Beginning
4 When Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, heard that his general Abner was dead, murdered in Hebron, he panicked, and so did all Israel. 2 Now the two captains of Ish-bosheth’s raiding parties were Baanah and Rechab, the sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from the town of Beeroth (which was considered to belong to Benjamin since the time its original inhabitants tricked the Israelites into making a pact of friendship with them. 3 The people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim, where they still live as aliens).
4 Saul’s son Jonathan, David’s friend, had a son named Mephibosheth who was unable to use his feet. When he was only five, the news of his father and grandfather’s defeat came from Jezreel. In her rush to flee, his nurse grabbed him up, and Mephibosheth fell; he had been lame ever since.
5 Baanah and Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, hatched a plan. They set out, and they came to Ish-bosheth’s residence during the noonday heat as he was taking a nap. 6-7 They crept inside the house as if to get some wheat. There they stabbed Ish-bosheth in the abdomen while he lay asleep on his bed, killing him. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah cut off Ish-bosheth’s head and escaped. They carried his head away and traveled all night across the desert plains.[a]
8 At Hebron, they brought Ish-bosheth’s head before David.
Baanah and Rechab: Here is the head of your enemy, Ish-bosheth, son of Saul, who tried to kill you. Today the Eternal One has avenged my lord, the king, against Saul and his clan.
David: 9 As the Eternal One lives, the One who has redeemed my life from every danger, 10 when the messenger brought me the word, “Saul is dead”—as though that would be some reason for me to rejoice, that would get him a reward—I seized him and had him killed at Ziklag. That was his reward for bringing me such news. 11 How much more do you deserve to be punished, you wicked men who kill a righteous man in his own bedroom? Don’t you imagine that now I’ll make you answer for his blood with your own and wipe you from the face of the earth?
12 David commanded his young men, and they killed Baanah and Rechab. Then the young men cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies as an example beside the pool at Hebron. But Ish-bosheth’s head they took and buried in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.
5 Then all the tribes that made up the people of Israel came to David at Hebron.
Leaders of Israel: We are all related: we are flesh of your flesh, bone of your bones. 2 When Saul was king, you always led the army of Israel out and then brought it back safely. The Eternal said to you, “You will be the shepherd of My people Israel, the ruler over all of them.”
3 All the leaders of Israel came before the king there at Hebron. So King David made a covenant with the leaders there before the Eternal, and they anointed David king over all Israel. 4 David was 30 years old when he first became king, and he was king for 40 years; 5 he reigned in Hebron over Judah alone for 7½ years, and then he reigned over the united kingdom of Judah and Israel for 33 years.
6 At one point, David and his army marched to Jerusalem to fight the Jebusites who lived there. The Jebusites felt secure behind their walls and were sure David could not enter into the city. They jeered, “Even the blind and the lame could defend this city against you.” 7 Despite the taunts, David and his army managed to capture the fortress of Zion, which became the city of David.[b]
David (to his army): 8 If you want to strike down the Jebusites—these blind and lame defenders whom I hate—then go through the water tunnel.
(From this exchange came the saying, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the house.”)
9 Once David captured the fortress, he stayed there and named it the city of David. He built it up all around, carefully terracing the hillside from the Millo[c] inward. 10 And David continued to grow in power and reputation because the Eternal God, Commander of heavenly armies, was with him.
11 King Hiram of Tyre sent diplomats to David with cedars and carpenters and masons to build David a palace.
12 David realized then that the Eternal One had established him as king over Israel and that He was increasing David’s kingdom in power and majesty for the sake of His people Israel.
13-14 After the move from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more women from Jerusalem, took more concubines, and fathered more sons and daughters: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
17 When David’s former allies, the Philistines, discovered that David, whom they still considered a vassal of Gath, was now king over a united Israel, they sent an army to battle him; but David heard they were coming and withdrew into the fortress.
18 The Philistines spread their forces in the valley of Rephaim southwest of Jerusalem.
David (to the Lord): 19 Should I go to war against the Philistines? Will You make me victorious over them?
Eternal One: Yes, go. I will certainly give you victory.
20 So David battled the Philistines at Baal-perazim and defeated them.
David: The Eternal has broken through my enemies in front of me like water bursting through a dam.
That is why the place was named Baal-perazim, meaning “the Lord who bursts through.”
21 The Philistines abandoned their idols on the field, and David and his forces carried them away.
22 Yet again the Philistines came up and prepared for battle in the valley of Rephaim. 23 David asked the Eternal One what he should do.
Eternal One: Do not directly face their forces. Circle around behind them, and array yourselves for battle in front of the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of a mighty army marching, reverberating in the tops of the balsam trees, come quickly and fight, for the Eternal has gone ahead of you into battle to destroy the army of the Philistines.
25 David did just as the Eternal One commanded and won a great victory. He struck down the fleeing Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer, just before the coastal plain.
6 Once again David gathered the elite soldiers of Israel, some 30,000, 2 and they went down to Baale-judah to bring back the covenant chest of the True God, called by the Name: the Eternal One, Commander of heavenly armies, who sits enthroned above the winged creatures who protect the chest.
3-4 They carried the covenant chest of the True God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab on the hill where it had rested, and Abinadab’s sons Uzzah and Ahio directed the new cart, with Ahio walking in front of the chest. 5 David and all the Israelites were joyous before the Eternal; and they were accompanied by wooden lyres and harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
6 When they came alongside the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah put out his hand to steady the covenant chest. 7 The Eternal burned with anger against Uzzah, and the True God struck Uzzah dead on the spot for daring to touch the covenant chest.
The covenant chest represents something amazing—it is filled with God’s presence and is supposed to be kept in the most separate, most holy of places. David knows that having the covenant chest near him as he rules is important. Therefore he begins the journey toward Jerusalem. The journey is interrupted with Uzzah’s death. David leaves the covenant chest short of its final resting place, but he eventually completes the journey by bringing it into the city of Jerusalem to its final home—and bringing God’s blessing with it. Although it is dangerous, it is also the most tangible symbol of God’s past victories on Israel’s behalf and represents God’s presence.
8 David was angry that the Eternal One had broken through to strike Uzzah, so the place was named Perez-uzzah, meaning “Breech against Uzzah,” to remember that act. 9 David was also frightened of the Eternal that day.
David: How can I be responsible for the covenant chest of the Eternal One?
10 So he decided he did not want to take the chest of the Eternal into the city of David, and he left it there in the care of Obed-edom, a man from the Philistine city Gath. 11 The covenant chest of the Eternal One remained there for three months; and in that time, the Eternal One blessed the household and farms of Obed-edom the Gittite.
12 When news was taken to King David that the Eternal had blessed Obed-edom and all his household because of the covenant chest of God, the king went down and brought the chest from Obed-edom’s house up to the city of David, again accompanying it with rejoicing and ceremony. 13 When the people carrying the chest of the Eternal had gone six steps, David sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf; 14 and he danced before the Eternal One with all his might, clad in a priestly vest.
15-16 So David and the house of Israel carried the covenant chest of the Eternal One up to the city of David with shouts and the sounding of the trumpet. When Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Eternal without thought for how he looked, she hated him.
17 They carried the covenant chest of the Eternal One to its place inside the tent David had pitched to house it, and the king offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings to the Eternal. 18 When he had finished with the sacrifices and peace offerings, he spoke a priestly blessing over the people in the name of the Eternal One, the Commander of heavenly armies; and 19 he gave all of the Israelites—every man and woman—a loaf of bread, a date roll,[d] and a raisin cake. Then they all returned to their homes.
20 On David’s return, he wanted to bestow good favor on his household, but Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him.
Michal (sarcastically): The king has distinguished himself today in front of his servants’ maids. He revealed quite a lot, just as the lowest of the low might expose himself.
David: 21 It was for the Eternal One that I danced. The Lord chose me in place of your father Saul and all his descendants; He appointed me to rule over Israel, the Eternal’s people. 22 I will lower myself even further—maybe I will even shame myself in my own eyes—but in the eyes of those maidservants of whom you speak, I will receive honor.
23 And to her dying day, Michal, the daughter of Saul, was humbled before God and did not bear a child. Therefore no descendant of Saul ever regained the throne of Israel.
David’s dancing is part of the celebration and ritual involved with bringing the covenant chest into the city, part of a sacred party where in addition to ritual sacrifice and shouts of joy and playing the trumpet, all of the people feast. As the anointed king of Israel, David could behave with reserve and dignity—which his wife, Saul’s daughter Michal, apparently thinks most fitting in a king—but perhaps it is more fitting for the king God has placed on the throne to join in the worship and celebration welcoming God into their city and into their lives. David tells Michal that he doesn’t care how other people react to his worship and praise of God, for in his own eyes—and in the eyes of the faithful—he has done what is right.
7 Now when the king was settled in his house and the Eternal had given him rest from battling all his enemies, 2 he spoke to the prophet Nathan.
David: Look at this: I live in a beautiful palace made of cedar, but the covenant chest of the True God rests in a tent made of curtains.
Nathan: 3 Go do whatever you’re planning to do, for the Eternal One is with you.
4 But that same night, the Eternal spoke to Nathan.
Eternal One: 5 Go and tell My servant David this message is from the Eternal One: “Are you the person who will build a house for Me to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since I brought My people Israel up from Egypt, but have moved around all this time in a tent, even in the congregation tent. 7 Wherever My travels with the people of Israel have taken Me, did I ever go to one of the tribal leaders who were the shepherds for My sheep and ask, ‘Why haven’t you made Me a house of cedar to live in?’”
8 So now you shall tell David, My servant this message is from the Eternal One, the Commander of heavenly armies: “I took you from the pastures where you followed sheep and made you king of all My people Israel so you now lead My sheep. 9 I have been with you wherever you journeyed and have given you victory over your enemies; and I will make you highly respected, with a name as great as any who live on earth. 10-11 And I will select a place for My people Israel and plant them firmly in that place, a land they can call their own, a land of peace. The wicked will not bother them again as they did from the time I appointed the judges to govern My people, and I will give you rest from fighting your enemies.
More importantly, I, the Eternal swear to you that I will raise up a dynasty from your family. 12 When you come to the end of your days, and you leave this life to lie down with your fathers, I will raise up from you a descendant, your own flesh and blood, and I will make his kingdom and family sure. 13 He will be the one to build a temple honoring My name, and I will establish the leadership of his kingdom for all time. 14 I will be to him a father, and he will be to Me a son.[e] When he crosses the line and acts badly, I will teach him with a rod used by people for correction and a lash for discipline. 15 But I will not withdraw My love from him as I did from Saul, whom I set aside in favor of you. 16 Your dynasty, your kingdom, will stand perpetually in My sight; your descendants will rule continually.”
17 Nathan did as He had told him and related this vision to David. 18 Then King David was strongly moved and went into the presence of the Eternal.
David: Who am I, O Eternal Lord, and what is my family that You have raised me so high? 19 You have spoken of this as though it were a tiny thing, simple, O Eternal Lord. You have also talked about the future of Your servant’s family and kingdom, a great future stretching off into the distance. This, O Eternal Lord, is Your instruction for humanity. 20 What can I say to You? You know Your servant inside and out, O Eternal Lord. 21 Because You promised it and it pleased You, You have made these amazing things happen, so that Your servant might know You are behind it. 22 So You are great, O Eternal Lord. No one else like You exists, and there is no god greater than You, as we should know from everything we have heard.
23 And who is like Your people, Israel? Is there another nation on the earth where God went to redeem them from Egypt and to distinguish Himself with awe-inspiring deeds of power by driving other nations and their false gods out of their path? 24 You chose to take Israel as Your people perpetually; and You, Eternal One, chose to be their God.
25 So yes, Eternal God, take the words You have spoken about me, Your servant, and my family and kingdom, and make them true perpetually. Do what You have promised. 26 Then Your name will be revered forever in the words, “The Eternal One, the Commander of heavenly armies, is the God over Israel,” and the dynasty of Your servant David will be established before You. 27 For You, O Eternal God, the Commander of heavenly armies, the God of Israel, have shown me what You intend, saying, “I will establish your dynasty,” and that is why I have found the courage to pray this prayer in Your presence. 28 O Eternal Lord, You are the True God, and Your words are always true, and You have made this good promise to me, Your servant. 29 So may it please You to continue to bless me, my family, and my kingdom so that my dynasty may be continually before Your sight. For You, O Eternal Lord, have spoken; and with Your blessing, my descendants and kingdom will always be blessed.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.