2 Samuel 7-10

Contemporary English Version

The Lord's Message to David

(1 Chronicles 17.1-15)

7 King David moved into his new palace, and the Lord let his kingdom be at peace. ² Then one day, as David was talking with Nathan the prophet, David said, “Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest has to stay in a tent.”

³ Nathan replied, “The Lord is with you, so do what you want!”

⁴ That night, the Lord told Nathan ⁵ to go to David and give him this message:

David, you are my servant, so listen to what I say. Why should you build a temple for me? ⁶ I didn't live in a temple when I brought my people out of Egypt, and I don't live in one now. A tent has always been my home wherever I have gone with them. ⁷ I chose leaders and told them to be like shepherds for my people Israel. But did I ever say anything to even one of them about building a cedar temple for me?

^8 (A) David, this is what I, the Lord All-Powerful, say to you. I brought you in from the fields where you took care of sheep, and I made you the leader of my people. ⁹ Wherever you went, I helped you and destroyed your enemies right in front of your eyes. I have made you one of the most famous people in the world.

¹⁰ I have given my people Israel a land of their own where they can live in peace, and they won't have to tremble with fear any more. Evil nations won't bother them, as they did ¹¹ when I let judges rule my people. And I have kept your enemies from attacking you.

Now I promise that you and your descendants will be kings. ^12 (B) I'll choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried in the tomb of your ancestors. I'll make him a strong ruler, ¹³ and no one will be able to take his kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. ^14 (C) I will be his father, and he will be my son.

When he does wrong, I'll see that he is corrected, just as children are corrected by their parents. ¹⁵ But I will never put an end to my agreement with him, as I put an end to my agreement with Saul, who was king before you. ^16 (D) I will make sure that one of your descendants will always be king.

¹⁷ Nathan told David exactly what he had heard in the vision.

David Gives Thanks to the Lord

(1 Chronicles 17.16-27)

¹⁸ David went into the tent he had set up for the sacred chest. Then he sat there and prayed:

Lord All-Powerful, my family and I don't deserve what you have already done for us, ¹⁹ and yet you have promised to do even more. Is this the way you usually treat people?^{[a] 20} I am your servant, and you know my thoughts, so there is nothing more that I need to say. ²¹ You have done this wonderful thing, and you have let me know about it, because you wanted to keep your promise.

²² Lord All-Powerful, you are greater than all others. No one is like you, and you alone are God. Everything we have heard about you is true. ^23 (E) And there is no other nation on earth like Israel, the nation you rescued from slavery in Egypt to be your own. You became famous by using great and wonderful miracles to force other nations and their gods out of your land, so your people could live here.^{[b] 24} You have chosen Israel to be your people forever, and you have become their God.

²⁵ And now, Lord God, please do what you have promised me and my descendants. ²⁶ Then you will be famous forever, and everyone will say, “The Lord God All-Powerful rules Israel, and David's descendants are his chosen kings.” ²⁷ After all, you really are Israel's God, the Lord All-Powerful. You've told me that you will let my descendants be kings. That's why I have the courage to pray to you like this, even though I am only your servant.

²⁸ Lord All-Powerful, you are God. You have promised me some very good things, and you can be trusted to do what you promise. ²⁹ Please bless my descendants and let them always be your chosen kings. You have already promised, and I'm sure that you will bless my family forever.

A List of David's Victories in War

(1 Chronicles 18.1-13)

8 Later, David attacked and badly defeated the Philistines. Israel was now free from their control.^[c]

² David also defeated the Moabites. Then he made their soldiers lie down on the ground, and he measured them off with a rope. He would measure off two lengths of the rope and have those men killed, then he would measure off one length and let those men live. The people of Moab had to accept David as their ruler and pay taxes to him.

³ David set out for the Euphrates River to build a monument^[d] there. On his way,^[e] he defeated the king of Zobah, whose name was Hadadezer the son of Rehob. ⁴ In the battle, David captured 1,700 cavalry^[f] and 20,000 foot soldiers. He also captured war chariots, but he destroyed all but 100 of them.^{[g] 5} When troops from the Aramean kingdom of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶ He left some of his soldiers in Damascus, and the Arameans had to accept David as their ruler and pay taxes to him.

Everywhere David went, the Lord helped him win battles.

⁷ Hadadezer's officers had carried their arrows in gold cases hung over their shoulders, but David took these cases^[h] and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ He also took a lot of bronze from the cities of Betah and Berothai, which had belonged to Hadadezer.

^9-10 King Toi of Hamath and King Hadadezer had been enemies. So when Toi heard that David had attacked and defeated^[i] Hadadezer's whole army, he sent his son Joram to praise and congratulate David. Joram also brought him gifts made of silver, gold, and bronze. ¹¹ David gave these to the Lord, just as he had done with the silver and gold that he had captured from ¹² Edom,^[j] Moab, Ammon, Philistia, Amalek, and from King Hadadezer of Zobah.

^13 (F) David fought the Edomite^[k] army in Salt Valley and killed 18,000 of their soldiers. When he returned, he built a monument.^{[l] 14} David left soldiers all through Edom, and the people of Edom had to accept him as their ruler.

Wherever David went, the Lord helped him.

A List of David's Officials

(1 Chronicles 18.14-17)

¹⁵ David ruled all Israel with fairness and justice.

¹⁶ Joab the son of Zeruiah was the commander in chief of the army.

Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud kept the government records.

¹⁷ Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech,^[m] were the priests.

Seraiah was the secretary.

¹⁸ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was the commander of^[n] David's bodyguard.^[o]

David's sons were priests.

David Is Kind to Mephibosheth

9 ^(G) One day, David thought, “I wonder if any of Saul's family are still alive. If they are, I will be kind to them, because I made a promise to Jonathan.” ² David called in Ziba, one of the servants of Saul's family. David said, “So you are Ziba.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I am.”

^3 (H) David asked, “Are any of Saul's family still alive? If there are, I want to be kind to them.”

Ziba answered, “One of Jonathan's sons is still alive, but he can't walk.”

⁴ “Where is he?” David asked.

Ziba replied, “He lives in Lo-Debar with Machir the son of Ammiel.”

^5-6 David sent some servants to bring Jonathan's son from Lo-Debar. His name was Mephibosheth,^[p] and he was the grandson of Saul. He came to David and knelt down.

David asked, “Are you Mephibosheth?”

“Yes, I am, Your Majesty.”

⁷ David said, “Don't be afraid. I'll be kind to you because Jonathan was your father. I'm going to give you back the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul. Besides that, you will always eat with me at my table.”

⁸ Mephibosheth knelt down again and said, “Why should you care about me? I'm worth no more than a dead dog.”

⁹ David called in Ziba, Saul's chief servant, and told him, “Since Mephibosheth is Saul's grandson, I've given him back everything that belonged to your master Saul and his family. ¹⁰ You and your 15 sons and 20 servants will work for Mephibosheth. You will farm his land and bring in his crops, so that Saul's family and servants^[q] will have food. But Mephibosheth will always eat with me at my table.”

^11-13 Ziba replied, “Your Majesty, I will do exactly what you tell me to do.” So Ziba's family and servants worked for Mephibosheth.

Mephibosheth was lame, but he lived in Jerusalem and ate at David's^[r] table, just like one of David's own sons. And he had a young son of his own, named Mica.

Israel Fights Ammon

(1 Chronicles 19.1-19)

10 Some time later, King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king. ² David said, “Nahash was kind to me, and I will be kind to his son.” So he sent some officials to the country of Ammon to tell Hanun how sorry he was that his father had died.

³ But Hanun's officials told him, “Do you really believe David is honoring your father by sending these people to comfort you? He probably sent them to spy on our city, so he can destroy it.” ⁴ Hanun arrested David's officials and had their beards shaved off on one side of their faces. He had their robes cut off just below the waist, and then he sent them away. ⁵ They were terribly ashamed.

When David found out what had happened to his officials, he sent a message and told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then you can come home.”

⁶ The Ammonites realized that they had made David very angry, so they hired more foreign soldiers. Twenty thousand of them were foot soldiers from the Aramean cities of Beth-Rehob and Zobah, 1,000 were from the king of Maacah, and 12,000 were from the region of Tob. ⁷ David heard what they had done, and he sent out Joab with all of his well-trained soldiers.

⁸ The Ammonite troops came out and got ready to fight in front of the gate to their city. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the soldiers from Tob and Maacah formed a separate group in the nearby fields.

⁹ Joab saw that he had to fight in front and behind at the same time, and he picked some of the best Israelite soldiers to fight the Arameans. ¹⁰ He put his brother Abishai in command of the rest of the army and gave them orders to fight the Ammonites. ¹¹ Joab told his brother, “If the Arameans are too much for me to handle, you can come and help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I'll come and help you. ¹² Be brave and fight hard to protect our people and the cities of our God. I pray that the Lord will do whatever pleases him.”

¹³ Joab and his soldiers attacked the Arameans, and the Arameans ran from them. ¹⁴ When the Ammonite soldiers saw that the Arameans had run away, they ran from Abishai's soldiers and went back into their own city. Joab stopped fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Arameans realized they had lost the battle, so they brought all their troops together again. ¹⁶ Hadadezer sent messengers to call in the Arameans who were on the other side of the Euphrates River. Then Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer's army, led them to the town of Helam.

¹⁷ David found out what the Arameans were doing, and he brought Israel's whole army together. They crossed the Jordan River and went to Helam, where the Arameans were ready to meet them. ¹⁸ The Arameans attacked, but then they ran from Israel. David killed 700 chariot drivers and 40,000 cavalry.^[s] He also killed Shobach, their commander.

¹⁹ When the kings who had been under Hadadezer's rule saw that Israel had beaten them, they made peace with Israel and accepted David as their ruler. The Arameans were afraid to help Ammon any more.