Beginning

4 When Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son [king over Israel], heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his courage failed, and all the Israelites were troubled and dismayed.

² Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of Benjamin—for Beeroth also was reckoned to Benjamin,

³ And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day.

⁴ Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was a cripple in his feet. He was five years old when the news came out of Jezreel [of the deaths] of Saul and Jonathan. And the boy’s nurse took him up and fled; and in her haste, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

⁵ Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went about in the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, who lay resting on his bed at noon.

⁶ And they came into the interior of the house as though they were delivering wheat, and they smote him in the body; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

⁷ Now when they had come into the house and he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they [not only] smote and slew him, [but] beheaded him and took his head and went by the way of the plain all night.

⁸ And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; and the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.

⁹ And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, As the Lord lives, Who redeemed my life out of all adversity,

¹⁰ When one told me, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking he was bringing good news, I seized and slew him in Ziklag who expected me to give him a reward for his news.

¹¹ How much more—when wicked men have slain a just man in his own house on his bed—shall I not now require his blood of your hand and remove you from the earth!

¹² David commanded his young men, and they slew them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them over the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Hebron in the tomb of Abner [his relative and once chief supporter].

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.

7 When King David dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

² The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.

³ And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.

⁴ That 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 in which to dwell?

⁶ For I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this day, but have moved about with a tent for My dwelling.

⁷ In all the places where I have moved with all the Israelites, did I speak a word to any from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to be shepherd of My people Israel, asking, Why do you not build Me a house of cedar?

⁸ So now say this to My servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over My people Israel.

⁹ And I was with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like [that] of the great men of the earth.

¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and be moved no more. And wicked men shall afflict them no more, as formerly

¹¹ And as from the time that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord declares to you that He will make for you a house:

¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up after you your offspring who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³ He shall build a house for My ^[c]Name [and My Presence], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴ I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men.

¹⁵ But My mercy and loving-kindness shall not depart from him, as I took [them] from Saul, whom I took away from before you.

¹⁶ And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you; your throne shall be established forever.

¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and all this vision Nathan spoke 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 this far?

¹⁹ Then as if this were a little thing in Your eyes, O Lord God, You have spoken also of Your servant’s house in the far distant future. And this is the law for man, O Lord God!

²⁰ What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God.

²¹ Because of Your promise and as Your own heart dictates, You have done all these astounding things to make Your servant know and understand.

²² Therefore You are great, O Lord God; for none is like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all [You have made] our ears to hear.

²³ What [other] one nation on earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be a people for Himself and to make for Himself a name? You have done great and terrible things for Yourself and for Your land, before Your people, whom You redeemed and delivered for Yourself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods.

²⁴ And You have established for Yourself Your people Israel to be Your people forever, and You, Lord, became their God.

²⁵ Now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word You have given as to Your servant and his house; and do as You have said,

²⁶ And Your name [and presence] shall be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is God over Israel; and the house of Your servant David will be made firm before You.

²⁷ For You, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant: I will build you a house. So Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You.

²⁸ And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.

²⁹ Therefore now let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let [his] house be blessed forever.