1 Chronicles 16; 1 Chronicles 17; 1 Chronicles 18; John 7:28-53

1 They brought the Ark of God and put it inside the tent that David had set up for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God.

2 When David had finished giving the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

3 He gave a loaf of bread, some dates, and raisins to every Israelite man and woman.

4 Then David appointed some of the Levites to serve before the Ark of the Lord. They had the job of leading the worship and giving thanks and praising the Lord, the God of Israel.

5 Asaph, who played the cymbals, was the leader. Zechariah was second to him. The other Levites were Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel. They played the lyres and harps.

6 Benaiah and Jahaziel were priests who blew the trumpets regularly before the Ark of the Agreement with God.

7 That day David first gave Asaph and his relatives the job of singing praises to the Lord.

8 Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him. Tell the nations what he has done.

9 Sing to him; sing praises to him. Tell about all his miracles.

10 Be glad that you are his; let those who seek the Lord be happy.

11 Depend on the Lord and his strength; always go to him for help.

12 Remember the miracles he has done, his wonders, and his decisions.

13 You are the descendants of his servant, Israel; you are the children of Jacob, his chosen people.

14 He is the Lord our God. His laws are for all the world.

15 He will keep his agreement forever; he will keep his promises always.

16 He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham and the promise he made to Isaac.

17 He made it a law for the people of Jacob; he made it an agreement with Israel to last forever.

18 He said, "I will give the land of Canaan to you, to belong to you."

19 Then God's people were few in number, and they were strangers in the land.

20 They went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another.

21 But he did not let anyone hurt them; he warned kings not to harm them.

22 He said, "Don't touch my chosen people, and don't harm my prophets."

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Every day tell how he saves us.

24 Tell the nations about his glory; tell all peoples the miracles he does.

25 The Lord is great; he should be praised. He should be respected more than all the gods.

26 All the gods of the nations are only idols, but the Lord made the skies.

27 He has glory and majesty; he has power and joy in his Temple.

28 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth. Praise the Lord's glory and power;

29 praise the glory of the Lord's name. Bring an offering and come to him. Worship the Lord because he is holy.

30 Tremble before him, everyone on earth. The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.

31 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad. Let people everywhere say, "The Lord is king!"

32 Let the sea and everything in it shout; let the fields and everything in them rejoice.

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord. They will sing because he is coming to judge the world.

34 Thank the Lord because he is good. His love continues forever.

35 Say to him, "Save us, God our Savior, and bring us back and save us from other nations. Then we will thank you and will gladly praise you."

36 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He always was and always will be. All the people said "Amen" and praised the Lord.

37 Then David left Asaph and the other Levites there in front of the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. They were to serve there every day.

38 David also left Obed-Edom and sixty-eight other Levites to serve with them. Hosah and Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun were guards.

39 David left Zadok the priest and the other priests who served with him in front of the Tent of the Lord at the place of worship in Gibeon.

40 Every morning and evening they offered burnt offerings on the altar of burnt offerings, following the rules written in the Teachings of the Lord, which he had given Israel.

41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and other Levites. They were chosen by name to sing praises to the Lord because his love continues forever.

42 Heman and Jeduthun also had the job of playing the trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments when songs were sung to God. Jeduthun's sons guarded the gates.

43 Then all the people left. Each person went home, and David also went home to bless the people in his home.

1 When David moved into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar, but the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord sits in a tent."

2 Nathan said to David, "Do what you want to do, because God is with you."

3 But that night God spoke his word to Nathan, saying,

4 "Go and tell David my servant, 'This is what the Lord says: You are not the person to build a house for me to live in.

5 From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until now I have not lived in a house. I have moved from one tent site to another and from one place to another.

6 As I have moved with the Israelites to different places, I have never said to the leaders, whom I commanded to take care of my people, "Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?"'

7 "Now, tell my servant David: 'This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: I took you from the pasture and from tending the sheep and made you king of my people Israel.

8 I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have defeated your enemies for you. I will make you as famous as any of the great people on the earth.

9 I will choose a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so they can live in their own homes. They will not be bothered anymore. Wicked people will no longer hurt them as they have in the past

10 when I chose judges for my people Israel. I will defeat all your enemies. "'I tell you that the Lord will make your descendants kings of Israel after you.

11 When you die and join your ancestors, I will make one of your sons the new king, and I will set up his kingdom.

12 He will build a house for me, and I will let his kingdom rule always.

13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I took away my love from Saul, who ruled before you, but I will never stop loving your son.

14 I will put him in charge of my house and kingdom forever. His family will rule forever.'"

15 Nathan told David everything God had said in this vision.

16 Then King David went in and sat in front of the Lord. David said, "Lord God, who am I? What is my family? Why did you bring me to this point?

17 But that was not enough for you, God. You have also made promises about my future family. Lord God, you have treated me like a very important person.

18 "What more can I say to you for honoring me, your servant? You know me so well.

19 Lord, you have done this wonderful thing for my sake and because you wanted to. You have made known all these great things.

20 "There is no one like you, Lord. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves!

21 There is no nation like your people Israel. They are the only people on earth that God chose to be his own. You made your name well known by the great and wonderful things you did for them. You went ahead of them and forced other nations out of the land. You freed your people from slavery in Egypt.

22 You made the people of Israel your very own people forever, and, Lord, you are their God.

23 "Lord, keep the promise forever that you made about my family and me, your servant. Do what you have said.

24 Then you will be honored always, and people will say, 'The Lord All-Powerful, the God over Israel, is Israel's God!' And the family of your servant David will continue before you.

25 "My God, you have told me that you would make my family great. So I, your servant, am brave enough to pray to you.

26 Lord, you are God, and you have promised these good things to me, your servant.

27 You have chosen to bless my family. Let it continue before you always. Lord, you have blessed my family, so it will always be blessed."

1 Later, David defeated the Philistines, conquered them, and took the city of Gath and the small towns around it.

2 He also defeated the people of Moab. So the people of Moab became servants of David and gave him the payment he demanded.

3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah all the way to the town of Hamath as he tried to spread his kingdom to the Euphrates River.

4 David captured one thousand of his chariots, seven thousand men who rode in chariots, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He crippled all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

5 Arameans from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, but David killed twenty-two thousand of them.

6 Then David put groups of soldiers in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David's servants and gave him the payments he demanded. So the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

7 David took the shields of gold that had belonged to Hadadezer's officers and brought them to Jerusalem.

8 David also took many things made of bronze from Tebah and Cun, which had been cities under Hadadezer's control. Later, Solomon used this bronze to make things for the Temple: the large bronze bowl, which was called the Sea, the pillars, and other bronze utensils.

9 Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah.

10 So Toi sent his son Hadoram to greet and congratulate King David for defeating Hadadezer. (Hadadezer had been at war with Toi.) Hadoram brought items made of gold, silver, and bronze.

11 King David gave them to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had taken from these nations: Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

12 Abishai son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

13 David put groups of soldiers in Edom, and all the Edomites became his servants. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

14 David was king over all of Israel, and he did what was fair and right for all his people.

15 Joab son of Zeruiah was commander over the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder.

16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abiathar son of Ahimelech were priests. Shavsha was the royal secretary.

17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites. And David's sons were important officers who served at his side.

28 Jesus, teaching in the Temple, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don't know.

29 But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."

30 When Jesus said this, the people tried to take him. But no one was able to touch him, because it was not yet the right time.

31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?"

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, "I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me.

34 You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am."

35 The Jews said to each other, "Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live and teach the Greek people there?

36 What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'You cannot come where I am'?"

37 On the last and most important day of the feast Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

38 If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person's heart, as the Scripture says."

39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.

40 When the people heard Jesus' words, some of them said, "This man really is the Prophet."

41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee.

42 The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived."

43 So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus.

44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.

45 The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees, who asked, "Why didn't you bring Jesus?"

46 The guards answered, "The words he says are greater than the words of any other person who has ever spoken!"

47 The Pharisees answered, "So Jesus has fooled you also!

48 Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No!

49 But these people, who know nothing about the law, are under God's curse."

50 Nicodemus, who had gone to see Jesus before, was in that group. He said,

51 "Our law does not judge a man without hearing him and knowing what he has done."

52 They answered, "Are you from Galilee, too? Study the Scriptures, and you will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee."

53 And everyone left and went home.