Old/New Testament

David starts to bring the Covenant Box to Jerusalem

13 David spoke with the officers of his army. Some of them were the leaders of 1,000 men. Other officers were the leaders of 100 men. ² Then David said to all the Israelites who were present, ‘I think that we should send a message to our relatives in all the regions of Israel. That should include the priests and the Levites in the towns where they live. We should ask all those people to meet with us here. We will do it if you agree that it is a good idea, and if the Lord our God wants us to do it. ³ We should bring back the Covenant Box of our God. While Saul was king, we did not use it to ask God about things.’

⁴ All the people there agreed that this was a good idea. They realized that it was the right thing to do.

⁵ So David brought together all the Israelites. They came from everywhere in Israel, from the Shihor River in Egypt, and as far as Lebo-Hamath. They came to bring God's Covenant Box back from Kiriath-Jearim.^{[a] 6} David and all the Israelites went to Baalah, a town in Judah. (Baalah is also called Kiriath-Jearim.) They went to bring the Covenant Box of God from there to Jerusalem. The Israelites called it by the name of the Lord. He sits as King between the two cherubs that are on the top of the Covenant Box.

⁷ The people put God's Covenant Box on a new cart. They took it out of Abinadab's house. Uzzah and Ahio were leading the cart. ⁸ David and all the Israelites were singing and dancing with all their strength to praise God. They made music with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ They reached the place of Kidon's threshing floor. There the oxen that were pulling the cart almost fell. So Uzzah reached out to hold the Covenant Box to stop it falling. ¹⁰ The Lord was very angry with Uzzah because he had touched the Covenant Box. He knocked Uzzah down to the ground. Uzzah died there, beside God's Covenant Box.^[b]

¹¹ David was angry because the Lord had punished Uzzah. So he called that place ‘Perez Uzzah’. That is still its name today.^[c]

¹² So David now became afraid of God. He said, ‘God's Covenant Box is too holy to take with me.’ ¹³ So he did not take the Covenant Box to the City of David to be with him there. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom, who came from Gath. ¹⁴ God's Covenant Box stayed in the home of Obed-Edom's family for three months. During that time, the Lord blessed Obed-Edom's family and everything that he had.

David becomes famous

14 Then Hiram, king of Tyre, sent some of his men to David. They brought wood from Lebanon's cedar trees. Men who could work with stone and with wood also came. They built a palace for David. ² David realized that the Lord had made him strong as king over Israel. He knew that God had made his kingdom great, to help his people, the Israelites.

³ When David lived in Jerusalem, he married more wives. He became the father of more sons and daughters. ⁴ These are the names of David's children who were born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

David fights the Philistines

⁸ The Philistines heard the news that David had now become king over all Israel. So their whole army went to look for him to catch him. When David heard about this, he went out to attack them. ⁹ The Philistine soldiers arrived at Rephaim valley. They attacked the people there. ¹⁰ David asked God, ‘Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will you put them under my power?’

The Lord answered him, ‘Yes, go and attack the Philistines. I will help you to win against them.’

¹¹ So David and his men went to Baal Perazim. There they won the fight against the Philistines in that place. David said, ‘God has helped me to sweep away my enemy like a flood of water.’ So they called that place Baal Perazim. ¹² The Philistines did not take their idols with them when they ran away. David told his men to destroy the idols in a fire.

¹³ Once again, the Philistines attacked the people who lived in the valley. ¹⁴ So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, ‘Do not march straight towards them. Instead, go round behind them. Then attack them from the other side, where the poplar trees are. ¹⁵ When you hear a noise in the tops of the trees like marching men, go out to attack them. Then you will know that God has gone in front of you. He will knock down the Philistine army for you.’ ¹⁶ So David did as God had commanded him to do. His men chased the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

¹⁷ So David became famous in every country. The Lord caused the people of every nation to be afraid of David.

Levites carry the Covenant Box properly

15 David built houses for himself in the City of David. He put up a tent as a place where he would put God's Covenant Box. ² Then David said, ‘Only the Levites may carry God's Covenant Box. The Lord chose them to do that. He chose them to serve him for ever.’

³ David brought all the Israelites together in Jerusalem. He said that they should bring the Lord's Covenant Box to the place that he had prepared for it. ⁴ Then David brought together the descendants of Aaron and the other Levites. They were:

¹¹ Then David told the priests Zadok and Abiathar to come to him. He also told these Levites to come: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab. ¹² David said to them, ‘You are the leaders of the Levites' clans. You and your relatives must make yourselves holy. Then you will be able to carry the Covenant Box of the Lord, Israel's God. You must bring it to the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³ The first time that we tried to bring it here, you did not carry it. Because of that, the Lord our God punished us. He did that because we did not ask him about the proper way to carry it.’

¹⁴ So the priests and the other Levites made themselves holy. Then they could carry the Covenant Box of the Lord, Israel's God. ¹⁵ The Levites carried God's Covenant Box with its poles on their shoulders. That is how God had commanded Moses that they should carry it.

¹⁶ David told the leaders of the Levites to choose some of their relatives to be musicians. Some would sing songs. Some would make music with lyres, harps and cymbals. They would sing loud and happy songs.

¹⁷ The Levites chose Joel's son Heman. They also chose Berekiah's son Asaph, who was a relative of Heman. And they chose Kushaiah's son Ethan, who belonged to Merari's clan. ¹⁸ They also chose another group of Levites to help them. They were: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, as well as two temple guards, Obed-Edom and Jeiel.

¹⁹ They chose these musicians to make music with bronze cymbals: Heman, Asaph and Ethan. ²⁰ They chose these musicians to make music in a special way with harps: Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah.

²¹ They chose these musicians to make music in a special way with lyres: Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah. ²² Kenaniah was the leader of the musicians. They chose him to do that because he had good skill in music.

²³ Berekiah and Elkanah were guards to keep the Covenant Box safe.

²⁴ The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer walked in front of God's Covenant Box. They made a loud noise with trumpets as they went. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also guards for the Covenant Box.

The Covenant Box arrives in Jerusalem

²⁵ So David, the leaders of Israel and the army officers went to fetch the Lord's Covenant Box from Obed-Edom's house. They were very happy as they took it from there to Jerusalem. ²⁶ The Lord helped the Levites who were carrying his Covenant Box. So they offered seven bulls and seven male sheep as sacrifices to the Lord. ²⁷ David was wearing a robe that was made of good linen. All the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box also wore linen clothes. So did the musicians and Kenaniah, their leader. David also wore a linen ephod over his robe.^[d]

²⁸ In that way, all the Israelites brought the Lord's Covenant Box to Jerusalem. They were shouting. They were making loud music with trumpets, cymbals, lyres and harps.

²⁹ While they where bringing the Lord's Covenant Box into the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked out through a window. She saw that King David was dancing because he was so happy. Michal felt ashamed of him.

Jesus and his brothers

7 After this, Jesus visited many places in Galilee. He did not want to visit Judea because the Jewish leaders there wanted to kill him. ² It was almost time for the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles.^{[a] 3} So Jesus' brothers said to him, ‘You should leave this place and you should go to Judea. Then your disciples will see the great things that you do. ⁴ Nobody does things secretly if he wants everyone to know him. You are doing these things, so you should show yourself to everybody.’ ⁵ Even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶ So Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the right time for me yet. For you, any time is right. ⁷ People who belong to this world cannot hate you. But they hate me. The things that they do are very bad. And I tell them that those things are wrong. That is why they hate me. ⁸ You should go to the festival. I will not go to it now, because it is not the right time for me yet.’ ⁹ After Jesus said that, he stayed in Galilee.

Jesus goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

¹⁰ Some time after his brothers had gone, Jesus also went to the festival. But he did not let other people know that he was going. Instead, he went secretly. ¹¹ The Jewish leaders were looking for him at the festival. They asked, ‘Where is that man?’ ¹² People in the crowd were talking quietly to each other about Jesus. Some people said, ‘He is a good man.’ But other people said, ‘No, he is telling the people things that are not true.’ ¹³ But nobody spoke in public places about him, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

¹⁴ In the middle of the time of the festival, Jesus went to the temple. He started to teach in the yard there. ¹⁵ The Jewish leaders were very surprised. They asked, ‘How does this man know so much? He has not learned in our schools.’ ¹⁶ Jesus answered, ‘What I teach does not come from me. No, it comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do what God wants will know about my teaching. They will know whether it comes from God, or whether it comes from my own thoughts. ¹⁸ A person who teaches his own ideas wants people to think that he himself is great. But I want to show that the one who sent me is great. A person like that is honest and there is nothing false in him. ¹⁹ Moses gave God's Law to you. But not one of you obeys that Law. Why are you trying to kill me?’

²⁰ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon in you! Nobody is trying to kill you!’

²¹ Jesus replied, ‘I did one miracle on the day of rest, and all of you were surprised. ²² Moses gave you a law that you must circumcise your sons. Your ancestors taught that, even before Moses was born. So you will agree to circumcise a boy, even on the day of rest.^{[b] 23} You will do that so that you obey Moses' law. So you should not be angry with me because I made a man completely well on the day of rest. ²⁴ Do not quickly decide whether something is right or wrong just because of what you see. Instead, think about it carefully. Then you will judge in a right way.’

The people talk about whether Jesus is the Messiah

²⁵ Some of the people in Jerusalem began to say, ‘This is the man that our leaders want to kill. ²⁶ But look! He is speaking to the crowds, and the leaders are not saying anything against him! Perhaps they really think that he is the Messiah! ²⁷ But we know where this man came from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know that. Nobody will know where he has come from.’