2 Samuel 6-8

New King James Version

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(A)

6 Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And ^(B)David arose and went with all the people who were with him from ^[a]Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called ^[b]by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, ^(C)who dwells between the cherubim. ³ So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on ^(D)the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new ^[c]cart. ⁴ And they brought it out of ^(E)the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. ⁵ Then David and all the house of Israel ^(F)played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

⁶ And when they came to ^(G)Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his ^(H)hand to the ark of God and ^[d]took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his ^[e]error; and he died there by the ark of God. ⁸ And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place ^[f]Perez Uzzah to this day.

^9 (I)David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the ^(J)City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the ^(K)Gittite. ^11 (L)The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord ^(M)blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

¹² Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” ^(N)So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. ¹³ And so it was, when ^(O)those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed ^(P)oxen and fatted sheep. ¹⁴ Then David ^(Q)danced^[g] before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing ^(R)a linen ephod. ^15 (S)So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶ Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, ^(T)Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ So ^(U)they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in ^(V)its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David ^(W)offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, ^(X)he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ^19 (Y)Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.

^20 (Z)Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, ^(AA)uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the ^(AB)base fellows ^[h]shamelessly uncovers himself!”

²¹ So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, ^(AC)who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the ^(AD)people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. ²² And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

²³ Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children ^(AE)to the day of her death.

God’s Covenant with David^(AF)

7 Now it came to pass ^(AG)when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, ² that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in ^(AH)a house of cedar, ^(AI)but the ark of God dwells inside tent ^(AJ)curtains.”

³ Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your ^(AK)heart, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(AL)“Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? ⁶ For I have not dwelt in a house ^(AM)since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in ^(AN)a tent and in a tabernacle. ⁷ Wherever I have ^(AO)moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded ^(AP)to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ ⁸ Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AQ)“I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. ⁹ And ^(AR)I have been with you wherever you have gone, ^(AS)and have ^[i]cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. ¹⁰ Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will ^(AT)plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; ^(AU)nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, ^11 (AV)since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord ^[j]tells you ^(AW)that He will make you a ^[k]house.

^12 (AX)“When your days are fulfilled and you ^(AY)rest with your fathers, ^(AZ)I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (BA)He shall build a house for My name, and I will ^(BB)establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (BC)I will be his Father, and he shall be ^(BD)My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the ^[l]blows of the sons of men. ¹⁵ But My mercy shall not depart from him, ^(BE)as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ And ^(BF)your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before ^[m]you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁷ According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Thanksgiving to God^(BG)

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said: ^(BH)“Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. ^(BI)Is this the manner of man, O Lord God? ²⁰ Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, ^(BJ)know Your servant. ²¹ For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. ²² Therefore ^(BK)You are great, ^[n]O Lord God. For ^(BL)there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ^(BM)ears. ²³ And who is like Your people, like Israel, ^(BN)the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before ^(BO)Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? ²⁴ For ^(BP)You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; ^(BQ)and You, Lord, have become their God.

²⁵ “Now, O Lord God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said. ²⁶ So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷ For You, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.

²⁸ “And now, O Lord God, You are God, and ^(BR)Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed ^(BS)forever.”

David’s Further Conquests^(BT)

8 After this it came to pass that David ^[o]attacked the Philistines and subdued them. And David took ^[p]Metheg Ammah from the hand of the Philistines.

² Then ^(BU)he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David’s ^(BV)servants, and ^(BW)brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(BX)Zobah, as he went to recover ^(BY)his territory at the River Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him one thousand chariots, ^[q]seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David ^(BZ)hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

^5 (CA)When the 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 ^(CB)the Lord preserved David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took ^(CC)the shields of gold that had belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[r]Betah and from ^(CD)Berothai,^[s] cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze.

⁹ When ^[t]Toi king of ^(CE)Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ then Toi sent ^[u]Joram his son to King David, to ^[v]greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi); and Joram brought with him articles of silver, articles of gold, and articles of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(CF)dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued— ¹² from ^[w]Syria, from Moab, from the people of Ammon, from the ^(CG)Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ And David made himself a ^(CH)name when he returned from killing ^(CI)eighteen thousand ^[x]Syrians in ^(CJ)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(CK)all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration^(CL)

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. ^16 (CM)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; ^(CN)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^17 (CO)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; ^[y]Seraiah was the ^[z]scribe; ^18 (CP)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the ^(CQ)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[aa]chief ministers.