2 Samuel 7-12

II Samuel 7

¹After the king had settled into his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

²he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

³And Nathan replied to the king, “Go and do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,

⁵“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?

⁶For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved about with a tent as My dwelling.

⁷In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people Israel, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’

⁸Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.

⁹I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like the greatest in the land.

¹⁰And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning

¹¹and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you.

¹²And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

¹⁵But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I moved out of your way.

¹⁶Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”

¹⁷So Nathan relayed to David all the words of this entire vision.

¹⁸Then King David went in, sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

¹⁹And as if this was a small thing in Your eyes, O Lord GOD, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your custom with man, O Lord GOD?

²⁰What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord GOD.

²¹For the sake of Your word and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished this great thing and revealed it to Your servant.

²²How great You are, O Lord GOD! For there is none like You, and there is no God but You, according to everything we have heard with our own ears.

²³And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself and to make a name for Himself? You performed great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt.

²⁴For You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God.

²⁵And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised,

²⁶so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.

²⁷For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.

²⁸And now, O Lord GOD, You are God! Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.

²⁹Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”

II Samuel 8

¹Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.

²David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

³David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.

⁴David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.

⁵When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand men.

⁶Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

⁷And David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸And from Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze.

⁹When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer,

¹⁰he sent his son Joram to greet King David and bless him for fighting and defeating Hadadezer, who had been at war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver and gold and bronze,

¹¹and King David dedicated these to the LORD, along with the silver and gold he had dedicated from all the nations he had subdued—

¹²from Edom and Moab, from the Ammonites and Philistines and Amalekites, and from the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹⁴He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.

¹⁵Thus David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people:

¹⁶Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

¹⁷Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;

¹⁸Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.

II Samuel 9

¹Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

²And there was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?” “I am your servant,” he replied.

³So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”

⁴“Where is he?” replied the king. And Ziba said, “Indeed, he is in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.”

⁵So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

⁶And when Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he fell facedown in reverence. Then David said, “Mephibosheth!” “I am your servant,” he replied.

⁷“Do not be afraid,” said David, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

⁸Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?”

⁹Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and to all his house.

¹⁰You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s own sons.

¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth.

¹³So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.

II Samuel 10

¹Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son Hanun.

²And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

³the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.

⁵When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men.

⁸The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

⁹When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.

¹⁰And he placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

¹¹“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue.

¹²Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

¹³So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him.

¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped.

¹⁶Hadadezer sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans arrayed themselves against David and fought against him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, who died there.

¹⁹When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

II Samuel 11

¹In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.

²One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.

³So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

⁴Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.

⁵And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.

⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing with the war.

⁸Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.

⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.

¹⁰And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”

¹²“Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.

¹³Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.

¹⁴The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

¹⁵In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”

¹⁶So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers.

¹⁷And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.

¹⁸Joab sent to David a full account of the battle

¹⁹and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king all the details of the battle,

²⁰if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?

²¹Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth ? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”

²²So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say.

²³The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.

²⁴Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.”

²⁵Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.”

²⁶When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

²⁷And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

II Samuel 12

¹Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

²The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle,

³but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.

⁴Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”

⁵David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

⁶Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁸I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

⁹Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.

¹⁰Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.

¹²You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

¹³Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.

¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”

¹⁵After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

¹⁶David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

¹⁷The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”

¹⁹When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied.

²⁰Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.

²¹“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”

²²David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’

²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child

²⁵and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.

²⁶Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

²⁷Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.

²⁸Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”

²⁹So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; and he fought against it and captured it.

³⁰Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

³¹David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.