And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, ²  O Lord God?

Messengers ¹  told David what had happened, ²  so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho ³  until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”

The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us ¹  in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way ²  to the door of the city gate.

All his servants were leaving with him, ¹  along with all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites – some six hundred men who had come on foot from Gath. They were leaving with ²  the king.

So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them. ¹ 

After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan ¹  climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream ²  quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.” ³ 

He ¹  won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. Then they sent word to the king saying, “Return, you and all your servants as well.”

There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant ¹  of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed ²  the Jordan within sight of the king.

These are the names of David’s warriors: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. ¹  He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. ² 

Next in command ¹  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ²  the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors who were with David when they defied the Philistines who were assembled there for battle. When the men of Israel retreated, ³ 

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 

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 

Now Adonijah, son of David and Haggith, ¹  was promoting himself, ²  boasting, ³  “I will be king!” He managed to acquire ⁴  chariots and horsemen, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. ⁵ 

Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and fattened steers at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, ¹  as well as all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.

He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of ¹  the work crews.

Solomon’s and Hiram’s construction workers, ¹  along with men from Byblos, ²  did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. ³ 

They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land. ¹ 

He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. ¹  When David tried to kill them, ²  they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city.

Some men came by ¹  and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing beside it. ²  They went and reported what they had seen ³  in the city where the old prophet lived.