David’s Kingdom Grows^(A)

14 Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David. He also sent cedar logs, bricklayers, and carpenters to build a ·palace [^Lhouse] for David. ² Then David ·knew [understood; realized] that the Lord really had ·made [confirmed; established] him king of Israel and that he had made his kingdom ·great [highly exalted]. The Lord did this ·because he loved [for the sake of] his people Israel.

³ David ·married more women [took more wives] in Jerusalem and ·had [fathered] more sons and daughters. ⁴ These are the names of David’s children born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

⁸ When the Philistines heard that David had been ·made [anointed] king of all Israel, they went ·to look [in full force to search] for him. But David heard about it and went out ·to fight [against] them. ⁹ The Philistines had ·attacked and robbed the people in [raided] the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁰ David ·asked [inquired of; ^Cperhaps by means of the Urim and Thummim; Ex. 28:30] God, “Should I go ·and attack [against] the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, I will hand them over to you.”

¹¹ So David and his men went up to the town of Baal Perazim and defeated the Philistines. David said, “Like a flood of water, God has used me to break through my enemies.” So that place was named Baal Perazim [^C“Lord who bursts through”]. ¹² The Philistines had ·left [abandoned] their idols there, so David ordered his men to burn them.

¹³ Soon the Philistines ·attacked the people in [raided] the valley again. ¹⁴ David ·prayed to [inquired of] God again [v. 10], and God answered him, saying, “Don’t attack the Philistines ·from the front [straight on; directly]. Instead, ·go [circle] around them and attack them ·in front of the balsam [or near the poplar] trees. ¹⁵ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the ·balsam [or poplar] trees, then attack. I, God, will have gone out before you to ·defeat [strike down] the Philistine army.” ¹⁶ David did as God commanded, and he and his men ·defeated [struck down] the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

¹⁷ So David became famous in ·all the countries [every land], and the Lord made all nations afraid of him.

David Consolidates His Kingdom^(A)

¹¹ Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and ·stonecutters [stonemasons]. They built a ·palace [^Lhouse] for David. ¹² Then David ·knew [realized] that the Lord really had ·made [confirmed; established] him king ·of [over] Israel and that the Lord had ·made his kingdom great [blessed/exalted his kingdom] ·because the Lord loved [for the sake of] his people Israel.

¹³ After he came from Hebron, David took for himself more ·slave women [concubines; ^Ca secondary wife; 3:7] and wives in Jerusalem. More sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of the sons born to David in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been ·made [anointed] king over Israel, all the Philistines went to ·look for [seek; search for] him. But when David heard the news, he went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ The Philistines ·came [arrived] and ·camped [^Lspread out] in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ David ·asked [consulted; inquired of] the Lord [^Cthrough the Urim and Thummim; Ex. 28:30; 1 Sam. 23:1–6], “Should I ·attack [^Lgo up against] the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

The Lord said to David, “Go [^Lup]! I will ·certainly [surely] hand them over to you.”

²⁰ So David went to Baal Perazim and ·defeated [^Lstruck] the Philistines there. David said, “Like a flood of water, the Lord has broken through my enemies in front of me.” So David named the place Baal Perazim [^C“the Lord breaks through”]. ²¹ The Philistines ·left their idols behind [abandoned their idols] at Baal Perazim, so David and his men carried them away.

²² Once again the Philistines came and ·camped at [^Lspread out in] the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ When David ·prayed to [consulted; inquired of] the Lord, he answered, “Don’t ·attack the Philistines from the front [go up]. Instead, go around and attack them ·in front of [across from; near] the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, ·act quickly [be alert]. I, the Lord, will have gone ahead of you to ·defeat [^Lstrike] the Philistine army.” ²⁵ So David did what the Lord commanded. He ·defeated the Philistines and chased them [^Lstruck the Philistines] all the way from ·Gibeon [Giba] to Gezer.