Beginning

4 And when Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his hands were idle. And all Israel was afraid,

² And Saul’s son had two men who were captains of bands: one called Baanah and the other called Rechab (the sons of Rimmon, a Beerothite of the children of Benjamin, for Beeroth was reckoned to Benjamin,

³ because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and sojourned there to this day).

⁴ And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame on his feet. He was five years old when the news of Saul and Jonathan came out of Israel. Then his nurse took him and fled away. And as she hurried to flee, the child fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

⁵ And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went and came in the heat of the day to the House of Ishbosheth (who slept on a bed at noon).

⁶ And behold, Rechab and Baanah, his brother, came into the midst of the house, as though requesting wheat. And they struck him under the fifth rib and fled.

⁷ For when they came into the house, he slept on his bed in his bed chamber. And they struck him, and killed him, and beheaded him, and took his head and got away through the plain, all night.

⁸ And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David, to Hebron, and said to the king, “Behold the head of Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, your enemy, who sought after your life. And the LORD has avenged my Lord the king of Saul and of his seed this day.”

⁹ Then David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, Who has delivered my soul out of all adversity,

¹⁰ “when someone told me and said that Saul was dead (thinking to have brought good tidings), I took him and killed him in Ziklag, even while he thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings.

¹¹ “How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not now therefore require his blood at your hand and take you from the Earth?”

¹² Then David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the sepulcher of Abner, in Hebron.

5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David, to Hebron, and said this: “Behold, we are your bones and your flesh.

² “And in time past, when Saul was our king, you led Israel in and out. And the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall feed my people, Israel, and you shall be a captain over Israel.’”

³ So, all the elders of Israel came to the king, to Hebron. And King David made a covenant with them in Hebron, before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign. He reigned for forty years.

⁵ He reigned over Judah for seven years and six months in Hebron. And he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

⁶ Also, the king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites (the inhabitants of the land), who spoke to David, saying, “Unless you turn aside the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here,” thinking that David could not come there.

⁷ But David took the fort of Zion. This is the City of David.

⁸ Now David had said the same day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, go up to the gutters!” (and the lame and blind, whom David’s soul hates). Therefore, they said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into that house!”

⁹ So David dwelt in that fort and called it the City of David. And David built all around it, from Millo, inward. LORD God of Hosts was with him.

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

¹² Then David knew that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.

¹³ And after he had come from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem for himself. And more sons and daughters were born to David.

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

¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

¹⁷ But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David. And when David heard, he went down to a fort.

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

¹⁹ Then David asked counsel of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up to the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hands?” And the LORD answered David, “Go up! For I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

²⁰ Then David came to Baal Perazim and struck them there, and said, “The LORD has divided my enemies before me, as waters are divided.” Therefore, he called the name of that place, “Baal Perazim”.

²¹ And they left their images there; and David and his men burnt them.

²² Again, the Philistines came up and spread themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.

²³ And when David asked counsel of the LORD, He answered, “You shall not go up. Circle around behind them and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.

²⁴ “And when you hear the noise of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then move. For then shall the LORD go out before you, to strike the army of the Philistines.”

²⁵ Then David did so, as the LORD had Commanded him, and struck the Philistines from Geba, until you come to Gezer.

6 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel: thirty thousand.

² And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up the Ark of God from there, whose name comes from the Name of the LORD of Hosts, Who dwells upon it between the Cherubim.

³ And they put the Ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

⁴ And when they brought the Ark of God out of the house of Abinadab that was at Gibeah, Ahio went before the Ark.

⁵ And David and all the House of Israel played before the LORD on all instruments made of fir, and on harps, and on psalteries, and on tambourines, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

⁶ And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put his hand on the Ark of God and held it. For the oxen shook it.

⁷ And the LORD was very angry with Uzzah. And God struck him in that same place for his fault. And there he died, by the Ark of God.

⁸ And David was displeased because the LORD had stricken Uzzah. And he called the name of the place “Perez Uzzah” until this day.

⁹ Therefore, David feared the LORD that day, and said, “How shall the Ark of the LORD come to me?”

¹⁰ So David would not bring the Ark of the LORD to him into the City of David. But David carried it into the house of Obed-Edom, a Gittite.

¹¹ And the Ark of the LORD stayed in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

¹² And someone told King David, saying, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he has, because of the Ark of God.” Therefore, David went and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the City of David with gladness.

¹³ And when those who bore the Ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he offered an ox and a fat beast.

¹⁴ And David danced before the LORD with all his might and was girded with a linen ephod.

¹⁵ So David and all the House of Israel brought the Ark of the LORD with shouting and sound of trumpet.

¹⁶ And as the Ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leap and dance before the LORD. And she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ And when they had brought in the Ark of the LORD, they set it in its place, in the midst of the Tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered Burnt Offerings, and Peace Offerings before the LORD.

¹⁸ And as soon as David had finished offering Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings, he blessed the people in the Name of the LORD of Hosts,

¹⁹ and gave among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, to the women as well as the men, to everyone, a cake of bread and a piece of flesh and a bottle. So, all the people departed, each one to his house.

²⁰ Then David returned to bless his house. And Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David, and said, “O how glorious was the king of Israel this day, who was uncovered today in the eyes of the maidens of his servants, as a fool uncovers himself!”

²¹ Then David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, Who chose me rather than your father and all his house, and Commanded me to be ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. And therefore, I will play before the LORD,

²² and will be even more vile than this and will be humble in my own sight. But by the very same maidservants which you have spoken of, I shall be had in honor.”

²³ Therefore Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child until the day of her death.

7 Afterward, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies, all around,

² the king said to Nathan the Prophet, “Behold, now I dwell in a house of cedar trees, and the Ark of God remains within the curtains.”

³ Then Nathan said to the king, “Go and do all that is in your heart. For the LORD is with you.”

⁴ And that same night, the Word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,

⁵ “Go and tell my servant, David, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Shall you build Me a house for My dwelling?

⁶ ‘For I have dwelt in no house since the time that I brought the children of Israel out of Egypt until this day but have moved about in a Tent and Tabernacle.

⁷ ‘In every place I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken one word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I Commanded to feed My people Israel, saying, “Why did you not build Me a house of cedar trees?”’

⁸ “Now, therefore, so say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “I took you from the sheepfolds, following the sheep, so that you might be ruler over My people, over Israel.

⁹ “And I was with you wherever you have walked and have destroyed all your enemies out of your sight, and have made you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the Earth.

¹⁰ “Also, I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant it, so that they may dwell in a place of their own and no longer move. Nor shall wicked people trouble them anymore as before,

¹¹ “and since the time that I set judges over My people of Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Also, the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.

¹² “And when your days are fulfilled, you shall sleep with your fathers. And I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your body, and will establish his kingdom.

¹³ “He shall build a House for My Name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴ “I will be his father, and he shall be my son. And if he sins, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the plagues of the children of men.

¹⁵ “But my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I have put away before you.

¹⁶ “And your house shall be established before you, and your kingdom, forever. Your throne shall be established forever.”’”

¹⁷ According to all these words and according to all this vision, Nathan spoke thus to David.

¹⁸ Then, King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me here?

¹⁹ “And yet, this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD. Therefore, You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. And this is the manner of man, O Lord GOD.

²⁰ “And what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant.

²¹ “For Your Word’s sake, and according to Your own Heart, have You done all these great things, to make them known to Your servant.

²² “Therefore, You are great, O Lord GOD! For there is none like You. Nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³ “And what one people on the Earth is like Your people, like Israel, whose God went and redeemed them to Himself, so that they might be His people, and that He might make a Name for Himself and do great and mighty things for Yourself and for Your land, O LORD. You have redeemed Your people to Yourself out of Egypt, the nations, and their gods!

²⁴ “For You have ordained Your people Israel to Yourself, to be Your people forever! And You, LORD, have become their God.

²⁵ “Now, therefore, O Lord GOD, confirm forever the Word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, and do as You have said.

²⁶ “And let Your Name be magnified forever by those who shall say, ‘The LORD of Hosts is the God over Israel,’ and let the House of Your servant David be established before You.

²⁷ “For You, O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a House.’ Therefore, Your servant has been bold to pray this prayer to You.

²⁸ “Therefore, now, O Lord GOD (You are God and Your Words are true and You have told this goodness to Your servant),

²⁹ “therefore, now let 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 it. And let the House of Your servant be blessed forever with Your blessing.”