The Lord's Covenant with David

7 ^(A)Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord ^(B)had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, ² the king said to ^(C)Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell ^(D)in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells ^(E)in a tent.” ³ And Nathan said to the king, ^(F)“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: ^(G)Would you build me a house to dwell in? ⁶ I have not lived in a house ^(H)since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about ^(I)in a tent for my dwelling. ⁷ In all places where ^(J)I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with ^(K)any of the judges^[a] of Israel, whom I commanded ^(L)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, ^(M)I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince^[b] over my people Israel. ^9 (N)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 ^(O)and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place ^(P)and be disturbed no more. ^(Q)And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, ^11 (R)from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And ^(S)I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that ^(T)the Lord will make you a house. ^12 (U)When your days are fulfilled and ^(V)you lie down with your fathers, ^(W)I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (X)He shall build a house for my name, and ^(Y)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (Z)I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, ^(AA)I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, ^15 (AB)but my steadfast love will not depart from him, ^(AC)as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. ^16 (AD)And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.^{[c] (AE)}Your throne shall be established forever.’” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David's Prayer of Gratitude

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, ^(AF)“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. ^(AG)You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! ²⁰ And what more can David say to you? ^(AH)For you know your servant, O Lord God! ²¹ Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. ^22 (AI)Therefore you are great, O Lord God. ^(AJ)For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ^23 (AK)And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name ^(AL)and doing for them^[d] great and awesome things by driving out before your people,^[e] whom ^(AM)you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? ^24 (AN)And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. ²⁵ And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. ²⁶ And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁷ For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ And now, O Lord God, you are God, and ^(AO)your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, ^(AP)and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

David's Victories

8 ^(AQ)After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took ^(AR)Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (AS)And he defeated Moab and he 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 ^(AT)became servants to David and ^(AU)brought tribute.

³ David also defeated ^(AV)Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(AW)Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. ^4 (AX)And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David ^(AY)hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. ^5 (AZ)And when the ^(BA)Syrians of Damascus came to help ^(BB)Hadadezer king of ^(BC)Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians ^(BD)became servants to David and brought tribute. ^(BE)And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took ^(BF)the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

⁹ When Toi king of ^(BG)Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ^11 (BH)These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, ¹² from Edom, ^(BI)Moab, ^(BJ)the Ammonites, ^(BK)the Philistines, ^(BL)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(BM)Zobah.

¹³ And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^(BN)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, ^(BO)and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Officials

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. ^16 (BP)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^(BQ)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, ¹⁷ and ^(BR)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and ^(BS)Seraiah was secretary, ¹⁸ and ^(BT)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over^[f] the ^(BU)Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.

Jesus Before Pilate

23 ^(A)Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. ² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^(B)misleading our nation and ^(C)forbidding us to give tribute to ^(D)Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^(E)a king.” ^3 (F)And Pilate asked him, ^(G)“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ^(H)“You have said so.” ⁴ Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ^(I)“I find no guilt in this man.” ⁵ But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, ^(J)from Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

⁶ When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that he belonged to ^(K)Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, ^(L)for he had long desired to see him, ^(M)because he had heard about him, and he was hoping ^(N)to see some sign done by him. ⁹ So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ And Herod with his soldiers ^(O)treated him with contempt and ^(P)mocked him. Then, ^(Q)arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹² And ^(R)Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(S)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(T)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(U)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(V)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for ^(W)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16 (X)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18 (Y)But they all cried out together, ^(Z)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(AA)for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? ^(AB)What evil has he done? ^(AC)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(AD)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(AE)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(AF)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. A ^(B)Miktam^[a] of David, ^(C)when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.