Chapter 16

A Tent for the Ark

1 And they brought in the ark of God and aplaced it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

3 He distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake.

4 He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel:

5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then 1Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals,

6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

7 Then on that day David afirst assigned 1Asaph and his 2relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

Psalm of Thanksgiving

8 aOh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;

bMake known His deeds among the peoples.

9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;

1Speak of all His 2wonders.

10 1Glory in His holy name;

Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

11 aSeek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually.

12 aRemember His wonderful deeds which He has done,

bHis marvels and the judgments from His mouth,

13 O seed of Israel His servant,

Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;

aHis judgments are in all the earth.

15 Remember His covenant forever,

The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,

16 aThe covenant which He made with Abraham,

And His oath to Isaac.

17 aHe also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,

To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

18 Saying, “aTo you I will give the land of Canaan,

As the portion of your inheritance.”

19 aWhen they were only a few in number,

Very few, and strangers in it,

20 And they wandered about from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people,

21 He permitted no man to oppress them,

And aHe reproved kings for their sakes, saying,

22 “Do not touch My anointed ones,

And ado My prophets no harm.”

23 aSing to the Lord, all the earth;

Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

24 Tell of His glory among the nations,

His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

25 For agreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

He also is bto be feared above all gods.

26 For all the gods of the peoples are 1aidols,

bBut the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before Him,

Strength and joy are in His place.

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an 1offering, and come before Him;

aWorship the Lord in 2holy array.

30 Tremble before Him, all the earth;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

31 aLet the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

And let them say among the nations, “bThe Lord reigns.”

32 aLet the sea 1roar, and 2all it contains;

Let the field exult, and all that is in it.

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord;

For He is coming to judge the earth.

34 aO give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

35 aThen say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us and deliver us from the nations,

To give thanks to Your holy name,

And 1glory in Your praise.”

36 aBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

From everlasting even to everlasting.

Then all the people bsaid, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

Worship before the Ark

37 So he left Asaph and his 1relatives there abefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark continually, bas every day’s work required;

38 and aObed-edom with 1his 68 relatives; Obed-edom, also the son of Jeduthun, and bHosah as gatekeepers.

39 He left aZadok the priest and his 1relatives the priests bbefore the 2tabernacle of the Lord in the high place which was at Gibeon,

40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, aeven according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel.

41 With them were aHeman and Jeduthun, and bthe rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to cgive thanks to the Lord, because His lovingkindness is everlasting.

42 And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for athe songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

43 aThen all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household.

Chapter 17

God’s Covenant with David

1 aAnd it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.”

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

3 It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

4 “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “aYou shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;

5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, abut I have 1gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another.

6 “In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word awith any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for 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 from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.

8 “I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.

9 “I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the 1wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly,

10 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.

Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you.

11 “When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your 1descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

12 “He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

13 “aI will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, bas I took it from him who was before you.

14 “But I will settle 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.

David’s Prayer in Response

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

17 “This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree, O Lord God.

18 “What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant.

19 “O Lord, afor Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have wrought all this greatness, to make 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 “And what one nation in the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make You a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed out of Egypt?

22 “aFor Your people Israel You made Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, became their God.

23 “Now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as You have spoken.

24 “Let Your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel; and the house of David Your servant is established before You.’

25 “For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build for him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You.

26 “Now, O Lord, You are God, and have 1promised this good thing to Your servant.

27 “And now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may 1continue forever before You; for You, O Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

Chapter 18

David’s Kingdom Strengthened

1 Now after this ait came about that David 1defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.

2 He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his 1rule to the Euphrates River.

4 David took from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots.

5 When the Arameans of 1Damascus came to help Hadadezer king aof Zobah, David 2killed 22,000 men of the Arameans.

6 Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of 1Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

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

8 Also from 1Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which aSolomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

9 Now when 1Tou king of Hamath heard that David had 2defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,

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

11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah 1defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

13 Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.

14 So David reigned over all Israel; and he 1administered justice and righteousness for all his people.

15 aJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

16 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary;

17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.