Study Desk

Now it was reported to King David, saying, "The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God." ^(C1)So David went and brought the ark of God up from the house of Obed-edom to ^(C2)the city of David with joy.

And so it was, that ^(F1)when ^(C1)those carrying the ark of the LORD marched six paces, he sacrificed an ^(C2)ox and a fattened steer.

And ^(C1)David was dancing before the LORD with all his strength, and David was ^(C2)wearing a linen ephod.

So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with joyful shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

Then it happened, as the ark of the LORD was coming into the city of David, that ^(C1)Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she was contemptuous of him in her heart.

Now they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it ^(C1)in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and ^(C2)David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, ^(C1)he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of armies.

Further, he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread, one of dates, and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people left, each to his house.

But when David returned to bless his own household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel dignified himself today! For ^(C1)he exposed himself today in the sight of his servants' female slaves, as one of the ^(C2)rabble shamelessly exposes himself!"

But David said to Michal, "^(C1)I was before the LORD, who preferred me to your father and to all his house, to appoint me as ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. So I will ^(F1)celebrate before the LORD!

"And I might demean myself even more than this and be lowly in my own sight, but with the female slaves of whom you have spoken, with them I am to be held in honor!"

And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

^(C1)Now it came about, when the king lived in his house, and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

that the king said to ^(C1)Nathan the prophet, "See now, I live in ^(C2)a house of cedar, but the ark of God ^(C3)remains within the tent."

Nathan said to the king, "^(C1)Go, do all that is in your mind, for the LORD is with you."

But in the same night, the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,

"Go and say to My servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Should you build Me a house for My dwelling?

"For ^(C1)I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; rather, I have been moving about ^(C2)in a tent, that is, in a dwelling place.

"^(C1)Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, ^(C2)whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'"'

"Now then, this is what you shall say to My servant David: 'This is what the LORD of armies says: "^(C1)I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^(C2)to be leader over My people Israel.

"And ^(C1)I have been with you wherever you have gone, and ^(C2)have eliminated all your enemies from you; I will also make a great name for you, like the names of the great men who ^(F1)are on the earth.

"And I will establish a place for My people Israel, and ^(C1)will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, ^(C2)nor will ^(F1)malicious people oppress them anymore as previously,

even ^(C1)from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and ^(C2)I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also declares to you that ^(C3)the LORD will make a house for you.

"^(C1)When your days are finished and you ^(F1)(C2)lie down with your fathers, ^(C3)I will raise up your ^(F2)descendant after you, who will come from ^(F3)you, and I will establish his kingdom.

"^(C1)He shall build a house for My name, and ^(C2)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

"^(C1)I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^(C2)when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind,

but My favor shall not depart from him, ^(C1)as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you.

"^(C1)Your house and your kingdom shall endure before ^(F1)Me forever; your throne shall be established forever."'"

In accordance with all these words and all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

Then David the king came in and sat before the LORD, and he said, "^(C1)Who am I, Lord ^(F1)GOD, and who are the members of my household, that You have brought me this far?

"And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, Lord GOD, ^(C1)for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant regarding the distant future. And ^(C2)this is the ^(F1)custom of mankind, Lord GOD.

"Again what more can David say to You? For ^(C1)You know Your servant, Lord GOD!

"^(C1)For the sake of Your word, and according to Your heart, You have done all this greatness, to let Your servant know.

"For this reason ^(C1)You are great, Lord GOD; for ^(C2)there is no one like You, and there is no God except You, ^(C3)according to all that we have heard with our ears.

"And ^(C1)what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, and to make a name for Himself, and ^(C2)to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, ^(F1)because of ^(C3)Your people whom ^(C4)You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from other nations and their gods?

"For ^(C1)You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^(C2)You, LORD, have become their God.

"Now then, LORD God, the word that You have spoken about Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do just as You have spoken,

^(C1)so that Your name may be great forever, by saying, 'The LORD of armies is God over Israel'; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You.

"For You, LORD of armies, God of Israel, have ^(F1)given a revelation to Your servant, saying, '^(C1)I will build you a house'; therefore Your servant has found ^(F2)courage to pray this prayer to You.

"Now then, Lord GOD, You are God, and ^(C1)Your words are truth; and You have ^(F1)promised this good thing to Your servant.

"And now, may ^(F1)it please You to bless the house of Your servant, so that it may continue forever before You. For You, Lord GOD, have spoken; and ^(F2)(C1)with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever."

Now it happened afterward that David ^(F1)defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^(F2)control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^(C1)And he ^(F1)defeated ^(C2)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and a full line to keep alive. And ^(C3)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(C4)bringing tribute.

Then David ^(F1)defeated ^(C1)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(C2)he went to restore his ^(F2)power at the Euphrates River.

And David captured from him ^(F1)1,700 horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David ^(C1)hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

When ^(C1)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ^(F1)killed twenty-two thousand men among the Arameans.

Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^(C1)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(C2)the LORD helped David wherever he went.

David took the shields of gold which were ^(F1)carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from ^(F1)Betah and ^(C1)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

Now when Toi king of ^(C1)Hamath heard that David had ^(F1)defeated the whole army of Hadadezer,

Toi sent his son ^(F1)Joram to King David to ^(F2)greet him and bless him, because he had fought Hadadezer and ^(F3)defeated him; for Hadadezer ^(F4)had been at war with Toi. And ^(F5)Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze.

King David also ^(C1)consecrated these gifts to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued:

from ^(F1)Aram, ^(C1)Moab, ^(C2)the sons of Ammon, ^(C3)the Philistines, ^(C4)Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

So ^(C1)David made a name for himself when he returned from ^(F1)killing eighteen thousand ^(F2)Arameans in ^(C2)the Valley of Salt.

He also put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(C1)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(C2)the LORD helped David wherever he went.

So David reigned over all Israel; and David ^(F1)administered justice and righteousness for all his people.

^(C1)Joab the son of Zeruiah was commander over the army, and ^(C2)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^(C3)secretary.

^(C1)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^(C2)priests, and Seraiah was ^(C3)scribe.

^(C1)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ^(F1)was over the ^(C2)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were ^(F2)(C3)chief ministers.

Then David said, "Is there ^(F1)anyone still left of the house of Saul, ^(C1)so that I could show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they summoned him to David; and the king said to him, "Are you ^(C1)Ziba?" And he said, "I am your servant."

Then the king said, "Is there no one remaining of the house of Saul to whom I could show the ^(C1)kindness of God?" And Ziba said to the king, "^(C2)There is still a son of Jonathan, one who is disabled in both feet."

So the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is ^(C1)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar."

Then King David sent ^(F1)messengers who brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.

^(C1)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^(C2)fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, "Mephibosheth." And he said, "Here is your servant!"

Then David said to him, "Do not be afraid, for ^(C1)I will assuredly show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I ^(C2)will restore to you all the ^(F1)land of your ^(F2)grandfather Saul; and ^(C3)you yourself shall ^(F3)eat at my table regularly."

Again he prostrated himself, and said, "What is your servant, that you should be concerned about ^(C1)a dead dog like me?"

Then the king summoned Saul's servant Ziba and said to him, "^(C1)Everything that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's ^(F1)grandson.

"You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master's grandson will have food ^(F1)to eat; nevertheless ^(C1)Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, ^(C2)shall ^(F2)eat at my table regularly." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Then Ziba said to the king, "In accordance ^(C1)with everything that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do." So Mephibosheth ate at ^(F1)David's table as one of the king's sons.

Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.

So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because ^(C1)he ate at the king's table regularly. And ^(C2)he was disabled in his two feet.

^(C1)Now it happened afterward that ^(C2)the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of ^(C1)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent ^(F1)some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites,

the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, "^(F1)Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants ^(F2)to console you? ^(C1)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?"

So Hanun took David's servants and ^(C1)shaved off half of their beards, and ^(C2)cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away.

When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return."

Now when the sons of Ammon saw that ^(C1)they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and ^(C2)hired the Arameans of ^(C3)Beth-rehob and the ^(C4)Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of ^(C5)Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men.

When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors.

And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle ^(C1)at the entrance of the ^(F1)city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^(C2)Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

Now when Joab saw that ^(F1)the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans.

But the remainder of the people he placed ^(F1)under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon.

And he said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you.

"^(C1)Be strong, and let's show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and ^(C2)may the LORD do what is good in His sight."

So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and ^(C1)they fled from him.

When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. ^(C1)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

When the Arameans saw that they had been ^(F1)defeated by Israel, they assembled together.

^(C1)And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and ^(C2)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^(F1)led them.

Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him.

But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed ^(C1)seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.

When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been ^(F1)defeated by Israel, ^(C1)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.