Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. ¹  Let the king and his servants go with me.”

Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight ¹  before us.” Joab said, “So be it!” ² 

Then the woman said, “Please permit your servant to speak to my lord the king about another matter.” He replied, “Tell me.”

But Absalom said, “Call for ¹  Hushai the Arkite, and let’s hear what he has to say.” ² 

So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ¹  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ² 

Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak!”

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

The king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.”

So David sent Tamar to the house saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him.”

He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight ¹  and lock the door behind her!”

Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, ¹  then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?”

Then the king said to Joab, “All right! I ¹  will do this thing! Go and bring back the young man Absalom!

After four ¹  years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.

Now David ¹  had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, ²  “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”

Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night.

Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and give the king the good news that the Lord has vindicated him before his enemies.” ¹ 

a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen up! Listen up! Tell Joab, ‘Come near so that I may speak to you.’”

David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ¹ 

David inquired, “How were things going? ¹  Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them ²  fell dead. ³  Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”

Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. ¹  When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’”