Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you. ¹  Everything you hear in the king’s palace ²  you must tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹  on the earth? Their God ²  went ³  to claim ⁴  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ⁵  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ⁶ 

O mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ¹  For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ²  the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ³ 

I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle ¹  them there; they will live there and not be disturbed ²  any more. Violent men ³  will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning

David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” ¹ 

Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest ¹  at David’s table, ²  just as though he were one of the king’s sons.

If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!”

Now Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, ¹  had a spear ²  that weighed three hundred bronze shekels, ³  and he was armed with a new weapon. ⁴  He had said that he would kill David.

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy from you the threshing floor so I can build an altar for the Lord, so that the plague may be removed from the people.”

After the death of Saul, ¹  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ²  he stayed at Ziklag ³  for two days.

O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet ¹  as well as jewelry, who put gold jewelry on your clothes.

Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ¹  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ²  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

When one ¹  of the men saw this, he reported it to Joab saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.

You prove to be loyal ¹  to one who is faithful; ²  you prove to be trustworthy ³  to one who is innocent. ⁴ 

They went through all the land and after nine months and twenty days came back to Jerusalem. ¹ 

Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men – they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. ¹  Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army.

So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ¹  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”

Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, “Tell the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace, ¹  when everything Israel is saying has come to the king’s attention. ² 

But the king said to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it from you! I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver. ¹ 

He said to me, ‘Stand over me and finish me off! ¹  I’m very dizzy, ²  even though I’m still alive.’ ³