2 Samuel 5–7

DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL

5All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron^a and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{Bb 2}Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back.^c The Lord also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them^d at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he began his reign;^e he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites^f who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David, “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

⁷Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.^{g 8}He said that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who are despised by David.”^A For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”^B

⁹David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward. ¹⁰David became more and more powerful,^h and the Lord God of Armies was with him.^{i 11}King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons,^j and they built a palace for David. ¹²Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴These are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,^k Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.^l

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel,^m they all went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.^{n 18}So the Philistines came and spread out in Rephaim Valley.

¹⁹Then David inquired of the Lord:^o “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated them there and said, “Like a bursting flood, the Lord has burst out against my enemies before me.”^p Therefore, he named that place The Lord Bursts Out. ²¹The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

²²The Philistines came up again and spread out in Rephaim Valley. ²³So David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle around behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”^{q 25}So David did exactly as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

DAVID MOVES THE ARK

6David again assembled all the fit young men in Israel:^r thirty thousand. ²He and all his troops set out^s to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah. The ark bears the Name, the name of the Lord of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.^{t 3}They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio,^E sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart^{u 4}and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark. ⁵David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums,^B and cymbals.^v

⁶When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah,^w and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence,^x and he died there next to the ark of God. ⁸David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is today. ⁹David feared the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰So he was not willing to bring the ark of the Lord to the city of David;^a instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. ¹¹The ark of the Lord remained in his house three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom^b and his whole family.

¹²It was reported to King David, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.^{c 13}When those carrying the ark of the Lord advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.^{d 14}David was dancing^D with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod.^{e 15}He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the trumpet. ¹⁶As the ark of the Lord was entering the city of David,^f Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it.^g Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁸When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁹Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women.^h Then all the people went home.

²⁰When David returned home to bless his household,ⁱ Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

²¹David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel.^j I will dance before the Lord, ²²and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more.^EF However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.” ²³And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

THE LORD’S COVENANT WITH DAVID

7When the king had settled into his palace^k and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, ²the king said to the prophet Nathan,^l “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”^m

³So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵“Go to my servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build me a house to dwell in?^{n 6}From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not dwelt in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as my dwelling.^{o 7}In all my journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever spoken a word to one of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, asking: Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?’

⁸“So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel.^{p 9}I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name^q for you like that of the greatest on the earth.^{r 10}I will designate a place^s for my people Israel and plant them,^t so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done ¹¹ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel.^u I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. ¹²When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.^{v 13}He is the one who will build a house for my name,^w and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.^{x 14}I will be his father, and he will be my son.^y When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. ¹⁵But my faithful love will never leave him^z as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.^{a 16}Your house and kingdom will endure before me^A forever,^b and your throne will be established forever.’ ”^c

¹⁷Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.

DAVID’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

¹⁸Then King David went in,^d sat in the Lord’s presence, and said,

Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹What you have done so far^B was a little thing to you, Lord God, for you have also spoken about your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation^C for mankind, Lord God. ²⁰What more can David say to you? You know your servant,^e Lord God. ²¹Because of your word and according to your will, you have revealed all these great things to your servant.

²²This is why you are great,^f Lord God. There is no one like you, and there is no God besides you,^g as all we have heard confirms. ²³And who is like your people Israel? God came to one nation on earth in order to redeem a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to perform for them^A great and awesome acts,^B driving out nations and their gods before your people you redeemed for yourself from Egypt.^{h 24}You established your people Israel to be your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.ⁱ

^25 …