DAVID AND LOVE

A Biblical Poem

by Torsten Schwanke

CANTO I

When David had finished

His conversation with Saul,
Jonathan felt an immediate affection for David;
Jonathan loved him as his own self;

Saul engaged him that day

And would not let him go home to his father.

Jonathan made a pact with David,

Loving him as his own self;

Jonathan took off the mantle he was wearing

And gave it to David,
And his armour with it,
Including even his sword, bow and belt.

Where David was sent on a mission by Saul,

He was successful,
And Saul set him in command
Over the fighting men,
All men respected him,
And so did Saul's associates.

After their return, when David came back

From killing the Philistines,
The women from all the cities of Israel
Came singing and dancing
To meet King Saul, with timbrels,
Cymbals and shouts of joy;

And so the women danced and sang,

Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.

Saul was very angry,

Tthe incident displeased him.
They have given David the ten thousands,
He said, but to me only the thousands,
What more can he have
But the throne?

And Saul looked jealously

Oon David from that day forward.
The following day an evil spirit
From God came upon Saul
And possessed him,
And he fell into a frenzy
While he was in the house.
David played the harp
Aas on other occasions;
Saul had a spear in his hand.

Saul swung the spear, he said,

I will nail David to the wall!
David dodged him twice.

Saul feared David,

Bcause Jehovah was with him,
And had withdrawn from Saul.

And Saul removed him from his presence

And appointed him commander of a thousand,
He led the people in battle.

In all his expeditions

David was successful
And Jehovah was with him.

And Saul saw how very successful he was

And was afraid of him.

All Israel and Judah loved David

Because he was their leader in battle.

Saul said to David,

There is my eldest daughter Merab,
I will give her to you in marriage,
But you must serve me bravely
And fight Jehovah's wars.
Saul thought: Better than that I should smite him,
Shall the Philistines do it!

And David said unto Saul,

Who am I, and what is my genealogy,
And my father's family in Israel,
That I should be the king's son in law?

When the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter,

To be given to David,
Sshe was given to Adriel of Meholah
In David's stead.

But now Michal, Saul's daughter,

Ffell in love with David.
When Saul heard this,
H was glad.

He thought: Yes, I will give her to him,

She can be the snare for him,
So that the Philistines will get him.
On two occasions Saul said to David,
Today you shall be my son-in-law.

Saul gave instructions to his servants,

Private word speak to David, saying,
Look, this is the king who is fond of you,
And all his servants love you -
Why not become the king's son-in-law?

Saul's servants repeated these words in David's ear,

And David answered,
Do you think that to be the king's son-in-law
Is a trivial matter?
I have neither wealth nor high position.

Saul's servants reported to Saul,

This is what David said.

Saul answered, Tell David this:

The king wants no bride-price
Except a hundred Philistine foreskins,
For vengeance on the king's enemies.
Saul counted on David
Being killed by the Philistines.

When his servants repeated this before David,

David thought it would be a fine thing
To be the king's son-in-law.
And he lost no time,

But David got up to go,

He and his men killed two hundred Philistines.
David brought back their foreskins
And counted them before the king,
That he might be the king's son-in-law.
Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

Saul could not help but see that the Lord

Was with David
And that the whole house of Israel loved him;

Saul was more and more afraid of David,

More than ever before,
And became his inveterate enemy.

The Philistine princes fought in war,

And whenever they did so,
David had more success
Than all Saul's associates,
Cconsequently he gained great renown.

Saul let his son Jonathan

And all his servants know
Of his intention to kill David.
But Jonathan, Saul's son,
Had great affection for David;

And Jonathan warned David,

My father Saul is looking
For a way to kill you,
So be on guard tomorrow morning;
Go underground, stay out of sight.

I will go and ask my father

About his business in the land
Where you will be,
And I will speak to my father about you,
I will see what the situation is
Ad then I will tell you.

Jonathan praised David

Before Saul his father, saying,
The king should not harm his servant David;
Far from harming you,
What he has done has been very much
To your advantage.

He took his life in his hands,

He killed the Philistines,
And Jehovah led him to a great victory
For all Israel.
You saw it was for you.
How pleased you were!
Why then will you sin against innocent blood
By killing David without cause?

Saul was impressed by Jonathan's words.

Saul swore: As the Lord lives,
I will not kill him.

Jonathan called David

And told him everything.
Jonathan then brought him to Saul
And David remained
In his presence as before,

Till he went forth again,

And David fought against the Philistines,
He inflicted a great defeat on them,
And they fled from him.

An evil spirit from Jehovah came upon Saul

A he sat in his house
With his spear in his hand;
David playing the harp.

Saul tried to nail David to the wall with his spear,

But he dodged Saul's shot
And the spear stuck in the wall.
David fled and made perfect his escape.
That very night

Saul sent agents to David's house to look,

Intending to kill him in the morning.
But Michal, David's wife, warned him,
If you don't escape tonight,
You will be a dead man tomorrow!

Michal let David down through the window,

And he made off, taking flight,
And so he escaped.

Michal then took a domestic picture,

Laid it on the bed,
Put strands of goat's hair
At the head of the bed
And put a blanket over it all.

When Saul sent the agents

To arrest David, she said,
He is sick.

Saul sent the agents again

To see after David, saying,
Bring him hither to me
Upon his bed to slay him.

So at noon they went,

And there in the bed was the image
With the strands of goat's hair on his head.

And Saul said unto Michal,

Why hast thou thus deceived me,
And let my enemy go,
And thus assisted his flight?
Michal answered Saul,
He said, Let me go,
Or I will kill you!

And David, after he had fled,

And accomplished his flight,
Went to Samuel to Ramah,
And told him exactly
How Saul had dealt with him;
And he and Samuel went
And dwelt in the tents.

The word was brought to Saul:

David is in the tents at Ramah.

Saul accordingly sent agents

To seize David,
And when they saw the company
Of the prophets prophesying,
And Samuel as their guide,
The Spirit of God came upon Saul's agents,
And they also fell into ecstasy.

When Saul heard of this,

He sent other men
And they too fell into ecstasy,
Saul then sent a third group of agents
Ad they too fell into ecstasy.

He then went to Ramah himself,

And on arriving at the great spring of Seku,
He asked, Where are Samuel and David?
And someone said, Well,
They are in the huts at Ramah.

On his way from there

To the tabernacles at Ramah,
The Spirit of God came upon him,
And he walked in a frenzy
Until he came to the tabernacles at Ramah.

He too took off his clothes

And he too fell into an ecstasy
In Samuel's presence,
Tn he collapsed on the ground
And lay naked for the rest of the day
And the whole night.
Hence the saying,
Is Saul one of the prophets?

Fleeing from the tabernacles at Ramah,

David went and was confronted by Jonathan:
What have I done, what is my fault,
What wrong have I done to your father,
That he would take my life?

He answered, You must not think like that!

You will not die!
My father, you see, does nothing,
Important or unimportant,
Without trusting it to me,
So why should my father hide this from me?
It's not true.

In answering, David swore,

Your father knows very well
That I enjoy your favour, thinking,
Jonathan must not know about this
Or he will be stirred up.
But, as the Lord liveth,
And as thou thyself livest,
There is but ONE step between me and death.

To this Jonathan said to David,

Whatever you think best,
I will surely do for you.

David answered,
Look, tomorrow is the new moon
And I should be at the table with the king,
But you must let me go
And hide me in the country until evening.

When your father notices my absence,

You must say: David urged me
To hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown,
For they are holding the annual feast
Of sacrifice there for the whole clan.

If he says: Very well, -

Your servant is safe,
But if he flies into a rage,
You can be sure that he is planning something evil.

Show faithful love to your servant,

Since you have bound your servant
By a pact in Jehovah's name.
But if I am guilty, then kill me yourself -
Why do you hand me over to your father?

Jonathan answered, God forbid!

If I knew for certain
That my father was determined to do you mischief,
Would I not have told you?

David said unto Jonathan,

Who will let me know it,
If thy father give thee a hard answer?
And Jonathan said unto David,
Come, and let us go into the country. -
And the pair went into the country.

Jonathan said to David,

By Jehovah, the God of Israel!
I will ask my father this time tomorrow
If all is well with David,
And if I do not then send for thee
And inform thee,

May Jehovah bring untold evil

Upon Jonathan and illness also!
If my father intends to do you mischief,
I will tell you, and let you go,
So that you may be safe.
And may Jehovah be with you
As he was with my father before!

If I am still alive,
Show faithful love to your servant,
And if I die,

Never revoke the faithful love of my family.

When Jehovah has blotted out
Every enemy of David
From the face of the earth,

Let not Jonathan's name be blotted out

With Saul's family,
And you may call upon Jehovah
To consider David!

Jonathan then renewed his oath to David,

For he loved him as his soul.

Jonathan said to David,

Tomorrow is the new moon;
Your absence will be noticed,
For your place will be empty.

The day after tomorrow

Your absence will be very marked,
And you must go to the place
Where you hid yourself on the day of the deed,
And stay beside this hill.

For my part, on the day after tomorrow

I shall shoot three arrows in that direction
As if I were shooting at a target.

I will then send a servant to go

And find the arrows.
If I say to him: The arrows are on this side,
Go get them, -
Then come, since all will be well for you
And nothing is wrong,
You are as safe as Jehovah lives.

But if I say to him, The arrows are on that side, -

Then get out,
For Jehovah himself sends you away.

And in view of the agreement we made,

You and I,
Jehovah is witness between us forever.

And David hid himself in the land;

The new moon came
And the king sat down before his meal.

He sat in his usual place

With his back to the wall,
There sat Jonathan before him,
And Abner sat down beside Saul,
But David's place was empty.

Saul said nothing that day, he thought:

It is pure coincidence,
He is unclean.

On the day after the new moon,

The second day,
David's place was still empty.

Then Saul said unto Jonathan his son,

Why is not the son of Jesse come to eat,
Neither yesterday, nor today?

Jonathan answered Saul,

David asked me urgently for permission
To go to Bethlehem.
Please let me go, he said,
For we are holding the sacrifices
For our clan in the city
And my brothers have commanded me to visit them.
So now, if I enjoy your favour,
Let me go away and see my brothers.
Therefore he did not come to the king's table.

And Saul was wroth with Jonathan, and said,

Thou son of a rebellious bitch!
Can I not know that you are
On the side of this son of Jesse
To your own shame
And your mother's shame?

While the son of Jesse hath life upon the earth,

Neither thou nor thy royal rights are secure.
Now fetch him and bring him to me,
He deserves to die.

Jonathan answered his father Saul,

Why should he die?
What has he done?

But Saul swung his spear at him to pierce him,

And Jonathan realised
That his father had determined
That David should die.

In hot anger,
Jonathan got up from the table
And ate nothing on the second day of the month,
So upset was he because of David
And because his father had insulted him.

The next morning Jonathan went out

Into the country at the time
He had agreed with David,
With a young servant with him.

He said to his servant, Go and find the arrows

I am going to shoot, -
And the servant ran
While Jonathan shot an arrow in front of him.

When the servant reached the place

Where Jonathan had shot the arrow,
Jonathan called after him,
Is not this the arrow before thee?

And Jonathan called after the servant, Quick!

Make haste, do not stand about.
Jonathan's servant took the arrow
And brought it back to his master.

The servant did not suspect anything,

Only Jonathan and David knew what was meant.

Jonathan then gave his weapons

Tto the servant and said,
Go and carry them into the city.

As soon as the servant had gone,

David stood beside the hill,
Threw himself on the ground,
Prostrated himself three times.
Then they embraced each other,
Both weeping profusely.

Jonathan said to David, Go in peace.

And as for the oath which we have both sworn
In the name of the Lord,
Jehovah may be witness between me and thee,
Between thy seed and mine for ever.

DAVID'S LAMENTATION

David sang the following lament for Saul

And his son Jonathan.

(It is for the instruction in archery

Of the children of Judah,
It is written in the Book of the Straight):

Is the splendour of Israel

Dead upon thy high places?
How have the heroes fallen?

Speak not of it in Gath,

Spread not it in the streets of Ashkelon,
For fear the daughters of the Philistines rejoiced,
For fear the daughters of the uncircumcised
Gloated over it.

Ye mountains of Gilboa,
Let no dew, let no rain fall upon you,
O treacherous regions,
Where the shield of the mighty lies dishonoured!
Not with oil was the shield of Saul greased,

But with the blood of the wounded,

The fat of warriors!
The bow of Jonathan never returned,
The sword of Saul has not come home,
Insatiable!

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and handsome,

Were not parted in life nor in death.
Swifter than eagles they were,
Stronger than lions.

O daughters of Israel,
Weep for Saul,
Who gave you scarlet and byssus to wear,
The golden jewels on your garments!
How have the heroes fallen
In the fierceness of battle?
Jonathan, by thy dying am I smitten,

I am in despair because of you,

Jonathan, my brother.
Very dear you came near to me,
Your love was more wonderful to me
Than the love of women.

How have the heroes fallen

And the weapons of war succumbed!

CANTO II

Samuel died
And all Israel was gathered to mourn him.
They buried him in his house at Ramah.
David then departed
And went down into the wilderness of Maon.

Now there was a man in Maon

Whose business was on Mount Carmel,
The man was very rich:
He had three thousand sheep
And a thousand goats.
He was then on Mount Carmel
With his shorn sheep.

The man's name was Nabal

And his wife's name was Abigail.
She was a woman of intelligence and beauty,
But the man was stingy and petty.
He was a Calebite.

When David heard in the desert

That Nabal was at his sheep shearing,

He sent ten men, saying,

Go as far as Carmel,
Visit Nabal, and greet him from me.

And this is what you shall say to my brother:

Peace be with you, peace to your family,
Peace to all yours!

I hear that thou hast now the shearers about thee,

Thy shepherds have been with us lately:
We have not molested them,
Neither have they lost any thing,
All the while they have been at Carmel.

Ask your young men and they will tell you.

I hope you will welcome the people,
We are coming for a feast.
Whatever you have at hand,
Give it to your servants
And to your son David.

David's men went and told all this

To Nabal of David, and waited.

Nabal answered the men in David's service,

Who already is David?
Who already is the son of Jesse?

There are many servants today

Who steal away from their masters.
Shall I take my bread and my wine
And the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers
And give it to the people
Of whom I do not know from where they come?

David's men turned on their heels and went back,

And when they arrived
They told him exactly what had been said.

David said to his men,

Let every man buckle his sword!
And they buckled on their swords,
And David buckled on his,
About four hundred men followed David,
While two hundred men stayed behind
With the baggage.

Now one of the young men said to Abigail,

Nabal's wife, he said,
David sent messengers from the wilderness
To greet the Master, but he flamed them.

Now these men were very good to us,

They didn't bother us
And we didn't lose anything,
All the time we didn't have anything to do with them
While we were travelling in the land.

Day and night they were like a wall

Of protection for us all the time
We were with them, tending the sheep.

So, now awaken your mind

As to what you should do,
For the ruin of our Master
And all his family is a certainty,
And he is like a beast,
That no one may say a word to him.

Abigail hastily took two hundred loaves of bread,

Two skins of wine, five sheep prepared,
Five measures of roasted grain,
A hundred bags of sultanas,
And two hundred cakes of figs,
And loaded all on an ass.

She said to her servants,

Go ahead, I will follow you -
But she would say nothing
To her husband Nabal.

As she rode on her donkey

Bhind a cleft in the mountains,
David passed by,
Aand his men came her way,
And she greeted them.

Well, David had decided:

It was a waste of time,
My guarding all this man's things in the desert,
So he lost nothing!
He has repaid me good with evil.

May God bring immoderate evil

On David and bad things too,
If I let a single one
Who pisses against the wall
Alive in the morning,
Who belongs to him!

As soon as Abigail saw David,

She quickly got off the donkey
And fell on her face before David,
Throwing herself on the ground.

She fell at his feet and said,

Let me bear the guilt, my lord.
Let your handmaid speak in your ear,
And hear what your maidservant has to say!

My lord, please give no attention

To this brutal Nabal,
For his nature is as his name,
Brutal means his name and brutal he is.
But I, thy handmaid,
Have not seen the men whom my lord sent.

And now, my lord,

As Jehovah liveth,
And as thy soul liveth,
Jehobvah, who keepeth thee
From the crime of bloodshed,
And from vengeance with thine own hand,
Mayst thou conquer all thine enemies,
And all that are evil to thee, as Nabal.

The gifts your handmaid has brought to my Lord

Should be given to the men in your service.

Please forgive your handmaid

Any offence done to you, for
Jehovah surely assures you
Of a lasting dynasty,
Since you fought in Jehovah‘s battles
And no fault was found in you
During your life.

Should anyone hunt you down

And try to kill you,
Your life will be preserved
I the bag of life
With Jehovah your God,
While he will hurl the enemies away
With the sling of stones.

After Jehovah has done for you

All the good things he said he would do for you,
That you may become ruler of Israel,

So you must have no fear, my lord,

No remorse for having shed blood roughly,
For having taken vengeance yourself.
If Jehovah deal well with thee,
Then mark thy handmaid.

Then said David unto Abigail,

Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,
Who caused thee to meet me this day,
And sent thee unto me!

Blessed be thy Wisdom,

And blessed art thou that hast kept me this day
From the crime of bloodshed and vengeance!

But as Jehovah, the God of Israel, lives,

Who prevented me from harming you
If you had not hastened to meet me,
I swear that Nabal would not have kept alive
A single man pissing against the wall
In the morning!

David then accepted what she had brought him

And said, Go home in peace.
Yes, I have listened to you
And have pardoned you.

Abigail returned to Nabal.

He held a feast, a princely banquet in his house;
Nabal was in high spirits,
And being very drunk,
She told him nothing at all
Until it was day.

In the morning,
When Nabal's wine had left him,
His wife told him all that had happened,
And his heart died within him
And he became like a stone.

More than ten days later,

Jehovah struck Nabal and he died.

When David heard that Nabal was dead,

He said, Blessed be Jehovah,
Who has defended my cause
Because of the insult I received from Nabal,
And because he stopped his servant
From doing wrong!
Jehovah has bounced Nabal's wickedness
On his own head!

David sent Abigail an offer of marriage.

When the men in David's service came
To Abigail on Mount Carmel, they said,
David has sent us to take you to be his wife.

She got up, threw herself on the ground.

Consider your handmaid as your slave,
She said, to wash the feet
Of the servants of my lord.

Quickly Abigail got up again

And mounted an ass,
Followed by five of her maidservants,
She followed David's messengers
And became his wife.

David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel

And he kept them both as his wives.
Saul's daughter Michal, David's wife,
Was given to Palti son of Laish, from Gallim.

CANTO III

At the turn of the year, at the time

When the kings go out into the field,
David sent Joab
And with him his guards and all Israel.
They massacred the Ammonites
And besieged Rabbah of the Ammonites.
But David stayed in Jerusalem.

It happened towards evening,

When David was resting
And walking on the roof of the palace,
That from the roof he saw
A woman bathing,
The woman was very beautiful!

David made enquiries about this woman

And was told, Why, this is Bathsabee,
The daughter of Eliam
And wife of Uriah the Hittite.

David sent messengers to fetch her.

She came to him
And he made love to her
Shortly after she had purged herself
Of her menstrual period.
Then she went home again.

The woman became pregnant

And sent word to David:
I am with child.

Then David sent to Joab, saying,

Send me Uriah the Hittite.
Whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David.

When Uriah reached him,

David asked what Joab was like
And what the army was like
And how the war was going.

David said to Uriah,

Go to your house and wash your feet.
Uriah left the palace
And a gift from the king's table followed.
But Uriah in the palace gate
With all his bodyguards slept,
And went not down to his house.

This was reported to David;

Uriah, they said, did not go down to his house.
So David asked Uriah,
Have you not just returned from your journey?
Why did you not go to your house?

Uriah answered,
The ark of the covenant, Israel,
And Judah are lodged in tents;
My lord Joab and my lord of the guards
Are in open tents.
How then can I go into my house,
Eat and drink, and sleep with my wife?
As Jehovah lives, and as you live,
I will do no such thing!

And David said unto Uriah,

Stay here this day,
And tomorrow I will send thee away.
So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day.

The next day David invited him

To eat and drink in his presence
And got him drunk.
In the evening Uriah went out
Aand made his bed with his bodyguards,
But did not go down to his house.

The next morning David

Wrote a letter to Joab
And sent it through Uriah.

In the letter he wrote:

Put Uriah in the front
Where the fighting is fiercest,
And then fall back so that he may
Be wounded and killed.

Joab then laid siege to the city,

Stationing Uriah at a point
Where he knew the fighting would be fierce.

The people in the city fought and troubled Joab,

Tere were casualties in the army,
Among David's guards,
And Uriah the Hittite was also killed.

Joab sent David a full report of the battle.

He gave the messenger this order,
When you have finished telling
The king all about the battle,

The king's anger will be aroused,

And he'll say, Why did you fight
A battle near the city?
Did you not know that they
Were shooting from the ramparts?

Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal?

Was it not a woman
Who dropped a millstone on him
From the ramparts,
Resulting in his death in Thebez?
Why did you go near the city wall?
Then shalt thou say,
Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

So the messenger ordered everything on his arrival,

Telling David everything
Joab instructed him to say.
David was enraged at Joab
And said to the messenger,
Why hast thou gone near the wall of the city?
Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal?
Was it not a woman
Who dropped a millstone on him
From the rampart,
Resulting in his death in Thebez?
Why did you go near the wall of the city?

The messenger answered David,

Your men had gained an advantage
And then it suited us to engage in the open.
We then sent them back into the gateway,

But the archers shot at your followers

From the ramparts,
Some of the king's followers lost their lives,
And your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.

David said to the messengers,

Tell Joab this,
Do not take the matter to heart,
The sword eats now one and now another,
Make another attack on the city
With a greater force and destroy it.
That will encourage him.

When Uriah's wife heard

That her husband Uriah was dead,
She mourned for her husband.

When the time of mourning was over,

David sent to her,
He wanted her in his house;
She became his wife
And bore him a son.
But what David had done
Displeased Jehovah.

Jehovah sent Nathan the prophet to David.

He came to him and said,
There were two men in a town,
One rich and the other poor.

The rich man had sheep

And oxen in great abundance;

The poor man had nothing but a lamb,

Only one little lamb,
Which he had bought.
He fostered it and it grew up
With him and with his children,
Ate his bread, drank from his cup,
Slept in his arms,
It was like a daughter to him.

When a traveller came to stay with him,

The rich man would not take anything
From his own flock for the wayfarer
Who had come to him.
Instead, he stole the poor man's lamb
Aand prepared it for his guest.

David was enraged.

As the Lord lives, he said to Nathan,
The man who did this deserves to die.

For to do such a thing and show no pity,

He shall give four times
The restitution for the lamb.

Nathan said to David,

You are the man!
Jehovah, the God of Israel, says this,
I anointed thee king of Israel,
Preserved thee from Saul's pursuits,

I have given you your master's household

And your chief wives in your arms,
I have given you the house of Israel
And the house of Judah,
And if that is still too little,
I will give you other things as well.

Why have you shown contempt for Jehovah

And done what displeases him?
You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword,
You took his wife to be your wife,
Which resulted in his death
By the sword of the Ammonites.

For this reason your house will never be free

From the sword,
Bbecause they showed contempt for me,
And you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite
To make her your wife.

Thus saith Jehovah,

Out of thine own house will
I raise up calamity for thee.
Before your eyes I will take your wives
And give them to your neighbours,
Who will lie with your wives in broad daylight.

Thou hast wrought in secret,

But I will work this before all Israel,
That it may be seen in broad daylight.

Then said David unto Nathan,

I have sinned against the Lord.
And Nathan said unto David,
Jehovah, for his part, forgiveth thy sin;
Thou needest not die.

But because thou hast so offended Jehovah,

The child that is born unto thee shall die.

And Nathan went home.

And Jehovah smote the child
That Uriah's wife bare unto David,
And he was sore sick.

David pleaded with Jehovah for the child,

He kept a strict penance
And went home and spent the night
Lying on the ground,
Cvered with sackcloth.

The officials of his house stood around him,

Intending to raise him from the ground,
But he refused to get up,
Nr would he eat food with them.
On the seventh day the child died.
David's entourage was afraid
To tell him that the child was dead.
Even if the child was still alive, they thought,
And we talked to him,
He would not listen to us.
How can we tell him that the child is dead?
He will be distressed.

But David noticed that his entourage

Was whispering among themselves
And realised that the child was dead.
Is the child dead? he asked the officers.
They replied, It is dead.

David rose from the ground,

Bathed and anointed himself
And put on fresh clothes.
Then he went into Jehovah's sanctuary
And prostrated himself.
On the way back to his house,
He asked for food to be served, and he ate.

His entourage said,

Why are you behaving like this?
When the child was alive,
You fasted and wept,
Now that the child is dead,
You get up and eat food!

When the child was alive, he replied,

I fasted and wept because I thought:
Who knows, maybe Jehovah will have pity on me
And the child will live.

But now that it is dead, why should I fast?

Can I revive it?
I will go to him,
But he cannot come to me again.

David comforted his wife Bathsabee.

He went in to her and slept with her.
She became pregnant
And gave birth to a son,
Whom she named Solomon.
Jehovah loved him

And entrusted him to Nathan the prophet,

Who called him Jedidiah,
Beloved of Jehovah,
As the Lord had instructed.
Joab invaded Rabbah of the Ammonites
And captured the royal city.

He sent messengers to David saying,

I have attacked Rabbah
And captured the water supply.

Now therefore let us muster

The remnant of the army,
And lay siege to the city, and take it;
And the city shall be called by thy name.

And David gathered the whole army

And marched on Rabbah,
And he attacked the city and captured it.

He took the king's crown from his head,

It weighed a talent of gold,
And it became a jewel on David's head.
He carried great quantities
Of booty out of the city.

And he drove out its inhabitants,

And made them work with saws,
Iron picks, hammers of iron,
Employed them in brick-making.
He treated all the Ammonite cities in the same way.
David and the whole army returned to Jerusalem.

CANTO IV

After this, the following events took their course.

Absalom, son of David,
Hhad a beautiful sister
Whose name was Tamar;
Amnon, David's son,
Fell in love with her.

Amnon was so obsessed

With his sister Tamar
That it made him sick,
Because she was a virgin
And Amnon thought
It was impossible to harm her.

But Amnon had a friend named Jonadab,

Sson of Shima, David's brother,
And Jonadab was a very clever man.

Son of the king, he said, tell me,

Why, morning after morning,
Do you look so worn out?
Wilt thou not tell me?
Amnon answered, I am full of love
To Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

Jonadab said, Take up your bed,

Pretend to be ill,
Ad when your father comes to see you, say,
Please let my sister Tamar come
And make me something to eat;
Let her prepare the food
Where I can see it.
What she gives me something, I will eat.

So Amnon lay down and feigned himself sick.

The king came to see him,
And Amnon said to the king,
Please let my sister Tamar come
And make a cake or two
Where I can watch it.
What she gives me I will eat.

David sent Tamar to the palace with one word,

Go to your brother Amnon in his house
And prepare something for him to eat.

Tamar went to the house

Of her brother Amnon,
Who was lying there in bed.
She took dough and kneaded it,
Aand she made some cakes
While he watched,
And baked him the cake.

Then she took the pan

And offered it to him,
But he refused to eat.
Amnon said, Everyone should leave me!
So everyone withdrew.

Amnon then said to Tamar,

Take the food to the inner room
So that I can eat what you give me.
So Tamar took the cakes she had made
And brought them to her brother
Amnon in the inner room.

And when she offered him the food,

He began to hold her and said,
Come to bed with me, sister!
She answered, No, brother!
Do not force me!
This is not possible
To behave like this in Israel.
Do not do such a shameful thing!

Where should I go?

I should be marked with this disgrace,
While you would have been disgraced in Israel.
Why don't you go and speak to the king?
He will not refuse to give me to thee.

But he would not listen to her,

He overpowered her and raped her.

Amnon was then seized

With extreme hatred for her,
The hatred he now felt for her
Was greater than his former love.
Get up and go! he said.

She said, No, brother!

For to send me away
Would be worse than the other wrong
You have done to me!
But he would not listen to her.

He called his personal servant.

Free me from this woman! he said.
Throw her out and bolt the door behind her!

She was wearing a splendid dress,

Ffor that was what the king's unmarried daughters
Wore in times gone by.
So the servant sent her out
And bolted the door behind her.

Tamar threw dust on her head,

Tore the glorious dress she was wearing,
Put her hand on her head and went away,
Crying out loudly as she went.

Her brother Absalom said to her,

Has Amnon thy brother been with thee?
Sister, be quiet, he is your brother;
Do not take the matter so much to heart !
Tamar, however, went back to her brother
Absalom, to his house, inconsolable.

When King David heard the whole story,

He was very angry,
But he had no desire to harm his son
Amnon, whom he loved,
Because he was his firstborn.

However, Absalom did not want

To speak to Amnon again
Because he hated Amnon
For raping his sister Tamar.

Two years later, when Absalom

Saw the sheep-shearers in Baal-hazor,
Which is near Ephraim,
He invited all the king's sons.

Absalom went to the king and said,

Well, my lord, your servant
Has gathered the sheep-shearers.
Will the king and his retinue
Like to be with your servant?

No, my son, replied the king,

We need not all come and be a burden to you.
And though Absalom persisted,
He would not go, but dismissed him.

Absalom persisted,
Then at least let my brother Amnon come with us.
The king said, Why should he go with you?

But Absalom persisted,

And so he let Amnon
And all the king's sons go with him.
Absalom prepared a royal banquet.

And then he gave this charge to the servants,

Listen well, if Amnon's heart
Be merry from wine, and I say,
Strike Amnon down, then kill him.
Do not be afraid.
Have I not myself given you the charge?
Use your strength and show your courage!

Absalom's servants treated Amnon

As Absalom had ordered.
The king's sons all jumped up,
Mounted their mules and fled.

While they were on the road,

Word reached David:
Absalom has killed all the king's sons,
Not one of them is left.

The king got up, tore his clothes

And threw himself on the ground.
All his officers tore their clothes too.

And Jonadab the son of Shima,

David's brother, spake and said,
Let not the report go to thy heart,
That all the young men the king's sons are slain,
Seeing only Amnon is dead:
Fr Absalom promised himself this on the day
That Amnon raped Tamar his sister.

So my lord the king must not imagine

That all the king's sons are dead,
Only Amnon is dead

And Absalom fled.

The man on guard looked up
And saw a large force coming along
The road from Bahurim.
The sentry came to tell the king,
I have seen some people coming along
The Bahurim road from the mountain.

Jonadab then said to the king,

These are the king's sons who are coming:
What your servant said
Is exactly what happened.

He had hardly finished speaking

When the king's sons came and wept aloud,
And the king and all his retinue
Also wept aloud.

Absalom had gone to Talmai

Son of Ammihud, king of Geshur.
The king mourned for his son every day.

When Absalom went to Geshur,

He stayed there for three years.

As soon as the king was comforted

Over Amnon's death,
His anger against Absalom subsided.

CANTO V

David assessed the troops

That were with him
And appointed chiefs over a thousand
And over a hundred to lead them.
David divided the army into three groups,
One under the command of Joab,
Aother under the command of Abishai
Son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab,
And the third under the command of Ittai the Gittite.
David then said to the troops,
I will go into the field in my own person.

But the troops answered,

You are not there to take the field.
No one will care about us,
If we run away they will not even mind us
If half of us are killed,
But you are worth ten thousand times more.
So it's better if you stay inside the city
In case we need reinforcements.

David said, I will do what you think is right.

And the king stood beside the gate
As the troops marched off by hundreds and thousands.

And the king commanded Joab,

And Abishai, and Ittai, saying,
For my sake, handle young Absalom with care.
And the troops all belonged to the king,
And all the commanders gave these orders
Because of Absalom.

So the troops marched out

Into the open to attack Israel,
And the battle took place
In the forest of Ephraim.

There the army of Israel

Was defeated by David's troops,
It was a great defeat that day,
With twenty thousand casualties.

The fighting spread throughout the region

And on that day the forest claimed
More victims than the sword.

Absalom passed some of David's guards.

Absalom rode his mule
Under the thick branches of a large oak tree.
Absalom's head was caught by the oak
And he remained suspended
Between heaven and earth
While the mule rode away.

Someone saw this and reported it to Joab:

I have just seen Absalom hanging from an oak.
Joab said to the man who had informed him,
If you saw him, why did you not strike him down?
I would have made it my business
To give you ten pieces of silver
And a belt for it!

The man answered Joab,

Even if I felt the weight of a thousand pieces
Of silver in my hand,
I would not raise my hand
Against the king's son.
In our own hearing the king has given you
And Abishai and Ittai this charge:
For my sake, save young Absalom!

Even if I had been wrong,

Nothing would remain hidden from the king,
And you would have to renounce me.

And Joab said, I have no time to fight with thee.

And having three spears in his hand,
He drove them into Absalom's heart
While he was still alive,
Hnging on the oak.

And ten soldiers, Joab's armourbearers, came near,

And smote Absalom, and slew him.

Joab blew the trumpet

And the troops stopped pursuing Israel
Because Joab held back the troops.

They took Absalom,

Hurled him into a deep pit in the forest
And heaped a huge pile of stones over him.
All the Israelites had fled,
Returning to their homeland.

Now, in his lifetime Absalom

Had made and erected a pillar for himself,
That is in the valley of the king.
I have no son, he said,
To keep the memory of my name.
He wrote his name on the pillar,
And today it can still be read
As Absalom's monument.

Ahimaaz son of Zadok said,

Let me run and tell the king
The good news that Jehovah
Has saved his cause and defended him
From his enemies.

But Joab said, Today no bringer

Of good news would be good,
On another day you can be the one,
But today you would not bring good news,
Because the king's son is dead.

Joab then said to the Cushite,

Go and tell the king what you have seen.
The Cushite prostrated himself
Before Joab and ran away.

But Ahimaaz son of Zadok said,

Come what may, he said to Joab, and said,
Let me please run after the Cushite. -
My son, said Joab, why wilt thou run?
You will receive no reward for your message.

And he said, Come what may, let me run.

And Joab said, Run then!
So Ahimaaz ran along the road through the plain,
Overtaking the Cushite.

David sat between the two gates.

The guard, having gone up to the roof of the gate,
Looked from the ramparts
And saw a man running alone.

The sentry called to the king and told him.

The king said, If he is alone,
He brings good news.

As the man came nearer and nearer,

The sentry saw another man running,
And the guard over the gate called out,
Here comes another man, walking alone!
David said, He is also a bearer of good news.

The sentry said, I recognise the first man;

Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, runs thus. -
He is a good man, said the king,
And comes with good news.

Ahimaaz walked towards the king.

Hail! he said, throwing himself
On the ground before the king.
Blessed be Jehovah your God, he said,
Who has delivered the men
Who rebelled against my lord the king!

Is all well with young Absalom?

Asked the king.
Ahimaaz answered,
I saw a great commotion
When Joab the king's servant sent away your servant,
Bt I do not know what it was.

And the king said, Go and stand over there.

He stood on one side and waited.

Then the Cushite had arrived.

Good news for my lord the king!
The Cushite cried out.
Today Jehovah has vindicated your cause
By freeing you from all
Who had risen up against you.

Is all well with young Absalom?

The king asked the Cushite.
May the enemies of my lord the king,
Replied the Cushite,
And all who rise up to harm you,
Suffer the fate of this young man!

The king shuddered.

He went into the room above the gate
And burst into tears, and as he wept he said,
O my son Absalom! My son!
My son Absalom!
If only I had died instead of you!
O Absalom, my son, my son!

And the word was brought unto Joab, saying,

The king weepeth, and mourneth for Absalom.

And for all the army that day victory

Was turned into mourning,
The troops learned
That the king mourns for his son.

And on that day the troops came back

To the city secretly,
The troops crept away bashfully,
As if deserting in battle.

The king had covered his face and wept aloud,

My son Absalom!
Oh, Absalom, my son, my son!

Joab went in to the king and said,

Today all your servants have been ashamed
Because they saved your life,
The life of your sons and daughters,
The life of your wife
And the life of your concubines!
Because you love those who hate you
And hate those who love you.

You have made it clear today

That commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you,
For today I see that you would be content
If we were all dead,
Provided Absalom were still alive!

Now get up, come out and calm your soldiers,

For if you do not come,
I swear by Jehovah,
Not one man will stay with you today,
And this will be a worse calamity for you
Than anything that has happened to you
From your youth until now!

The king stood up and took his place at the gate.

An announcement was made to the whole army,
The king sits at the gate.
And the whole army assembled before the king.

CANTO VI

King David was now a very old man,

And though he was wrapped warmly in bedclothes,
He could not keep warm.

So his servants said to him,

Let us find a young girl
For my lord the king,
Who will nurse the king and look after him;
She will lie near by you,
And so my lord the king will always be warm.

They sought a fair maiden

Out of all the coasts of Israel,
And after they had sought,
They found Abishag of Shunem,
And brought her to the king.

The girl was very beautiful!

She looked after the king
And nursed him, but the king
Did not have sexual intercourse with her.