When I catch up with ¹  him he will be exhausted and worn out. ²  I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king

David then grabbed his own clothes ¹  and tore them, as did all the men who were with him.

Ish-bosheth ¹  was unable to answer Abner with even a single word because he was afraid of him.

But when Absalom pressed him, he sent Amnon and all the king’s sons along with him.

The king and all the people who were with him arrived exhausted at their destination, where David ¹  refreshed himself.

Now when Absalom and all the men ¹  of Israel arrived in Jerusalem, ²  Ahithophel was with him.

David assembled the army that was with him. He appointed leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds.

When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David in Hebron, David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him.

When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, Joab was told: “Abner the son of Ner came to the king; he sent him away, and he left in peace!”

Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.)

Your servant ¹  has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him.

Then Absalom sent a message to Joab asking him to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent a second message to him, but he still was not willing to come.

So David said to Ittai, “Come along then.” ¹  So Ittai the Gittite went along, ²  accompanied by all his men and all the dependents ³  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.

honey, curds, flocks, and cheese. ¹  For they said, “The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert.” ² 

¹ David sang ²  to the Lord the words of this song when ³  the Lord rescued him from the power ⁴  of all his enemies, including Saul. ⁵ 

So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness ¹  to your lord Saul by burying him.

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him ¹  in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel. ² 

David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!” Now King David followed ¹  behind the funeral bier.

David and all the men who were with him traveled ¹  to ²  Baalah ³  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ⁴  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.