1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

⁴ I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge – ⁶ God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

A church divided over leaders

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: one of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas^[b]’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’

¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptised in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptised the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptised anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel – not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

³⁷ David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements. ³⁸ He also left Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were gatekeepers.

³⁹ David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon ⁴⁰ to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law of the Lord, which he had given Israel. ⁴¹ With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, ‘for his love endures for ever.’ ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

⁴³ Then all the people left, each for their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.

God’s promise to David

17 After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.’

² Nathan replied to David, ‘Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.’

³ But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:

⁴ ‘Go and tell my servant David, “This is what the Lord says: you are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. ⁵ I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling-place to another. ⁶ Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders^[a] whom I commanded to shepherd my people, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”

⁷ ‘Now then, tell my servant David, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth. ⁹ And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them any more, as they did at the beginning ¹⁰ and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.

‘“I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: ¹¹ when your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne for ever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. ¹⁴ I will set him over my house and my kingdom for ever; his throne will be established for ever.”’

¹⁵ Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

David’s prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:

‘Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁷ And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.

¹⁸ ‘What more can David say to you for honouring your servant? For you know your servant, ¹⁹ Lord. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises.

²⁰ ‘There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. ²¹ And who is like your people Israel – the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? ²² You made your people Israel your very own for ever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

²³ ‘And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established for ever. Do as you promised, ²⁴ so that it will be established and that your name will be great for ever. Then people will say, “The Lord Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!” And the house of your servant David will be established before you.

²⁵ ‘You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. ²⁶ You, Lord, are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. ²⁷ Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue for ever in your sight; for you, Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed for ever.’

David’s victories

18 In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its surrounding villages from the control of the Philistines.

² David also defeated the Moabites, and they became subject to him and brought him tribute.

³ Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, in the vicinity of Hamath, when he went to set up his monument at^[b] the River Euphrates. ⁴ David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

⁵ When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. ⁶ He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought him tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

⁷ David took the gold shields carried by the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ From Tebah^[c] and Kun, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, David took a great quantity of bronze, which Solomon used to make the bronze Sea, the pillars and various bronze articles.

⁹ When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent his son Hadoram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold, of silver and of bronze.

¹¹ King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold he had taken from all these nations: Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

David’s officials

¹⁴ David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. ¹⁵ Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek^[d] son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief officials at the king’s side.