David Reigns over All Israel^(A)

5 Then all the tribes of Israel ^(B)came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Indeed ^(C)we are your bone and your flesh. ² Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, ^(D)you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ^(E)‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ ” ^3 (F)Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, ^(G)and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron ^(H)before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴ David was ^(I)thirty years old when he began to reign, and ^(J)he reigned forty years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah ^(K)seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

The Conquest of Jerusalem^(L)

^6 (M)And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against ^(N)the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you,” thinking, “David cannot come in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion ^(O)(that is, the City of David).

⁸ Now David said on that day, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul), ^(P)he shall be chief and captain.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”

⁹ Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it ^(Q)the City of David. And David built all around from ^[a]the Millo and inward. ¹⁰ So David went on and became great, and ^(R)the Lord God of hosts was with ^(S)him.

¹¹ Then ^(T)Hiram ^(U)king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons. And they built David a house. ¹² So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had ^(V)exalted His kingdom ^(W)for the sake of His people Israel.

¹³ And ^(X)David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ Now ^(Y)these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: ^[b]Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, ^(Z)Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, ^[c]Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

The Philistines Defeated^(AA)

^17 (AB)Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it ^(AC)and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in ^(AD)the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ So David ^(AE)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

²⁰ So David went to ^(AF)Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place ^[d]Baal Perazim. ²¹ And they left their ^[e]images there, and David and his men ^(AG)carried them away.

^22 (AH)Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ Therefore ^(AI)David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. ²⁴ And it shall be, when you ^(AJ)hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then ^(AK)the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” ²⁵ And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from ^(AL)Geba^[f] as far as ^(AM)Gezer.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(AN)

6 Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And ^(AO)David arose and went with all the people who were with him from ^[g]Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called ^[h]by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, ^(AP)who dwells between the cherubim. ³ So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on ^(AQ)the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new ^[i]cart. ⁴ And they brought it out of ^(AR)the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. ⁵ Then David and all the house of Israel ^(AS)played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

⁶ And when they came to ^(AT)Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his ^(AU)hand to the ark of God and ^[j]took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his ^[k]error; and he died there by the ark of God. ⁸ And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place ^[l]Perez Uzzah to this day.

^9 (AV)David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the ^(AW)City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the ^(AX)Gittite. ^11 (AY)The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord ^(AZ)blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

¹² Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” ^(BA)So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. ¹³ And so it was, when ^(BB)those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed ^(BC)oxen and fatted sheep. ¹⁴ Then David ^(BD)danced^[m] before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing ^(BE)a linen ephod. ^15 (BF)So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶ Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, ^(BG)Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ So ^(BH)they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in ^(BI)its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David ^(BJ)offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, ^(BK)he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ^19 (BL)Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.

^20 (BM)Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, ^(BN)uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the ^(BO)base fellows ^[n]shamelessly uncovers himself!”

²¹ So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, ^(BP)who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the ^(BQ)people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. ²² And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

²³ Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children ^(BR)to the day of her death.

Joy in the Fellowship of God

A Psalm of David ^(A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda

5 After ^(A)this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus ^(B)went up to Jerusalem. ² Now there is in Jerusalem ^(C)by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, ^[a]Bethesda, having five porches. ³ In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, ^[b]paralyzed, ^[c]waiting for the moving of the water. ⁴ For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. ⁵ Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

⁸ Jesus said to him, ^(D)“Rise, take up your bed and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And ^(E)that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; ^(F)it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

¹¹ He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

¹² Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ But the one who was ^(G)healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. ^(H)Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

¹⁵ The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Honor the Father and the Son

¹⁶ For this reason the Jews ^(I)persecuted Jesus, ^[d]and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, ^(J)“My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

¹⁸ Therefore the Jews ^(K)sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, ^(L)making Himself equal with God. ¹⁹ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(M)the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. ²⁰ For ^(N)the Father loves the Son, and ^(O)shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, ^(P)even so the Son gives life to whom He will. ²² For the Father judges no one, but ^(Q)has committed all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. ^(R)He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.