Joab said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, I will come to your rescue.

So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him.

So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one.

The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way to the door of the city gate.

Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.”

He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.

But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat. Instead Amnon said, “Get everyone out of here!” So everyone left.

Then Amnon greatly despised her. His disdain toward her surpassed the love he had previously felt toward her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!”

He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight and lock the door behind her!”

Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. Let the king and his servants go with me.”

Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I will do this thing! Go and bring back the young man Absalom!

But the king said, “Let him go over to his own house. He may not see my face.” So Absalom went over to his own house; he did not see the king’s face.

Then Joab got up and came to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why did your servants set my portion of field on fire?”

Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”

After four years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.

So David said to Ittai, “Come along then.” So Ittai the Gittite went along, accompanied by all his men and all the dependents who were with him.

Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight he will bring me back and enable me to see both it and his dwelling place again.