<p class="bodytext">When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he<n id="1" /> realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, &#8220;Is the child dead?&#8221; They replied, &#8220;Yes, he&#8217;s dead.&#8221;

Then the king stood up and tore his garments and lay down on the ground. All his servants were standing there with torn garments as well.p>

These four were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed<n id="1" /> by David and his soldiers.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the king said to his servants, &#8220;Do you not realize that a great leader<n id="1" /> has fallen this day in Israel?

<p class="bodytext">Just as he finished speaking, the king&#8217;s sons arrived, wailing and weeping.<n id="1" /> The king and all his servants wept loudly<n id="2" /> as well.

<p class="bodytext">When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants approaching him, he<n id="1" /> went out and bowed to the king with his face<n id="2" /> to the ground.

When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house,<n id="1" /> Michal, Saul&#8217;s daughter, came out to meet him.<n id="2" /> She said, &#8220;How the king of Israel has distinguished<n id="3" /> himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants&#8217; slave girls the way a vulgar fool<n id="4" /> might do!&#8221;p>

David said, &#8220;I will express my loyalty<n id="1" /> to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal<n id="2" /> to me.&#8221; So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father&#8217;s death.<n id="3" /> When David&#8217;s servants entered the land of the Ammonites,

the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, &#8220;Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy?<n id="1" /> No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the spring of the year, at the time when kings<n id="1" /> normally conduct wars,<n id="2" /> David sent out Joab with his officers<n id="3" /> and the entire Israelite army.<n id="4" /> They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">His servants said to him, &#8220;What is this that you have done? While<n id="1" /> the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!&#8221;

So he said to his servants, &#8220;Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.&#8221;<n id="1" /> So Absalom&#8217;s servants set Joab&#8217;s<n id="2" /> portion of the field on fire.p>

So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Come on!<n id="2" /> Let&#8217;s escape!<n id="3" /> Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring<n id="4" /> disaster on us and kill the city&#8217;s residents with the sword.&#8221;<n id="5" />

All his servants were leaving with him,<n id="1" /> along with all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites &#8211; some six hundred men who had come on foot from Gath. They were leaving with<n id="2" /> the king.p>

Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, &#8220;My own son, my very own flesh and blood,<n id="1" /> is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken to him.

There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant<n id="1" /> of Saul&#8217;s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed<n id="2" /> the Jordan within sight of the king.