David

When David got up in the morning, this word of ADONAI came to the prophet Gad, David's seer:

"Go and say to David that this is what ADONAI says: 'I am giving you a choice of three punishments. Choose one of them, and I will execute it against you."

Gad came to David and told him; he said: "Do you want seven years of famine in your land? or do you want to flee before your enemies for three months while they pursue you? or do you want three days of plague in your land? Think about it, and tell me what to answer the one who sent me."

David said to Gad, "This is very hard for me. Let us fall into the hand of ADONAI, because his mercies are great, rather than have me fall into the hand of man."

David spoke to ADONAI when he saw the angel striking the people; he said, "Here, I have sinned, I have done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please! Let your hand be against me and against my father's family!"

Gad came to David that day and said to him, "Go, set up an altar to ADONAI on the threshing-floor of Aravnah the Y'vusi."

David went up and did what Gad had said, as ADONAI had ordered.

Then Aravnah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy your threshing-floor, in order to build an altar to ADONAI, so that the plague will be lifted from the people."

Aravnah said to David, "Let my lord the king take and offer up anything that seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering; you can use the threshing-sledges and the yokes for the oxen as firewood.

But the king said to Aravnah, "No; I insist on buying it from you at a price. I refuse to offer to ADONAI my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for one-and-a-quarter pounds of silver shekels.

Then David built an altar to ADONAI there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, ADONAI took pity on the land and lifted the plague from Isra'el.

King David grew old, the years took their toll, and he couldn't get warm even when they covered him with bedclothes.

But Tzadok the cohen, B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada, Natan the prophet, Shim'i, Re'i and David's elite guard were not on Adoniyah's side.

Natan went to Bat-Sheva the mother of Shlomo and said, "Haven't you heard that Adoniyah the son of Haggit has become king without the knowledge of David our lord?

Go, get in to see King David, and say to him, 'My lord, king, didn't you swear to your servant, "Your son Shlomo will be king after me; he will sit on my throne"? So why is Adoniyah king?'

King David answered by saying, "Summon Bat-Sheva to me." She entered the king's presence and stood before the king.

Bat-Sheva bowed with her face to the ground, prostrating herself to the king, and said, "Let my lord King David live forever."

King David said, "Summon Tzadok the cohen, Natan the prophet and B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada." They came before the king.

Just as ADONAI has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Shlomo and make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!"

So Tzadok the cohen, Natan the prophet, B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada and the K'reti and P'leti went down, had Shlomo ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gichon.

Yonatan answered Adoniyah, "The truth is, our lord King David has made Shlomo king.

More than that, the king's servants came and blessed our lord King David with these words: 'May God make the name of Shlomo better than your name and his throne greater than your throne,' after which the king bowed down on the bed.

The time came near for David to die; so he commissioned Shlomo his son as follows:

Then David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.

David had ruled Isra'el for forty years - seven years in Hevron and thirty-three years in Yerushalayim.