II Samuel 5-9

II Samuel 5

¹Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh.

²In the past when Saul was king over us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel and their ruler.

³So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty years,

⁵Ruling over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem, over all Israel and Judah, for thirty-three years.

⁶And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people of the land: and they said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the feeble-footed will keep you out; for they said, David will not be able to come in here.

⁷But David took the strong place of Zion, which is the town of David.

⁸And that day David said, Whoever makes an attack on the Jebusites, let him go up by the water-pipe, and put to death all the blind and feeble-footed who are hated by David. And this is why they say, The blind and feeble-footed may not come into the house.

⁹So David took the strong tower for his living-place, naming it the town of David. And David took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo.

¹⁰And David became greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of armies, was with him.

¹¹And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David, with cedar-trees and woodworkers and stoneworkers: and they made David a house.

¹²And David saw that the Lord had made his position safe as king over Israel, and that he had made his kingdom great because of his people Israel.

¹³And David took more women and wives in Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron: and he had more sons and daughters.

¹⁴These are the names of those whose birth took place in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon

¹⁵And Ibhar and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia

¹⁶And Elishama and Eliada and Eliphelet.

¹⁷And when the Philistines had news that David had been made king over Israel, they all went up in search of David; and David, hearing of it, went down to the strong place.

¹⁸And when the Philistines came, they went in every direction in the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹And David, desiring directions from the Lord, said, Am I to go up against the Philistines? will you give them up into my hands? And the Lord said, Go up, for I will certainly give up the Philistines into your hands.

²⁰And David went to Baal-perazim, and overcame them there; and he said, The Lord has let the forces fighting against me be broken before me as a wall is broken by rushing waters. So that place was named Baal-perazim.

²¹And the Philistines, when they went in flight, did not take their images with them, and David and his men took them away.

²²And the Philistines came up again, and went in every direction in the valley of Rephaim.

²³And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees.

²⁴Then at the sound of footsteps in the tops of the trees, go forward quickly, for the Lord has gone out before you to overcome the army of the Philistines.

²⁵And David did as the Lord had said; and he overcame the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon to near Gezer.

II Samuel 6

¹And David got together all the fighting-men of Israel to the number of thirty thousand;

²And David, and all the people who were with him, went to Baal of Judah to get the ark of God, over which the holy name is named, the name of the Lord of armies, whose place is between the winged ones.

³And they put the ark of God on a new cart and took it out of the house of Abinadab which was on the hill: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were the drivers of the cart.

⁴And Uzzah went by the side of the ark, while Ahio went before it.

⁵And David and all the men of Israel made melody before the Lord with all their power, with songs and with corded instruments and instruments of brass.

⁶And when they came to Nacon's grain-floor, Uzzah put his hand on the ark of God to keep it safe in its place, for the oxen were out of control.

⁷And the wrath of the Lord, burning against Uzzah, sent destruction on him because he had put his hand on the ark, and death came to him there by the ark of God.

⁸And David was angry because of the Lord's outburst of wrath against Uzzah: and he gave that place the name Perez-uzzah, which is its name to this day.

⁹And such was David's fear of the Lord that day, that he said, How may I let the ark of God come to me?

¹⁰So David did not let the ark of the Lord come back to him to the town of David: but had it turned away and put into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹¹And the ark of the Lord was in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months: and the Lord sent a blessing on Obed-edom and all his family.

¹²And they said to King David, The blessing of the Lord is on the family of Obed-edom and on all he has, because of the ark of God. And David went and took the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the town of David with joy.

¹³And when those who were lifting the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he made an offering of an ox and a fat young beast.

¹⁴And David, clothed in a linen ephod, was dancing before the Lord with all his strength.

¹⁵So David and all the men of Israel took up the ark of the Lord with cries of joy and sounding of horns.

¹⁶And when the ark of the Lord came into the town of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looking out of the window, saw King David dancing and jumping before the Lord; and to her mind he seemed foolish.

¹⁷And they took in the ark of the Lord, and put it in its place inside the tent which David had put up for it: and David made burned offerings and peace-offerings to the Lord.

¹⁸And after David had made the burned offerings and the peace-offerings, he gave the people a blessing in the name of the Lord of armies.

¹⁹And he gave to every man and woman among all the people, among all the masses of Israel, a cake of bread and a measure of wine and a cake of dry grapes. Then all the people went away, every man to his house.

²⁰Then David came back to give a blessing to his family. And Michal, Saul's daughter, came out to him and said, How full of glory was the king of Israel today, who let himself be seen uncovered by his servant-girls like a foolish person uncovering himself without shame!

²¹And David said to Michal, I was dancing before the Lord, who put me over your father and all his sons, to make me a ruler over the people of the Lord, over his people Israel: and I will go on playing before the Lord;

²²And I will do even worse than this, and make myself even lower in your eyes: but the servant-girls of whom you were talking will give me honour.

²³And Michal, Saul's daughter, had no child till the day of her death.

II Samuel 7

¹Now when the king was living in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from war on every side;

²The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is housed inside the curtains of a tent.

³And Nathan said to the king, Go and do whatever is in your heart; for the Lord is with you.

⁴Now that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,

⁵Go and say to my servant David, The Lord says, Are you to be the builder of a house, a living-place for me?

⁶For from the day when I took the children of Israel up out of Egypt till this day, I have had no house, but have gone from place to place in a tent.

⁷In all the places where I went with all the children of Israel, did I ever say to any of the judges of Israel, to whom I gave the care of my people Israel, Why have you not made me a house of cedar?

⁸Then say these words to my servant David, The Lord of armies says, I took you from the fields, from keeping the sheep, so that you might be a ruler over my people, over my people Israel:

⁹And I have been with you wherever you went, cutting off before you all those who were against you; and I will make your name great, like the name of the greatest ones of the earth.

¹⁰And I will make a resting-place for my people Israel, planting them there, so that they may be living in the place which is theirs, and never again be moved; and never again will they be troubled by evil men as they were at the first,

¹¹From the time when I put judges over my people Israel; and I will give you peace from all who are against you. And the Lord says to you that he will make you the head of a line of kings.

¹²And when the time comes for you to go to rest with your fathers, I will put in your place your seed after you, the offspring of your body, and I will make his kingdom strong.

¹³He will be the builder of a house for my name, and I will make the seat of his authority certain for ever.

¹⁴I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son: if he does wrong, I will give him punishment with the rod of men and with the blows of the children of men;

¹⁵But my mercy will not be taken away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.

¹⁶And your family and your kingdom will keep their place before me for ever: the seat of your authority will never be overturned.

¹⁷So Nathan gave David an account of all these words and this vision.

¹⁸Then David the king went in and took his seat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have been my guide till now?

¹⁹And this was only a small thing to you, O Lord God; but your words have even been about the far-off future of your servant's family, O Lord God!

²⁰What more may David say to you? for you have knowledge of your servant, O Lord God.

²¹Because of your word and from your heart, you have done all this great work, and let your servant see it.

²²Truly you are great, O Lord God: there is no one like you and no other God but you, as is clear from everything which has come to our ears.

²³And what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, and to make a name for himself, and to do great and strange things for them, driving out a nation and its gods from before his people?

²⁴But you took and made strong for yourself your people Israel, to be your people for ever; and you, Lord, became their God.

²⁵And now, O Lord God, may the word which you have said about your servant and about his family, be made certain for ever, and may you do as you have said!

²⁶And let your name be made great for ever, and let men say, The Lord of armies is God over Israel: and let the family of David your servant be made strong before you!

²⁷For you, O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, have clearly said to your servant, I will make you the head of a family of kings: and so it has come into your servant's heart to make this prayer to you.

²⁸And now, O Lord God, you are God and your words are true and you have said you will give your servant this good thing;

²⁹So may it be your pleasure to give your blessing to the family of your servant, so that it may go on for ever before you: (for you, O Lord God, have said it,) and may your blessing be on your servant's family line for ever!

II Samuel 8

¹And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines.

²And he overcame the Moabites, and he had them measured with a line when they were stretched out on the earth; marking out two lines for death and one full line for life. So the Moabites became servants to David and gave him offerings.

³And David overcame Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to make his power seen by the River.

⁴And David took from him one thousand, seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen: and David had the leg-muscles of the horses cut, only keeping enough of them for a hundred war-carriages.

⁵And when the Aramaeans of Damascus came to the help of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David put to the sword twenty-two thousand of the Aramaeans.

⁶And David put armed forces in Aram of Damascus: and the Aramaeans became servants to David and gave him offerings. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went.

⁷And David took their gold body-covers from the servants of Hadadezer and took them to Jerusalem.

⁸And from Tebah and Berothai, towns of Hadadezer, King David took a great store of brass.

⁹And when Tou, king of Hamath, had news that David had overcome all the army of Hadadezer,

¹⁰He sent his son Hadoram to David, with words of peace and blessing, because he had overcome Hadadezer in the fight, for Hadadezer had wars with Tou; and Hadoram took with him vessels of silver and gold and brass:

¹¹These King David made holy to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he had taken from the nations he had overcome —

¹²The nations of Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon and the Philistines and the Amalekites and the goods he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³And David got great honour for himself, when he came back, by the destruction of Edom in the valley of Salt, to the number of eighteen thousand men.

¹⁴And he put armed forces in Edom; all through Edom he had armed forces stationed, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went.

¹⁵And David was king over all Israel, judging and giving right decisions for all his people.

¹⁶And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the army; and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was keeper of the records;

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

¹⁸And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.

II Samuel 9

¹And David said, Is there still anyone of Saul's family living, so that I may be a friend to him, because of Jonathan?

²Now there was of Saul's people a servant named Ziba, and they sent him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am.

³And the king said, Is there anyone of Saul's family still living, to whom I may be a friend in God's name? And Ziba said, There is a son of Jonathan, whose feet are damaged.

⁴And the king said to him, Where is he? And Ziba said to the king, He is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.

⁵Then King David sent, and had him taken from Lo-debar, from the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel.

⁶And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, came to David, and falling down on his face, gave him honour. And David said, Mephibosheth. And answering he said, Your servant is here.

⁷And David said to him, Have no fear: for truly I will be good to you, because of your father Jonathan, and I will give back to you all the land which was Saul's; and you will have a place at my table at all times.

⁸And he went down on his face before the king, and said, What is your servant, for you to take note of a dead dog such as I am?

⁹Then the king sent for Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, All the property of Saul and of his family I have given to your master's son.

¹⁰And you and your sons and your servants are to take care of the land for him, and get in the fruit of it, so that your master's son may have food: but Mephibosheth, your master's son, will have a place at my table at all times. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, Every order which you have given to your servant will be done. As for Mephibosheth, he had a place at David's table, like one of the king's sons.

¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. And all the people living in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.

¹³So Mephibosheth went on living in Jerusalem; for he took all his meals at the king's table; and he had not the use of his feet.