Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was serving the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> in those days), &#8220;Should we<n id="2" /> once more march out to fight the Benjaminites our brothers,<n id="3" /> or should we<n id="4" /> quit?&#8221; The <sc>Lordsc> said, &#8220;Attack, for tomorrow I will hand them<n id="5" /> over to you.&#8221;p>

Now Ahijah was carrying<n id="1" /> an ephod. He was the son of Ahitub, who was the brother of Ichabod and a son of Phineas, son of Eli, the priest of the <sc>Lordsc> in Shiloh. The army was unaware that Jonathan had left.p>

David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab&#8217;s brother, &#8220;Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?&#8221; Abishai replied, &#8220;I will go down with you.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">But David said, &#8220;No! You shouldn&#8217;t do this, my brothers. Look at what the <sc>Lordsc> has given us!<n id="1" /> He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.

He asked Amnon,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Why are you, the king&#8217;s son,<n id="2" /> so depressed every morning? Can&#8217;t you tell me?&#8221; So Amnon said to him, &#8220;I&#8217;m in love with Tamar the sister of my brother Absalom.&#8221;

David then sent out the army &#8211; a third under the leadership of Joab, a third under the leadership of Joab&#8217;s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under the leadership of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, &#8220;I too will indeed march out with you.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three.<n id="1" /> He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three.<n id="2" />

King Solomon answered his mother, &#8220;Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him?<n id="1" /> Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!&#8221;p>

So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel. They said, &#8220;Your servant<n id="1" /> Ben Hadad says, &#8216;Please let me live!&#8217;&#8221; Ahab<n id="2" /> replied, &#8220;Is he still alive? He is my brother.&#8221;<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">King David rose to his feet and said: &#8220;Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the ark of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God.<n id="1" /> I have made the preparations for building it.

<p class="poetry">So<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> has this to say about Josiah&#8217;s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:p> <p class="poetry">People will not mourn for him, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This makes me sad, my brother!p> <p class="poetry">This makes me sad, my sister!&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">They will not mourn for him, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Jonadab, the son of David&#8217;s brother Shimeah, said, &#8220;My lord should not say, &#8216;They have killed all the young men who are the king&#8217;s sons.&#8217; For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about<n id="1" /> from the day that Amnon<n id="2" /> humiliated his sister Tamar.