God’s Covenant with David

7 Now when the king dwelt in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about, ² the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” ³ And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? ⁶ I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. ⁷ In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges^[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ ⁸ 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, that you should be prince over my people Israel; ⁹ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, ¹¹ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. ¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men; ¹⁵ but I will not take^[b] my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. ¹⁶ And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.’” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O Lord God; thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations,^[c] O Lord God! ²⁰ And what more can David say to thee? For thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God! ²¹ Because of thy promise, and according to thy own heart, thou hast wrought all this greatness, to make thy servant know it. ²² Therefore thou art great, O Lord God; for there is none like thee, and there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ What other^[d] nation on earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name, and doing for them^[e] great and terrible things, by driving out^[f] before his people a nation and its gods?^{[g] 24} And thou didst establish for thyself thy people Israel to be thy people for ever; and thou, O Lord, didst become their God. ²⁵ And now, O Lord God, confirm for ever the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house, and do as thou hast spoken; ²⁶ and thy name will be magnified for ever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of thy servant David will be established before thee. ²⁷ For thou, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hast made this revelation to thy servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore thy servant has found courage to pray this prayer to thee. ²⁸ And now, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this good thing to thy servant; ²⁹ now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken, and with thy blessing shall the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.”

David’s Wars

8 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Meth′eg-am′mah out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he defeated Moab, and measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground; two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadade′zer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphra′tes. ⁴ And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for a hundred chariots. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadade′zer king of Zobah, David slew twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadade′zer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Betah and from Bero′thai, cities of Hadade′zer, King David took very much bronze.

⁹ When To′i king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadade′zer, ¹⁰ To′i sent his son Joram to King David, to greet him, and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadade′zer and defeated him; for Hadade′zer had often been at war with To′i. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze; ¹¹ these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, ¹² from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Am′alek, and from the spoil of Hadade′zer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ And David won a name for himself. When he returned, he slew eighteen thousand E′domites^[a] in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the E′domites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Officers

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁶ And Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah was over the army; and Jehosh′aphat the son of Ahi′lud was recorder; ¹⁷ and Zadok the son of Ahi′tub and Ahim′elech the son of Abi′athar were priests; and Serai′ah was secretary; ¹⁸ and Benai′ah the son of Jehoi′ada was over^[b] the Cher′ethites and the Pel′ethites; and David’s sons were priests.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, ³⁴ and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii^[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; ⁴² one thing is needful.^[b] Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”