In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength ¹  and the strength ²  of your father’s house. There will not be an old man in your house!

For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000 ¹  chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.

The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house. Now David was playing the lyre ¹  that day. There was a spear in Saul’s hand,

If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go ¹  to his city Bethlehem, ²  for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’

He said to her, “What about his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!” Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down.

Then Abner sent messengers ¹  to David saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement ²  with me, and I will do whatever I can ³  to cause all Israel to turn to you.”

So David said, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” ¹ 

Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, “God will punish me severely ¹  if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!”

Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept ¹  in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove ²  you from the earth?”

When all the leaders ¹  of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them ²  in Hebron before the Lord. They designated ³  David as king over Israel.

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come with us? Go back and stay with the new ¹  king, for you are a foreigner and an exile from your own country. ² 

I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city ¹  in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

Next in command ¹  was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, ²  where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines.

He also killed an impressive-looking Egyptian. ¹  The Egyptian wielded a spear, while Benaiah attacked ²  him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy from you the threshing floor so I can build an altar for the Lord, so that the plague may be removed from the people.”

Then David built an altar for the Lord there and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. And the Lord accepted prayers for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.

She replied to him, “My master, you swore an oath to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne.’

As the Lord is with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make him an even greater king than my master King David!” ¹ 

Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed ¹  him king in Gihon. They went up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That is the sound you hear.

The king’s servants have even come to congratulate ¹  our master ²  King David, saying, ‘May your God ³  make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!’ ⁴  Then the king leaned ⁵  on the bed