So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.

Jonadab said to the king, “Look! The king’s sons have come! It’s just as I said!”

They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place ¹  in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord.

So now assemble the rest of the army ¹  and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”

But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ¹  It used to ²  eat his food, ³  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁴  It was just like a daughter to him.

So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

Then Abner turned and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied, “Yes it is!”

All the people noticed this and it pleased them. ¹  In fact, everything the king did pleased all the people.

His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done.

So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

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 

and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ²  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³ 

Smoke ascended from ¹  his nose; ²  fire devoured as it came from his mouth; ³  he hurled down fiery coals. ⁴ 

When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ¹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ²  according to the king’s weight.

(He gave instructions that the people of Judah should be taught “The Bow.” ¹  Indeed, it is written down in the Book of Yashar.) ² 

They brought ¹  it with the ark of God up from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark,

But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

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

He took the crown of their king ¹  from his head – it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, ²  and held a precious stone – and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.