David Anointed King of All Israel

5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, ‘Look, we are your bone and flesh. ² For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The Lord said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’ ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years. ⁵ At Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.

Jerusalem Made Capital of the Combined Kingdom

⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, ‘You will not come in here, even the blind and the lame will turn you back’—thinking, ‘David cannot come in here.’ ⁷ Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, which is now the city of David. ⁸ David had said on that day, ‘Whoever wishes to strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates.’^[a] Therefore it is said, ‘The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.’ ⁹ David occupied the stronghold, and named it the city of David. David built the city all around from the Millo inwards. ¹⁰ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.

¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar trees, and carpenters and masons who built David a house. ¹² David then perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³ In Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives; and more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

Philistine Attack Repulsed

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?’ The Lord said to David, ‘Go up; for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.’ ²⁰ So David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. He said, ‘The Lord has burst forth against^[b] my enemies before me, like a bursting flood.’ Therefore that place is called Baal-perazim.^{[c] 21} The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

²² Once again the Philistines came up, and were spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ²³ When David inquired of the Lord, he said, ‘You shall not go up; go round to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then be on the alert; for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.’ ²⁵ David did just as the Lord had commanded him; and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way to Gezer.

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. ³ They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio,^[d] the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart ⁴ with the ark of God;^[e] and Ahio^[f] went in front of the ark. ⁵ David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs^[g] and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

⁶ When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. ⁷ The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark;^[h] and he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ David was angry because the Lord had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah; so that place is called Perez-uzzah^[i] to this day. ⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day; he said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?’ ¹⁰ So David was unwilling to take the ark of the Lord into his care in the city of David; instead David took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹¹ The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹² It was told King David, ‘The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.’ So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; ¹³ and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. ¹⁴ David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt-offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David had finished offering the burnt-offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, ¹⁹ and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat,^[j] and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.

²⁰ David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, ‘How the king of Israel honoured himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!’ ²¹ David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord, that I have danced before the Lord. ²² I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honour.’ ²³ And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

God’s Covenant with David

7 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ² the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ ³ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵ Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? ⁶ I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. ⁷ Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders^[k] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ ⁸ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; ⁹ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ ²³ And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. ²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

²⁸ ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— ³⁰ for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’