Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now the sons of Issachar were four: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.

²The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Tola were valiant warriors in their generations. Their number in the days of David was 22,600.

³The son of Uzzi was Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah; all five of them were chief men.

⁴And with them by their generations according to their fathers’ households were thirty-six thousand troops of the army for war; for they had many wives and sons.

⁵Their relatives among all the families of Issachar were valiant warriors, registered by genealogy, eighty-seven thousand in all.

⁶Benjamin had three sons: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.

⁷The sons of Bela were five: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri. They were heads of fathers’ households, valiant warriors, 22,034 registered by genealogy.

⁸The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher.

⁹They were registered by genealogy according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ households, 20,200 valiant warriors.

¹⁰The son of Jediael was Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.

¹¹All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, 17,200 valiant warriors who were ready to go out with the army to war.

¹²Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir; Hushim was the son of Aher.

¹³The sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.

¹⁴The sons of Manasseh were Asriel, to whom his Aramean concubine gave birth; she also gave birth to Machir, the father of Gilead.

¹⁵Machir took a wife from Huppim and Shuppim, whose name was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters.

¹⁶Maacah the wife of Machir gave birth to a son, and she named him Peresh; the name of his brother was Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

¹⁷The son of Ulam was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

¹⁸His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.

¹⁹The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

²⁰The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son,

²¹Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock.

²²Their father Ephraim mourned for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him.

²³Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house.

²⁴His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon, as well as Uzzen-sheerah.

²⁵Rephah was his son along with Resheph, Telah his son, Tahan his son,

²⁶Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,

²⁷Non his son, and Joshua his son.

²⁸Their possessions and dwelling places were Bethel with its towns, and to the east, Naaran, and to the west, Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns, as far as Ayyah with its towns,

²⁹and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, and Dor with its towns. In these regions lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.

³⁰The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah was their sister.

³¹The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.

³²Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and their sister Shua.

³³The sons of Japhlet were Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were the sons of Japhlet.

³⁴The sons of Shemer were Ahi and Rohgah, and Jehubbah and Aram.

³⁵The sons of his brother Helem were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.

³⁶The sons of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,

³⁷Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.

³⁸The sons of Jether were Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.

³⁹The sons of Ulla were Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.

⁴⁰All these were the sons of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice, valiant mighty men, and heads of the leaders. And the number of them registered by genealogy for service in war was twenty-six thousand men.

¹And Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,

²Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.

³Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud,

⁴Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,

⁵Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

⁶These are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Geba, and they took them into exile to Manahath,

⁷namely, Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera—he exiled them; and he fathered Uzza and Ahihud.

⁸Shaharaim fathered children in the country of Moab after he had sent his wives Hushim and Baara away.

⁹By Hodesh his wife he fathered Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,

¹⁰Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers’ households.

¹¹By Hushim he fathered Abitub and Elpaal.

¹²The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;

¹³and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put the inhabitants of Gath to flight;

¹⁴and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.

¹⁵Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,

¹⁶Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were the sons of Beriah.

¹⁷Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,

¹⁸Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.

¹⁹Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,

²⁰Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

²¹Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.

²²Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,

²³Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,

²⁴Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,

²⁵Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.

²⁶Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,

²⁷Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

²⁸These were heads of the fathers’ households according to their generations, chief men who lived in Jerusalem.

²⁹Now, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and his wife’s name was Maacah;

³⁰and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,

³¹Gedor, Ahio, and Zecher.

³²Mikloth fathered Shimeah. They also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives.

³³Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

³⁴The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.

³⁵The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

³⁶Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri fathered Moza.

³⁷Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah, his son, and Azel, his son.

³⁸Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

³⁹The sons of his brother Eshek were Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

⁴⁰The sons of Ulam were valiant mighty men, archers, and they had many sons and grandsons, 150 of them. All these were among the sons of Benjamin.

¹So all Israel was enrolled in genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile to Babylon for their infidelity.

²Now the first inhabitants who lived on their own property in their cities were people of Israel, including the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants.

³Some of the sons of Judah, some of the sons of Benjamin, and some of the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:

⁴Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the son of Judah.

⁵From the Shilonites were Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.

⁶From the sons of Zerah were Jeuel and their relatives, 690 of them.

⁷From the sons of Benjamin were Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah,

⁸and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

⁹and their relatives according to their generations, 956. All these men were heads of fathers’ households according to their fathers’ houses.

¹⁰From the priests were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,

¹¹and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God;

¹²and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

¹³and their relatives, heads of their fathers’ households, 1,760 competent men for the work of the service of the house of God.

¹⁴Of the Levites, there were Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;

¹⁵and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal; and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph,

¹⁶and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the settlements of the Netophathites.

¹⁷Now the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives (Shallum the chief

¹⁸being stationed until now at the king’s gate to the east). These were the gatekeepers for the camp of the sons of Levi.

¹⁹Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives of his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, doorkeepers of the tent; and their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the LORD, keepers of the entrance.

²⁰Phinehas the son of Eleazar was supervisor over them previously, and the LORD was with him.

²¹Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the entrance of the tent of meeting.

²²Those who were chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds were 212 in all. They were registered by genealogy in their settlements, those whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their official capacity.

²³So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, the house of the tent, in their divisions of service.

²⁴The gatekeepers were on the four sides, to the east, west, north, and south.

²⁵Their relatives in their settlements were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them;

²⁶for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, served in an official capacity, and were in charge of the chambers and in charge of the treasuries in the house of God.

²⁷They spent the night around the house of God, because the watch was committed to them; and they were in charge of opening it morning by morning.

²⁸Now some of them were in charge of the utensils of the service, for they counted them when they brought them in and when they took them out.

²⁹Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the utensils of the sanctuary, and over the finely milled flour, the wine, the olive oil, the frankincense, and the balsam oil.

³⁰Some of the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the balsam oil.

³¹Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the responsibility for the baking of cakes in pans.

³²Some of their relatives of the sons of the Kohathites were in charge of the showbread to prepare it every Sabbath.

³³Now these are the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free of other duties; for they were engaged in their work day and night.

³⁴These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men who lived in Jerusalem.

³⁵Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and his wife’s name was Maacah,

³⁶and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,

³⁷Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.

³⁸Mikloth fathered Shimeam. And they also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives.

³⁹Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

⁴⁰The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal fathered Micah.

⁴¹The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.

⁴²Ahaz fathered Jarah, Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri fathered Moza.

⁴³Moza fathered Binea, and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

⁴⁴Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded on Mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

³The battle became severe against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was wounded by the archers.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised Philistines will come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died.

⁶So Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.

⁷When all the people of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹So they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.

¹⁰They put his armor in the house of their gods and impaled his head in the house of Dagon.

¹¹When all Jabesh-gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all the valiant men got up and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh; and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

¹³So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against the LORD, because of the word of the LORD which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of her,

¹⁴and did not inquire of the LORD. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.

¹Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.

²In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be leader over My people Israel.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, in accordance with the word of the LORD through Samuel.

⁴Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.

⁵The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not enter here.” Nevertheless David took the mountain stronghold of Zion (that is, the city of David).

⁶Now David had said, “Whoever is first to kill a Jebusite shall be chief and commander.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief.

⁷Then David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David.

⁸He built the city all around, from the Millo to the surrounding area; and Joab repaired the rest of the city.

⁹And David became greater and greater, for the LORD of armies was with him.

¹⁰Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who remained faithful to him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, in accordance with the word of the LORD concerning Israel.

¹¹These constitute the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he wielded his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.

¹²After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.

¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines were gathered together there to battle, and there was a plot of land full of barley; and the people fled from the Philistines.

¹⁴But they took their stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and defeated the Philistines; and the LORD saved them with a great victory.

¹⁵Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁶David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

¹⁷And David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”

¹⁸So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; however, David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD;

¹⁹and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

²⁰As for Abshai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the thirty, and he wielded his spear against three hundred and killed them; and he had a name as well as the thirty.

²¹Of the three in the second rank he was the most honored, and he became their commander; however, he did not attain the reputation of the first three.

²²Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a warrior of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck and killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and struck and killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day.

²³And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature five cubits tall. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

²⁴Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.

²⁵Behold, he was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the first three; and David appointed him over his bodyguard.

²⁶Now the mighty men of the armies were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁷Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,

²⁸Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,

³¹Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

³²Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

³³Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

³⁴the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite,

³⁵Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,

³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,

³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,

⁴²Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,

⁴³Hanan the son of Maacah and Joshaphat the Mithnite,

⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

⁴⁵Jediael the son of Shimri and his brother Joha the Tizite,

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite,

⁴⁷Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

¹Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still restricted because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in war.

²They were equipped with bows, using both the right hand and the left to sling stones and shoot arrows with the bow; they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin.

³The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite,

⁴and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and in charge of the thirty. Then Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite,

⁵Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite,

⁶Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam, the Korahites,

⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸From the Gadites valiant mighty men went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness, men trained for war who could handle a large shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains.

⁹Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

¹³Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbannai, the eleventh.

¹⁴These men from the sons of Gad were captains of the army; the one who was least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest, to a thousand.

¹⁵These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.

¹⁷David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.”

¹⁸Then the Spirit covered Amasai like clothing, the chief of the thirty; and he said, “We are yours, David, And are with you, son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you!” Then David received them and made them captains of the troops.

¹⁹From Manasseh some also defected to David when he was about to go to battle with the Philistines against Saul. But they did not help them, because the governors of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, “At the cost of our heads he might defect to his master Saul.”

²⁰As he was going to Ziklag, men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh.

²¹They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all valiant mighty men, and were captains in the army.

²²For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God.

²³Now these are the numbers of the divisions equipped for war, who came to David at Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD.

²⁴The sons of Judah who carried shield and spear numbered 6,800, equipped for war.

²⁵From the sons of Simeon, valiant mighty men of war, 7,100.

²⁶From the sons of Levi, 4,600.

²⁷Now Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were 3,700,

²⁸also Zadok, a young valiant mighty man, and from his father’s house, twenty-two captains.

²⁹From the sons of Benjamin, Saul’s kinsmen, three thousand; for until now the majority of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.

³⁰From the sons of Ephraim 20,800, valiant mighty men, famous men in their fathers’ households.

³¹From the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated by name to come and make David king.

³²From the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command.

³³From Zebulun, there were fifty thousand who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David with an undivided heart.

³⁴From Naphtali there were a thousand captains, and with them thirty-seven thousand with shield and spear.

³⁵From the Danites who could draw up in battle formation, there were 28,600.

³⁶From Asher there were forty thousand who went out in the army to draw up in battle formation.

³⁷From the other side of the Jordan, from the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle.

³⁸All of these, being men of war who helped in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel also were of one mind to make David king.

³⁹They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them.

⁴⁰Moreover, those who were near to them, as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and on oxen, great quantities of flour cakes, fig cakes and bunches of raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep. There was joy indeed in Israel.

¹Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, with every leader.

²David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the LORD our God, let us send word everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they meet with us;

³and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, since we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”

⁴Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for this was right in the eyes of all the people.

⁵So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

⁶David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the LORD who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called.

⁷And they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.

⁸David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

⁹When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly overturned it.

¹⁰But the anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him because he had put out his hand toward the ark; and he died there before God.

¹¹Then David became angry because of the LORD’S outburst against Uzza; and he called that place Perez-uzza as it is to this day.

¹²David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”

¹³So David did not take the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹⁴And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months; and the LORD blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that he had.

¹Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, masons, and carpenters, to build a house for him.

²And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted, for the sake of His people Israel.

³Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters.

⁴These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet,

⁶Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,

⁷Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

⁸When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; and David heard about it and went out against them.

⁹Now the Philistines had come and carried out a raid in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁰David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You hand them over to me?” Then the LORD said to him, “Go up, for I will hand them over to you.”

¹¹So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there; and David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.

¹²They abandoned their gods there; so David gave the order and they were burned with fire.

¹³The Philistines carried out yet another raid in the valley.

¹⁴David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the baka-shrubs.

¹⁵When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baka-shrubs, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”

¹⁶David did just as God had commanded him, and they defeated the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even as far as Gezer.

¹⁷Then the fame of David spread in all the lands; and the LORD brought the fear of him on all the nations.

¹Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

²Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to serve Him forever.”

³And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place which he had prepared for it.

⁴David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites:

⁵of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his relatives;

⁶of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives;

⁷of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives;

⁸of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his relatives;

⁹of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his relatives;

¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives.

¹¹Then David called for the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab;

¹²and he said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves, you and your relatives, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it.

¹³Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst against us, since we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.”

¹⁴So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁵The sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on them, just as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.

¹⁶Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise sounds of joy.

¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,

¹⁸and with them their relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.

¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze;

²⁰and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth;

²¹and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith.

²²Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful.

²³Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁴Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁵So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains of thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with joy.

²⁶Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

²⁷Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen.

²⁸So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps, and lyres.

²⁹When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.

¹And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

²When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

³Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both men and women, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.

⁴He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:

⁵Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, and lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals,

⁶and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the LORD.

⁸Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make His deeds known among the peoples.

⁹Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.

¹⁰Boast in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be joyful.

¹¹Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.

¹²Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,

¹³You descendants of Israel His servant, Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

¹⁴He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,

¹⁶The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac.

¹⁷He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹⁸Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, As the portion of your inheritance.”

¹⁹When they were only a few in number, Very few, and strangers in it,

²⁰And they wandered from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people,

²¹He allowed no one to oppress them, And He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,

²²“Do not touch My anointed ones, And do not harm My prophets.”

²³Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.

²⁴Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

²⁵For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.

²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.

²⁷Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and joy are in His place.

²⁸Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

²⁹Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the LORD in holy attire.

³⁰Tremble before Him, all the earth; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

³¹Let the heavens be joyful, and the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”

³²Let the sea roar, and everything it contains; Let the field rejoice, and everything that is in it.

³³Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy in the presence of the LORD; For He is coming to judge the earth.

³⁴Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His faithfulness is everlasting.

³⁵Then say, “Save us, God of our salvation, And gather us and save us from the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.”

³⁶Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting! Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD.

³⁷So he left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required,

³⁸and Obed-edom with his sixty-eight relatives; Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers.

³⁹He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place which was at Gibeon,

⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to everything that is written in the Law of the LORD, which He commanded Israel.

⁴¹With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His kindness is everlasting.

⁴²And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who were to play them, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

⁴³Then all the people departed, each to his house; and David returned to bless his household.

¹And it came about, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under tent curtains.”

²Then Nathan said to David, “Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³But it happened that same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴“Go and tell David My servant, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;

⁵for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another.

⁶In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken 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, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.

⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.

⁹And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them there, so that they may live in their own place and not tremble with anxiety again; and the wicked will not make them waste away anymore as they did previously,

¹⁰even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I tell you that the LORD will build a house for you.

¹¹When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, then I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be from your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

¹²He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

¹³I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My favor away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.

¹⁴But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁵According to all these words and according to all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

¹⁶Then King David came in and sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, LORD God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

¹⁷This was a small thing in Your eyes, God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have viewed me according to the standard of a person of high degree, LORD God.

¹⁸What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant.

¹⁹LORD, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things.

²⁰LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to everything that we have heard with our ears.

²¹And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for You a name by great and awesome things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt?

²²For You have made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, LORD, became their God.

²³“Now, LORD, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do just as You have spoken.

²⁴Let Your name be established and be great forever, saying, ‘The LORD of armies is the God of Israel, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’

²⁵For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You.

²⁶Now, LORD, You are God, and have promised this good thing to Your servant.

²⁷And now You have decided to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, LORD, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

¹Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.

²And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

³David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his rule to the river Euphrates.

⁴David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and David hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.

⁵When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans.

⁶Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the LORD helped David wherever he went.

⁷And David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸Also from Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze Sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹Now when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,

¹⁰he sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze.

¹¹King David also dedicated these to the LORD, with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹²Moreover, Abishai the son of Zeruiah defeated eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹³Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the LORD helped David wherever he went.

¹⁴So David reigned over all Israel; and he administered justice and righteousness for all his people.

¹⁵Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary;

¹⁶and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary;

¹⁷and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.

¹Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him.

³But the commanders among the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have his servants not come to you to search, to demolish, and to spy out the land?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵Then certain people went and told David about the men. And he sent messengers to meet them, because the men were very humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow back, then return.”

⁶When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.

⁷So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped opposite Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to the battle.

⁸When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men.

⁹The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of the city; and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel and lined them up against the Arameans.

¹¹But the remainder of the people he placed under the command of Abshai his brother; and they lined up against the sons of Ammon.

¹²He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.

¹³Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the benefit of our people and the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

¹⁴So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to battle against the Arameans, and they fled from him.

¹⁵When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from his brother Abshai and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer leading them.

¹⁷When it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and drew up in formation against them. And when David drew up in battle formation against the Arameans, they fought against him.

¹⁸And the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed of the Arameans seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers; and he put Shophach the commander of the army to death.

¹⁹So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. So the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.