“So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ¹  to make you leader of my people Israel.

He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ¹  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ² 

He placed garrisons throughout Edom, ¹  and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?”

In those days Ahithophel’s advice was considered as valuable as a prophetic revelation. ¹  Both David and Absalom highly regarded the advice of Ahithophel. ² 

Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ¹  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ²  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ³  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ⁴ 

These are the names of David’s warriors: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. ¹  He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. ²