<p class="poetry">But evil people are like thorns &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">all of them are tossed away,p> <p class="poetry">for they cannot be held in the hand.p>

He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel,<n id="1" /> both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake,<n id="2" /> and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home.<n id="3" />

He placed garrisons throughout Edom,<n id="1" /> and all the Edomites became David&#8217;s subjects. The <sc>Lordsc> protected David wherever he campaigned.

<p class="bodytext">All the land was weeping loudly<n id="1" /> as all these people were leaving.<n id="2" /> As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving<n id="3" /> on the road that leads to the desert.

<p class="poetry">My dynasty is approved by God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for he has made a perpetual covenant with me,p> <p class="poetry">arranged in all its particulars and secured.p> <p class="poetry">He always delivers me,p> <p class="poetry">and brings all I desire to fruition.<n id="2" />p>

The king said, &#8220;Did Joab put you up to all of this?&#8221;<n id="1" /> The woman answered, &#8220;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&#8217;s mouth.

<p class="bodytext">David then grabbed his own clothes<n id="1" /> and tore them, as did all the men who were with him.

<t /><p class="bodytext">When Ish-bosheth<n id="1" /> the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened,<n id="2" /> and all Israel was afraid.

<t /><p class="bodytext">David again assembled<n id="1" /> all the best<n id="2" /> men in Israel, thirty thousand in number.

Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />

David and all Israel<n id="1" /> were bringing up the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>, shouting and blowing trumpets.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The king settled into his palace,<n id="1" /> for the <sc>Lordsc> gave him relief<n id="2" /> from all his enemies on all sides.<n id="3" />

Nathan replied to the king, &#8220;You should go<n id="1" /> and do whatever you have in mind,<n id="2" /> for the <sc>Lordsc> is with you.&#8221;

For the sake of your promise and according to your purpose<n id="1" /> you have done this great thing in order to reveal it to your servant.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">When King Toi<n id="1" /> of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer,

<p class="bodytext">Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All the members of Ziba&#8217;s household were Mephibosheth&#8217;s servants.

<p class="bodytext">When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them.<n id="1" />

He instructed the messenger as follows: &#8220;When you finish giving the battle report to the king,

<p class="bodytext">So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him.

<p class="bodytext">So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.