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And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
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The Genealogy of David
Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,
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Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
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David Anointed King
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
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Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
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David in Saul's Service
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.
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Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
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And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul.
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And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
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And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
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And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
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David and Goliath
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
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Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.
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David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul,
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but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
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And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.
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And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.
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And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.
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As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
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And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
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Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
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And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?”
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When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.
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And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
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And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
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But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
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And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
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Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,
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and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.
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And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
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And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.
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And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
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The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”
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Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
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When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
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And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
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So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
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Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
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And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
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As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
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And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
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And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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David and Jonathan's Friendship
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
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Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
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And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
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And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
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Saul's Jealousy of David
As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
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And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
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And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”
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And Saul eyed David from that day on.
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The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand.
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And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.
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Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
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And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him.
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But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
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David Marries Michal
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
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And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?”
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But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.
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Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.
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Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.”
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And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’”
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And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?”
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And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.”
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Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
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And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired,
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David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.
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But when Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him,
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Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually.
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Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed.
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Saul Tries to Kill David
And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.
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And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself.
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And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you.
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For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”
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And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
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And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him.
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Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre.
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And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
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Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”
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So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.
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And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”
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Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”
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Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth.
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And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”
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Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
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Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”
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Jonathan Warns David
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
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But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
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Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
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David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening.
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If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’
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Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?”
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And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
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And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you?
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and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
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And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.”
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And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
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So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
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The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty.
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But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
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Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
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But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
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And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
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In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy.
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But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
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And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most.
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Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
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David and the Holy Bread
Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”
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And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place.
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And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.”
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And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”
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Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.”
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And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
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David Flees to Gath
And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.
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And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”
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And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
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David at the Cave of Adullam
David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.
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And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
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And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
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Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
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Saul Kills the Priests at Nob
Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.
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Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house?
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And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord.
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But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
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And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.
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And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house.
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David Saves the City of Keilah
Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”
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Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
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But David's men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
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Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
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And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
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When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.
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Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
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And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
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David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
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Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.
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Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.”
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Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.
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And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
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Saul Pursues David
David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
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And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.
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And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
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Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?
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And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.
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And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
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Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them,
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So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.
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And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
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David Spares Saul's Life
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”
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Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks.
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And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
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And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe.
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And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.
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So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
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Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.
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And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’?
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As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
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He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.
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And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
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The Death of Samuel
Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. David and Abigail
Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
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David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
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So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name.
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Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
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When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited.
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And Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters.
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So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this.
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And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
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But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.
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And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.
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Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.
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God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
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When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.
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And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!
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Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
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When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
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When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.”
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And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
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David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives.
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Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
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David Spares Saul Again
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?”
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So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
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And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness,
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David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come.
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Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him.
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Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”
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So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him.
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Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.”
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But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?”
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And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.
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So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.
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Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them.
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And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?”
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And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord.
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Saul recognized David's voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”
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Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.”
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And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it.
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Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
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David Flees to the Philistines
Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”
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So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
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And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow.
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And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
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Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”
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And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
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Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt.
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And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
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When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”
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And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines.
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And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”
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Saul and the Medium of En-dor
In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.”
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David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
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The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.
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The Philistines Reject David
Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel.
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As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish,
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the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.”
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Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”
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Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you.
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And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
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And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’
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So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
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David's Wives Are Captured
Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire
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And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
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Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.
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David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
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And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
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And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
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And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
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So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
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But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
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They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink,
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And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.
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And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”
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David Defeats the Amalekites
And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
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And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled.
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David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.
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Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all.
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David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David's spoil.”
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Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them.
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Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”
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But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.
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When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.”
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in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
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David Hears of Saul's Death
After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.
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And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.
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David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
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And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”
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Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
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Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.
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And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.”
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David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?”
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Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died.
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And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord's anointed.’”
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David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan
And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son,
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David Anointed King of Judah
After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.”
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So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
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And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron.
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And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,”
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David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him.
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Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
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And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
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And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.
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Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
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And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
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Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David's servants nineteen men besides Asahel.
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But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner's men.
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Abner Joins David
There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
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And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel;
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and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.
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While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.
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Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman.
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God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him,
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to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”
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And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.”
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Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”
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And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel, saying, “For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you.
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Now then bring it about, for the Lord has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’”
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Abner also spoke to Benjamin. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do.
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When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.
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And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.
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Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.
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Joab Murders Abner
When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it.
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Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
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David Mourns Abner
Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier.
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Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, “God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!”
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and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”
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But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity,
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And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
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David Anointed King of Israel
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
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So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
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David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
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And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here.”
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Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.
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And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David's soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”
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And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward.
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And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.
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And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house.
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And David knew that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
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And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David.
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David Defeats the Philistines
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
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And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”
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And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.
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And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
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And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
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And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
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The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
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And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.
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Uzzah and the Ark
And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
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And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.
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And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”
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So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
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And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing.
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And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.
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So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
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David and Michal
As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.
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And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
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And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts
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And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”
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And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.
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The Lord's Covenant with David
Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
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“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?
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Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.
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In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
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David's Prayer of Gratitude
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
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And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
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And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
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David's Victories
After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
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And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
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David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates.
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And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots.
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And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.
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Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
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And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
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And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.
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When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer,
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Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze.
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These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued,
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And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
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Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
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David's Officials
So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people.
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and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.
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David's Kindness to Mephibosheth
And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?”
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Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”
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Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.
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And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.”
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And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.”
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Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons.
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David Defeats Ammon and Syria
After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place.
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And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites.
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But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?”
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So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away.
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When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”
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When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men.
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And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.
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And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him.
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And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there.
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David and Bathsheba
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
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It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
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And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
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So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.
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And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
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So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.
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When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going.
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Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king.
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When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
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Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
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Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
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And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
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In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
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And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
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Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting.
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So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell.
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The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.
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David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
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And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
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Nathan Rebukes David
And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.
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Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,
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Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
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David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
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Then Nathan went to his house.
David's Child Dies
And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick.
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David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.
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On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”
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But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”
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Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
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Solomon's Birth
Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him
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And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters.
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So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it.
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And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.
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And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
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Amnon and Tamar
Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her.
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But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man.
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Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him.”
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When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
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While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king's sons, and not one of them is left.”
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But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar.
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But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day.
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And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.
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David Flees Jerusalem
And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”
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Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
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And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.
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But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.
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And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
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While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head.
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David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.
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So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem.
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David and Ziba
When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine.
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Shimei Curses David
When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually.
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And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
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But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”
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And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
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So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust.
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And when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
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Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom.
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Hushai Saves David
Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight.
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Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’”
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Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city.
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After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, “Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.”
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Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
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Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.
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When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,
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honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”
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Absalom Killed
Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.
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And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.”
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And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men.
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And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.
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David Hears of Absalom's Death
Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and carry news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.”
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Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone.
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David's Grief
And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.”
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Joab Rebukes David
It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.”
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Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came before the king.
David Returns to Jerusalem
Now Israel had fled every man to his own home.
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And King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king?
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David Pardons His Enemies
And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
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But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?”
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Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?”
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And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
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The Rebellion of Sheba
Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!”
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So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
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And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.
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And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.”
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And one of Joab's young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.”
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That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.”
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and Ira the Jairite was also David's priest.
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David Avenges the Gibeonites
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
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And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”
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But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
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When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,
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David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.
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War with the Philistines
There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary.
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And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David.
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But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
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And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down.
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These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
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David's Song of Deliverance
And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
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Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.”
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The Last Words of David
Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:
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David's Mighty Men
These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
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And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew.
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And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
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David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.
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And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!”
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Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord
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He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.
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David's Census
Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”
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The Lord's Judgment of David's Sin
But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
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And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
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“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’”
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So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
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Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”
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Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”
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David Builds an Altar
And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
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So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded.
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And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people.”
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Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.
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But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
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And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
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David in His Old Age
Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
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But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah.
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Nathan and Bathsheba Before David
Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?
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Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’
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Solomon Anointed King
Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king.
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Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
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King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king.
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As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
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So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon.
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Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king,
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Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed.
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David's Instructions to Solomon
When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying,
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The Death of David
Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
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And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
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So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.
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Now therefore as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.”
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And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you shared in all my father's affliction.”
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The Lord will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.
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So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the Lord forevermore.”
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The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will bring back your harm on your own head.
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But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”
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Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom
Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.
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Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.
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And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day.
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And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.
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And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
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Preparations for Building the Temple
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David.
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“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
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And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’
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As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.”
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“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
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Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
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The Ark Brought into the Temple
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
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And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying,
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‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
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Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.
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Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.
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Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’
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Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.
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On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
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And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules,
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then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
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But Pharaoh's daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
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For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
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So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
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Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
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However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”
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For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom
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But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”
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And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus.
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And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father.
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(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
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because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did.
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Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes.
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Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name.
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And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
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And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’”
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And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
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The Kingdom Divided
And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.
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So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
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And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.
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And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.
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And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’”
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and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes,
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And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.
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And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.
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Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem,
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because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
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And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.
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And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done.
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And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.
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And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
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Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
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So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
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His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David.
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And the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord.
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It was Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done.
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And they brought him on horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
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And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.
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Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
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Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done,
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And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
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When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
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For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
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“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord,
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and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.”
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And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
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A Genealogy of David
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
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Ozem the sixth, David the seventh.
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Descendants of David
These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite,
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All these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister.
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Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until David reigned.
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These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark rested there.
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The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers' houses, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being 22,600.
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All these, who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, were 212. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer established them in their office of trust.
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He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
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David Anointed King
Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.
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So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.
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David Takes Jerusalem
And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.
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The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.
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David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief.
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And David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David.
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And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.
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David's Mighty Men
Now these are the chiefs of David's mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
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This is an account of David's mighty men: Jashobeam, a Hachmonite, was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against 300 whom he killed at one time.
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He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley, and the men fled from the Philistines.
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Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
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David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.
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And David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!”
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Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord
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He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.
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The Mighty Men Join David
Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war.
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From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains:
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And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.
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David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.”
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Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you.” Then David received them and made them officers of his troops.
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Some of the men of Manasseh deserted to David when he came with the Philistines for the battle against Saul. (Yet he did not help them, for the rulers of the Philistines took counsel and sent him away, saying, “At peril to our heads he will desert to his master Saul.”)
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They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were commanders in the army.
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For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.
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These are the numbers of the divisions of the armed troops who came to David in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of the Lord.
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Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were expressly named to come and make David king.
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Of Zebulun 50,000 seasoned troops, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David with singleness of purpose.
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All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king.
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And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had made preparation for them.
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The Ark Brought from Kiriath-Jearim
David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader.
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And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us.
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Uzzah and the Ark
So David assembled all Israel from the Nile of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
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And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
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And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.
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And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.
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And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”
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So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
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David's Wives and Children
And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters to build a house for him.
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And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
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And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters.
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Philistines Defeated
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went out against them.
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And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.”
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And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.
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And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned.
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And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
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And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.
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And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.
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The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
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Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.
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And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.
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And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:
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Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,
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David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.
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So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing.
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David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod.
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And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.
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The Ark Placed in a Tent
And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.
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And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord
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Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.
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David's Song of Thanks
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
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Worship Before the Ark
So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark as each day required,
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Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.
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The Lord's Covenant with David
Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”
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And Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
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“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in.
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Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel,
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In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
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David's Prayer
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
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And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant.
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and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
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David Defeats His Enemies
After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.
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And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
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David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument at the river Euphrates.
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And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots.
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And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.
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Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
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And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
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And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.
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When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah,
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he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze.
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These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.
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Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
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David's Administration
So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people.
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and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.
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The Ammonites Disgrace David's Men
Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place.
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And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him.
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But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”
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So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away;
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and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”
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When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah.
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When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men.
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And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.
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And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army.
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And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.
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The Capture of Rabbah
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it.
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And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.
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And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
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And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down.
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These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
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David's Census Brings Pestilence
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
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So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.”
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And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword.
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And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
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And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying,
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“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’”
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So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will:
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Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
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And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
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And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
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David Builds an Altar
Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord.
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As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground.
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And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.”
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Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.”
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But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
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So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.
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And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.
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At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.
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but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
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Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
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David Prepares for Temple Building
David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.
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David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing,
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and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David.
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For David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.
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David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God.
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David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,
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David Organizes the Levites
When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
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David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites.
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“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be officers and judges,
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And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
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For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.
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For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward.
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David Organizes the Priests
The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
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With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service.
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These also, the head of each father's house and his younger brother alike, cast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites.
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David Organizes the Musicians
David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was:
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This Shelomoth and his brothers were in charge of all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts that David the king and the heads of the fathers' houses and the officers of the thousands and the hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated.
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Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was chief of the Hebronites of whatever genealogy or fathers' houses. (In the fortieth year of David's reign search was made and men of great ability among them were found at Jazer in Gilead.)
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King David appointed him and his brothers, 2,700 men of ability, heads of fathers' houses, to have the oversight of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites for everything pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.
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for Judah, Elihu, one of David's brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael;
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David did not count those below twenty years of age, for the Lord had promised to make Israel as many as the stars of heaven.
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Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish. Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David.
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All these were stewards of King David's property.
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Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, being a man of understanding and a scribe. He and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended the king's sons.
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David's Charge to Israel
David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the seasoned warriors.
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Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.
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David's Charge to Solomon
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
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Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat;
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Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.
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Offerings for the Temple
And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the Lord God.
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Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
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David Prays in the Assembly
Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
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Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king.
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And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness.
Solomon Anointed King
And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the Lord, and Zadok as priest.
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Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.
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All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.
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The Death of David
Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.
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Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer,
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Solomon Worships at Gibeon
Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
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(But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)
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And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place.
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O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
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And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
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So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
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Hiram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
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the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father.
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Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600.
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Solomon Builds the Temple
Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.
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The Ark Brought to the Temple
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
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And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying,
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but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’
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Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.
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Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.
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Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’
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Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.
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O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”
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The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord that King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.
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On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the Lord had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
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And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules,
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then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’
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Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
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According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David the man of God had commanded.
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And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
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And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents.
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So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
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They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
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Rehoboam's Family
Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse,
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And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah his son reigned in his place.
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Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?
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Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord,
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“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods.
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Asa Reigns in Judah
Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.
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They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art, and they made a very great fire in his honor.
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The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,
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Jehoram Reigns in Judah
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
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Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
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And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
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He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
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And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David.
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And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God.
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And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the Lord under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David.
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And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
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When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
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And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.
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And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
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Ahaz Reigns in Judah
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done,
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
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And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets.
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The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
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Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.
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And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.
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So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
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He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance.
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This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
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And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
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And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever,
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Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
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For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
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And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.
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Prepare yourselves according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and the document of Solomon his son.
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The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.
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And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel.
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Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
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besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name.
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And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.
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After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men.
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And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch.
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and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them.
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At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.
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And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon.
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For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
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Save Me, O My God
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
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Answer Me When I Call
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
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Lead Me in Your Righteousness
To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.
Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.
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O Lord, Deliver My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
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In You Do I Take Refuge
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
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How Majestic Is Your Name
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
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I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds
To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
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The Lord Is in His Holy Temple
To the choirmaster. Of David.
In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
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The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
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How Long, O Lord?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
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The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
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Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?
A Psalm of David.
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
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You Will Not Abandon My Soul
A Miktam of David.
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
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In the Shadow of Your Wings
A Prayer of David.
Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
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The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
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Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
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The Law of the Lord Is Perfect
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
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Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
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The King Rejoices in the Lord's Strength
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
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Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
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The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
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The King of Glory
A Psalm of David.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
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Teach Me Your Paths
Of David.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
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I Will Bless the Lord
Of David.
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
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The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
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The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David.
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.
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Ascribe to the Lord Glory
A Psalm of David.
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
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Joy Comes with the Morning
A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
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Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!
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Blessed Are the Forgiven
A Maskil of David.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
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Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
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Great Is the Lord
Of David.
Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!
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How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love
To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.
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He Will Not Forsake His Saints
Of David.
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
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Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
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What Is the Measure of My Days?
To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
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My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
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O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
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Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
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The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
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There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.
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The Lord Upholds My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.
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Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
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In God I Trust
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;
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Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
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God Who Judges the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.
Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
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Deliver Me from My Enemies
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;
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He Will Tread Down Our Foes
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.
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Lead Me to the Rock
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.
Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;
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My Soul Waits for God Alone
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
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My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
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Hide Me from the Wicked
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
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O God of Our Salvation
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.
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God Shall Scatter His Enemies
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him!
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Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
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O Lord, Do Not Delay
To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me!
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The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
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He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
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Great Is Your Steadfast Love
A Prayer of David.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
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You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:
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I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him,
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Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.
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Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
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I Will Walk with Integrity
A Psalm of David.
I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.
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Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
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With God We Shall Do Valiantly
A Song. A Psalm of David.
My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being!
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Help Me, O Lord My God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Be not silent, O God of my praise!
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Sit at My Right Hand
A Psalm of David.
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
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Let Us Go to the House of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
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There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.
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Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say—
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I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
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The Lord Has Chosen Zion
A Song of Ascents.
Remember, O Lord, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured,
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For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
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The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.
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There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
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When Brothers Dwell in Unity
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
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Give Thanks to the Lord
Of David.
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
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Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
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Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men,
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Give Ear to My Voice
A Psalm of David.
O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
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You Are My Refuge
A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
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My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
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My Rock and My Fortress
Of David.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
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who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
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Great Is the Lord
A Song of Praise. Of David.
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
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The Beginning of Knowledge
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
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All Is Vanity
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
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Your neck is like the tower of David, built in rows of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
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When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
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And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
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Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
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then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.”
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and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool,
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And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
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The Siege of Jerusalem
Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round.
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For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
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“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
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Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
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Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.
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Message to the House of David
“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord,
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O house of David! Thus says the Lord: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’”
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and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.
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For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people.
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Thus says the Lord: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”
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“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
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thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile:
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But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
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The Lord's Eternal Covenant with David
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
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In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
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“For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
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then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers.
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As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”
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then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
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Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night.
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And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
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And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.
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“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.
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They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.
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Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
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who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
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The Restoration of Israel
“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old,
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“And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.
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On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them.
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Him Whom They Have Pierced
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
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The land shall mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves;
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“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
