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men that were with him unto Achish, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath.

§ Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archer's hit him. Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword,.and fell upon it. And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither? And he said, Unto Hebron. So David went up thither. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and made him king over all Israel. Ish-bosheth, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years: but the house of Judah followed David. There was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay on a bed at noon. And they came into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him under the fifth rib: and beheaded him, and took his head, and gat them away.

And they brought the head unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of thy enemy, which sought thy life. And David answered, When wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth? And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. So all the elders of Israel came to the king; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.

And David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it, The city of David. And he built the city round about, and Joab repaired the rest of the city.

So David waxed greater and greater: for the Lord of hosts was with him. And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.

§ Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David,

and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him a house. And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to minister unto him. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded. Thus all Israel brought up the ark with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, with psalteries and harps. So they set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt-sacrifices and peace-offerings before God.

And when David had made an end of offering, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. Now after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab ; and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.

And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.

And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And God was displeased with this thing, therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this

thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

And the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee, either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

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Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel. And David commanded to gather together the strangers in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. And David prepared iron in abundance; and brass in abundance without weight; also cedar-trees in abundance; for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar-wood to David. And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, Now, my son, the Lord be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee. Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, If thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments

which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage. Now behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. Moreover, there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work. Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise, therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.

So when David was old and mon his son king over Israel. age, full of days, riches, and son reigned in his stead.

full of days, he made SoloAnd he died in a good old honour: and Solomon his

SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF ELIJAH.

B. C. 910. AND Elijah the Tishbite said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith. And thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

So he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening: and he drank of the brook. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came

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