God’s Covenant with David^(A)

17 Now ^(B)it 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 ^(C)not 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 ^(D)from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ^[a]ruler 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 ^[b]made 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 ^(E)plant 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 ^[c]house. ¹¹ And it shall be, when your days are ^(F)fulfilled, when you must ^[d]go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your ^(G)seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ^12 (H)He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. ^13 (I)I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, ^(J)as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ And ^(K)I 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 (L)Then 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 (M)And 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, ^[e]have 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, ^[f]You 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^(N)

18 After this ^(O)it came to pass that David ^[g]attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² Then he ^[h]defeated ^(P)Moab, and the Moabites became David’s ^(Q)servants, and brought tribute.

³ And ^(R)David ^[i]defeated ^[j]Hadadezer 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, ^[k]seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David ^[l]hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

⁵ When the ^(S)Syrians 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 ^[m]Tibhath and from ^[n]Chun, cities of ^[o]Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of ^(T)bronze, with which ^(U)Solomon made the bronze ^[p]Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.

⁹ Now when ^[q]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[r]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[s]Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ^[t]defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram brought with him all kinds of ^(V)articles 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 ^(W)people of Ammon, from the ^(X)Philistines, and from ^(Y)Amalek.

¹² Moreover ^(Z)Abishai the son of Zeruiah killed ^(AA)eighteen thousand ^[u]Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ^13 (AB)He also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration^(AC)

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 ^[v]Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; ^[w]Shavsha was the scribe; ^17 (AD)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[x]chief ministers at the king’s side.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and ^(A)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and ^(B)made great lamentation over him.

³ As for Saul, ^(C)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore ^(D)those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Then ^(E)Philip went down to ^[a]the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For ^(F)unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And there was great joy in that city.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(G)practiced ^[b]sorcery in the city and ^(H)astonished the ^[c]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[d]sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things ^(I)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

The Sorcerer’s Sin

¹⁴ Now when the ^(J)apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them ^(K)that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For ^(L)as yet He had fallen upon none of them. ^(M)They had only been baptized in ^(N)the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(O)they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because ^(P)you thought that ^(Q)the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your ^(R)heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God ^(S)if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^(T)poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, ^(U)“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵ So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.