A Tent for the Ark

16 And they brought in the ark of God and ^(A)placed 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 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both men and women, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.

⁴ He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: ⁵ Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then ^[a]Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, and lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, ⁶ and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷ Then on that day David ^(B)first assigned ^[b]Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

Psalm of Thanksgiving

Then all the people ^(AA)said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

Worship before the Ark

³⁷ So he left Asaph and his relatives there ^(AB)before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to minister before the ark continually, ^(AC)as every day’s work required, ³⁸ and ^(AD)Obed-edom with ^[m]his sixty-eight relatives; Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and ^(AE)Hosah as gatekeepers. ³⁹ He left ^(AF)Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests ^(AG)before the ^[n]tabernacle 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, ^(AH)even according to everything that is written in the Law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel. ⁴¹ With them were ^(AI)Heman and Jeduthun, and ^(AJ)the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to ^(AK)give thanks to the Lord, because His ^[o]kindness is everlasting. ⁴² And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who were to play them, and with instruments for ^(AL)the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

^43 (AM)Then all the people departed, each to his house; and David returned to bless his household.

God’s Covenant with David

17 ^(AN)And it came about, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living 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 whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ But it happened that same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell David My servant, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(AO)You 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, ^(AP)but I have ^[p]gone 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 ^(AQ)with 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, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “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 eliminated all your enemies from you; and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them there, so that they may live in their own place and not tremble with anxiety again; and the ^[q]wicked will not make them waste away anymore as they did previously, 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 ^[r]go to be with your fathers, then I will set up one of your ^[s]descendants after you, who will be from your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. ^13 (AR)I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My favor away from him, ^(AS)as 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 will be established forever.”’” ¹⁵ According to all these words and according to all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer in Response

¹⁶ Then King David came in and sat before the Lord, and said, “^(AT)Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷ This was a small thing in Your eyes, God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have viewed me according to the standard of a person of high degree, Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant. ¹⁹ Lord, ^(AU)for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰ Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to everything that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for You a name by great and awesome things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? ^22 (AV)For You have made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, became their God.

²³ “Now, Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do just as You have spoken. ²⁴ Let Your name be established and be great forever, saying, ‘The Lord of armies is the God of Israel, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’ ²⁵ For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. ²⁶ Now, Lord, You are God, and have ^[t]promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁷ And now You have decided to bless the house of Your servant, that it may ^[u]continue forever before You; for You, Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

David’s Kingdom Strengthened

18 Now after this ^(AW)it came about that David ^[v]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² And 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 ^[w]rule to the river Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and David hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

⁵ When the Arameans of ^[x]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(AX)of Zobah, David ^[y]killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of ^[z]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold which were ^[aa]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[ab]Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which ^(AY)Solomon made the bronze ^[ac]Sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹ Now when ^[ad]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[ae]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[af]Hadoram his son to King David to ^[ag]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had ^[ah]defeated 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 ^[ai]defeated eighteen thousand 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 ^[aj]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^15 (AZ)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary; 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.

²⁸ Then Jesus cried out in the temple, ^(A)teaching and saying, “^(B)You both know Me and you know where I am from; and ^(C)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ^29 (D)I do know Him, because ^(E)I am from Him, and ^(F)He sent Me.” ³⁰ So they ^(G)were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His ^(H)hour had not yet come. ³¹ But ^(I)many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “^(J)When the ^[a]Christ comes, He will not perform more ^[b](K)signs than those which this man has done, will He?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent ^(L)officers to ^(M)arrest Him. ³³ Therefore Jesus said, “^(N)For a little while longer I am going to be with you, and then ^(O)I am going to Him who sent Me. ^34 (P)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ^35 (Q)The Jews then said to one another, “^(R)Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He does not intend to go to ^(S)the Dispersion among ^(T)the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, does He? ³⁶ What is this statement that He said, ‘^(U)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ Now on ^(V)the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “^(W)If anyone is thirsty, ^[c]let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ The one who believes in Me, ^(X)as the Scripture said, ‘^[d]From his innermost being will flow rivers of ^(Y)living water.’” ³⁹ But this He said ^(Z)in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for ^(AA)the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet ^(AB)glorified.

People’s Division over Jesus

⁴⁰ Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is ^(AC)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others were saying, “This is the ^[e]Christ.” But others were saying, “^(AD)Surely the ^[f]Christ is not coming from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from ^(AE)the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So ^(AF)a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴ And ^(AG)some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The ^(AH)officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The ^(AI)officers answered, “^(AJ)Never has a man spoken in this way!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then replied to them, “^(AK)You have not been led astray too, have you? ^48 (AL)Not one of ^(AM)the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” ^50 (AN)Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them, ⁵¹ “^(AO)Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered and said to him, “^(AP)You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³ [[^[g]And everyone went to his home.