Study Desk

King David was now living in his palace. One day he sent for the prophet Nathan and said to him, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but the Lord 's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!"

When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong.

He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever.

I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king.

I will put him in charge of my people and my kingdom forever. His dynasty will never end.'"

He also defeated the Moabites, who became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand cavalry troops, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.

Then he set up military camps in their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him for his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram brought David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze.

David ruled over all Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of David's bodyguards; and King David's sons held high positions in his service.

Some time later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king.

King David said, "I must show loyal friendship to Hanun, as his father Nahash did to me." So David sent messengers to express his sympathy. When they arrived in Ammon and called on King Hanun,

He placed the rest of his troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who put them in position facing the Ammonites.

Joab and his men advanced to attack, and the Syrians fled.

and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed seven thousand Syrian chariot drivers and forty thousand foot soldiers. They also killed the Syrian commander, Shobach.

When the kings who were subject to Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Syrians were never again willing to help the Ammonites.

The Ammonite idol Molech had a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds. In it there was a jewel, which David took and put in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city.

He took the people of the city and put them to work with saws, iron hoes, and axes. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

These three, who were killed by David and his men, were descendants of the giants at Gath.