Beginning

Ish-Bosheth’s Death

4 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died at Hebron. Then Ish-Bosheth and all Israel became very frightened. ² Two men who were captains in Saul’s army came to Ish-Bosheth. One man was named Baanah, and the other was named Recab. They were the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, who was a Benjaminite. (The town Beeroth belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.) ³ The people of Beeroth ran away to Gittaim. And they still live there today.

⁴ (Now Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was crippled in both feet. His name was Mephibosheth. He was five years old when the news came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan were dead. Mephibosheth’s nurse picked him up and ran away. But as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled.)

⁵ Recab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon, were from Beeroth. They went to Ish-Bosheth’s house at noon. ^6-7 They came into the middle of the house. Recab and Baanah came as if they were going to get some wheat. Ish-Bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom. Recab and Baanah stabbed him in the stomach. Then they cut off his head and took it with them. They traveled all night through the Jordan Valley. ⁸ When they arrived at Hebron, they gave his head to David. They said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul. He was your enemy. He tried to kill you! Today the Lord has paid back Saul and his family for what they did to you!”

⁹ David answered Recab and his brother Baanah sons of Rimmon of Beeroth. David said, “As surely as the Lord lives, he has saved me from all trouble! ¹⁰ Once a man thought he was bringing me good news. He told me, ‘Look! Saul is dead!’ But I took hold of him and killed him at Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! ¹¹ So even more I must require your death. This is because evil men have killed an innocent man. And he was on his own bed in his own house!”

¹² So David commanded his men to kill Recab and Baanah. Then they cut off the hands and feet of Recab and Baanah. They hung their hands and feet over the pool of Hebron. Then they took Ish-Bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

David Is Made King of Israel

5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron. They said to him, “Look, we are your own family. ² In the past Saul was king over us. But you were the one leading us in battle for Israel. The Lord said to you, ‘You will be like a shepherd for my people, the Israelites. You will become their ruler.’”

³ All the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. Then he made an agreement with them in Hebron in front of the Lord. Then they poured oil on David to make him king over Israel.

⁴ David was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled 40 years. ⁵ He was king over Judah in Hebron for 7 years and 6 months. And he was king over all Israel and Judah in Jerusalem for 33 years.

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You can’t come into our city. Even our people who are blind and crippled can stop you.” They said this because they thought David could not enter their city. ⁷ But David did take the city of Jerusalem with its strong walls. It became the City of David.

⁸ That day David said to his men, “To defeat the Jebusites you must go through the water tunnel. Then you can reach those ‘crippled’ and ‘blind’ enemies. This is why people say, ‘The blind and the crippled cannot enter the palace.’”

⁹ So David lived in the city with its strong walls. He called it the City of David. David built more buildings around it. He began where the land was filled in on the east side of the city. He also built more buildings inside the city. ¹⁰ He became stronger and stronger, because the Lord of heaven’s armies was with him.

¹¹ Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David. He also sent cedar logs, carpenters and men to cut stone. They built a palace for David. ¹² Then David knew the Lord really had made him king of Israel. And he knew the Lord had made his kingdom very important. This was because the Lord loved his people, the Israelites.

¹³ In Jerusalem David took for himself more slave women and wives. This was after he moved there from Hebron. More sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of the sons born to David in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

¹⁷ Now the Philistines heard that David had been made king over Israel. So all the Philistines went to look for him. But when David heard the news, he went down to a safe place. ¹⁸ So the Philistines came and camped in the Valley of Rephaim. David asked the Lord, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help me defeat them?”

¹⁹ The Lord said to David, “Go! I will certainly help you defeat them.”

²⁰ So David went to Baal Perazim and defeated the Philistines there. David said, “Like a flood of water, the Lord has broken through my enemies.” So David named the place Baal Perazim.^{[a] 21} The Philistines left their idols behind at Baal Perazim. And David and his men carried these idols away.

²² Once again the Philistines came and camped at the Valley of Rephaim. ²³ David prayed to the Lord. This time the Lord told David, “Don’t attack the Philistines from the front. Instead, go around them. Attack them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ You will hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees. Then you must act quickly. I, the Lord, will have gone ahead of you and defeated the Philistine army.” ²⁵ So David did what the Lord commanded. He defeated the Philistines and chased them all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

The Ark of the Covenant Is Brought to Jerusalem

6 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel. There were 30,000 of them. ² Then David and all his people went to Baalah in Judah.^[b] They took the Ark of the Covenant of God from Baalah in Judah and moved it to Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant is called by the Name, the name of the Lord of heaven’s armies. His throne is between the gold creatures with wings that are on the Ark of the Covenant. ³ David’s men put the Ark of the Covenant of God on a new cart. Then they brought the Ark of the Covenant out of Abinadab’s house on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, led the new cart. ⁴ This cart had the Ark of the Covenant of God on it. Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ David and all the Israelites were playing all kinds of musical instruments before the Lord. They were made of pine wood. There were lyres, harps, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.

⁶ When David’s men came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled. The Ark of the Covenant of God began to fall off the cart. So Uzzah reached out and took hold of it. ⁷ The Lord was angry with Uzzah and killed him. Uzzah had not honored God when he touched the Ark of the Covenant. So Uzzah died there beside it. ⁸ David was angry because the Lord had killed Uzzah. So that place is called The Punishment of Uzzah even today.

⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day. He said, “How can the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord come to me now?” ¹⁰ So David would not move the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to be with him in Jerusalem. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom, a man from Gath. ¹¹ The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stayed in Obed-Edom’s house for three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family.

¹² The people told David, “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom. And all his things are blessed. This is because the Ark of the Covenant of God is there.” So David went and brought it up from Obed-Edom’s house to Jerusalem with joy. ¹³ When the men carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had walked six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fat calf. ¹⁴ Then David danced with all his might before the Lord. He had on a holy linen vest. ¹⁵ David and all the Israelites shouted with joy. They blew the trumpets as they brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to the city.

¹⁶ Saul’s daughter Michal was looking out the window. She watched as the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the city. When she saw David jumping and dancing before the Lord, she hated him.

¹⁷ David put up a tent for the Ark of the Covenant. Then the Israelites put it in its place inside the tent. David offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David finished offering the whole burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of heaven’s armies. ¹⁹ David gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to everyone. He gave them to all the Israelites, both men and women. Then all the people went home.

²⁰ David went back to bless the people in his home. But Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. She said, “The king of Israel did not honor himself today! You took off your clothes in front of the servant girls of your officers. You were like a foolish man who takes off his clothes without shame!”

²¹ Then David said to Michal, “I did it before the Lord. The Lord chose me, not your father. He didn’t choose anyone from Saul’s family. The Lord appointed me to be leader of his people, the Israelites. So I will celebrate in front of the Lord. ²² Maybe I will lose even more honor. And you may think little of me. But the girls you talk about will honor me!”

²³ And Saul’s daughter Michal had no children to the day she died.

David Wants to Build a Temple

7 King David was living in his palace. And the Lord gave him peace from all his enemies around him. ² David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar wood. But the Ark of the Covenant of God is still kept in a tent!”

³ Nathan said to the king, “Go and do what you really want to do. The Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that night the Lord spoke his word to Nathan. The Lord said, ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the person to build a house for me to live in. ⁶ I did not live in a house when I brought the Israelites out of Egypt. I have been moving around all this time with a tent as my home. ⁷ I have continued to move with the tribes of Israel. But I have never asked their leaders who take care of them to build me a house of cedar wood.’

⁸ “You must tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: I took you from the pasture when you were following the sheep. I took you to become leader of my people, the Israelites. ⁹ I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have defeated your enemies for you. I will make you as famous as any of the great men on the earth. ¹⁰ Also I will choose a place for my people, the Israelites. I will plant them so they can live in their own home. They will not be bothered anymore. Wicked people will no longer make them suffer as they have in the past. ¹¹ Wicked people continued to do this even when I appointed judges. But I will give you peace from all your enemies. I also tell you that I will make your descendants kings of Israel after you.

¹² “‘Your days will come to an end, and you will die. At that time I will make one of your sons the next king. ¹³ He will build a temple for me. I will make his kingdom strong forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will use other people to punish him. They will be my whips. ¹⁵ But I will not stop loving him. I took away my love and kindness from Saul. I removed Saul when I turned to you. ¹⁶ But your family and your kingdom will continue forever before me. Your rule will last forever.’”

¹⁷ Nathan told David everything he had heard.

David Prays to God

¹⁸ Then King David went in the tent and sat in front of the Lord. David said, “Lord God, why have you made me so important to you? Why have you made my family important? ¹⁹ But that was not enough for you, Lord God. You have also said these kind things about my future family. I am your servant. Lord God, this is not the usual way you talk to people.

²⁰ “What more can I say to you? Lord God, you love me, your servant, so much! ²¹ You have done this wonderful thing because you said you would. You have done it because you wanted to. And you have decided to let me know all these great things. ²² This is why you are great, Lord God! There is no one like you. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves! ²³ And there are no others like your people, the Israelites. They are the one nation on earth that God chose to be his people. You used them to make your name well-known. You did great and wonderful miracles for them. You went ahead of them and forced other nations and their gods out of the land. You freed your people from slavery in Egypt. ²⁴ You made the people of Israel your very own people forever. And, Lord, you became their God.

²⁵ “Now, Lord God, keep the promise you made about my family and me, your servant. Do what you have promised. ²⁶ Then you will be honored forever. And people will say, ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies is God over Israel!’ And the family of your servant David will continue before you.

²⁷ “Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, you have shown things to me. You have said, ‘I will make your family great.’ So I, your servant, am brave enough to pray to you. ²⁸ Lord God, you are God, and your words are true. And you have promised these good things to me, your servant. ²⁹ Please, bless my family. Let it continue before you forever. Lord God, you have said these wonderful things. With your blessing let my family be blessed forever.”