he gave a feast to all his captains and his servants; and the captains of the army of Persia and Media, the great men and the rulers of the divisions of his kingdom, were present before him;

¹³ And Haman gave his wife Zeresh and all his friends an account of what had taken place. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, who is starting to get the better of you, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not be able to do anything against him, but you will certainly go down before him.

⁷ And though your start was small, your end will be very great.

⁹ Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength.

¹⁴ He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need.

²⁸ That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

⁹ It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.

¹ Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish? ² The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying, ³ Let their chains be broken, and their cords taken from off us. ⁴ Then he whose seat is in the heavens will be laughing: the Lord will make sport of them.

¹⁶ His wrongdoing will come back to him, and his violent behaviour will come down on his head.

⁴ May he give you your heart's desire, and put all your purposes into effect.

⁴ Give them the right reward of their acts, and of their evil doings: give them punishment for the works of their hands, let them have their full reward.

³ Put on your sword, make it ready at your side, O strong chief, with your glory and power. ⁴ And go nobly on in your power, because you are good and true and without pride; and your right hand will be teaching you things of fear. ⁵ Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's haters; because of them the peoples are falling under you.

⁹ Truly men of low birth are nothing, and men of high position are not what they seem; if they are put in the scales together they are less than a breath.

¹² And mercy, O Lord, is yours, for you give to every man the reward of his work.

²⁷ There is little Benjamin ruling them, the chiefs of Judah and their army, the rulers of Zebulun and the rulers of Naphtali.

¹⁰ By him will all the horns of the sinners be cut off; but the horns of the upright will be lifted up.

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⁷ They go from strength to strength; every one of them comes before God in Zion.

³ I have made an agreement with the man of my selection, I have made an oath to David my servant; ⁴ I will make your seed go on for ever, your kingdom will be strong through all generations. Selah.

¹⁹ Then your voice came to your holy one in a vision, saying, I have put the crown on a strong one, lifting up one taken from among the people.

¹⁹ Then your voice came to your holy one in a vision, saying, I have put the crown on a strong one, lifting up one taken from among the people. ²⁰ I have made discovery of David my servant; I have put my holy oil on his head.

²⁰ I have made discovery of David my servant; I have put my holy oil on his head. ²¹ My hand will be his support; my arm will give him strength. ²² The deceit of those who are against him will not overcome him; he will not be troubled by the sons of evil. ²³ I will have those who are against him broken before his face, and his haters will be crushed under my blows.

³⁵ I have made an oath once by my holy name, that I will not be false to David. ³⁶ His seed will not come to an end for ever; the seat of his kingdom will be like the sun before me. ³⁷ It will be fixed for ever like the moon; and the witness in heaven is true. Selah.

⁸ Morning by morning will I put to death all the sinners in the land, so that all evil-doers may be cut off from Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Those who were in the dark, in the black night, in chains of sorrow and iron; ¹¹ Because they went against the words of God, and gave no thought to the laws of the Most High:

⁸ Let his life be short; let another take his position of authority. ⁹ Let his children have no father, and his wife be made a widow. ¹⁰ Let his children be wanderers, looking to others for their food; let them be sent away from the company of their friends. ¹¹ Let his creditor take all his goods; and let others have the profit of his work. ¹² Let no man have pity on him, or give help to his children when he is dead. ¹³ Let his seed be cut off; in the coming generation let their name go out of memory. ¹⁴ Let the Lord keep in mind the wrongdoing of his fathers; and may the sin of his mother have no forgiveness. ¹⁵ Let them be ever before the eyes of the Lord, so that the memory of them may be cut off from the earth. ¹⁶ Because he had no mercy, but was cruel to the low and the poor, designing the death of the broken-hearted. ¹⁷ As he took pleasure in cursing, so let it come on him; and as he had no delight in blessing, let it be far from him. ¹⁸ He put on cursing like a robe, and it has come into his body like water, and into his bones like oil. ¹⁹ Let it be to him as a robe which he puts on, let it be like a band which is round him at all times.

⁸ The Lord will keep watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time and for ever.

¹⁷ There I will make the horn of David fertile: I have made ready a light for my king. ¹⁸ His haters will be clothed with shame; but I will make his crown shining.

¹⁸ But the way of the upright is like the light of early morning, getting brighter and brighter till the full day. ¹⁹ The way of sinners is dark; they see not the cause of their fall.

¹⁷ Drink taken without right is sweet, and food in secret is pleasing. ¹⁸ But he does not see that the dead are there, that her guests are in the deep places of the underworld.

⁷ The mouth of a foolish man is his destruction, and his lips are a net for his soul.

⁸ A king on the seat of judging puts to flight all evil with his eyes.

³⁰ Wisdom and knowledge and wise suggestions are of no use against the Lord.

¹⁷ Do not be glad at the fall of your hater, and let not your heart have joy at his downfall:

⁵ Take away evil-doers from before the king, and the seat of his power will be made strong in righteousness.

²³ Smooth lips and an evil heart are like a vessel of earth plated with silver waste. ²⁴ With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him; ²⁵ When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils: ²⁶ Though his hate is covered with deceit, his sin will be seen openly before the meeting of the people.

⁴ Wrath is cruel, and angry feeling an overflowing stream; but who does not give way before envy? ⁵ Better is open protest than love kept secret. ⁶ The wounds of a friend are given in good faith, but the kisses of a hater are false.

¹⁷ One who has been the cause of a man's death will go in flight to the underworld: let no man give him help.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose. ¹⁶ Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

⁴ And say to him, Take care and be quiet; have no fear, and do not let your heart be feeble, because of these two ends of smoking fire-wood, because of the bitter wrath of Rezin and Aram, and of the son of Remaliah.

⁹ Have knowledge, O peoples, and be in fear; give ear, all you far-off parts of the earth: ¹⁰ Let your designs be formed, and they will come to nothing; give your orders, and they will not be effected: for God is with us.

²³ Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? and against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel.

²⁸ But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in.

⁷ No one will make a feast for them in sorrow, to give them comfort for the dead, or put to their lips the cup of comfort on account of their father or their mother.

¹¹ Like the partridge, getting eggs together but not producing young, is a man who gets wealth but not by right; before half his days are ended, it will go from him, and at his end he will be foolish.

² Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, got up, and attacking Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, put to death him whom the king of Babylon had made ruler over the land.

⁶ And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah with the purpose of meeting them, weeping on his way: and it came about that when he was face to face with them he said, Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. ⁷ And when they came inside the town, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the men who were with him, put them to death and put their bodies into a deep hole.

¹⁷ Let there be no sound of sorrow; make no weeping for your dead, put on your head-dress and your shoes on your feet, let not your lips be covered, and do not take the food of those in grief.

²² And you will do as I have done, not covering your lips or taking the food of those in grief.

³⁴ While you were looking at it, a stone was cut out, but not by hands, and it gave the image a blow on its feet, which were of iron and earth, and they were broken in bits. ³⁵ Then the iron and the earth, the brass and the silver and the gold, were smashed together, and became like the dust on the floors where grain is crushed in summer; and the wind took them away so that no sign of them was to be seen: and the stone which gave the image a blow became a great mountain, covering all the earth.

⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever. ⁴⁵ Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream is fixed, and its sense is certain.

⁹ And like a band of thieves waiting for a man, so are the priests watching secretly the way of those going quickly to Shechem, for they are working with an evil design.

⁹ Give this out among the nations; make ready for war: get the strong men awake; let all the men of war come near, let them come up. ¹⁰ Get your plough-blades hammered into swords, and your vine-knives into spears: let the feeble say, I am strong. ¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord. ¹² Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about. ¹³ Put in the blade, for the grain is ready: come, get you down, for the wine-crusher is full, the vessels are overflowing; for great is their evil-doing.

³⁵ For I have come to put a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: ³⁶ And a man will be hated by those of his house.

³⁰ Whoever is not with me is against me; and he who does not take part with me in getting people together, is driving them away.

⁸ And all the people put their clothing down in the way; and others got branches from the trees, and put them down in the way. ⁹ And those who went before him, and those who came after, gave loud cries, saying, Glory to the Son of David: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord: Glory in the highest. ¹⁰ And when he came into Jerusalem, all the town was moved, saying, Who is this?

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was able to do nothing, but that trouble was working up, he took water and, washing his hands before the people, said, The blood of this upright man is not on my hands: you are responsible.

¹⁸ For John said to Herod, It is wrong for you to have your brother's wife. ¹⁹ And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able;

³⁷ And they were overcome with wonder, saying, He has done all things well: he even gives back the power of hearing and the power of talking to those who have been without them.

¹¹ But the people were moved by the chief priests to make him let Barabbas go free. ¹² And Pilate again said in answer to them, What then am I to do to him to whom you give the name of the King of the Jews? ¹³ And they said again loudly, To the cross with him!

¹⁴ And he came near, and put his hand on the stretcher where the dead man was: and those who were moving it came to a stop. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Get up.

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. ²⁰ But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?

⁵ And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord? ⁶ And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty. ⁷ Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty. ⁸ And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light.

⁴¹ And when he got near and saw the town, he was overcome with weeping for it, ⁴² Saying, If you, even you, had knowledge today, of the things which give peace! but you are not able to see them.

¹² And there was much discussion about him among the mass of the people. Some said, He is a good man; but others said, No, he is giving people false ideas.

⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees said to them, Have you, like the others, been given false ideas?

⁴² However, a number even of the rulers had belief in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not say so openly for fear that they might be shut out from the Synagogue: ⁴³ For the praise of men was dearer to them than the approval of God.

³⁵ Pilate said, Am I a Jew? Your nation and the chief priests have given you into my hands: what have you done?

⁴ And he went down on the earth, and a voice said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? ⁵ And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking:

⁴ And when the people saw it hanging on his hand, they said to one another, Without doubt this man has put someone to death, and though he has got safely away from the sea, God will not let him go on living.

¹ So you have no reason, whoever you are, for judging: for in judging another you are judging yourself, for you do the same things.

⁴ For he is the servant of God to you for good. But if you do evil, have fear; for the sword is not in his hand for nothing: he is God's servant, making God's punishment come on the evil-doer.

¹⁷ For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; because these are opposite the one to the other; so that you may not do the things which you have a mind to do.

¹² For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens.

²¹ For they all go after what is theirs, not after the things of Christ.

¹⁴ Alexander the copper-worker did me much wrong: the Lord will give him the reward of his works:

² And I saw a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow; and there was given to him a crown: and he went out with power to overcome.

⁶ For they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward.