Old/New Testament

Chapter 6

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem. ¹ David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in all. ² Then he set forth with his entire force to Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God, which bears the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.

³ They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it forth from the house of Abinadab, which stood on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart. ⁴ Uzzah walked alongside the Ark of God, with Ahio walking in front. ⁵ David and the entire house of Israel danced joyfully before the Lord with all their might, singing to the accompaniment of lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

⁶ When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the Ark of God and steadied it because the oxen were stumbling. ⁷ This aroused the Lord’s anger against Uzzah because of his irreverent act, and he died there beside the Ark of God. ⁸ David became greatly upset because the Lord had vented his anger against Uzzah, and to this very day that place is called Perez-uzzah.

⁹ David greatly feared the Lord that day, and he said: “How can the Ark of the Lord be placed in my care?” ¹⁰ Therefore, he decided not to take the Ark of the Lord to be in his care in the City of David. Instead he 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 his entire household.

¹² When King David was informed that the Lord had blessed the family of Obed-edom and everything that belonged to him because of the Ark of God, David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David amid great rejoicing.

¹³ When the bearers of the Ark of the Lord had advanced six steps, David sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. ^14 [a]Then, girded with a linen ephod, he danced before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ as he and all the Israelites brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of trumpets.

¹⁶ As the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, watched from a window. When she saw King David leaping and whirling around before the Lord, 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 erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in the name of the Lord of hosts. ¹⁸ When he had finished making these offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ Then he distributed food to all of the people, both men and women, giving to each person in the multitude a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake. Then all the people returned to their homes.

²⁰ When David returned to bless his household, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said: “What an exhibition the king of Israel has made of himself today, exposing himself in the view of the slave girls of his followers like any vulgarian who chooses to shamelessly expose himself before them!”^[b]

²¹ David replied to Michal: “I was dancing in gratitude for the Lord, not for them. The Lord chose me instead of your father and his entire family and appointed me as leader over Israel, the people of the Lord. I shall continue to dance before the Lord in gratitude, ²² and I will demean myself even more. I will be lowly in your esteem, but I will be held in honor by those slave girls of whom you speak.”

²³ Saul’s daughter Michal had no children to the day of her death.

Chapter 7

David’s Concern for the Ark.^{[c] 1} When King David was settled in his palace and the Lord had granted him rest from all his enemies surrounding him, ² he said to the prophet Nathan: “Here I am, dwelling in a house of cedar, while the Ark of God dwells in a tent.” ³ Nathan replied to the king: “Do not hesitate to do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ However, that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David: ‘Thus says the Lord: “Are you determined to build a house for me to dwell in? ⁶ I have not dwelled in a house from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this very day. I have been moving from place to place while living in a tent and a tabernacle. ⁷ In all of my travels everywhere among the Israelites, did I ever ask any of the judges whom I had appointed to shepherd my people Israel why they had never built me a house of cedar?” ’ ”

⁸ “Now then, this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “I was the one who took you from the pastures and your work of caring for the sheep to be the ruler of my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all of your enemies who dared to challenge you. Moreover, I intend to make your name as famous as the names of the greatest men on the earth.

¹⁰ “ ‘ “I also shall provide a place for my people Israel, and there I will plant them so that they may dwell there and never again be disturbed. Nor will the wicked afflict them anymore, as was the case formerly, ¹¹ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will grant you rest from all of your enemies.

“ ‘ “Moreover, I, the Lord, promise that I will establish a royal house for you. ^12 [d]And when it is time for you to be with your ancestors, I will designate as your heir one of your sons to succeed you, and I shall establish his kingdom forever. ¹³ It is he who will build a house in honor of my name, and I shall ensure that his royal throne will stand firm forever.

¹⁴ “ ‘ “I shall be a father to him, and he will be my son. If he does wrong, I shall punish him as any father would do and not fail to inflict chastisements upon him. ¹⁵ However, I will never withdraw my steadfast love from him as I withdrew it from Saul and shielded you from his vindictive plots. ¹⁶ Your descendants and your kingdom will stand firm forever before me, and your throne shall endure forever.” ’ ”

¹⁷ Nathan then related all these promises and this entire revelation to David.

¹⁸ King David’s Prayer. Then King David went in and, sitting in the presence of the Lord, he said:

“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my lineage, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ Yet you regarded this as too insignificant an honor, Lord God, for you have also deigned to extend your protective care to the house of your servant for a long time to come. Who can truly consider himself sufficiently worthy to be the recipient of such love, Lord God?

²⁰ “What more can David say to you, Lord God, since you know everything about your servant? ²¹ For the sake of your promise and in accordance with the purpose you have in mind, you have decided to reveal all this to your servant.

²² “How great you are, Lord God! There is no one like you, and there is no God except you alone, as everything that we have heard confirms. ²³ And what other nation on earth can be compared to your people Israel, whom you sent forth to redeem for yourself from Egypt by awe-inspiring deeds as you drove out other nations and their gods. ²⁴ You have established your people Israel as your own forever, and you, Lord, became their God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, in regard to the promise that you have made concerning your servant and his house, do what you have promised, ²⁶ so that your name will be exalted forever, and people will say: ‘the Lord of hosts is the God of Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you, ²⁷ since you, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, made this revelation to your servant: ‘I shall build a house for you.’ Therefore, your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to you.

²⁸ “And now, Lord God, you are God, and your words are true. You have made this generous promise to your servant.^{[e] 29} Therefore, bless the house of your servant, so that it may remain ever before you. For you, Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.”

Chapter 8

Summary of David’s Wars. ¹ A short time later, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them, and he also wrested Metheg-ammah from their control. ² In addition he defeated the Moabites, after which he ordered them to lie on the ground and then measured them off with a length of cord. He measured two lengths of cord for those who were to be put to death, and one length for those who were to be spared. The Moabites then became David’s subjects and brought him tribute.

³ David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah, the son of Rehob, as he led an expedition to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River. ⁴ David captured from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He also hamstrung all but one hundred of the chariot horses.

⁵ When the Arameans of Damascus came to the aid of King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans. ⁶ He then established garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and they became his subjects and brought him tribute.^[f] The Lord brought David victory wherever he went.

⁷ David also took the gold shields that were carried by the guards of Hadadezer, and he brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ In addition, from Bethah and Berothai, towns belonging to Hadadezer, David removed an immense quantity of bronze.

⁹ When Tor, the king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated Hadadezer’s entire army, ¹⁰ he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and to congratulate him for having been victorious in his battle against Hadadezer, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Tor.

Joram brought with him objects of silver, gold, and bronze. ¹¹ These also King David consecrated to the Lord, as he had also done with the silver and gold he had taken from every nation he had conquered— ¹² from Edom and Moab, from the Ammonites and the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil taken from King Hadadezer of Zoab, the son of Rehob.

¹³ David became even more greatly renowned when, on his return, he slew eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, ¹⁴ after which he stationed garrisons throughout Edom. Thus all the Edomites became David’s subjects. And the Lord continued to give victory to David wherever he went.

¹⁵ David’s Officials. David reigned over all Israel, and he administered law and justice among all his people.^{[g] 16} Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was in command of the army. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was in charge of the records. ¹⁷ Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests. Seraiah was secretary. ¹⁸ Bena-iah, the son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites.^[h] David’s sons were priests.

Salvation—Joy and Torment of God^[a]

Chapter 15

This Man Receives Sinners.^{[b] 1} Now the tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus, ² and the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep.^{[c] 3} Therefore, he told them this parable: ⁴ “Which one of you, if you have a hundred sheep and lose one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he does find it, he lays it on his shoulders joyfully. ⁶ Then, when he returns home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin.^{[d] 8} “Or again, what woman who has ten silver coins^[e] and loses one will not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching thoroughly until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”