<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> thundered<n id="1" /> from the sky;p> <p class="poetry">the sovereign One<n id="2" /> shouted loudly.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They confronted<n id="1" /> me in my day of calamity,p> <p class="poetry">but the <sc>Lordsc> helped me.<n id="2" />p>

So David asked the <sc>Lordsc> what he should do.<n id="1" /> This time<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc><n id="3" /> said to him, &#8220;Don&#8217;t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees.<n id="4" />

When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David&#8217;s soldiers<n id="1" /> fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.p>

<p class="bodytext">But she said to him, &#8220;No I won&#8217;t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!&#8221;<n id="1" /> But he refused to listen to her.

Absalom would then say to him, &#8220;Look, your claims are legitimate and appropriate.<n id="1" /> But there is no representative of the king who will listen to you.&#8221;

But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king,<n id="1" /> has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers<n id="1" /> and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, &#8220;Go count Israel and Judah.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Uriah replied to David, &#8220;The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord&#8217;s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations<n id="1" /> with my wife? As surely as you are alive,<n id="2" /> I will not do this thing!&#8221;

Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">The Gibeonites said to him, &#8220;We<n id="1" /> have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family,<n id="2" /> nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel.&#8221; David asked,<n id="3" /> &#8220;What then are you asking me to do for you?&#8221;

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

Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, &#8220;God will punish me severely<n id="1" /> if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite &#8211; Recab and Baanah &#8211; went at the hottest part of the day to the home of Ish-bosheth, as he was enjoying his midday rest.

When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the <sc>Lordsc> is going before you to strike down the army<n id="1" /> of the Philistines.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">David replied to Michal, &#8220;It was before the <sc>Lordsc>! I was celebrating before the <sc>Lord,sc> who chose me over your father and his entire family<n id="1" /> and appointed me as leader over the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s people Israel.

When he would shave his head &#8211; at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long<n id="1" /> and he would shave it &#8211; he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds<n id="2" /> according to the king&#8217;s weight.

When I catch up with<n id="1" /> him he will be exhausted and worn out.<n id="2" /> I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king

The king told Joab, the general in command of his army, &#8220;Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba and muster the army, so I may know the size of the army.&#8221;p>