16 They put the sacred chest inside the tent that David had set up for it, then they offered sacrifices to please the Lord^[a] and sacrifices to ask his blessing.^{[b] 2} After David had finished, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord ³ and gave every person in the crowd a small loaf of bread, some meat, and a handful of raisins.

⁴ David appointed some of the Levites to serve at the sacred chest; they were to play music and sing praises to the Lord God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was their leader, and Zechariah was his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and another man named Jeiel were appointed to play small harps and stringed instruments. Asaph himself played the cymbals, ⁶ and the two priests Benaiah and Jahaziel were to blow trumpets every day in front of the sacred chest.

David's Song of Praise

(Psalms 105.1-15; 96.1-13; 106.1,47,48)

⁷ That same day, David instructed Asaph and his relatives for the first time to sing these praises to the Lord:

After David finished, the people shouted, “Amen! Praise the Lord!”

David Appoints Worship Leaders at Jerusalem and Gibeon

³⁷ David chose Asaph and the Levites in his clan to be in charge of the daily worship at the place where the sacred chest was kept. ³⁸ Obed-Edom and 68 of his relatives were their assistants, and Hosah and Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun were the guards.

³⁹ David also chose Zadok the priest and his relatives who were priests to serve at the Lord's sacred tent at Gibeon. ⁴⁰ They were to offer sacrifices on the altar every morning and evening, just as the Lord had commanded in the Law he gave Israel. ^41 (D) Heman and Jeduthun were their assistants, as well as the other men who had been chosen to praise the Lord for his never-ending love. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun were also responsible for blowing the trumpets, and for playing the cymbals and other instruments during worship at the tent. The Levites in Jeduthun's clan were the guards at Gibeon.

^43 (E) After that, everyone went home, and David went home to his family.

The Lord's Message to David

(2 Samuel 7.1-17)

17 Soon after David moved into his new palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest is kept in a tent.”

² Nathan replied, “The Lord is with you—do what you want.”

³ That night, the Lord told Nathan ⁴ to go to David and tell him:

David, you are my servant, so listen carefully: You are not the one to build a temple for me. ⁵ I didn't live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don't live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. ⁶ I chose special leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?

⁷ David, this is what I, the Lord All-Powerful, say to you. I brought you in from the fields where you took care of sheep, and I made you the leader of my people. ⁸ Wherever you went, I helped you and destroyed your enemies right in front of your eyes. I have made you one of the most famous people in the world.

⁹ I have given my people Israel a land of their own where they can live in peace. They will no longer have to tremble with fear—evil nations won't bother them, as they did ¹⁰ when I let judges rule my people, and I will keep your enemies from attacking you.

Now I promise that like you, your descendants will be kings. ¹¹ I'll choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried beside your ancestors. I'll make him a strong ruler, ¹² and no one will be able to take his kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. ^13 (F) I will be like a father to him, and he will be like a son to me. I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul, who was king before you. ¹⁴ I will make sure that your son and his descendants will rule my people and my kingdom forever.

¹⁵ Nathan told David exactly what the Lord had said.

David Gives Thanks to the Lord

(2 Samuel 7.18-29)

¹⁶ David went into the tent he had set up for the sacred chest. He sat there and prayed:

Lord God, my family and I don't deserve what you have already done for us, ¹⁷ and yet you have promised to do even more for my descendants. You are treating me as if I am a very important person.^{[c] 18} I am your servant, and you know my thoughts. What else can I say, except that you have honored me? ¹⁹ It was your choice to do these wonderful things for me and to make these promises.

²⁰ No other god is like you, Lord—you alone are God. Everything we have heard about you is true. ²¹ And there is no other nation on earth like Israel, the nation you rescued from slavery in Egypt to be your own. You became famous by using great and wonderful miracles to force other nations and their gods out of your land, so that your people could live here. ²² You have chosen Israel to be your people forever, and you have become their God.

²³ Lord God, please do what you promised me and my descendants. ²⁴ Then you will be famous forever, and everyone will say, “The Lord All-Powerful rules Israel and is their God.”

My kingdom will be strong, ²⁵ because you are my God, and you have promised that my descendants will be kings. That's why I have the courage to pray to you like this, even though I am only your servant.

²⁶ You are the Lord God, and you have made this good promise to me. ²⁷ Now please bless my descendants forever, and let them always be your chosen kings. You have already blessed my family, and I know you will bless us forever.

A List of David's Victories in War

(2 Samuel 8.1-14)

18 Later, David attacked and defeated the Philistines. He captured their town of Gath and the nearby villages.

² David also defeated the Moabites, and so they had to accept him as their ruler and pay taxes to him.

³ While King Hadadezer of Zobah was trying to gain control of the territory near the Euphrates River, David met him in battle at Hamath and defeated him. ⁴ David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 chariot drivers, and 20,000 soldiers. And he crippled all but 100 of the horses.

⁵ When troops from the Syrian kingdom of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶ Then David stationed some of his troops in Damascus, and the people there had to accept David as their ruler and pay taxes to him.

Everywhere David went, the Lord helped him win battles.

⁷ Hadadezer's officers had carried gold shields, but David took these shields and brought them back to Jerusalem. ^8 (G) He also took a lot of bronze from the cities of Tibhath and Cun, which had belonged to Hadadezer. Later, Solomon used this bronze to make the large bowl called the Sea, and to make the pillars and other furnishings for the temple.

^9-10 King Tou of Hamath and King Hadadezer had been enemies. So when Tou heard that David had defeated Hadadezer's whole army, he sent his son Hadoram to congratulate David on his victory. Hadoram also brought him gifts made of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹ David gave these gifts to the Lord, just as he had done with the silver and gold he had captured from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.

^12 (H) Abishai the son of Zeruiah defeated the Edomite army in Salt Valley and killed 18,000 of their troops. ¹³ Then he stationed troops in Edom, and the people there had to accept David as their ruler.

Everywhere David went, the Lord gave him victory in war.

A List of David's Officials

(2 Samuel 8.15-18)

¹⁴ David ruled all Israel with fairness and justice.

¹⁵ Joab the son of Zeruiah was the commander in chief of the army.

Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud kept the government records.

¹⁶ Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests.

Shavsha was the secretary.

¹⁷ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was the commander of David's bodyguard.^[d]

David's sons were his highest-ranking officials.

²⁸ As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, “Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn't come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don't know him. ²⁹ But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him.”

³⁰ Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.^{[a] 31} A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he surely won't perform more miracles^[b] than this man has done!”

Officers Sent To Arrest Jesus

³² When the Pharisees heard the crowd arguing about Jesus, they got together with the chief priests and sent some temple police to arrest him. ³³ But Jesus told them, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I will return to the one who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you won't find me. You cannot go where I am going.”

³⁵ The people asked each other, “Where can he go to keep us from finding him? Is he going to some foreign country where our people live? Is he going there to teach the Greeks?^{[c] 36} What did he mean by saying that we will look for him, but won't find him? Why can't we go where he is going?”

Streams of Life-Giving Water

^37 (A) On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! ^38 (B) Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” ³⁹ Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory.^[d]

The People Take Sides

⁴⁰ When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, “He must be the Prophet!”^{[e] 41} Others said, “He is the Messiah!” Others even said, “Can the Messiah come from Galilee? ^42 (C) The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?” ⁴³ The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

The Leaders Refuse To Have Faith in Jesus

⁴⁵ When the temple police returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked, “Why didn't you bring Jesus here?”

⁴⁶ They answered, “No one has ever spoken like this man!”

⁴⁷ The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been fooled? ⁴⁸ Not one of the chief priests or the Pharisees has faith in him. ⁴⁹ And these people who don't know the Law are under God's curse anyway.”

^50 (D) Nicodemus was there at the time. He was a member of the council, and was the same one who had earlier come to see Jesus.^[f] He said, ⁵¹ “Our Law doesn't let us condemn people before we hear what they have to say. We cannot judge them before we know what they have done.”

⁵² Then they said, “Nicodemus, you must be from Galilee! Read the Scriptures, and you will find that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”

A Woman Caught in Sin

⁵³ Everyone else went home,

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