Historical

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.”

David Wins Many Wars

8 Later, David defeated the Philistines. And he took control of their capital city.

² He also defeated the people of Moab. He forced them to lie on the ground. Then he used a rope to measure them. When two men were measured, David ordered them killed. But every third man was allowed to live. So the people of Moab became servants of David. They gave him the payments he demanded.

³ As David went to take control again at the Euphrates River, he defeated Hadadezer. Hadadezer son of Rehob was king of Zobah. ⁴ David took from Hadadezer 1,700 men who rode in his chariots. He also captured 20,000 foot soldiers. David crippled all but 100 of the chariot horses. He saved those horses to pull chariots.

⁵ Arameans from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah. But David defeated those 22,000 Arameans. ⁶ Then David put groups of soldiers in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David’s servants and gave him the payments he demanded. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

⁷ David took the shields of gold that had belonged to Hadadezer’s officers. He brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ David also took many things made of bronze from Tebah and Berothai. (They were cities that had belonged to Hadadezer.)

⁹ Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer. ¹⁰ So Toi sent his son Joram to greet and congratulate King David. Joram congratulated David for defeating Hadadezer. (Hadadezer had fought wars against Toi before.) Joram brought things made of silver, gold and bronze. ¹¹ David took these things and gave them to the Lord. He also had given other silver and gold to the Lord. He had taken it from the nations he had defeated. ¹² These nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek. David also defeated the king of Zobah who was Hadadezer son of Rehob.

¹³ David was famous after he returned from the Valley of Salt. There he had defeated 18,000 Arameans. ¹⁴ David put groups of soldiers through all the land of Edom. All the people of Edom became servants for him. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

¹⁵ David was king over all Israel. His decisions were fair and right for all his people. ¹⁶ Joab son of Zeruiah was commander over the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder. ¹⁷ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests. Seraiah was the royal assistant. ¹⁸ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites, the king’s bodyguards. And David’s sons were important leaders.

David Helps Saul’s Family

9 David asked, “Is there anyone still left in Saul’s family? I want to show kindness to this person for Jonathan’s sake!”

² Now there was a servant named Ziba from Saul’s family. So David’s servants called Ziba to him. King David said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He answered, “Yes, I am Ziba, your servant.”

³ The king asked, “Is there anyone left in Saul’s family? I want to show God’s kindness to this person.”

Ziba answered the king, “Jonathan has a son still living. He is crippled in both feet.”

⁴ The king asked Ziba, “Where is this son?”

Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

⁵ Then King David had servants bring Jonathan’s son from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar. ⁶ Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, came before David and bowed facedown on the floor.

David said, “Mephibosheth!”

Mephibosheth said, “I am your servant.”

⁷ David said to him, “Don’t be afraid. I will be kind to you for your father Jonathan’s sake. I will give you back all the land of your grandfather Saul. And you will always be able to eat at my table.”

⁸ Mephibosheth bowed to David again. Mephibosheth said, “You are being very kind to me, your servant! And I am no better than a dead dog!”

⁹ Then King David called Saul’s servant Ziba. David said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰ You, your sons and your servants will farm the land for Mephibosheth. You will harvest the crops. Then your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will always be able to eat at my table.”

(Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants.) ¹¹ Ziba said to King David, “I am your servant. I will do everything my master, the king, commands me.”

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table as if he were one of the king’s sons. ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. Everyone in Ziba’s family became Mephibosheth’s servants. ¹³ Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet. He lived in Jerusalem and always ate at the king’s table.

War with Ammonites and Arameans

10 Later Nahash king of the Ammonites died. His son Hanun became king after him. ² David said, “Nahash was kind to me. So I will be kind to his son Hanun.” So David sent his officers to comfort Hanun about his father’s death.

David’s servants went to the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the important men of Ammon spoke to Hanun, their master. They said, “Do you think David wants to honor your father by sending men to comfort you? No! David sent them to study the city and to spy it out. They plan to capture it!” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s officers and shaved off half their beards to shame them. He cut their clothes off at the hips to insult them. Then he sent them away.

⁵ When the people told David, he sent messengers to meet his officers. He did this because these men were very ashamed. King David said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown out. Then come back to Jerusalem.”

⁶ Now the Ammonites saw that they had become David’s enemies. So they hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah. They also hired the king of Maacah with 1,000 men. And they hired 12,000 men from Tob.

⁷ David heard about this. So he sent Joab with the whole army of warriors. ⁸ The Ammonites came out and got ready for the battle. They stood at the city gate. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah were out in the field. They were standing away from the Ammonites.

⁹ Joab saw that there were enemies both in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best men from the Israelites. He got them ready for battle against the Arameans. ¹⁰ Then Joab gave the other men to his brother Abishai to lead against the Ammonites. ¹¹ Joab said to Abishai, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, come help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. ¹² Be strong. Let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he decides is right.”

¹³ Then Joab and his men attacked the Arameans, and they ran away. ¹⁴ The Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away. So they ran away from Abishai and went back to their city. So Joab returned from the battle with the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Arameans saw that the Israelites had defeated them. So they came together into one big army. ¹⁶ Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans who lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. These Arameans went to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷ When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam. There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked. ¹⁸ But David defeated the Arameans, and they ran away from the Israelites. David killed 700 Aramean chariot drivers and 40,000 Aramean horsemen. He also killed Shobach, the commander of the Aramean army.

¹⁹ The kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them. So they made peace with the Israelites and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.