David

And when Dauid was vp in the morning, the worde of the Lord came vnto the Prophet Gad Dauids Seer, saying,

Go, and say vnto Dauid, Thus saith ye Lord, I offer thee three thinges, chuse thee which of them I shall doe vnto thee.

So Gad came to Dauid, and shewed him, and said vnto him, Wilt thou that seuen yeeres famine come vpon thee in thy lande, or wilt thou flee three moneths before thine enemies, they following thee, or that there bee three dayes pestilence in thy land? nowe aduise thee, and see, what answere I shall giue to him that sent me.

And Dauid said vnto Gad, I am in a wonderfull strait: let vs fall nowe into the hand of the Lord, (for his mercies are great) and let mee not fall into the hand of man.

And Dauid spake vnto the Lord (when he sawe the Angel that smote the people) and saide, Behold, I haue sinned, yea, I haue done wickedly: but these sheepe, what haue they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against mee and against my fathers house.

So Gad came the same day to Dauid, and said vnto him, Go vp, reare an altar vnto the Lord in the threshing floore of Araunah the Iebusite.

And Dauid (according to the saying of Gad) went vp, as the Lord had commanded.

And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the King come to his seruant? Then Dauid answered, To bye the threshing floore of thee for to builde an altar vnto the Lord, that the plague may cease from the people.

Then Araunah saide vnto Dauid, Let my lord the King take and offer what seemeth him good in his eyes: beholde the oxen for the burnt offring, and charets, and the instruments of the oxen for wood.

Then the King saide vnto Araunah, Not so, but I will bye it of thee at a price, and will not offer burnt offring vnto ye Lord my God of that which doeth cost me nothing. So Dauid bought the threshing floore, and the oxen for fiftie shekels of siluer.

And Dauid built there an altar vnto the Lord, and offred burnt offrings and peace offrings, and the Lord was appeased toward ye lande, and the plague ceased from Israel.

Now when King Dauid was olde, and striken in yeeres, they couered him with clothes, but no heate came vnto him.

But Zadok the Priest, and Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada, and Nathan the Prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the men of might, which were with Dauid, were not with Adoniiah.

Wherefore Nathan spake vnto Bath-sheba the mother of Salomon, saying, Hast thou not heard, that Adoniiah ye sonne of Haggith doeth reigne, and Dauid our lord knoweth it not?

Go, and get thee in vnto King Dauid, and say vnto him, Didest not thou, my lorde, O King, sweare vnto thine handmaide, saying, Assuredly Salomon thy sonne shall reigne after me, and he shall sit vpon my throne? why is then Adoniiah King?

Then King Dauid answered, and saide, Call me Bath-sheba. And shee came into ye Kings presence, and stoode before the King.

Then Bath-sheba bowed her face to the earth, and did reuerence vnto the King, and said, God saue my lord King Dauid for euer.

And King Dauid saide, Call mee Zadok the Priest, and Nathan the Prophet, and Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada. And they came before the King.

As the Lord hath bene with my lorde the King, so be he with Salomon, and exalt his throne aboue the throne of my lorde king Dauid.

So Zadok the Priest, and Nathan the Prophet, and Benaiah the sonne of Iehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went downe and caused Salomon to ride vpon king Dauids mule, and brought him to Gihon.

And Ionathan answered, and said to Adoniiah, Verely our lord King Dauid hath made Salomon King.

And moreouer the Kings seruantes came to blesse our lord King Dauid, saying, God make the name of Salomon more famous then thy name, and exalt his throne aboue thy throne: therefore the King worshipped vpon the bed.

Then the dayes of Dauid drewe neere that he should die, and hee charged Salomon his sonne, saying,

So Dauid slept with his fathers, and was buried in the citie of Dauid.

And the dayes which Dauid reigned vpon Israel, were fourtie yeeres: seuen yeeres reigned he in Hebron, and thirtie and three yeeres reigned he in Ierusalem.