Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.

The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.

He shot ¹  arrows and scattered them, ²  lightning and routed them. ³ 

So David asked the Lord what he should do. ¹  This time ²  the Lord ³  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ⁴ 

They crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, on the south side of the city, at ¹  the wadi of Gad, near Jazer.

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 

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

Then Abner spoke privately ¹  with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately ²  of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to. ³ 

Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running by himself.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.”

So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed ¹  hand the Philistines over to you.”

In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west ¹  on a road beside the hill.

All the land was weeping loudly ¹  as all these people were leaving. ²  As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving ³  on the road that leads to the desert.

During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ¹  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ²  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. ¹ 

When the angel ¹  extended his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented from his judgment. ²  He told the angel who was killing the people, “That’s enough! Stop now!” ³  (Now the Lord’s angel was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)

The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?” ¹  The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth.