Study Desk

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel." For the LORD had ordained to thwart the good advice of Ahithophel, so that the LORD could bring disaster upon Absalom.

and said to the king, "Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart.

He said, "My lord the king, my servant [Ziba] betrayed me; for I said, 'Saddle a donkey for me so that I may ride on it and go with the king,' for your servant is lame [but he took the donkeys and left without me].

"Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city [and be buried] by the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham [my son]; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you."

And David said to Abishai [his nephew], "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, so that he does not find fortified cities for himself and escape from our sight."

Then a wise woman cried out from the city, "Hear, hear! Tell Joab, 'Come here so that I may speak to you.'"

So David said to the Gibeonites, "What should I do for you? How can I make it good so that you will bless the LORD'S inheritance (Israel)?"

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David's men swore to him, "You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."

"He trains my hands for war, So that my arms can bend (pull back) a bow of bronze.

"I consumed them and shattered them, so that they did not rise; They fell under my feet.

So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, "Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people."

Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David said, "To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the LORD, so that the plague may be held back from the people."

So his servants said to him, "Let a young virgin be found for my lord the king and let her attend him and become his nurse; let her lie against your chest, so that my lord the king may feel warm."

All the people went up after him, and they were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook and seemed to burst open with their [joyful] sound.

"Keep the charge of the LORD your God, [that is, fulfill your obligation to] walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything that you do and wherever you turn,

so that the LORD may fulfill His promise concerning me, saying, 'If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.'

The king said to him, "Do as he has said. Strike him down and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father's house the innocent blood which Joab shed.

"So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?"

behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart (mind), so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you.

"I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days.