2 Samuel 6-7

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Ba′ale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. ³ And they carried the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abin′adab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahi′o,^[a] the sons of Abin′adab, were driving the new cart^{[b] 4} with the ark of God; and Ahi′o^[c] went before the ark. ⁵ And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the Lord with all their might, with songs^[d] and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

⁶ And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark;^[e] and he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ And David was angry because the Lord had broken forth upon Uzzah; and that place is called Pe′rez-uz′zah,^[f] to this day. ⁹ And David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David; but David took it aside to the house of O′bed-e′dom the Gittite. ¹¹ And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of O′bed-e′dom the Gittite three months; and the Lord blessed O′bed-e′dom and all his household.

¹² And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of O′bed-e′dom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of O′bed-e′dom to the city of David with rejoicing; ¹³ and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. ¹⁴ And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, ¹⁹ and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat,^[g] and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house.

²⁰ And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” ²¹ And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will make merry before the Lord. ²² I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your^[h] eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” ²³ And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

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^[i] 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^[j] 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,^[k] 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^[l] 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^[m] great and terrible things, by driving out^[n] before his people a nation and its gods?^{[o] 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.”^[p]