Act now! For the <sc>Lordsc> has said to David, &#8216;By the hand of my servant David I will save<n id="1" /> my people Israel from<n id="2" /> the Philistines and from all their enemies.&#8217;&#8221;p>

Abner said to David, &#8220;Let me leave so that I may go and gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make an agreement<n id="1" /> with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire.&#8221; So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now David&#8217;s soldiers<n id="1" /> and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David<n id="2" /> had sent him away and he had left in peace.

<p class="bodytext">David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, &#8220;Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!&#8221; Now King David followed<n id="1" /> behind the funeral bier.

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">When all the leaders<n id="1" /> of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them<n id="2" /> in Hebron before the <sc>Lordsc>. They designated<n id="3" /> David as king over Israel.

David said on that day, &#8220;Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the &#8216;lame&#8217; and the &#8216;blind&#8217; who are David&#8217;s enemies<n id="1" /> by going through the water tunnel.&#8221;<n id="2" /> For this reason it is said, &#8220;The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

So David asked the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?&#8221; The <sc>Lordsc> said to David, &#8220;March up, for I will indeed<n id="1" /> hand the Philistines over to you.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.&#8221; So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">As the ark of the <sc>Lordsc> entered the City of David, Saul&#8217;s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the <sc>Lordsc>, she despised him.<n id="1" />

They brought the ark of the <sc>Lordsc> and put it in its place<n id="1" /> in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the <sc>Lordsc>.

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 seized from him 1,700 charioteers<n id="1" /> and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses.<n id="2" />

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>

When the time of mourning passed, David had her brought to his palace.<n id="1" /> She became his wife and she bore him a son. But what David had done upset the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan<n id="1" /> climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, &#8220;Get up and cross the stream<n id="2" /> quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.&#8221;<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">During David&#8217;s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" /> The <sc>Lordsc> said, &#8220;It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family,<n id="2" /> because he murdered the Gibeonites.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">David felt guilty<n id="1" /> after he had numbered the army. David said to the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O <sc>Lordsc>, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">After the death of Saul,<n id="1" /> when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites,<n id="2" /> he stayed at Ziklag<n id="3" /> for two days.

David said to the young man<n id="1" /> who was telling him this, &#8220;How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?&#8221;<n id="2" />