2 Samuel 6–8

Chapter 6

Peril in Moving the Ark

^1aNow David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

²And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to ^1aBaale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the ^bName, the very name of the Lord of hosts who ^cis ²enthroned above the cherubim.

³They ¹placed the ark of God on ^aa new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.

⁴So ^athey brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark.

⁵Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel ^awere celebrating before the Lord ^bwith all kinds of instruments made of ¹fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.

⁶But when they came to the ^athreshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah ^breached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it.

⁷And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and ^aGod struck him down there for ¹his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.

⁸David became angry because ¹of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called ²Perez-uzzah to this day.

⁹So ^aDavid was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”

¹⁰And David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of ^aObed-edom the Gittite.

¹¹Thus the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord ^ablessed Obed-edom and all his household.

The Ark Is Brought to Jerusalem

¹²Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.” ^aDavid went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into ^bthe city of David with gladness.

¹³And so it was, that when the ^abearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ^box and a fatling.

¹⁴And ^aDavid was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was ^1bwearing a linen ephod.

¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that ^aMichal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷So they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it ^ain its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and ^bDavid offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹⁸When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offering, ^ahe blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

¹⁹Further, he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house.

²⁰But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! ^aHe uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the ^bfoolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!”

²¹So David said to Michal, “^aIt was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord.

²²“I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.”

²³Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

Chapter 7

David Plans to Build a Temple

^1aNow it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

²that the king said to ^aNathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in ^ba house of cedar, but the ark of God ^cdwells within tent curtains.”

³Nathan said to the king, “^aGo, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,

⁵“Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^aAre you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in?

⁶“For ^aI have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about ^bin a tent, even in a ¹tabernacle.

⁷“^aWherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, ^bwhich I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

God’s Covenant with David

⁸“Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^aI took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^bto be ruler over My people Israel.

⁹“^aI have been with you wherever you have gone and ^bhave cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

¹⁰“I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and ^awill plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, ^bnor will the ¹wicked afflict them any more as formerly,

¹¹even ^afrom the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and ^bI will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that ^cthe Lord will make a house for you.

¹²“^aWhen your days are complete and you ^blie down with your fathers, ^cI will raise up your ¹descendant after you, who will come forth from ²you, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³“^aHe shall build a house for My name, and ^bI will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴“^aI will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^bwhen he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,

¹⁵but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, ^aas I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

¹⁶“^aYour house and your kingdom shall endure before ¹Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁷In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “^aWho am I, O Lord ¹God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

¹⁹“And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, ^afor You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And ^bthis is the ¹custom of man, O Lord God.

²⁰“Again what more can David say to You? For ^aYou know Your servant, O Lord God!

²¹“^aFor the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know.

²²“For this reason ^aYou are great, O Lord God; for ^bthere is none like You, and there is no God besides You, ^caccording to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³“And ^awhat one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and ^bto do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before ^cYour people whom ^dYou have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods?

²⁴“For ^aYou have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^bYou, O Lord, have become their God.

²⁵“Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken,

^26athat Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You.

²⁷“For You, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have ¹made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘^aI will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found ²courage to pray this prayer to You.

²⁸“Now, O Lord God, You are God, and ^aYour words are truth, and You have ¹promised this good thing to Your servant.

²⁹“Now 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 ^awith Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

Chapter 8

David’s Triumphs

^1aNow after this it came about that David ¹defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ²control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2aHe ¹defeated ^bMoab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^cthe Moabites became servants to David, ^dbringing tribute.

³Then David ¹defeated ^aHadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^bhe went to restore his ²rule at the ³River.

⁴David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^ahamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots.

⁵When ^athe Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ¹killed 22,000 Arameans.

⁶Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^athe Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^bthe Lord helped David wherever he went.

⁷David took the shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸From ¹Betah and from ^aBerothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹Now when Toi king of ^aHamath heard that David had ¹defeated all the army of Hadadezer,

¹⁰Toi sent ¹Joram his son to King David to ²greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ³defeated him; for Hadadezer ⁴had been at war with Toi. And ⁵Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.

¹¹King David also ^adedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued:

¹²from ¹Aram and ^aMoab and ^bthe sons of Ammon and ^cthe Philistines and ^dAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³So ^a…