23 Then the whole assembly of them got up and conducted [Jesus] before Pilate.

² And they began to accuse Him, asserting, We found this ^[a]Man perverting (misleading, corrupting, and turning away) our nation and forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), a King!

³ So Pilate asked Him, Are You the King of the Jews? And He answered him, [^[b]It is just as] you say. [I Am.]

⁴ And Pilate said to the chief priests and the throngs, I find no guilt or crime in this Man.

⁵ But they were urgent and emphatic, saying, He stirs up and excites the people, teaching throughout all Judea—from Galilee, where He began, even to this place.

⁶ Upon hearing this, Pilate asked whether the Man was a Galilean.

⁷ And when he found out [certainly] that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him up to Herod [a higher authority], who was also in Jerusalem in those days.

⁸ Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had eagerly desired to see Him for a long time because of what he had heard concerning Him, and he was hoping to witness some sign (some striking evidence or spectacular performance) done by Him.

⁹ So he asked Him many questions, but He made no reply.^(A)

¹⁰ Meanwhile, the chief priests and the scribes stood by, continuing vehemently and violently to accuse Him.

¹¹ And Herod, with his soldiers, treated Him with contempt and scoffed at and ridiculed Him; then, dressing Him up in bright and gorgeous apparel, he sent Him back to Pilate.^(B)

¹² And that very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other—[though] they had been at enmity before this.

Read full chapter

5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

² In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord told you, You shall feed My people Israel and be prince over [them].^(A)

³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them [there] before the Lord, and they anointed [him] king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began his forty-year reign.

⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶ And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, You shall not enter here, for the blind and the lame will prevent you; they thought, David cannot come in here.

⁷ Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the City of David.

⁸ David said on that day, Whoever smites the Jebusites, let him get up through the water shaft and smite the lame and the blind who are detested by David’s soul. So they say, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

⁹ So David dwelt in the stronghold and called it the City of David. And he built round about from the Millo and inward.

¹⁰ David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him.

¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house.

¹² And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel and that He had exalted his kingdom for His people Israel’s sake.

¹³ And David took more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and other sons and daughters were born to [him].

¹⁴ And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went up to find [him], but [he] heard of it and went down to the stronghold.

¹⁸ The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹ David 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 surely deliver [them] into your hand.

²⁰ And David came to Baal-perazim, and he smote them there, and said, The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like the bursting out of great waters. So he called the name of that place Baal-perazim [Lord of breaking through].

²¹ There the Philistines left their ^[a]images, and David and his men took them away.

²² The Philistines came up again and spread themselves out in the Valley of Rephaim.

²³ When David inquired of the Lord, He said, You shall not go up, but go around behind them and come upon them over opposite the mulberry (or balsam) trees.

²⁴ And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then bestir yourselves, for then has the Lord gone out before you to smite the army of the Philistines.

²⁵ And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.

6 Again David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000.

² And [he] arose and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah [Kiriath-jearim] to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, Who sits enthroned above the cherubim.

³ And they set the ark of God upon a new cart and brought it ^[b]out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

⁴ And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, with the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark.

⁵ And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord with all their might, with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

⁶ And when they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled and shook it.

⁷ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for touching the ark, and he died there by the ark of God.

⁸ David was grieved and offended because the Lord had broken forth upon Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-uzzah [the breaking forth upon Uzzah] to this day.

⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, How can the ark of the Lord come to me?

¹⁰ So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to him into the City of David; but he took it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹¹ And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹² And it was told King David, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom 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 Obed-edom into 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, clad in a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment].

¹⁵ 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 As the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter [David’s wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ 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 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name [and presence] of the Lord of hosts,

¹⁹ And distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, each to his house.

²⁰ Then David returned to bless his household. And [his wife] Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who stripped himself of his kingly robes and uncovered himself in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the worthless fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

²¹ David said to Michal, It was before the Lord, Who chose me above your father and all his house to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord. Therefore will I make merry [in pure enjoyment] before the Lord.

²² I will be still more lightly esteemed than this, and will humble and lower myself in my own sight [and yours]. But by the maids you mentioned, I will be held in honor.

²³ And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.