You Will Not Abandon My Soul

A ^(A)Miktam^[a] of David.

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

^6 (A)And the king and his men went to Jerusalem ^(B)against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, ^(C)that is, the city of David. ⁸ And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David's soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” ⁹ And David lived in the stronghold and called it ^(D)the city of David. And David built the city all around from the ^(E)Millo inward. ¹⁰ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.

^11 (F)And ^(G)Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house. ¹² And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

David Defeats the Philistines

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down ^(A)to the stronghold. ¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread out in ^(B)the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ And David ^(C)inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” ²⁰ And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” ^(D)Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.^{[a] 21} And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

²² And the Philistines came up yet again ^(E)and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ^23 (F)And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ And ^(G)when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, ^(H)for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵ And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba ^(I)to Gezer.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

6 ^(A)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 ^(B)Baale-judah ^(C)to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts ^(D)who sits enthroned on the cherubim. ³ And they carried the ark of God ^(E)on a new cart and brought it ^(F)out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio,^[a] the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, ⁴ with the ark of God,^[b] and Ahio went before the ark.

Uzzah and the Ark

⁵ And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with ^(G)songs^[c] and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. ⁶ And when they came to the threshing floor of ^(H)Nacon, Uzzah ^(I)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 ^(J)God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah^[d] 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 ^(K)to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, ^(L)and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹³ And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the ^(A)cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped ^(B)in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then ^(C)in the stronghold, and ^(D)the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁶ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord ¹⁷ and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink ^(E)the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

David Takes Jerusalem

⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, ^(A)that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, ^(B)the inhabitants of the land. ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁶ David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first ^(C)shall be chief and commander.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief. ⁷ And David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ And he built the city all around from the Millo in complete circuit, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ And David ^(D)became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the ^(A)Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, and the ^(B)garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord ¹⁹ and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

¹³ He was with David at Pas-dammim ^(A)when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley, and the men fled from the Philistines.