Outline of II Samuel

    I. The rule of David at Hebron                   1:1-4:12
      A. The death of Saul--second account           1:1-16
      B. David's lament over Saul and Jonathan       1:17-27
      C. David's contest with Israel                 2:1-4:12

    II. The rule of David at Jerusalem               5:1-14:33
      A. David's capture of Jerusalem                5:1-25
      B. David and the bringing up of the ark        6:1-23
      C. The Davidic covenant                        7:1-29
      D. The extension of David's rule to the
         limits of the Promised Land                 8:1-10:19
      E. David's sin with Bathsheba                 11:1-12:31
      F. The sins of Ammon and Absalom              13:1-14:33

    III. David's flight and return to Jerusalem     15:1-19:43
      A. Absalom's usurpation and David's escape    15:1-17:23
      B. The civil war                              17:24-19:7
      C. David's return to Jerusalem                19:8-43

    IV. The last days of David's reign in
        Jerusalem                                   20:1-24:25
      A. Sheba's short-lived rebellion              20:1-26
      B. The famine and the Gibeonites revenge
         on Saul                                    21:1-14
      C. David's later wars against the
         Philistines                                21:15-22
      D. David's song of deliverance                22:1-51
      E. David's last testimony                     23:1-7
      F. David's mighty men                         23:8-29
      G. David's sin in numbering the people        24:1-25