17 And it came to pass, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah dwelleth under curtains. ² And Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee. ³ And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith Jehovah, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in: ⁵ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, unto this day, but ^[a]have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. ⁶ In all places wherein I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedar? ⁷ Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the ^[b]sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ^[c]prince over my people Israel: ⁸ and I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast gone, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first, ¹⁰ and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I ^[d]will subdue all thine enemies. Moreover I tell thee that Jehovah will build thee a house. ¹¹ And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee; ¹⁴ but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever. ¹⁵ According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁶ Then David the king went in, and sat before Jehovah; and he said, Who am I, O Jehovah God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? ¹⁷ And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Jehovah God. ¹⁸ What can David say yet more unto thee concerning the honor which is done to thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. ¹⁹ O Jehovah, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰ O Jehovah, there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ^21 [e]And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem unto himself for a people, to make thee a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou redeemedst out of Egypt? ²² For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Jehovah, becamest their God. ²³ And now, O Jehovah, let the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and do as thou hast spoken. ^24 [f]And let thy name be established and magnified for ever, saying, Jehovah of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and the house of David thy servant is established before thee. ²⁵ For thou, O my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build him a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray before thee. ²⁶ And now, O Jehovah, thou art God, and hast promised this good thing unto thy servant: ²⁷ and now it hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Jehovah, hast blessed, and it is blessed for ever.

18 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines. ² And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.

³ And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah ^[g]unto Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates. ⁴ And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hocked all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots.

⁵ And when ^[h]the Syrians of ^[i]Damascus came to succor Hadarezer king of Zobah, David smote of ^[j]the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in ^[k]Syria of ^[l]Damascus; and ^[m]the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. And Jehovah ^[n]gave victory to David whithersoever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadarezer, David took very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.

⁹ And when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent Hadoram his son to king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadarezer and smitten him (for Hadarezer had wars with Tou); and he had with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass. ¹¹ These also did king David dedicate unto Jehovah, with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover ^[o]Abishai the son of Zeruiah smote of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt eighteen thousand. ¹³ And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Jehovah gave victory to David whithersoever he went.

¹⁴ And David reigned over all Israel; and he executed justice and righteousness unto all his people. ¹⁵ And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^[p]recorder; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Shavsha was ^[q]scribe; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.

19 And it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. ² And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. ³ But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, in that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ Then there went certain persons, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Aram-maacah, and out of Zobah. ⁷ So they hired them thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle. ⁸ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. ⁹ And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that ^[r]the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. ¹¹ And the rest of the people he committed into the hand of ^[s]Abishai his brother; and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon. ¹² And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee. ¹³ Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good. ¹⁴ So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the River, with Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer at their head. ¹⁷ And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host. ¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and served him: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.