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God’s Covenant with David

17Now when David settled in his house, David said to the prophet Nathan, ‘I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.’ ²Nathan said to David, ‘Do all that you have in mind, for God is with you.’

3 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: ⁴Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house to live in. ⁵For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought out Israel to this very day, but I have lived in a tent and a tabernacle.^{* 6}Wherever I have moved about among all Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? ⁷Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel; ⁸and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies before you; and I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ⁹I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall wear them down no more, as they did formerly, ¹⁰from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies.

Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. ¹¹When your days are fulfilled to go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹²He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne for ever. ¹³I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, ¹⁴but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom for ever, and his throne shall be established for ever. ¹⁵In accordance with all these words and all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, ‘Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ¹⁷And even this was a small thing in your sight, O God; you have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come. You regard me as someone of high rank,^* O Lord God! ¹⁸And what more can David say to you for honouring your servant? You know your servant. ¹⁹For your servant’s sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all these great deeds, making known all these great things. ²⁰There is no one like you, O Lord, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹Who is like your people Israel, one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and terrible things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt? ²²And you made your people Israel to be your people for ever; and you, O Lord, became their God.

23 ‘And now, O Lord, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, let it be established for ever, and do as you have promised. ²⁴Thus your name will be established and magnified for ever in the saying, “The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God”; and the house of your servant David will be established in your presence. ²⁵For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him; therefore your servant has found it possible to pray before you. ²⁶And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; ²⁷therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue for ever before you. For you, O Lord, have blessed and are blessed^* for ever.’

David’s Kingdom Established and Extended

18Some time afterwards, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them; he took Gath and its villages from the Philistines.

2 He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became subject to David and brought tribute.

3 David also struck down King Hadadezer of Zobah, towards Hamath,^* as he went to set up a monument at the river Euphrates. ⁴David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand foot-soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left one hundred of them. ⁵When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand Arameans. ⁶Then David put garrisons^* in Aram of Damascus; and the Arameans became subject to David, and brought tribute. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷David took the gold shields that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a vast quantity of bronze; with it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

9 When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, ¹⁰he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to greet him and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Now Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. He sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze; ¹¹these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

12 Abishai son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³He put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became subject to David. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

14 So David reigned over all Israel; and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.