<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, &#8220;Let me run and give the king the good news that the <sc>Lordsc> has vindicated him before his enemies.&#8221;<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the Cushite arrived and said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;May my lord the king now receive the good news! The <sc>Lordsc> has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!&#8221;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Abishai son of Zeruiah replied, &#8220;For this should not Shimei be put to death? After all, he cursed the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s anointed!&#8221;

I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city<n id="1" /> in Israel. Why should you swallow up the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s inheritance?&#8221;p>

David said to the Gibeonites, &#8220;What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s inheritance?&#8221;p>

and said, &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc>, I will not do this!<n id="1" /> It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.&#8221;<n id="2" /> So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors.<n id="3" />p>

<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" />

&#8220;Go, tell David, &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.&#8217;&#8221;p>

David said to Gad, &#8220;I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the <sc>Lordsc>, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So the <sc>Lordsc> sent a plague through Israel from the morning until the completion of the appointed time. Seventy thousand men died from Dan to Beer Sheba.

<t /><p class="bodytext">So Gad went to David that day and told him, &#8220;Go up and build an altar for the <sc>Lordsc> on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.&#8221;

So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, &#8220;May you be blessed by the <sc>Lordsc> because you have shown this kindness<n id="1" /> to your lord Saul by burying him.

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>

<p class="bodytext">David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, &#8220;As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,

In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel.<n id="1" /> The <sc>Lordsc> said to you, &#8216;You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.&#8217;&#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.

<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" />

David and all the men who were with him traveled<n id="1" /> to<n id="2" /> Baalah<n id="3" /> in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name<n id="4" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

David was told,<n id="1" /> &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.&#8221; So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;So now, say this to my servant David: &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd<n id="1" /> to make you leader of my people Israel.