Bible in 90 Days

The Death of King Saul

10 The Philistine people fought against the people of Israel. The Israelites ran away from them. And many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines continued chasing Saul and his sons. And they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³ The fighting became heavy around Saul. The archers shot him with their arrows and wounded him.

⁴ Then Saul said to the officer who carried his armor, “Pull out your sword and kill me. If you don’t, these men who are not circumcised will come and hurt me.” But the officer was afraid. So he refused to kill Saul. Then Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ The officer saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died. ⁶ So Saul and three of his sons died. All his family died together.

⁷ The Israelites living in the valley saw that their army had run away. And they saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in those towns.

⁸ The next day the Philistines came to take valuable things from the dead bodies. On Mount Gilboa they found the bodies of Saul and his sons. ⁹ The Philistines stripped Saul’s body. And they took his head and his armor. They sent messengers through all their country to tell the news to their idols and their people. ¹⁰ The Philistines put Saul’s armor in the temple of their idols. And they hung his head in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹ All the people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹² So all the brave men from Jabesh Gilead went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh Gilead. Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the large tree in Jabesh. And they gave up eating for seven days.

¹³ Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord. He did not obey the Lord. He even went to a medium and asked her for advice. ¹⁴ He did this instead of asking the Lord for help. This is why the Lord put Saul to death and gave the kingdom to Jesse’s son David.

David Becomes King

11 All the people of Israel came to David at the town of Hebron. They said, “We are your people. ² Even when Saul was king, you were the man who led Israel in battle. The Lord your God spoke to you. He said, ‘David, you will be the shepherd of my people, the people of Israel. You will become their leader.’”

³ All the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made an agreement with them before the Lord in Hebron. The leaders poured olive oil on David to appoint him king over Israel. The Lord had promised this would happen. He had made this promise through Samuel.

David Defeats Jerusalem

⁴ David and all the Israelites went to the city of Jerusalem. At that time Jerusalem was called Jebus. The people living there were named Jebusites. ⁵ They said to David, “You can’t get inside our city.” But David captured their strong city of Jerusalem, the City of David.

⁶ David had said, “The person who leads the attack against the Jebusites will become the commander over all my army.” Joab son of Zeruiah led the attack. So he became the commander of the army.

⁷ Then David made his home in the strong, walled city. That is why it was named the City of David. ⁸ David rebuilt the city. He started where the land was filled in and went to the wall that was around the city. Joab repaired the other parts of the city. ⁹ David became more and more powerful. And the Lord of heaven’s armies was with him.

David’s Mighty Warriors

¹⁰ This is a list of the leaders over David’s warriors. These warriors helped make David’s kingdom strong. All the people of Israel also supported David’s kingdom. These heroes and all the people of Israel made David king. This happened as the Lord had promised.

¹¹ This is a list of David’s warriors:

Jashobeam was from the Hacmonite people. He was the leader of the Three,^[a] David’s most powerful soldiers. He used his spear to fight 300 men at one time. And he killed them all.

¹² Next was Eleazar. He was one of the Three. Eleazar was Dodai’s son. Dodai was from the Ahohite people. ¹³ Eleazar was with David at Pas-Dammim. The Philistines came there to fight the Israelites. There was a field of barley at that place. The Israelites ran away from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But they stopped in the middle of that field and fought the Philistines. And they killed the Philistines. The Lord gave Israel a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the 30 leaders went to David. He was at the rock by the cave near Adullam. At the same time a group from the Philistine army was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁶ David was in a protected place at that time. The Philistine army was staying in the town of Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David had a strong desire for some water. He said, “Oh, I wish someone would get me water from the well near the city gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ So the Three fought their way through the Philistine army. And they took water out of the well near the city gate in Bethlehem. Then they took it back to David. But he refused to drink it. He poured it out before the Lord. ¹⁹ David said, “May God keep me from drinking this water! It would be like drinking the blood of the men who risked their lives to bring me this water.” So David refused to drink it.

These were the brave things the Three did.

²⁰ Abishai brother of Joab was the leader of the Three. Abishai fought 300 men with his spear and killed them. He became as famous as the Three. ²¹ He was more honored than the Three. He became their commander even though he was not one of them.

²² Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave fighter from Kabzeel. Benaiah did many brave things. He killed two of the best warriors from Moab. He also went down into a pit when it was snowing. There he killed a lion. ²³ Benaiah also killed an Egyptian who was about seven and a half feet tall. The Egyptian had a spear as large as a weaver’s rod. Benaiah had a club. But he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian’s hand. And he used the Egyptian’s own spear to kill him. ²⁴ These were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did. Benaiah became as famous as the Three. ²⁵ He received more honor than the Thirty, David’s most powerful soldiers. But he did not become a member of the Three. David chose Benaiah to be the leader of his bodyguards.

²⁶ These were also mighty warriors:

Warriors Join David

12 These were the men who came to David at Ziklag. David was hiding from Saul son of Kish at that time. These were the men who helped David in battle. ² They came with bows for weapons. They could use either their right or left hands to shoot arrows or to sling rocks. They were Saul’s relatives from the tribe of Benjamin. ³ Ahiezer was their leader. And there was Joash. (Ahiezer and Joash were Shemaah’s sons. He was from the town of Gibeah.) There were also Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth. There were Beracah and Jehu from the town of Anathoth. ⁴ And there was Ishmaiah from the town of Gibeon. Ishmaiah was one of the Thirty. In fact, he was the leader of the Thirty. There were Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan and Jozabad from Gederah. ⁵ There were Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah and Shemariah. There was Shephatiah from Haruph. ⁶ There were Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam. They were from the family group of Korah. ⁷ And there were Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham. They were from the town of Gedor.

⁸ Part of the people of Gad joined David at his protected place in the desert. They were brave warriors trained for war. They were skilled with shields and spears. They were as fierce as lions. And they could run as fast as gazelles over the hills.

⁹ Ezer was the leader of Gad’s army. Obadiah was second in command. Eliab was third. ¹⁰ Mishmannah was fourth, and Jeremiah was fifth. ¹¹ Attai was sixth, and Eliel was seventh. ¹² Johanan was eighth, and Elzabad was ninth. ¹³ Jeremiah was tenth, and Macbannai was eleventh in command.

¹⁴ They were the commanders of the army from Gad. The weakest of these leaders was in charge of 100 soldiers. The strongest was in charge of 1,000 soldiers. ¹⁵ They crossed the Jordan River and chased away the people living in the valleys. They chased them to the east and to the west. This happened in the first month of the year when the Jordan floods the valley.

¹⁶ Other people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his protected place. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them. He said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But you might have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong. If you do this, the God of our ancestors will see this and punish you.”

¹⁸ Then the Spirit entered Amasai, the leader of the Thirty. Amasai said:

So David welcomed these men. He made them leaders of his army.

¹⁹ Some of the men from Manasseh also joined David. They joined him when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After talking about it, the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, “If David goes back to his master Saul, we will be killed!” ²⁰ The men from Manasseh joined David when he went to Ziklag. These were the men: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. Each of these men was a leader of a thousand men from Manasseh. ²¹ All these men of Manasseh were brave soldiers. They helped David fight against groups of men who went around the country robbing people. These soldiers became commanders in David’s army. ²² Every day more men joined David. So his army became large. It was like the army of God.

Others Join David at Hebron

²³ These are the numbers of the men who joined David at Hebron. They came ready for battle. They came to help turn the kingdom of Saul over to David. The Lord had said this would happen.

²⁴ There were 6,800 men with their weapons from the people of Judah. They carried shields and spears.

²⁵ There were 7,100 men from the people of Simeon. They were warriors ready for war.

²⁶ There were 4,600 men from the people of Levi. ²⁷ Jehoiada, a leader from Aaron’s family, was in that group. There were 3,700 with him. ²⁸ Zadok was also in that group. He was a strong young warrior. He came with 22 leaders from his family.

²⁹ There were 3,000 men from the people of Benjamin. They were Saul’s relatives. And most of them had remained loyal to Saul’s family until then.

³⁰ There were 20,800 men from the people of Ephraim. They were brave warriors. They were famous men in their own family groups.

³¹ There were 18,000 men from the western half-tribe of Manasseh. Each man was especially chosen to make David king.

³² There were 200 leaders from the family of Issachar. They knew what Israel should do. And they knew the right time to do it. Their relatives were with them and under their command.

³³ There were 50,000 men from the people of Zebulun. They were trained soldiers. They were trained to use every kind of weapon of war. They followed David completely.

³⁴ There were 1,000 officers from the people of Naphtali. They had 37,000 men with them who carried shields and spears.

³⁵ There were 28,600 men from the people of Dan. They were ready for war.

³⁶ There were 40,000 trained soldiers from the people of Asher. They were ready for war.

³⁷ There were 120,000 men from the east side of the Jordan River. They were from the people of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. They had every kind of weapon.

³⁸ All these fighting men were ready to go to war. They came to Hebron fully agreed to make David king of all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed to make David king. ³⁹ The men spent three days there with David. They ate and drank, because their relatives had prepared food for them. ⁴⁰ Also, their neighbors brought food. They came from as far as the areas belonging to Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. They brought much flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cows and sheep. This was because the people of Israel were very happy.

Bringing Back the Ark of the Covenant

13 David talked with all the officers of his army. He talked with the commanders of 100 men and the commanders of 1,000 men. ² Then David called the people of Israel together. He said, “If you think it is a good idea, and if it is what the Lord our God wants, let’s send a message. Let’s send it to our fellow Israelites in all the areas of Israel. Let’s also send it to the priests and Levites living with them in their towns and pastures. Tell them to come and join us. ³ Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of our God back to us. We did not use it to ask God for help while Saul was king.” ⁴ So all the people agreed with David. They all thought it was the right thing to do.

⁵ So David gathered all the Israelites from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath. They were to bring the Ark of the Covenant of God back from the town of Kiriath Jearim. ⁶ David and all the Israelites with him went to Baalah of Judah. (Baalah is another name for Kiriath Jearim.) They went there to get the Ark of the Covenant of God the Lord. His throne is between the golden creatures with wings on the Ark of the Covenant. It is called by the Lord’s name.

⁷ The people moved the Ark of the Covenant of God from Abinadab’s house. They put it on a new cart. And Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart. ⁸ David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their strength before God. They were singing and playing harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ They came to the threshing floor of Kidon. The oxen pulling the cart stumbled. And Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark of the Covenant. ¹⁰ The Lord became very angry with Uzzah. And he killed Uzzah because Uzzah had touched the Ark of the Covenant. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.

¹¹ David became angry because the Lord had punished Uzzah in his anger. So even today that place is called the Punishment of Uzzah.

¹² David was afraid of God that day. David asked, “How can I bring the Ark of the Covenant of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the Ark of the Covenant with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom of Gath. ¹⁴ The Ark of the Covenant of God stayed with Obed-Edom’s family in his house for three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom’s family and everything he owned.

David’s Kingdom Grows

14 Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David. He also sent cedar logs, stonecutters and carpenters. He sent them to build a palace for David. ² Then David knew that the Lord really had made him king of Israel. And he knew the Lord had made his kingdom very important. The Lord did this because he loved his people, the Israelites.

³ David married more women in Jerusalem. And he had more sons and daughters. ⁴ These are the names of David’s children born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

⁸ The Philistine people heard that David had been appointed king of all Israel. So all the Philistines went to look for him. When David heard about it, he went out to fight them. ⁹ The Philistines had attacked and robbed the people in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁰ David asked God, “Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will you let me defeat them?”

The Lord answered him, “Go. I will let you defeat them.”

¹¹ So David and his men went up to the town of Baal Perazim. There he defeated the Philistines. David said, “Like a flood of water, God has broken through my enemies. He has done this through me.” So that place was named Baal Perazim.^{[b] 12} The Philistines had left their idols there. So David ordered his men to burn them.

¹³ Soon the Philistines attacked the people in the valley again. ¹⁴ So David prayed to God again, and God answered him. God said, “Don’t attack the Philistines from the front. Instead, go around them. Attack them in front of the balsam trees. ¹⁵ You will hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees. Then quickly attack the Philistines. I, God, will have gone out before you to defeat the Philistine army.” ¹⁶ David did what God commanded him to do. So David and his men defeated the Philistine army. They killed the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

¹⁷ So David became famous in all the countries. And the Lord made all nations afraid of David.

The Ark of the Covenant Brought to Jerusalem

15 David built houses for himself in Jerusalem. Then he built a place for the Ark of the Covenant of God. And he set up a tent for it. ² Then David said, “Only the Levites may carry the Ark of the Covenant of God. The Lord chose them to carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. He chose them to serve him forever.”

³ David called all the people of Israel to come to Jerusalem. He wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to the place he had made for it. ⁴ David called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites. ⁵ There were 120 people from Kohath’s family group. Uriel was their leader. ⁶ There were 220 people from Merari’s family group. Asaiah was their leader. ⁷ There were 130 people from Gershon’s family group. Joel was their leader. ⁸ There were 200 people from Elizaphan’s family group. Shemaiah was their leader. ⁹ There were 80 people from Hebron’s family group. Eliel was their leader. ¹⁰ There were 112 people from Uzziel’s family group. Amminadab was their leader.

¹¹ Then David asked the priests Zadok and Abiathar to come to him. He also asked these Levites to come: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab. ¹² David said to them, “You are the leaders of the families of Levi. You and the other Levites must give yourselves for service to the Lord. Then bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the God of Israel. Bring it to the place I have made for it. ¹³ The last time we did not ask the Lord how to carry it. You Levites didn’t carry it. So the Lord our God punished us.”

¹⁴ Then the priests and Levites prepared themselves for service to the Lord. They did this so they could carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ The Levites used special poles to carry the Ark of the Covenant of God on their shoulders. This was the way Moses had commanded. They carried it just as the Lord had said they should.

¹⁶ David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers. The singers were to play their lyres, harps and cymbals. And they were to sing happy songs.

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman and his relatives Asaph and Ethan. Heman was Joel’s son. Asaph was Berekiah’s son. And Ethan, from the Merari family group, was Kushaiah’s son. ¹⁸ There was also a second group of Levites. They were Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were the Levite guards.

¹⁹ The singers Heman, Asaph and Ethan played bronze cymbals. ²⁰ Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah played the high-pitched lyres. ²¹ Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah played the low-pitched harps. ²² The Levite leader Kenaniah was in charge of the singing. He had this job because he was very good at singing.

²³ Berekiah and Elkanah were two of the guards for the Ark of the Covenant. ²⁴ The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer had the job of blowing trumpets. They did this in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also guards for the Ark of the Covenant.

²⁵ David, the leaders of Israel, and the commanders went to get the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. Each of the commanders was over a group of 1,000 soldiers. They all went to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Obed-Edom’s house. And they were very happy. ²⁶ God helped the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. So they sacrificed seven bulls and seven male sheep. ²⁷ All the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant wore robes of fine linen. Kenaniah, the man in charge of the singing, and all the singers wore robes of fine linen. David wore a robe of fine linen. And he also wore a holy vest of fine linen. ²⁸ So all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. They shouted and blew sheep horns and trumpets. They played cymbals, lyres, and harps.

²⁹ So the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord entered Jerusalem. As it entered, Saul’s daughter Michal watched from a window. When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she hated him.

16 They brought the Ark of the Covenant of God and put it inside the tent. This was the tent David had set up for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God. ² David finished giving the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he used the Lord’s name to bless the people. 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 Covenant of the Lord. They had the job of leading the worship. They gave thanks and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the leader. He played the cymbals. 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. They blew the trumpets regularly before the Ark of the Covenant with God. ⁷ That day David first gave Asaph and his relatives the job of singing praises to the Lord.

David’s Song of Thanks

All the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

³⁷ Then David left Asaph and the other Levites there in front of the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. They were to serve there every day. ³⁸ David also left Obed-Edom and 68 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. This was at the place of worship in Gibeon. ⁴⁰ Every morning and evening they offered burnt offerings on the altar of burnt offerings. They did this to follow the rules written in the Teachings of the Lord. These were the Teachings 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 the Lord’s love continues forever. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun also had the job of playing the trumpets and cymbals. They also played other musical instruments when songs were sung to God. Jeduthun’s sons guarded the gates.

⁴³ Then all the people left. Each person went to his own home. And David also went home to bless his family.

God’s Promise to David

17 David moved into his palace. Then he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar. But the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord sits in a tent.”

² Nathan answered David, “Do what you want to do. God is with you.”

³ But that night God spoke his word to Nathan. God said, ⁴ “Go and tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: David, 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. I have gone from one place to another. ⁶ I have moved with the Israelites to different places. I commanded leaders to take care of my people. I never said to any of those leaders, “Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?”’

⁷ “Now, tell my servant David: ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies says: I took you from the pasture and from tending the sheep. I made you king of my people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have killed your enemies for you. Now I will make you one of the most famous men on earth. ⁹ I will give this place to my people Israel. I will settle them here. Then they will have a home of their own. They won’t be bothered anymore. Evil people won’t hurt them as they have done since the first. ¹⁰ Evil people have hurt them since I chose leaders for my people Israel. I will also 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 let your child be the new king. He will be one of your own sons. And I will make his kingdom strong. ¹² He will build a house for me. And I will let his family rule forever. 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.

David’s Prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat in front of the Lord. David said, “Lord God, why have you made me so important to you? Why have you made my family important? ¹⁷ But that was not enough for you, God. You have also said these kind things about my future family. I am your servant. Lord God, you have treated me like a very important man.

¹⁸ “What more can I say to you? You have done so much for me, your servant. You love me so much. ¹⁹ Lord, you have done this wonderful thing for me for my sake. And you have done it because you wanted to. You have let me know all these great promises.

²⁰ “There is no one like you, Lord. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves. ²¹ There is no one like your people, the Israelites. It is the one nation on earth that God chose to be his people. You used them to make your name well-known. You did great and wonderful things 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 became their God.

²³ “Lord, you made this promise about my family and me, your servant. Now, keep your promise forever. Do what you have promised. ²⁴ Then people will know you and honor you forever. And people will say, ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies, 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. You have promised these good things to me, your servant. ²⁷ You have chosen to bless my family. Let it continue before you forever. Lord, you have blessed my family. So it will be blessed forever.”

David Defeats Nations

18 Later, David attacked the Philistine people and defeated them. He took Gath and the small towns around it from the Philistines.

² Then David defeated the country of Moab. So the Moabites became David’s servants. And they brought the payments he demanded from them.

³ David also fought against Hadadezer king of Zobah. David fought Hadadezer’s army all the way to the town of Hamath. He did this because Hadadezer tried to spread his kingdom all the way to the Euphrates River. ⁴ David took from Hadadezer 1,000 chariots and 7,000 chariot drivers. And he took 20,000 soldiers on foot. David also crippled most of Hadadezer’s horses used for pulling chariots. He saved only 100 of the chariot horses.

⁵ The Aramean people from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah. But David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶ Then David put camps of troops in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David’s servants and brought him the payments he demanded. So the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

⁷ David took the gold shields from Hadadezer’s army leaders. And he brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ David also took much bronze from the towns of Tebah and Cun. These towns belonged to Hadadezer. 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 things.

⁹ Toi was king of the city of Hamath. He heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer king of Zobah. ¹⁰ So Toi sent his son Hadoram to greet King David. Hadoram also congratulated David for fighting and defeating Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Toi before. Hadoram gave David all kinds of things made of gold, silver and bronze. ¹¹ King David gave these things to the Lord. David had done the same thing 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 18,000 Edomite people in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Abishai also put camps of troops in Edom. And all the Edomites became David’s servants. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

David’s Important Officers

¹⁴ David was king over all of Israel. He did what was right and fair for everyone. ¹⁵ Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of David’s army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder. ¹⁶ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests. Shavsha was the royal assistant. ¹⁷ Benaiah was responsible for leading the Kerethites and Pelethites, the king’s bodyguards. Benaiah was Jehoiada’s son. And David’s sons were important officers. They served at King David’s side.

David Fights the Ammonites

19 Nahash was king of the Ammonite people. When Nahash died, his son became the king. ² David said, “Nahash was kind to me. So I will be kind to Hanun son of Nahash.” Then David sent a group to comfort Hanun about the death of his father.

David’s men went to comfort Hanun in the country of Ammon. ³ But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Don’t be fooled. David didn’t send these men to comfort you. They are not here to honor your dead father. David sent his men to spy on you and your land. He wants to destroy your country.” ⁴ So Hanun arrested David’s men. To shame them he cut off their beards and cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

⁵ David’s men were too ashamed to go home. Some people came to David and told him what had happened to his men. So he sent messengers to meet them. He said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back. Then come home.”

⁶ The Ammonite people saw they had caused David to hate them. So Hanun and the Ammonites sent about 74,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and chariot drivers. They hired Arameans from Northwest Mesopotamia, Aram Maacah and Zobah. ⁷ The Ammonites hired 32,000 chariots and chariot drivers. They also hired the king of Maacah and his army. So he and his army came and set up camp near the town of Medeba. The Ammonites themselves came out of their towns and got ready for battle.

⁸ David heard about this. So he sent out Joab and the whole army of Israel. ⁹ The Ammonites came out and got ready for battle. They were near the city gate. The kings who had come to help stayed out in the fields by themselves.

¹⁰ Joab saw that there were enemy troops in front of him and behind him. So Joab chose some of the best soldiers of Israel. And he sent them out to fight the Arameans. ¹¹ Joab put the rest of the army of Israel under the command of Abishai, his brother. Then they went out to fight the Ammonites. ¹² Joab said to Abishai, “The Arameans may be too strong for me. If they are, then you must help me. Or, the Ammonites may be too strong for you. If they are, then I will help you. ¹³ Let’s be strong. We must fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is right.”

¹⁴ Then Joab and the army with him went to attack the Arameans. And the Arameans ran away from them. ¹⁵ The Ammonite army saw that the Arameans were running away. So they also ran away from Abishai and his army. The Ammonites went back inside their city. And Joab went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ The Arameans saw that Israel had defeated them. So they sent messengers to bring other Arameans from east of the Euphrates River. Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army led them.

¹⁷ When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites. And he led them across the Jordan River. He lined them up for battle, facing the Arameans. And they attacked the Arameans. ¹⁸ But the Arameans ran away from the Israelites. David and his army killed 7,000 Aramean chariot drivers. And they killed 40,000 Aramean foot soldiers. They also killed Shophach, the commander of the Aramean army.

¹⁹ Hadadezer’s officers saw that Israel had defeated them. So they made peace with David. They became his servants. So the Arameans refused to help the Ammonites again.

Joab Destroys the Ammonites

20 In the spring Joab led the army of Israel out to battle. This was the time of year when kings went out to battle. But David stayed in Jerusalem. The army of Israel destroyed the land of Ammon. Then they went to the city of Rabbah. They surrounded it and attacked it until they destroyed it. ² David took the crown from the head of their king.^[c] That gold crown weighed about 75 pounds. And it had valuable gems in it. The crown was put on David’s head. Then David took many valuable things from the city. ³ David brought out the people from Rabbah. And he forced them to work with saws, iron picks and axes. David did the same thing to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Philistine Giants Are Killed

⁴ Later, war broke out between Israel and the Philistines at Gezer. At this time Sibbecai from Hushah killed Sippai. Sippai was one of the descendants of the Rephaites. So those Philistines were defeated.

⁵ Another time, the Israelites again fought the Philistines. Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. Goliath was from the town of Gath. Lahmi’s spear was as large as a weaver’s rod.

⁶ Later, the Israelites fought another war with the Philistines at Gath. In this town there was a very large man. He had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. So he had 24 fingers and toes in all. He also was a descendant of Rapha. ⁷ When he made fun of Israel, Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was the son of Shimea, David’s brother.

⁸ These Philistines were descendants of Rapha from Gath. David and his men killed them.

David Counts Israel

21 Satan was against Israel. He encouraged David to count the people of Israel. ² So David gave an order to Joab and the commanders of the troops. He said, “Go and count all the Israelites. Count everyone from Beersheba to Dan.^[d] Then tell me so I will know how many people there are.”

³ But Joab answered, “May the Lord make the nation 100 times as large. My master the king, all the Israelites are your servants. Why do you want to do this, my master? You will make Israel guilty of sin.”

⁴ But King David made Joab follow his order. So Joab left and went through all Israel, counting the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem. ⁵ He told David how many people there were. In Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could use a sword. And there were 470,000 men in Judah who could use a sword. ⁶ But Joab did not count the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. He didn’t count them because he didn’t like King David’s order. ⁷ David had done something God had said was wrong. So God punished Israel.

⁸ Then David said to God, “I have done something very foolish. It was a terrible sin. Now, I beg you to forgive me, your servant.”

⁹ Gad was David’s seer. The Lord said to Gad, ¹⁰ “Go and tell David: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to give you three choices. Choose one, and I will punish you in that way.’”

¹¹ So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Choose which punishment you want. ¹² You may choose three years without enough food for the nation. Or choose three months of running from your enemies as they chase you with their swords. Or choose three days of punishment from the Lord. A terrible disease will spread through the country. The angel of the Lord will go through Israel destroying the people.’ Now, David, decide which answer I will give to the Lord, who sent me.”

¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in trouble. I don’t want some man to punish me. The Lord is very merciful. So let the Lord punish me.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 people died. ¹⁵ God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But when the angel started to destroy it, the Lord saw it and felt sorry. So he said to the angel who was destroying, “That is enough! Stop!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁶ David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord in the sky. The angel was holding his sword over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders bowed facedown on the ground. They were wearing rough cloth to show their sadness. ¹⁷ David said to God, “I am the one who sinned. I gave the order for the people to be counted. I have done wrong. These people are only sheep. What wrong have they done? Lord my God, punish me and my family. But stop the terrible disease that is killing your people.”

¹⁸ Then the angel of the Lord gave an order to Gad. He told Gad to tell David to build an altar to worship the Lord. It was to be at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁹ Gad told David these things from the Lord. So David went to Araunah’s threshing floor.

²⁰ Araunah was separating the straw from the wheat. When he turned around, he saw the angel. Araunah’s four sons who were with him hid. ²¹ David went to Araunah. When Araunah saw David, he left the threshing floor. He bowed facedown on the ground before David.

²² David said to him, “Sell me your threshing floor. Then I can build an altar to worship the Lord here. Then the terrible disease will be stopped. Sell it to me for the full price.”

²³ Araunah said to David, “Take this threshing floor. You are my master the king. Do anything you want. Look, I will also give you oxen for the burnt offering. I will give you boards as wood for the fire. And I will give the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this to you.”

²⁴ But King David answered Araunah, “No, I must pay the full price. I won’t take anything that is yours and give it to the Lord. I won’t give an offering that costs me nothing.”

²⁵ So David paid Araunah about 15 pounds of gold for the place. ²⁶ David built an altar to worship the Lord there. He offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. David prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered him by sending down fire from heaven. It came down on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ Then the Lord commanded the angel to put his sword back into its holder.

²⁸ David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah. So he offered sacrifices to the Lord there. ²⁹ The Holy Tent and the altar of burnt offerings were in Gibeon. They were at the place of worship there. Moses had made the Holy Tent while the Israelites were in the desert. ³⁰ But David could not go to the Holy Tent to speak with God. He was afraid of the angel of the Lord and his sword.

22 David said, “The Temple of the Lord God will be built here. And the altar for burnt offerings for Israel will be built here.”

David Makes Plans for the Temple

² So David gave an order for all foreigners living in Israel to be gathered together. From that group David chose stonecutters. Their job was to cut stones to be used in building the Temple of God. ³ David supplied a large amount of iron. It was used for making nails and hinges for the gate doors. He also supplied more bronze than could be weighed. ⁴ And he supplied more cedar logs than could be counted. Much of the cedar had been brought to David by the people from Sidon and Tyre.

⁵ David said, “We should build a great Temple for the Lord. It should be famous everywhere for its greatness and beauty. But my son Solomon is young. He hasn’t yet learned what he needs to know. So I will prepare for the building of it.” So David got many of the materials ready before he died.

⁶ Then David called for his son Solomon. He told Solomon to build the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to him, “My son, I wanted to build a temple for worshiping the Lord my God. ⁸ But the Lord spoke his word to me, ‘David, you have killed too many people. You have fought too many wars. So you cannot build a temple for worship to me. You have killed too many people. ⁹ But, you will have a son. He will be a man of peace and rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies around him. His name will be Solomon.^[e] And I will give Israel peace and quiet while he is king. ¹⁰ Solomon will build a temple for worship to me. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will make his kingdom strong. Someone from his family will rule Israel forever.’”

¹¹ David also said, “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you. May you build a temple for the Lord your God, as he said you would. ¹² The Lord will make you the king of Israel. May the Lord give you wisdom and understanding. Then you will be able to obey the teachings of the Lord your God. ¹³ Be careful to obey the rules and laws the Lord gave Moses for Israel. If you obey them, you will have success. Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.

¹⁴ “Solomon, I have worked hard getting many of the materials for building the Temple of the Lord. I have supplied about seven and a half million pounds of gold. And I have supplied about seventy-five million pounds of silver. I have supplied so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed. And I have supplied wood and stone. And you may add to them. ¹⁵ You have many workmen. You have stonecutters, stoneworkers and carpenters. You have men skilled in every kind of work. ¹⁶ They are skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze and iron. You have more craftsmen than can be counted. Now begin the work. And may the Lord be with you.”

¹⁷ Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. ¹⁸ David said to them, “The Lord your God is with you. He has given you rest from our enemies. He helped me to defeat the people living around us. The Lord and his people are in control of this land. ¹⁹ Now give yourself completely to obeying the Lord your God. Build the holy place of the Lord God. Build the Temple for worship to the Lord. Then bring the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord into the Temple. And bring in the holy things that belong to God.”

The Levites

23 David had lived long and was old. Then he made his son Solomon the new king of Israel. ² David gathered all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and Levites. ³ David counted the Levites who were 30 years old and older. In all, there were 38,000 Levites. ⁴ David said, “Of these, 24,000 Levites will direct the work of the Temple of the Lord. And 6,000 Levites will be officers and judges. ⁵ And 4,000 Levites will be gatekeepers. And 4,000 Levites will praise the Lord with musical instruments. I made these instruments for them to use for praise.”

⁶ David separated the Levites into three groups. These groups were led by Levi’s three sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

The People of Gershon

⁷ From the people of Gershon, there were Ladan and Shimei.

⁸ Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel. His other sons were Zetham and Joel.

⁹ Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran. These three sons were leaders of Ladan’s families. ¹⁰ Shimei had four sons. They were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush and Beriah. ¹¹ Jahath was the first son, and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many children. So they were counted as if they were one family.

The People of Kohath

¹² Kohath had four sons. They were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

¹³ Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen to be special forever. They were chosen to prepare the holy things for the Lord’s service. They were to offer sacrifices before the Lord. They were to serve him as priests. They were to give blessings in the Lord’s name forever.

¹⁴ Moses was the man of God. Moses’ sons were counted as part of the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ Moses’ sons were Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ Gershom’s first son was Shubael. ¹⁷ Eliezer’s first son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many sons.

¹⁸ Izhar’s first son was Shelomith.

¹⁹ Hebron’s first son was Jeriah. His second son was Amariah. Jahaziel was the third son. And Jekameam was the fourth son.

²⁰ Uzziel’s first son was Micah. And Isshiah was his second son.

The People of Merari

²¹ Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died without having sons. He had only daughters. Eleazar’s daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. ²³ Mushi’s three sons were Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth.

The Levites’ Work

²⁴ These were Levi’s descendants listed by their families. They were the leaders of families. Each person who was 20 years old or older was listed. They served in the Lord’s Temple.

²⁵ David had said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He has given rest to his people. He has come to live in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ So the Levites don’t need to carry the Holy Tent. They don’t need to carry any of the things used in its services anymore.” ²⁷ David’s last instructions were to count the Levites. All who were 20 years old and older were counted.

²⁸ The Levites had the job of helping Aaron’s descendants. They helped in the service of the Temple of the Lord. They cared for the Temple courtyard and side rooms. They had the job of making all the holy things pure. Their job was to serve in the Temple of God. ²⁹ They were responsible for putting the holy bread on the table. They also were responsible for the flour in the grain offerings. And they were responsible for the bread made without yeast. They were also responsible for the baking and mixing. And they did all the measuring. ³⁰ The Levites also stood every morning and gave thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this every evening. ³¹ The Levites offered all the burnt offerings to the Lord on the special days of rest. And they offered them at the New Moon festivals and at all appointed feasts. They served before the Lord every day. They were to follow the rules for how many Levites should serve each time. ³² So the Levites took care of the Meeting Tent. They also took care of the Holy Place. And they helped their relatives, Aaron’s descendants, with the services at the Temple of the Lord.