2 Samuel 5:17-6:11

New King James Version

The Philistines Defeated^(A)

^17 (B)Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it ^(C)and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in ^(D)the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ So David ^(E)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

²⁰ So David went to ^(F)Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place ^[a]Baal Perazim. ²¹ And they left their ^[b]images there, and David and his men ^(G)carried them away.

^22 (H)Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ Therefore ^(I)David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. ²⁴ And it shall be, when you ^(J)hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then ^(K)the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” ²⁵ And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from ^(L)Geba^[c] as far as ^(M)Gezer.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(N)

6 Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And ^(O)David arose and went with all the people who were with him from ^[d]Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called ^[e]by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, ^(P)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 ^(Q)the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new ^[f]cart. ⁴ And they brought it out of ^(R)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 ^(S)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 ^(T)Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his ^(U)hand to the ark of God and ^[g]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 ^[h]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 ^[i]Perez Uzzah to this day.

^9 (V)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 ^(W)City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the ^(X)Gittite. ^11 (Y)The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord ^(Z)blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.