Study Desk

So the Israelites gave those towns and fields to the Levites.

Then Saul said to the helper who carried his armor, "Pull out your sword and use it to kill me. Then these foreigners will not hurt me and make fun of me when they come." But the helper was afraid. He refused to kill Saul. So Saul used his own sword to kill himself by falling on it.

So Saul and three of his sons died. All of Saul's family died together.

David said, "The one who leads the attack on the Jebusites will become the commander over all my army." So Joab led the attack. He was Zeruiah's son. Joab became the commander of the army.

David was thirsty for some water from his hometown, so he said, "Oh, if only I could have some water from that well by the gate in Bethlehem."

So the Three Heroes fought their way through the Philistine army and got some water from the well near the city gate in Bethlehem. They took it to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it on the ground as an offering to the Lord .

Amasai was the leader of the Thirty Heroes. Then the Spirit came on Amasai, and he said, "We are yours, David! We are with you, son of Jesse. Peace, peace to you. Peace to those who help you, because your God helps you." So David welcomed these men into his group and put them in charge of the troops.

More and more men came every day to help David. So he had a large and powerful army.

So all the Israelites agreed with David. They all thought it was the right thing to do.

So David gathered all the Israelites from the Shihor River in Egypt to the town of Lebo Hamath. They came together to bring the Box of the Agreement back from the town of Kiriath Jearim.

The Lord became very angry with Uzzah and killed him because he touched the Holy Box. So Uzzah died there before God.

And David was angry because the Lord had shown his anger in killing Uzzah. So that place has been called "Perez Uzzah" ever since then.

That day David began to fear what God might do to him. So he said, "Should I really be the one in charge of God's Holy Box?"

So he did not take the Holy Box with him to the City of David. He left it at Obed Edom's house. Obed Edom was from the city of Gath.

The Philistines heard that David had been chosen to be the king of Israel, so all the Philistines went to look for him. When David heard about it, he went out to fight them.

David did what God told him to do. So David and his men defeated the Philistine army. They killed Philistine soldiers all the way from the town of Gibeon to the town of Gezer.

So David became famous in all the countries. The Lord made all nations afraid of him.

Then the priests and Levites made themselves holy so that they could carry the Holy Box of the Lord , the God of Israel.

God had helped the Levites who carried the Box of the Lord 's Agreement. So they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams to him.

So all the Israelites joined in bringing up the Box of the Lord 's Agreement. They shouted, they blew rams' horns and trumpets, and they played cymbals, lyres, and harps.