Study Desk

Then Abner sent messengers to David at his place, saying, "Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you."

Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land; and they said to David, "You shall not come in here, but even those who are blind and those who limp will turn you away," thinking, "David cannot enter here."

Then David said to him, "Do not be afraid, for I will assuredly show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and you yourself shall eat at my table regularly."

"You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master's grandson will have food to eat; nevertheless Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, shall eat at my table regularly." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites,

Moreover, Absalom would say, "Oh that someone would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has a lawsuit or claim could come to me, and I would give him justice!"

And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king rescued us from the hands of our enemies and saved us from the hands of the Philistines, but now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

So the king said to him, "Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have decided, 'You and Ziba shall divide the land.'"

Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; so they did everything that the king commanded, and after that God responded to prayer for the land.

Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon,

Then David built there an altar to the LORD, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD responded to prayer for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.