Old/New Testament
16 They brought the Ark of the Covenant of God and put it inside the tent. This was the tent David had set up for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God. 2 David finished giving the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he used the Lord’s name to bless the people. 3 He gave a loaf of bread, some dates and raisins to every Israelite man and woman.
4 Then David appointed some of the Levites to serve before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. They had the job of leading the worship. They gave thanks and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. 5 Asaph was the leader. He played the cymbals. Zechariah was second to him. The other Levites were Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They played the lyres and harps. 6 Benaiah and Jahaziel were priests. They blew the trumpets regularly before the Ark of the Covenant with God. 7 That day David first gave Asaph and his relatives the job of singing praises to the Lord.
David’s Song of Thanks
8 Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.
Tell the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him. Sing praises to him.
Tell about all the wonderful things he has done.
10 Be glad that you are his.
Let those who ask the Lord for help be happy.
11 Depend on the Lord and his strength.
Always go to him for help.
12 Remember the wonderful things he has done.
Remember his miracles and his decisions.
13 You are the descendants of Israel, the Lord’s servant.
You are the children of Jacob, his chosen people.
14 He is the Lord our God.
His laws are for all the world.
15 He will keep his agreement forever.
He will keep his promises always.
16 He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham.
He will keep the promise he made to Isaac.
17 The Lord made it a law for the people of Jacob.
He made it an agreement with Israel to last forever.
18 The Lord said, “I will give you the land of Canaan. The promised land will belong to you.”
19 Then God’s people were few in number.
They were strangers in the land.
20 They went from one nation to another.
They went from one kingdom to another.
21 But the Lord did not let anyone hurt them.
He warned kings not to harm them.
22 He said, “Don’t hurt my chosen people.
Don’t harm my prophets.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Every day tell how he saves us.
24 Tell the nations about the Lord’s glory.
Tell all peoples about his wonderful works.
25 The Lord is great; he should be praised.
He should be honored more than all the gods.
26 All the gods of the nations are only idols.
But the Lord made the skies.
27 The Lord has glory and majesty.
He has power and joy in his Temple.
28 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth.
Praise the Lord’s glory and power.
29 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name.
Bring your offering to him.
Worship the Lord because he is holy.
30 The whole earth should tremble before the Lord.
The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.
31 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad.
Let people everywhere say, “The Lord is king!”
32 Let the sea and everything in it shout.
Let the fields and everything in them show their joy.
33 Then the trees of the forest will sing.
They will sing with joy before the Lord.
They will sing because the Lord is coming to judge the world.
34 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
35 Say to him, “Save us, God our Savior.
Bring us back and save us from the nations.
Then we will thank you.
Then we will gladly praise you.”
36 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
forever and forever.
All the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”
37 Then David left Asaph and the other Levites there in front of the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. They were to serve there every day. 38 David also left Obed-Edom and 68 other Levites to serve with them. Hosah and Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun were guards.
39 David left Zadok the priest and the other priests who served with him in front of the Tent of the Lord. This was at the place of worship in Gibeon. 40 Every morning and evening they offered burnt offerings on the altar of burnt offerings. They did this to follow the rules written in the Teachings of the Lord. These were the Teachings he had given Israel. 41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and other Levites. They were chosen by name to sing praises to the Lord because the Lord’s love continues forever. 42 Heman and Jeduthun also had the job of playing the trumpets and cymbals. They also played other musical instruments when songs were sung to God. Jeduthun’s sons guarded the gates.
43 Then all the people left. Each person went to his own home. And David also went home to bless his family.
God’s Promise to David
17 David moved into his palace. Then he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar. But the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord sits in a tent.”
2 Nathan answered David, “Do what you want to do. God is with you.”
3 But that night God spoke his word to Nathan. God said, 4 “Go and tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: David, you are not the person to build a house for me to live in. 5 From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until now I have not lived in a house. I have moved from one tent site to another. I have gone from one place to another. 6 I have moved with the Israelites to different places. I commanded leaders to take care of my people. I never said to any of those leaders, “Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?”’
7 “Now, tell my servant David: ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies says: I took you from the pasture and from tending the sheep. I made you king of my people Israel. 8 I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have killed your enemies for you. Now I will make you one of the most famous men on earth. 9 I will give this place to my people Israel. I will settle them here. Then they will have a home of their own. They won’t be bothered anymore. Evil people won’t hurt them as they have done since the first. 10 Evil people have hurt them since I chose leaders for my people Israel. I will also defeat all your enemies.
“‘I tell you that the Lord will make your descendants kings of Israel after you. 11 When you die and join your ancestors, I will let your child be the new king. He will be one of your own sons. And I will make his kingdom strong. 12 He will build a house for me. And I will let his family rule forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I took away my love from Saul, who ruled before you. But I will never stop loving your son. 14 I will put him in charge of my house and kingdom forever. His family will rule forever.’”
15 Nathan told David everything God had said in this vision.
David’s Prayer
16 Then King David went in 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? 17 But that was not enough for you, God. You have also said these kind things about my future family. I am your servant. Lord God, you have treated me like a very important man.
18 “What more can I say to you? You have done so much for me, your servant. You love me so much. 19 Lord, you have done this wonderful thing for me for my sake. And you have done it because you wanted to. You have let me know all these great promises.
20 “There is no one like you, Lord. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves. 21 There is no one like your people, the Israelites. It is 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 things for them. You went ahead of them and forced other nations out of the land. You freed your people from slavery in Egypt. 22 You made the people of Israel your very own people forever. And, Lord, you became their God.
23 “Lord, you made this promise about my family and me, your servant. Now, keep your promise forever. Do what you have promised. 24 Then people will know you and honor you forever. And people will say, ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the family of your servant David will continue before you.
25 “My God, you have told me that you would make my family great. So I, your servant, am brave enough to pray to you. 26 Lord, you are God. You have promised these good things to me, your servant. 27 You have chosen to bless my family. Let it continue before you forever. Lord, you have blessed my family. So it will be blessed forever.”
David Defeats Nations
18 Later, David attacked the Philistine people and defeated them. He took Gath and the small towns around it from the Philistines.
2 Then David defeated the country of Moab. So the Moabites became David’s servants. And they brought the payments he demanded from them.
3 David also fought against Hadadezer king of Zobah. David fought Hadadezer’s army all the way to the town of Hamath. He did this because Hadadezer tried to spread his kingdom all the way to the Euphrates River. 4 David took from Hadadezer 1,000 chariots and 7,000 chariot drivers. And he took 20,000 soldiers on foot. David also crippled most of Hadadezer’s horses used for pulling chariots. He saved only 100 of the chariot horses.
5 The Aramean people from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah. But David killed 22,000 of them. 6 Then David put camps of troops in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David’s servants and brought him the payments he demanded. So the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.
7 David took the gold shields from Hadadezer’s army leaders. And he brought them to Jerusalem. 8 David also took much bronze from the towns of Tebah and Cun. These towns belonged to Hadadezer. Later, Solomon used this bronze to make things for the Temple: the large bronze bowl, which was called the Sea, the pillars and other bronze things.
9 Toi was king of the city of Hamath. He heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer king of Zobah. 10 So Toi sent his son Hadoram to greet King David. Hadoram also congratulated David for fighting and defeating Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Toi before. Hadoram gave David all kinds of things made of gold, silver and bronze. 11 King David gave these things to the Lord. David had done the same thing with the silver and gold he had taken from these nations: Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines and Amalek.
12 Abishai son of Zeruiah killed 18,000 Edomite people in the Valley of Salt. 13 Abishai also put camps of troops in Edom. And all the Edomites became David’s servants. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.
David’s Important Officers
14 David was king over all of Israel. He did what was right and fair for everyone. 15 Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of David’s army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder. 16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests. Shavsha was the royal assistant. 17 Benaiah was responsible for leading the Kerethites and Pelethites, the king’s bodyguards. Benaiah was Jehoiada’s son. And David’s sons were important officers. They served at King David’s side.
28 Jesus was still teaching in the Temple. He cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true. You don’t know him. 29 But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him. It was not yet the right time. 31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”
Some Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”
35 The Jews said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live? Will he teach the Greek people there? 36 This man says, ‘You will look for me but you will not find me.’ He also says, ‘You cannot come where I am.’ What does this mean?”
Jesus Talks About the Spirit
37 The last day of the feast came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 If a person believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from his heart. This is what the Scripture says.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.
The People Argue About Jesus
40 The people heard these things that Jesus said. Some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.”[a]
41 Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. 42 The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family. And the Scripture says that the Christ will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43 So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.
The Leaders Won’t Believe
45 The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees. The priests and the Pharisees asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46 The Temple guards answered, “The things he says are greater than the words of any man!”
47 The Pharisees answered, “So Jesus has fooled you too! 48 Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No! 49 But those people, who know nothing about the law, are under God’s curse!”
50 But Nicodemus was there in that group. He was the one who had gone to see Jesus before.[b] Nicodemus said, 51 “Our law does not judge a man without hearing him. We cannot judge him until we know what he has done.”
52 They answered, “Are you from Galilee too? Study the Scriptures. You will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”
53 And everyone left and went home.[c]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.