1 And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and he made affinity with Pharao the king of Egypt: for he took his daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

2 But yet the people sacrificed in the high places: far there was no temple built to the name of the Lord until that day.

3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David his father, only he sacrificed in the high places: and burnt incense.

4 He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacrifice there: for that was the great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts did Solomon offer upon that altar in Gabaon.

5 And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.

6 And Solomon said: Thou hast shewn great mercy to thy servant David my father, even at, he walked before thee in truth, and justice, and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

7 And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a child, and know not how to go out and come in.

8 And thy servant is in the midst of the people which thou hast chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

9 Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, and discern between good and evil. For who shall be able to judge this people, thy people which is so numerous?

10 And the word was pleasing to the Lord that Solomon had asked such a thing.

11 And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life or riches, nor the lives of thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment,

12 Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart, insomuch that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee.

13 Yea and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee: to wit riches and glory, as that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore.

14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts, and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.

15 And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.

16 Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him:

17 And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber.

18 And the third day, after that I was delivered, she also was delivered, and we were together, and no other person with us in the house, only we two.

19 And this woman’s child died in the night: for in her sleep she overlaid him.

20 And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I thy handmaid was asleep, and laid it in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom.

21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.

22 And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary she said: Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king.

23 Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay, but thy child is dead, and mine liveth.

24 The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king,

25 Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

26 But the woman whose child was alive, said to the king, (for her bowels were moved upon her child,) I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

27 The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed, for she is the mother thereof.

28 And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.

1 And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged his son Solomon, saying:

2 I am going the way of all flesh: take thou courage, and shew thyself a man.

3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayest understand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself:

4 That the Lord may confirm his words, which he hath spoken of me, saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and shall walk before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, there shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel.

5 Thou knowest also what Joab the son of Sarvia hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether: whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down to hell in peace.

7 But shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai the Galaadite, and let them eat at thy table: for they met me when I fled from the face of Absalom thy brother.

8 Thou hast also with thee Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went to the camp: but because he came down to meet me when I passed over the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not kill thee with a sword:

9 Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, and knowest what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to hell.

10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

11 And the days that David reigned in Israel, were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, in Jerusalem thirty-three.

12 And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.

13 And Adonias the son of Haggith came to Bethsabee the mother of Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? he answered: Peaceable.

14 And he added: I have a word to speak with thee. She said to him: Speak. And he said:

15 Thou knowest that the kingdom was nine, and all Israel had preferred me to be their king: but the kingdom is transferred, and is become my brother’s: for it was appointed him by the Lord.

16 Now therefore I ask one petition of thee: turn not away my face. And she said to him: Say on.

17 And he said: I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he cannot deny thee any thing) to give me Abisag the Sunamitess to wife.

18 And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king.

19 Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne: and a throne was set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right hand.

20 And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee, do not put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother, ask: for I must not turn away thy face.

21 And she said: Let Abisag the Sunamitess be given to Adonias thy brother to wife.

22 And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost thou ask Abisag the Sunamitess for Adonias? ask for him also the kingdom: for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar the priest, and Joab the son of Sarvia.

23 Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may God do to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word against his own life.

24 And now as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and placed me upon the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day.

25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias the son of Joiada, who slew him, and he died.

26 And the king said also to Abiathar the priest: Go to Anathoth to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and hast endured trouble in all the troubles my father endured.

27 So Solomon cast out Abiathar, from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Deli in Silo.

28 And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon: and Joab fled into the tabernacle of the Lord and laid hold on the horn of the altar.

29 And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar: and Solomon sent Banaias the son of Joiada, saying: Go, kill him.

30 And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him: Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come forth, but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king, saying: Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me.

31 And the king said to him: Do as he hath said: and kill him, and bury him, and thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been shed by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father.

32 And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, because he murdered two men, just and better than himself: and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing it, Abner the son of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, general of the army of Juda.

33 And their blood shall return the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed and his house, and to his throne be peace for ever from the Lord.

34 So Banaias the son of Joiada went up, and setting upon him slew him, and he was buried in his house in the desert.

35 And the king appointed Banaias the son of Joiada in his room over the army, and Sadoc the priest he put in the place of Abiathar.

36 The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there: and go not out from thence any whither.

37 For on what day soever thou shalt go out, and shalt pass over the brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall be upon thy own head:

38 And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem, many days.

39 And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei ran away to Achis the son of Maacha the king of Geth: and it was told Semei that his servants were gone to Geth.

40 And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis to Geth to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth.

41 And it was told Solomon that Semei had gone from Jerusalem to Geth, and was come back.

42 And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not protest to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever thou shalt go out and walk abroad any whither, know that thou shalt die? And thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good.

43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I laid upon thee?

44 And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David my father: the Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head:

45 And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever.

46 So the king commanded Banaias the son of Joiada: and he went out and struck him, and he died.

1 Now king David was old, and advanced in years: and when he was covered with clothes, he was not warm.

2 His servants therefore said to him: Let us seek for our lord the king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and cherish him, and sleep in his bosom, and warm our lord the king.

3 So they sought a beautiful young woman in all the coasts of Israel, and they found Abisag a Sunamitess, and brought her to the king.

4 And the damsel was exceeding beautiful, and she slept with the king: and served him, but the king did not know her.

5 And Adonias the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying: I will be king. And he made himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

6 Neither did his father rebuke him at any time, saying: Why hast thou done this? And he also was very beautiful, the next in birth after Absalom.

7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Sarvia, and with Abiathar the priest, who furthered Adonias’s side.

8 But Sadoc the priest, and Banaias the son of Joiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Semei, and Rei, and the strength of David’s army was not with Adonias.

9 And Adonias having slain rams and calves, and all fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which was near the fountain Rogel, invited all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Juda, the king’s servants:

10 But Nathan the prophet, and Banaias, and all the valiant men, and Solomon his brother, he invited not.

11 And Nathan said to Bethsabee the mother of Solomon: Hast thou not heard that Adonias the son of Haggith reigneth, and our lord David knoweth it not?

12 Now then come, take my counsel and save thy life, and the life of thy son Solomon.

13 Go, and get thee in to king David, and say to him: Didst not thou, my lord O king, swear to me thy handmaid, saying: Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then doth Adonias reign?

14 And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I will come in after thee, and will fill up thy words.

15 So Bethsabee went in to the king into the chamber: now the king was very old, and Abisag the Sunamitess ministered to him.

16 Bethsabee bowed herself, and worshipped the king. And the king said to her: What is thy will?

17 She answered and said: My lord, thou didst swear to thy handmaid by the Lord thy God, saying: Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.

18 And behold now Adonias reigneth, and thou, my lord the king, knowest nothing of it.

19 He hath killed oxen, and all fat cattle, and many rams, and invited all the king’s sons, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the general of the army: but Solomon thy servant he invited not.

20 And now, my lord O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them, who shall sit on thy throne, my lord the king, after thee.

21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.

22 As she was yet speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came.

23 And they told the king, saying: Nathan the prophet is here. And when he was come in before the king, and had worshipped, bowing down to the ground,

24 Nathan said: My lord O king, hast thou said: Let Adonias reign after me, and let him sit upon my throne?

25 Because he is gone down today, and hath killed oxen, and fatlings, and many rams, and invited all the king’s sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest: and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying: God save king Adonias:

26 But me thy servant, and Sadoc the priest, and Banaias the son of Joiada, and Solomon thy servant he hath not invited.

27 Is this word come out from my lord the king, and hast thou not told me thy servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

28 And king David answered and said: Call to me Bethsabee. And when she was come in to the king, and stood before him,

29 The king swore and said: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress,

30 Even as I swore to thee by the Lord the God of Israel, saying: Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead, so will I do this day.

31 And Bethsabee bowing with her face to the earth worshipped the king, saying: May my lord David live for ever.

32 King David also said: Call me Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Banaias the son of Joiada. And when they were come in before the king,

33 He said to them: Take with you the servants of your lord, and set my son Solomon upon my mule: and bring him to Gihon.

34 And let Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and you shall sound the trumpet, and shall say: God save king Solomon.

35 And you shall come up after him, and he shall come, and shall sit upon my throne, and he shall reign in my stead: and I will appoint him to be ruler over Israel, and over Juda.

36 And Banaias the son of Joiada answered the king, saying: Amen: so say the Lord the God of my lord the king.

37 As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, so be he with Solomon, and make his throne higher than the throne of my lord king David.

38 So Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet went down, and Banaias the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and Phelethi: and they set Solomon upon the mule of king David, and brought him to Gihon.

39 And Sadoc the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon: and they sounded the trumpet, and all the people said: God save king Solomon.

40 And all the multitude went up after him, and the people played with pipes, and rejoiced with a great joy, and the earth rang with the noise of their cry.

41 And Adonias, and all that were invited by him, heard it, and now the feast was at an end: Joab also hearing the sound of the trumpet, said: What meaneth this noise of the city in an uproar?

42 While he yet spoke, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonias said to him: Come in, because thou art a valiant man, and bringest good news.

43 And Jonathan answered Adonias: Not so: for our lord king David hath appointed Solomon king.

44 And hath sent with him Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Banaias the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and Phelethi, and they have set him upon the king’s mule.

45 And Sadoc the priest, and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are gone up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again: this is the noise that you have heard.

46 Moreover Solomon sitteth upon the throne of the kingdom,

47 And the king’s servants going in have blessed our lord king David, saying: May God make the name of Solomon greater than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king adored in his bed:

48 And he said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath given this day one to sit on my throne, my eyes seeing it.

49 Then all the guests of Adonias were afraid, and they all arose and every man went his way.

50 And Adonias fearing Solomon, arose, and went, and took hold on the horn of the altar.

51 And they told Solomon, saying: Behold Adonias, fearing king Solomon, hath taken hold of the horn of the altar, saying: Let king Solomon swear to me this day, that he will not kill his servant with the sword.

52 And Solomon said: If he be a good man, there shall not so much as one hair of his head fall to the ground: but if evil be found in him, he shall die.

53 Then king Solomon sent, and brought him out from the altar: and going in he worshipped king Solomon: and Solomon said to him: Go to thy house.

1 And the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and stirred up David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda.

2 And the king said to Joab the general of his army: Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Bersabee, and number ye the people that I may know the number of them.

3 And Joab said to the king: The Lord thy God increase thy people, and make them as many more as they are now, and again multiply them a hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king: but what meaneth my lord the king by this kind of thing?

4 But the king’s words prevailed over the words of Joab, and of the captains of the army: and Joab, and the captains of the soldiers went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

5 And when they had passed the Jordan, they came to Aroer to the right side of the city, which is in the vale of Gad.

6 And by Jazer they passed into Galaad, and to the lower land of Hodsi, and they came into the woodlands of Dan. And going about by Sidon,

7 They passed near the walls of Tyre, and all the land of the Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and they came to the south of Juda into Bersabee:

8 And having gone through the whole land, after nine months and twenty days, they came to Jerusalem.

9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people to the king, and there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword: and of Juda five hundred thousand fighting men.

10 But David’s heart struck him, after the people were numbered: and David said to the Lord: I have sinned very much in what I have done: but I pray thee, O Lord, to take away the iniquity of thy servant, because I have done exceeding foolishly.

11 And David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet and the seer of David, saying:

12 Go, and say to David: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee thy choice of three things, choose one of them which thou wilt, that I may do it to thee.

13 And when Gad was come to David, he told him, saying: Either seven years of famine shall come to thee in thy land: or thou shalt flee three months before thy adversaries, and they shall pursue thee: or for three days there shall be a pestilence in thy land. Now therefore deliberate, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

14 And David said to Gad: I am in a great strait: but it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than into the hands of men.

15 And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning unto the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to Bersabee seventy thousand men.

16 And when the angel of the Lord had stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord had pity on the affliction, and said to the angel that slew the people: It is enough: now hold thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite.

17 And David said to the Lord, when he saw the angel striking the people: It is I; I am he that have sinned, I have done wickedly: these that are the sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I beseech thee, be turned against me, and against my father’s house.

18 And Gad came to David that day, and said: Go up, and build an altar to the Lord in the threshingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite.

19 And David went up according to the word of Gad which the Lord had commanded him.

20 And Areuna looked, and saw the king and his servants coming towards him:

21 An going out he worshipped the king, bowing with his face to the earth, and said: Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? Arid David said to him: To buy the threshingfloor of thee, and build an altar to the Lord, that the plague, which rageth among the people, may cease.

22 And Areuna said to David: Let my lord the king take, and offer, as it seemeth good to him: thou hast here oxen for a holocaust, and the wain, and the yokes of the oxen for wood.

23 All these things Areuna as a king gave to the king: and Areuna said to the king: The Lord thy God receive thy vow.

24 And the king answered him, and said: Nay, but I will buy it of thee at a price, and I will not offer to the Lord my God holocausts free cost. So David bought the floor, and the oxen, for fifty sicles of silver:

25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered holocausts and peace offerings: and the Lord became merciful to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

1 Now these are David’s last words. David the son of Isai said: The man to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel said:

2 The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue.

3 The God of Israel said to me, the strong one of Israel spoke, the ruler of men, the just ruler in the fear of God.

4 As the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, shineth in the morning without clouds, and as the grass springeth out of the earth by rain.

5 Neither is my house so great with God, that he should make with me an eternal covenant, firm in all things and assured. For he is all my salvation, and all my will: neither is there ought thereof that springeth not up.

6 But transgressors shall all of them be plucked up as thorns: which are not taken away with hands.

7 And if a man will touch them, he must be armed with iron and with the staff of a lance: but they shall be set on fire and burnt to nothing.

8 These are the names of the valiant men of David. Jesbaham sitting in the chair was the wisest chief among the three, he was like the most tender little worm of the wood, who killed eight hundred men at one onset.

9 After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three valiant men that were with David when they defied the Philistines, and they were there gathered together to battle.

10 And when the men of Israel were gone away, he stood and smote the Philistines till his hand was weary, and grew stiff with the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day: and the people that were fled away, returned to take spoils of them that were slain.

11 And after him was Semma the son of Age of Arari. And the Philistines were gathered together in a troop: for there was a field full of lentils. And when the people were fled from the face of the Philistines,

12 He stood in the midst of the field, and defended it, and defeated the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great victory.

13 Moreover also before this the three who were princes among the thirty, went down and came to David in the harvest time into the cave of Odollam: and the camp of the Philistines was in the valley of the giants.

14 And David was then in a hold. and there was a garrison of the Philistines then in Bethlehem.

15 And David longed, and said: O that some man would get me a drink of the water out of the cistern, that is in Bethlehem, by the gate.

16 And the three valiant men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and brought it to David: but he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord,

17 Saying: The Lord be merciful to me, that I may not do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that went, and the peril of their lives? therefore he would not drink. These things did these three mighty men.

18 Abisai also the brother of Joab, the son of Sarvia, was chief among three: and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew, and he was renowned among the three,

19 And the noblest of three, and was their chief, but to the three first he attained not.

20 And Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of great deeds, of Cabseel: he slew the two lions of Moab, and he went down, and slew a lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow.

21 He also slew an Egyptian, a man worthy to be a sight, having a spear in his hand: but he went down to him with a rod, and forced the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slew him with his own spear.

22 These things did Banaias the son of Joiada.

23 And he was renowned among the three valiant men, who were the most honourable among the thirty: but he attained riot to the first three: and David made him of his privy council.

24 Asael the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elehanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem.

25 Semma of Harodi, Elica of Harodi,

26 Heles of Phalti, Hira the son of Acces of Thecua,

27 Abiezer of Anathoth, Mobonnai of Husati,

28 Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

29 Heled the son of Baana, also a Netophathite, Ithai the son of Ribai of Gabaath of the children of Benjamin,

30 Banaia the Pharathonite, Heddai of the torrent Gaas,

31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Beromi,

32 Eliaba of Salaboni. The sons of Jassen, Jonathan,

33 Semma of Orori, Aliam the son of Sarar the Arorite,

34 Eliphelet the son of Aasbai the son of Machati, Eliam the son of Achitophel the Gelonite,

35 Hesrai of Carmel, Pharai of Arbi,

36 Igaal the son of Nathan of Soba, Bonni of Gadi,

37 Selec of Ammoni, Naharai the Berothite, armourbearer of Joab the son of Sarvia,

38 Ira the Jethrite, Gareb also a Jethrite;

39 Urias the Hethite, thirty and seven in all.

1 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,

2 And he said: The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my saviour.

3 God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour, thou wilt deliver me from iniquity.

4 I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall be saved from my enemies.

5 For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid.

6 The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented me.

7 In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come to his ears.

8 The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were moved, and shaken, because he was angry with them.

9 A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth: coals were kindled by it.

10 He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

11 And he rode upon the cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the wings of the wind.

12 He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out of the clouds of the heavens.

13 By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled.

14 The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall give forth his voice.

15 He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed them.

16 And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the spirit of his wrath.

17 He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many waters.

18 He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

19 He prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my stay.

20 And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me, because I pleased him.

21 The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me.

22 Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

23 For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have not removed from me.

24 And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity.

25 And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.

26 With the holy one thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant perfect.

27 With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.

28 And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou wilt humble the haughty.

29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my darkness.

30 For in thee I will run girded: in my God I will leap over the wall.

31 God, his way is immaculate, the word of the Lord is tried by fire: he is the shield of all that trust in him.

32 Who is God but the Lord: and who is strong but our God?

33 God who hath girded me with strength, and made my way perfect.

34 Making my feet like the feet of harts, and setting me upon my high places.

35 He teacheth my bands to war: and maketh my arms like a bow of brass.

36 Thou hast given me the shield of my salvation: and thy mildness hath multiplied me.

37 Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ankles shall not fail.

38 I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not return again till I consume them.

39 I will consume them and break them in pieces, so that they shall not rise: they shall fall under my feet.

40 Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made them that resisted me to bow under me.

41 My enemies thou hast made to turn their back to me: them that hated me, and I shall destroy them.

42 They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord, and he shall not hear them.

43 I shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall crush them and spread them abroad like the mire of the streets.

44 Thou wilt save me from the contradictions of my people: thou wilt keep me to be the head of the Gentiles: the people which I know not, shall serve me,

45 The sons of the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will obey me.

46 The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their distresses.

47 The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed: and the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted:

48 God who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under me,

49 Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up from them that resist me: from the wicked man thou shalt deliver me.

50 Therefore will I give thanks to thee. O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.

51 Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to David his anointed, and to his seed for ever.

1 And there was a famine in the days of David for three years successively: and David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slew the Gabaonites.

2 Then the king, calling for the Gabaonites, said to them: (Now the Gabaonites were not of the children of Israel, but the remains of the Amorrhites: I and the children of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul sought to slay them out of zeal, as it were for the children of Israel and Juda:)

3 David therefore said to the Gabaonites: What shall I do for you? and what shall be the atonement for you, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?

4 And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will you then that I should do for you?

5 And they said to the king: The man that crushed us and oppressed us unjustly, we must destroy in such manner that there be not so much as one left of his stock in all the coasts of Israel.

6 Let seven men of his children be delivered unto us, that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gabaa of Saul, once the chosen of the Lord. And the king said: I will give them.

7 And the king spared Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord, that had been between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

8 So the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni, and Miphiboseth: and the five sons of Michol the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Hadriel the son of Berzellai, that was of Molathi:

9 And gave them into the hands of the Gabaonites: and they crucified them on a hill before the Lord: and these seven died together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley began to be reaped.

10 And Respha the daughter of Aia took haircloth, and spread it under her upon the rock from the beginning of the harvest, till water dropped upon them out of heaven: and suffered neither the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night.

11 And it was told David, what Respha the daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul, had done.

12 And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabes Galaad, who had stolen them from the street of Bethsan, where the Philistines had hanged them when they had slain Saul in Gelboe.

13 And he brought from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered up the bones of them that were crucified,

14 And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his father: and they did all that the king had commanded, and God shewed mercy again to the land after these things.

15 And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David growing faint,

16 Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword, attempted to kill David.

17 And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the Philistine killed him. Then David’s men swore unto him, saying: Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of Israel.

18 There was also a second battle in Gob against the Philistines: then Sobochai of Husathi slew Saph of the race of Arapha of the family of the giants.

19 And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem slew Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

20 A fourth battle was in Geth. where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha.

21 And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the brother of David slew him.

22 These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the hand of David, and of his servants.

1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Seba, the son of Bochri, a man of Jemini: and he sounded the trumpet, and said: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai: return to thy dwellings, O Israel.

2 And all Israel departed from David, and followed Seba the son of Bochri: but the men of Juda stuck to their king from the Jordan unto Jerusalem.

3 And when the king was come into his house at Jerusalem, he took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, allowing them provisions: and he went not in unto them, but they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood.

4 And the king said to Amasa: Assemble to me all the men of Juda against the third day, and be thou here present.

5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Juda, but he tarried beyond the set time which the king had appointed him.

6 And David said to Abisai: Now will Seba the son of Bochri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou therefore the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he find fenced cities, and escape us.

7 So Joab’s men went out with him, and the Cerethi and the Phelethi: and all the valiant men went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.

8 And when they were at the great stone which is in Gabaon, Amasa coming met them. And Joab had on a close coat of equal length with his habit, and over it was girded with a sword hanging down to his flank, in a scabbard, made in such manner as to come out with the least motion and strike.

9 And Joab said to Amasa: God save thee, my brother. And he took Amasa by the chin with his right hand to kiss him.

10 But Amasa did not take notice of the sword, which Joab had, and he struck him in the side, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and gave him not a second wound, and he died. And Joab, and Abisai his brother pursued after Seba the son of Bochri.

11 In the mean time some men of Joab’s company stopping at the dead body of Amasa, said: Behold he that would have been in Joab’s stead the companion of David.

12 And Amasa imbrued with blood, lay in the midst of the way. A certain man saw this that all the people stood still to look upon him, so he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and covered him with a garment, that they who passed might not stop on his account.

13 And when he was removed out of the way, all the people went on following Joab to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.

14 Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel unto Abela and Bethmaacha: and all the chosen men were gathered together unto him.

15 And they came, and besieged him in Abela, and in Bethmaacha, and they cast up works round the city, and the city was besieged: and all the people that were with Joab, laboured to throw down the walls.

16 And a wise woman cried out from the city: Hear, hear, and say to Joab: Come near hither, and I will speak with thee.

17 And when he was come near to her, she said to him: Art thou Joab? And he answered: I am. And she spoke thus to him: Hear the words of thy handmaid. He answered: I do hear.

18 And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb: They that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end.

19 Am not I she that answer truth in Israel, and thou seekest to destroy the city, and to overthrow a mother in Israel? Why wilt thou throw down the inheritance of the Lord?

20 And Joab answering said: God forbid, God forbid that I should, I do not throw down, nor destroy.

21 The matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim, Seba the son of Bochri by name, hath lifted up his hand against king David: deliver him only, and we will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab: Behold his head shall be thrown to thee from the wall.

22 So she went to all the people, and spoke to them wisely: and they cut off the head of Seba the son of Bochri, and cast it out to Joab. And he sounded the trumpet, and they departed from the city, every one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

23 So Joab was over all the army of Israel: and Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethites and Phelethites,

24 But Aduram over the tributes: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.

25 And Siva was scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests.

26 And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David.

1 The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom.

2 And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for his son:

3 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his son.

4 And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a people would do that hath turned their backs, and fled away from the battle.

5 And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son.

6 Then Joab going into the house to the king, said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines.

7 Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee: and thou hast shewn this day that thou carest not for thy nobles, nor for thy servants: and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee.

8 Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night: and that will be worse to thee, than all the evils that have befallen thee from thy youth until now.

9 Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all the people that the king sat in the gate: and all the people came before the king, but Israel fled to their own dwellings.

10 And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel, saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.

11 But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the battle: how long are you silent, and bring not back the king?

12 And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, saying: Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to the king in his house.)

13 You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my flesh, why are you the last to bring back the king?

14 And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my flesh? So do God to me and add more, if thou be not the chief captain of the army before me always in the place of Joab.

15 And be inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of one man: and they sent to the king, saying: Return thou, and all thy servants.

16 And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and all Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, and to bring him over the Jordan.

17 And Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David,

18 With a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul: and his fifteen sons, and twenty servants were with him: and going over the Jordan,

19 They passed the fords before the king, that they might help over the king’s household, and do according to his commandment. And Semei the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan,

20 Said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, my lord, the king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king.

21 For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to meet my lord the king.

22 But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?

23 And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? why are you a satan this day to me? shall there any man be killed this day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king over Israel?

24 And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore unto him.

25 And Miphiboseth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and he had neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard: nor washed his garments from the day that the king went out, until the day of his return in peace.

26 And when he met the king at Jerusalem, the king said to him: Why camest thou not with me, Miphiboseth?

27 And he answering, said: My lord, O king, my servant despised me: for I thy servant spoke to him to saddle me an ass, that I might get on and go with the king: for I thy servant am lame.

28 Moreover he hath also accused me thy servant to thee, my lord the king: but thou my lord the king art as an angel of God, do what pleaseth thee.

29 For all of my father’s house were no better than worthy of death before my lord the king; and thou hast set me thy servant among the guests of thy table: what just complaint therefore have I? or what right to cry any more to the king?

30 Then the king said to him: Why speakest thou any more? what I have said is determined: thou and Siba divide the possessions.

31 And Miphiboseth answered the king: Yea, let him take all, for as much as my lord the king is returned peaceably into his house.

32 Berzellai also the Galaadite coming down from Rogelim, brought the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him beyond the river.

33 Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say, fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich.

34 And the king said to Berzellai: Come with me that thou mayest rest secure with me in Jerusalem.

35 And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

36 I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick to discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why should thy servant be a burden to my lord, the king?

37 I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee: I need not this recompense.

38 But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father, and of my mother. But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, my lord, the king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee.

39 Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou shalt ask of me, thou shalt obtain.

40 And when all the people and the king had passed over the Jordan, the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him: and he returned to his own place.

41 So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him. Now all the people of Juda had brought the king over, and only half of the people of Israel were there.

42 Therefore all the men of Israel running together to the king, said to him: Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away, and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all the men of David with him?

43 And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel: Because the king is nearer to me: why art thou angry for this matter? have we eaten any thing of the king’s, or have any gifts been given us?

44 And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said: I have ten parts in the king more than thou, and David belongeth to me more than to thee: why hast thou done me a wrong, and why was it not told me first, that I might bring back my king? And the men of Juda answered more harshly than the men of Israel.

1 And David having reviewed his people, appointed over them captains of thousands and of hundreds,

2 And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth: and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you.

3 And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they will not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us.

4 And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by their troops, by hundreds and by thousands.

5 And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to all the princes concerning Absalom.

6 So the people went out into the field against Israel and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.

7 And the people of Israel were defeated there by David’s army, and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men.

8 And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day.

9 And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on.

10 And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging upon an oak.

11 And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten sicles of silver, and belt?

12 And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king’s son: for in our hearing he king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom.

13 Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by me?

14 And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but will set upon him in thy sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak,

15 Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him slew him.

16 And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare he multitude.

17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stories upon him: but all Israel fled to their own dwellings.

18 Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king’s valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by is own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.

19 And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies.

20 And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear tidings, because the king’s son is dead.

21 And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.

22 Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings.

23 He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.

24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone.

25 And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer,

26 The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He also is a good messenger.

27 And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news.

28 And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have lifted up their hands against the lord my king.

29 And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy servant: I know nothing else.

30 And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.

31 And when he bad passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared: and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen up against thee.

32 And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.