Regular Worship Maintained

37 So he left wAsaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work xrequired; 38 and yObed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers; 39 and Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests, zbefore the tabernacle of the Lord aat the 2high place that was at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly bmorning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel; 41 and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, cbecause His mercy endures forever; 42 and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.

43 dThen all the people departed, every man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.

God’s Covenant with David

17 Now ait came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.”

2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

3 But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall bnot build Me a house to dwell in. 5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. 6 Wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 7 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I took you cfrom the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be 1ruler over My people Israel. 8 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have 2made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 9 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will dplant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 10 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the Lord will build you a 3house. 11 And it shall be, when your days are efulfilled, when you must 4go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your fseed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 gHe shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 hI will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, ias I took it from him who was before you. 14 And jI will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

16 kThen King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 17 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O Lord God. 18 What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 lAnd who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.

23 “And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said. 24 So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 25 For You, O my God, 5have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You. 26 And now, Lord, 6You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant. 27 Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.”

David’s Further Conquests

18 After this ait came to pass that David 1attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. 2 Then he 2defeated bMoab, and the Moabites became David’s cservants, and brought tribute.

3 And dDavid 3defeated 4Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his power by the River Euphrates. 4 David took from him one thousand chariots, 5seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David 6hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

5 When the eSyrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So the Lord preserved David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 Also from 7Tibhath and from 8Chun, cities of 9Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of fbronze, with which gSolomon made the bronze 1Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.

9 Now when 2Tou king of Hamath heard that David had 3defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 10 he sent 4Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and 5defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram brought with him all kinds of harticles of gold, silver, and bronze. 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had brought from all these nations—from Edom, from Moab, from the ipeople of Ammon, from the jPhilistines, and from kAmalek.

12 Moreover lAbishai the son of Zeruiah killed meighteen thousand 6Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 nHe also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

14 So David reigned over all Israel, and administered judgment and justice to all his people. 15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16 Zadok the son of Ahitub and 7Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; 8Shavsha was the scribe; 17 oBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were 9chief ministers at the king’s side.

The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated

19 It ahappened after this that Nahash the king of the people of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place. 2 Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him.

3 And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, 1“Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

4 Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments 2in the middle, at their bbuttocks, and sent them away. 5 Then some went and told David about the men; and he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”

6 When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the people of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from 3Mesopotamia, from Syrian Maacah, cand from 4Zobah. 7 So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, with the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. Also the people of Ammon gathered together from their cities, and came to battle.

8 Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. 9 Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

10 When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best, and put them in battle array against the Syrians. 11 And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in battle array against the people of Ammon. 12 Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

14 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 15 When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai his brother, and entered the city. So Joab …