The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.

Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her. ¹ 

Two years later Absalom’s sheepshearers were in Baal Hazor, ¹  near Ephraim. Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. ¹  Let the king and his servants go with me.”

Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, ¹  then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?”

Yes! ¹  The king may ²  listen and deliver his female servant ³  from the hand of the man who seeks to remove ⁴  both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’ ⁵ 

When David reached the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite met him with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

He threw stones at David and all of King David’s servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left.

But Barzillai was very old – eighty years old, in fact – and he had taken care of the king when he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich ¹  man.

Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” With his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa’s beard as if to greet him with a kiss.

Sheba ¹  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of ²  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, ³  they too joined him.

They replied to the king, “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel –

The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

Later there was another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gob. On that occasion Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of Rapha.

The God of Israel spoke, the protector ¹  of Israel spoke to me. The one who rules fairly among men, the one who rules in the fear of God,

He received honor from ¹  the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

They crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, on the south side of the city, at ¹  the wadi of Gad, near Jazer.

Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ¹  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ²  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?” ¹  The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth.

The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people ¹  of Judah. David was told, ²  “The people ³  of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.”