Death of Saul and His Sons

10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.^{(A) 2} The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. ³ The battle pressed hard on Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.^{(B) 5} When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. ⁶ Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. ⁷ When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army^[a] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them.

⁸ The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.^{(C) 11} But when all Jabesh-gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the valiant warriors got up and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord; moreover, he had consulted a medium, seeking guidance,^{(D) 14} and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord^[b] put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.^(E)

David Anointed King of All Israel

11 Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh.^{(A) 2} For some time now, even while Saul was king, it was you who commanded the army of Israel. The Lord your God said to you, ‘It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over my people Israel.’ ”^{(B) 3} So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.^(C)

Jerusalem Captured

⁴ David and all Israel marched to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.^{(D) 5} The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, now the city of David. ⁶ David had said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief.^{(E) 7} David resided in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ He built the city all around, from the Millo in complete circuit, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.^(F)

David’s Mighty Men and Their Exploits

¹⁰ Now these are the chiefs of David’s warriors, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.^{(G) 11} This is an account of David’s mighty warriors: Jashobeam, son of Hachmoni,^[a] was chief of the Three;^[b] he wielded his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.^(H)

¹² And next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo, the Ahohite. ¹³ He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley. Now the people had fled from the Philistines,^{(I) 14} but he and David took their stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines, and the Lord saved them by a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chiefs went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam while the army of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.^{(J) 16} David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the Three broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and they brought it to David. But David would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord ¹⁹ and said, “My God forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15 David^[a] built houses for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.^{(A) 2} Then David commanded that no one but the Levites were to carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.^{(B) 3} David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.^{(C) 4} Then David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with one hundred twenty of his kindred; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with two hundred twenty of his kindred; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with one hundred thirty of his kindred; ⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with two hundred of his kindred;^{(D) 9} of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with eighty of his kindred;^{(E) 10} of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with one hundred twelve of his kindred.

¹¹ David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.^{(F) 12} He said to them, “You are the heads of families of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your kindred, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.^{(G) 13} Because you did not carry it^[b] the first time,^[c] the Lord our God burst out against us because we did not give it proper care.”^{(H) 14} So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.^{(I) 15} And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.^(J)

¹⁶ David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their kindred as singers to raise loud sounds of joy on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals.^{(K) 17} So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his kindred Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their kindred, Ethan son of Kushaiah;^{(L) 18} and with them their kindred of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. ¹⁹ The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals; ²⁰ Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth, ²¹ but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith.^{[d] 22} Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it. ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were to be gatekeepers for the ark.^(M)

²⁵ So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing.^{(N) 26} And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers, and David wore a linen ephod. ²⁸ So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.^(O)

²⁹ As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing, and she despised him in her heart.^(P)

The Ark Placed in the Tent

16 They brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before God.^{(Q) 2} When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord, ³ and he distributed to every person in Israel—man and woman alike—to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,^[e] and a cake of raisins.

⁴ He appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, and second to him was Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,^{(R) 6} and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving

⁷ Then on that day David first appointed the singing of praises to the Lord by Asaph and his kindred.^(S)

³⁵ Say also,

Then all the people said “Amen!” and praised the Lord.^(AJ)

Regular Worship Maintained

³⁷ David^[g] left Asaph and his kinsfolk there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark as each day required,^{(AK) 38} and also Obed-edom and his^[h] sixty-eight kinsfolk, while Obed-edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.^{(AL) 39} And he left the priest Zadok and his kindred the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon,^{(AM) 40} to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the Lord that he commanded Israel.^{(AN) 41} With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to render thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.^{(AO) 42} Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

⁴³ Then all the people departed to their homes, and David went home to bless his household.

God’s Covenant with David

17 Now when David settled in his house, David said to the prophet Nathan, “I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”^{(AP) 2} Nathan said to David, “Do all that you have in mind, for God is with you.”

³ But that same night the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house to live in.^{(AQ) 5} For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought out Israel to this very day, but I have lived in a tent and a tabernacle.^{[i](AR) 6} Wherever I have moved about among all Israel, did I ever speak a word 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?’^{(AS) 7} Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel, ⁸ and I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies before you, and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones of the earth. ⁹ I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and be disturbed no more, and evildoers shall wear them down no more, as they did formerly, ¹⁰ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house.^{(AT) 11} When your days are fulfilled to go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you,^{(AU) 14} but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”^{(AV) 15} In accordance with all these words and all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?^{(AW) 17} And even this was a small thing in your sight, O God; you have also spoken of your servant’s house into the distant future. You regard me as someone of high rank,^[j] O Lord God! ¹⁸ And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? You know your servant. ¹⁹ For your servant’s sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all these great deeds, making known all these great things.^{(AX) 20} There is no one like you, O Lord, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ Who is like your people Israel, one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt? ²² And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.^{(AY) 23} And now, O Lord, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as you have promised. ²⁴ Thus your name will be established and magnified forever in the saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established in your presence.^{(AZ) 25} For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him; therefore your servant has found it possible to pray before you. ²⁶ And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; ²⁷ therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord, have blessed and are blessed^[k] forever.”