Study Desk

So Aaron's descendants received the following Safe Towns and the pastureland around them: Hebron, Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, Hilen, Debir, Ashan, and Beth-Shemesh.

So the people of Israel gave the Levites towns to live in and the pastureland around them.

Their families were so large that they had 36,000 soldiers in their clans.

instead of asking the Lord . So the Lord had Saul killed and gave his kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

So we have come to crown you king of Israel." David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now king of Israel. This happened just as the Lord 's prophet Samuel had said.

The Lord had promised that David would become king, and so everyone in Israel gave David their support. Certain warriors also helped keep his kingdom strong.

Another time he killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall and was armed with a spear. Benaiah only had a club, so he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian and killed him with it.

even though he never became one of them. And he was certainly as famous as the rest of the Thirty Warriors. So David made him the leader of his own bodyguard.

Amasai, who later became the leader of the Thirty Warriors, was one of these men who went to David. God's Spirit took control of him, and he said, "We will join you, David son of Jesse! You and your followers will always be successful, because God fights on your side." So David agreed to let them stay, and he even put them in charge of his soldiers who raided enemy villages.

and brave soldiers, and so David made them officers in his army. They fought on his side when enemy troops attacked.

David then got angry at God for killing Uzzah. So he named that place "Attack on Uzzah," and it's been called that ever since.

So instead of taking it to Jerusalem, David decided to take it to the home of Obed-Edom, who lived in the town of Gath.

David and his army marched to Baal-Perazim, where they attacked and defeated the Philistines. He said, "I defeated my enemies because God broke through them like a mighty flood." So he named the place "The Lord Broke Through."

Wait there until you hear the treetops making the sound of marching troops. That sound will mean I have marched out ahead of you to fight the Philistine army. So you must then attack quickly!"

God gave the Levites the strength they needed to carry the chest, and so they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

to go to David and tell him: David, you are my servant, so listen carefully: You are not the one to build a temple for me.

And there is no other nation on earth like Israel, the nation you rescued from slavery in Egypt to be your own. You became famous by using great and wonderful miracles to force other nations and their gods out of your land, so that your people could live here.

David also defeated the Moabites, and so they had to accept him as their ruler and pay taxes to him.

King Tou of Hamath and King Hadadezer had been enemies. So when Tou heard that David had defeated Hadadezer's whole army, he sent his son Hadoram to congratulate David on his victory. Hadoram also brought him gifts made of gold, silver, and bronze.

David said, "Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son." He sent some officials to Ammon to tell Hanun how sorry he was that his father had died. But when David's officials arrived at Ammon,