2 Samuel 4; 2 Samuel 5; 2 Samuel 6; 2 Samuel 7

2 Samuel 4

1 When Saul's son Ishbosheth heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron, he was afraid, and all the people of Israel were alarmed.

2 Ishbosheth had two officers who were leaders of raiding parties, Baanah and Rechab, sons of Rimmon, from Beeroth in the tribe of Benjamin. (Beeroth is counted as part of Benjamin.

3 Its original inhabitants had fled to Gittaim, where they have lived ever since.)

4 Another descendant of Saul was Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, who was five years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed. When the news about their death came from the city of Jezreel, his nurse picked him up and fled; but she was in such a hurry that she dropped him, and he became crippled.

5 Rechab and Baanah set out for Ishbosheth's house and arrived there about noon, while he was taking his midday rest.

6 The woman at the door had become drowsy while she was sifting wheat and had fallen asleep, so Rechab and Baanah slipped in.

7 Once inside, they went to Ishbosheth's bedroom, where he was sound asleep, and killed him. Then they cut off his head, took it with them, and walked all night through the Jordan Valley.

8 They presented the head to King David at Hebron and said to him, "Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul, who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has allowed Your Majesty to take revenge on Saul and his descendants."

9 David answered them, "I take a vow by the living Lord, who has saved me from all dangers!

10 The messenger who came to me at Ziklag and told me of Saul's death thought he was bringing good news. I seized him and had him put to death. That was the reward I gave him for his good news!

11 How much worse it will be for evil men who murder an innocent man asleep in his own house! I will now take revenge on you for murdering him and will wipe you off the face of the earth!"

12 David gave the order, and his soldiers killed Rechab and Baanah and cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up near the pool in Hebron. They took Ishbosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb there at Hebron.

2 Samuel 5

1 Then all the tribes of Israel went to David at Hebron and said to him, "We are your own flesh and blood.

2 In the past, even when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle, and the Lord promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler."

3 So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel.

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

5 He ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven and a half years, and in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.

6 The time came when King David and his men set out to attack Jerusalem. The Jebusites, who lived there, thought that David would not be able to conquer the city, and so they said to him, "You will never get in here; even the blind and the crippled could keep you out."

7 (But David did capture their fortress of Zion, and it became known as "David's City.")

8 That day David said to his men, "Does anybody here hate the Jebusites as much as I do? Enough to kill them? Then go up through the water tunnel and attack those poor blind cripples." (That is why it is said, "The blind and the crippled cannot enter the Lord's house.")

9 After capturing the fortress, David lived in it and named it "David's City." He built the city around it, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill.

10 He grew stronger all the time, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

11 King Hiram of Tyre sent a trade mission to David; he provided him with cedar logs and with carpenters and stone masons to build a palace.

12 And so David realized that the Lord had established him as king of Israel and was making his kingdom prosperous for the sake of his people.

13 After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David took more concubines and wives, and had more sons and daughters.

14 The following children were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

17 The Philistines were told that David had been made king of Israel, so their army set out to capture him. When David heard of it, he went down to a fortified place.

18 The Philistines arrived at Rephaim Valley and occupied it.

19 David asked the Lord, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?" "Yes, attack!" the Lord answered. "I will give you the victory!"

20 So David went to Baal Perazim and there he defeated the Philistines. He said, "The Lord has broken through my enemies like a flood." And so that place is called Baal Perazim.

21 When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David and his men carried them away.

22 Then the Philistines went back to Rephaim Valley and occupied it again.

23 Once more David consulted the Lord, who answered, "Don't attack them from here, but go around and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees.

24 When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army."

25 David did what the Lord had commanded, and was able to drive the Philistines back from Geba all the way to Gezer.

2 Samuel 6

1 Once more David called together the best soldiers in Israel, a total of thirty thousand men,

2 and led them to Baalah in Judah, in order to bring from there God's Covenant Box, bearing the name of the Lord Almighty, whose throne is above the winged creatures.

3 They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart,

4 with Ahio walking in front.

5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals.

6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box.

7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box,

8 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

9 Then David was afraid of the Lord and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?"

10 So he decided not to take it with him to Jerusalem; instead, he turned off the road and took it to the house of Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath.

11 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his family.

12 King David heard that because of the Covenant Box the Lord had blessed Obed Edom's family and all that he had; so he got the Covenant Box from Obed's house to take it to Jerusalem with a great celebration.

13 After the men carrying the Covenant Box had gone six steps, David had them stop while he offered the Lord a sacrifice of a bull and a fattened calf.

14 David, wearing only a linen cloth around his waist, danced with all his might to honor the Lord.

15 And so he and all the Israelites took the Covenant Box up to Jerusalem with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets.

16 As the Box was being brought into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and jumping around in the sacred dance, and she was disgusted with him.

17 They brought the Box and put it in its place in the Tent that David had set up for it. Then he offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the Lord.

18 When he had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty

19 and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins. Then everyone went home.

20 Afterward, when David went home to greet his family, Michal came out to meet him. "The king of Israel made a big name for himself today!" she said. "He exposed himself like a fool in the sight of the servant women of his officials!"

21 David answered, "I was dancing to honor the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and his family to make me the leader of his people Israel. And I will go on dancing to honor the Lord,

22 and will disgrace myself even more. You may think I am nothing, but those women will think highly of me!"

23 Michal, Saul's daughter, never had any children.

2 Samuel 7

1 King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord kept him safe from all his enemies.

2 Then the king said to the prophet Nathan, "Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but God's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!"

3 Nathan answered, "Do whatever you have in mind, because the Lord is with you."

4 But that night the Lord said to Nathan,

5 "Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, "You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.

6 From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent.

7 In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.'

8 "So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, "I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel.

9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world.

10 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land, they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to keep you safe from all your enemies and to give you descendants.

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

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

14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him as a father punishes his son.

15 But I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king.

16 You will always have descendants, and I will make your kingdom last forever. Your dynasty will never end.' "

17 Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

18 Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, sat down and prayed, "Sovereign Lord, I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, nor is my family.

19 Yet now you are doing even more, Sovereign Lord; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come. And you let a man see this, Sovereign Lord!

20 What more can I say to you! You know me, your servant.

21 It was your will and purpose to do this; you have done all these great things in order to instruct me.

22 How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God.

23 There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them have spread your fame throughout the world. You drove out other nations and their gods as your people advanced, the people whom you set free from Egypt to be your own.

24 You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

25 "And now, Lord God, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would.

26 Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, "The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.' And you will preserve my dynasty for all time.

27 Lord Almighty, God of Israel! I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.

28 "And now, Sovereign Lord, you are God; you always keep your promises, and you have made this wonderful promise to me.

29 I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Sovereign Lord, have promised this, and your blessing will rest on my descendants forever."