Old/New Testament
16 They brought the Ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. They offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings[a] before God. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 He distributed to each and every Israelite man and woman a loaf of bread, a cake of dates,[b] and a cake of raisins.
4 He designated the following individuals from the Levites to serve before the Ark of the Lord by remembering, thanking, and praising the Lord, the God of Israel:
5 Asaph was the leader. Zechariah was directly under him.
Jeiel,[c] Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel were to play music on harps and lyres.
Asaph was sounding the cymbals.
6 Benaiah and Jahaziel, the priests with trumpets, were to be continually before the Ark of the Covenant of God.
The Psalm of Thanks[d]
7 On that day David first gave the directive to give thanks to the Lord through the ministry of Asaph and his associates:
8 Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make known his deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to him.
Make music to him.
Tell about all his wonderful acts.[e]
10 Praise his holy name.
The hearts of those who seek the Lord will rejoice.
11 Seek the Lord and his strength.
Seek his presence continually.
12 Remember his wonderful acts, his signs,
and the judgments from his mouth,
13 you descendants[f] of Israel, his servant,
you sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
14 He is the Lord our God.
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember his covenant forever,
a word he commanded for a thousand generations,
16 his covenant which he made with Abraham,
which was his sworn promise to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a statute for Israel,
an everlasting covenant.
18 He said, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as a portion for your inheritance,
19 even though your numbers are small,
and you are insignificant,
and you are living in it as aliens.”
20 They were wandering from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another people.
21 Yet he did not permit anyone to oppress them.
He rebuked kings on their account:
22 “You must not touch my anointed ones.
Against my prophets you must do no harm.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his wonderful acts among all the peoples,
25 for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
He is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are not gods at all.[g]
But the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honor and majesty are before him.
Strength and joy are in his place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples.
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name.
Bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
30 Tremble before him, all the earth.
Surely the world stands firm.
It shall never be overthrown.
31 The heavens will be glad.[h]
The earth will rejoice.
They will say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
32 The sea and everything that fills it will roar.
The fields and everything in them will celebrate.
33 The trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
35 Say, “Save us, O God of our salvation.
Gather us and save us from the nations,
to give thanks to your holy name,
to glorify you by praising you.”
36 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Then all the people said “Amen” and praised the Lord.
37 David left Asaph and his relatives there before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, to minister before the Ark continually, to do whatever was needed each day, 38 along with Obed Edom and sixty-eight relatives. Obed Edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah served as gatekeepers.
39 Zadok the priest and his fellow priests were assigned to the Tent of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon, 40 to present burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar for burnt offerings regularly, morning and evening, according to everything written in the Law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel.
41 With them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, because his mercy endures forever.
42 With them were Heman and Jeduthun to make music to God with trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments. The descendants of Jeduthun were assigned to the gate.
43 Then all the people departed, each to his own house, and David returned to bless his house.
The Lord’s Covenant With David
17 After David was living in his own house, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a house of cedar, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord sits under tent curtains.”
2 Nathan said to David, “Do everything that is in your heart, because God is with you.”
3 But that night the word of God came to Nathan. 4 “Go and tell David my servant these things.”
This is what the Lord says. You will not be the one to build a house for me to live in, 5 for I have not lived in a house from the day when I caused Israel to go up from Egypt until this day, but I have been in a moving tent as my dwelling place.[i] 6 In all my traveling about with all the Israelites, did I ever speak a word with one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, or ask, “Why have you not built a house of cedar for me?”
7 Now you are also to say the following to my servant David:
This is what the Lord of Armies says. I took you from the pastures, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you went. I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will make a reputation for you like the reputation of the great ones in the earth. 9 I will establish a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them there. They will dwell there, and they will not be disturbed anymore. I will not allow wicked men to devastate them again as I did in the beginning, 10 and as it happened during the times when I commanded judges over my people Israel, but I will subdue all your enemies.
I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11 When your days are completed, you will go to be with your fathers. I will raise up your seed[j] after you from among your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He will build a house for me. I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. My mercy I will not take away from him as I took it from the one who was before you. 14 I will cause him to stand in my house and in my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever.
15 Nathan told David all the words that had been revealed in this vision.
David’s Response to the Covenant
16 Then King David went and sat before the Lord and said:
Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me to this point? 17 Yet this was a small thing in your eyes, God! You have spoken about the house of your servant for a long time into the future. You have revealed to me the course for the man who will arise, Lord God.[k]
18 What more can David add to you for honoring your servant? You know your servant.
19 Lord, for the sake of your servant and according to the plan of your heart, you have carried out this great thing by making known all these great promises. 20 Lord, there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, as is apparent from everything which our ears have heard.
21 Who is like your people Israel? It is the one nation on earth for whom God went out to redeem a people to himself, to make for yourself a great name, by doing great and awe-inspiring things in order to drive out nations in front of your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt. 22 You adopted Israel as your people forever. You, O Lord, became their God.
23 Now, Lord, the word which you have spoken about your servant and about his house will stand firm forever. Do as you have spoken. 24 It will stand firm. Your name will be great forever. It will be said: The Lord of Armies is the God of Israel.[l] The house of David your servant will be established before you.
25 For you, my God, have whispered into the ear[m] of your servant that you would build a house for him. That is why your servant has dared to pray before you. 26 Now, Lord, you are God and have said these good things concerning your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant to be forever before you. For what you, Lord, have blessed is blessed forever.
David’s Wars
18 After this David defeated the Philistines. He subdued them and took Gath and its villages from the control of the Philistines.
2 He defeated Moab, so the Moabites became subjects of David and paid tribute.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, as he was on his way to Hamath to establish control[n] at the river Euphrates. 4 David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers,[o] and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for one hundred chariots. 5 Arameans from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, but David killed twenty-two thousand men in Aram. 6 David placed garrisons in Damascus in Aram. So the Arameans became subject to David and paid tribute.
The Lord gave victory to David everywhere.
7 David took the gold shields which belonged to the officials of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tibhath and Kun,[p] cities of Hadadezer, David took huge amounts of bronze. With it Solomon later made the sea, the pillars, and the bronze vessels.
9 Tou[q] king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer king of Zobah. 10 He sent his son Hadoram[r] to King David to ask for peace with him and to bless him, because he had fought against and defeated Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. He sent all kinds of articles of gold, silver, and bronze.
11 King David dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, and Amalek.
12 Abishai son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He placed garrisons in Edom. All Edom was subject to David.
The Lord gave victory to David everywhere he went.
14 David was king over all Israel, and he treated his people with justice and fairness.
David’s Officials
15 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army.
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the record keeper.[s]
16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were the priests.
Shavsha[t] was the secretary.
17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and the Pelethites.
The sons of David were chief advisors at the side of the king.
28 Then Jesus called out as he was teaching in the temple courts, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is real. You do not know him. 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
31 But many in the crowd believed in him and asked, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more miraculous signs than this man, will he?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about him, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent guards to arrest him.
33 Then Jesus said, “I am going to be with you only a little while longer. Then I am going away to the one who sent me. 34 You will be looking for me and will not find me, and where I am going to be, you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? He does not intend to go to the Jews scattered among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will be looking for me and will not find me, and where I am going to be, you cannot come’?”
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38 As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. For the Holy[a] Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 After hearing his words, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Surely the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ comes from David’s descendants and from the little town of Bethlehem where David lived?” 43 So the people were divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 Then the guards came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 The guards answered, “No one ever spoke the way this man does!”
47 So the Pharisees answered them, “You have not been deceived too, have you? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is cursed!”
50 One of them, Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus earlier, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man before we hear from him and find out what he’s doing?”
52 “You are not from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Search and you will see that a prophet does not come from Galilee.”
53 Then each of them went home.[b]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.