2 Samuel 5; 2 Samuel 6

2 Samuel 5

1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

2 Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you the LORD said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.

4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

6 Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”

7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

8 On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David. ” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”

9 So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.

10 And David became greater and greater, for the LORD God of Hosts was with him.

11 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

12 And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

13 After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

14 These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went down to the stronghold.

18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

19 So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go up,” replied the LORD, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

20 So David went to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, the LORD has burst out against my enemies before me.” So he called that place Baal-perazim.

21 There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away.

22 Once again the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

23 So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

25 So David did as the LORD had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

2 Samuel 6

1 David again assembled the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in all.

2 And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name— the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,

4 bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark.

5 David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.

7 And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.

8 Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

9 That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”

10 So he was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

11 Thus the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and all his household.

12 Now it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing.

13 When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

14 And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD,

15 while he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram’s horn.

16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

17 So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

18 When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Hosts.

19 Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each to his own home.

20 When David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.”

21 But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD,

22 and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.”

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