¹ Then certain of the responsible men of Israel came to me and took their seats before me.

² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³ Son of man, these men have taken their false gods into their hearts and put before their faces the sin which is the cause of their fall: am I to give ear when they come to me for directions?

⁴ For this cause say to them, These are the words of the Lord: Every man of Israel who has taken his false god into his heart, and put before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself in agreement with the number of his false gods;

⁵ So as to take the children of Israel in the thoughts of their hearts, because they have become strange to me through their false gods.

⁶ For this cause say to the children of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: Come back and give up your false gods and let your faces be turned from your disgusting things.

⁷ When any one of the men of Israel, or of those from other lands who are living in Israel, who has become strange to me, and takes his false gods into his heart, and puts before his face the sin which is the cause of his fall, comes to the prophet to get directions from me; I the Lord will give him an answer by myself:

⁸ And my face will be turned against that man, and I will make him a sign and a common saying, cutting him off from among my people; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

⁹ And if the prophet, tricked by deceit, says anything, it is I the Lord by whom he has been tricked, and I will put out my hand against him, and he will be cut off from among my people Israel.

¹⁰ And the punishment of their sin will be on them: the sin of the prophet will be the same as the sin of him who goes to him for directions;

¹¹ So that the children of Israel may no longer go wandering away from me, or make themselves unclean with all their wrongdoing; but they will be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord.

¹² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹³ Son of man, when a land, sinning against me, does wrong, and my hand is stretched out against it, and the support of its bread is broken, and I make it short of food, cutting off man and beast from it:

¹⁴ Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, only themselves would they keep safe by their righteousness, says the Lord.

¹⁵ Or if I send evil beasts through the land causing destruction and making it waste, so that no man may go through because of the beasts:

¹⁶ Even if these three men were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep safe their sons or daughters, but only themselves, and the land would be made waste.

¹⁷ Or if I send a sword against that land, and say, sword, go through the land, cutting off from it man and beast:

¹⁸ Even if these three men were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep safe their sons or daughters, but only themselves.

¹⁹ Or if I send disease into that land, letting loose my wrath on it in blood, cutting off from it man and beast:

²⁰ Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep son or daughter safe; only themselves would they keep safe through their righteousness.

²¹ For this is what the Lord has said: How much more when I send my four bitter punishments on Jerusalem, the sword and need of food and evil beasts and disease, cutting off from it man and beast?

²² But truly, there will still be a small band who will be safe, even sons and daughters: and they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings: and you will be comforted about the evil which I have sent on Jerusalem, even about everything I have sent on it.

²³ They will give you comfort when you see their ways and their doings: and you will be certain that not for nothing have I done all the things I have done in it, says the Lord.

¹ Then came all the tribes of Israel to David to Hebron, and spoke, saying, "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

² In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. Yahweh said to you, 'You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.'"

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, "Unless you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here;" thinking, "David can't come in here."

⁷ Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David.

⁸ David said on that day, "Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and strike the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul." Therefore they say, "The blind and the lame can't come into the house."

⁹ David lived in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. David built around from Millo and inward.

¹⁰ David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him.

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house.

¹² David perceived that Yahweh had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.

¹³ David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron; and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

¹⁴ These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

¹⁵ and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

¹⁶ and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet.

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the stronghold.

¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹ David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?" Yahweh said to David, "go up; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand."

²⁰ David came to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there; and he said, "Yahweh has broken my enemies before me, like the breach of waters." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

²¹ They left their images there; and David and his men took them away.

²² The Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

²³ When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, "You shall not go up. Circle around behind them, and attack them over against the mulberry trees.

²⁴ It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall stir yourself up; for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines."

²⁵ David did so, as Yahweh commanded him, and struck the Philistines from Geba until you come to Gezer.