Old/New Testament
David Leads in Worship
16 They brought the ark of God and put it in the middle of the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings[a] before God. 2 When David finished offering burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the Lord’s name. 3 He then handed out to each Israelite man and woman a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. 4 He appointed some of the Levites to serve before the ark of the Lord, to offer prayers, songs of thanks, and hymns to the Lord God of Israel. 5 Asaph was the leader and Zechariah second-in-command, followed by Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel. They were to play stringed instruments, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of God’s covenant.
David Thanks God
7 That day David first gave to Asaph and his colleagues this song of thanks to the Lord.
8 Give thanks to the Lord!
Call on his name!
Make known his accomplishments among the nations.
9 Sing to him! Make music to him!
Tell about all his miraculous deeds.
10 Boast about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
Seek his presence[b] continually!
12 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,[c]
13 O children[d] of Israel, God’s[e] servant,
you descendants of Jacob, God’s[f] chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.[g]
15 Remember[h] continually his covenantal decree,
the promise he made[i] to a thousand generations—
16 the promise[j] he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac![k]
17 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,[l]
18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
19 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and foreign residents within it,
20 they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another.[m]
21 He let no one oppress them;
he disciplined kings for their sake,
22 saying,[n] “Don’t touch my anointed ones!
Don’t harm my prophets!”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Announce every day[o] how he delivers.
24 Tell the nations about his splendor,
tell[p] all the nations about his miraculous deeds.
25 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise,
he is more awesome than[q] all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are worthless,[r]
but the Lord made the heavens.[s]
27 Majestic splendor emanates from him,[t]
he is the source of strength and joy.[u]
28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations,
ascribe to the Lord splendor and strength!
29 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves![v]
Bring an offering and enter his presence!
Worship the Lord in holy attire![w]
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is established, it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be happy!
Let the nations say,[x] “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea and everything in it shout!
Let the fields and everything in them celebrate!
33 Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth!
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures.[y]
35 Say this prayer:[z] “Deliver us, O God who delivers us!
Gather us! Rescue us from the nations!
Then we will give thanks[aa] to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.”[ab]
36 May the Lord God of Israel be praised,
in the future and forevermore.[ac]
Then all the people said, “We agree![ad] Praise the Lord.”
David Appoints Worship Leaders
37 David[ae] left Asaph and his colleagues there before the ark of the Lord’s covenant to serve before the ark regularly and fulfill each day’s requirements,[af] 38 including Obed-Edom and sixty-eight colleagues. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah were gatekeepers. 39 Zadok the priest and his fellow priests served[ag] before the Lord’s tabernacle at the worship center[ah] in Gibeon, 40 regularly offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar for burnt sacrifice, morning and evening, according to what is prescribed in the law of the Lord which he charged Israel to observe.[ai] 41 Joining them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord. (For his loyal love endures!)[aj] 42 Heman and Jeduthun were in charge of the music, including the trumpets, cymbals, and the other musical instruments used in praising God. The sons of Jeduthun guarded the entrance.[ak]
43 Then all the people returned to their homes, and David went to pronounce a blessing on his family.[al]
God Makes a Promise to David
17 When David had settled into his palace,[am] he[an] said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace[ao] made from cedar, while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under a tent.”[ap] 2 Nathan said to David, “You should do whatever you have in mind,[aq] for God is with you.”
3 That night God told Nathan,[ar] 4 “Go, tell my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must not build me a house in which to live. 5 For I have not lived in a house from the time I brought Israel up from Egypt[as] to the present day. I have lived in a tent that has been in various places.[at] 6 Wherever I moved throughout Israel, I did not say[au] to any of the leaders whom I appointed to care for my people Israel,[av] ‘Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?’”’
7 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[aw] says: “I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd[ax] to make you a leader of my people Israel. 8 I was with you wherever you went and I defeated[ay] all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth.[az] 9 I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle[ba] them there; they will live there and not be disturbed[bb] anymore. Violent men will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning[bc] 10 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.
“‘“I declare to you that the Lord will build a dynastic house[bd] for you! 11 When the time comes for you to die,[be] I will raise up your descendant,[bf] one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He will build me a house, and I will make his dynasty permanent.[bg] 13 I will become his father and he will become my son. I will never withhold my loyal love from him, as I withheld it from the one who ruled before you.[bh] 14 I will put him in permanent charge of my house and my kingdom; his dynasty will be permanent.”’”[bi] 15 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.[bj]
David Praises God
16 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family,[bk] that you should have brought me to this point? 17 And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family.[bl] You have revealed to me what men long to know,[bm] O Lord God. 18 What more can David say[bn] to you? You have honored your servant; you have given your servant special recognition.[bo] 19 O Lord, for the sake of your servant and according to your will,[bp] you have done this great thing in order to reveal your greatness.[bq] 20 O Lord, there is none like you; there is no God besides you! What we heard is true![br] 21 And who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation[bs] in the earth? Their God[bt] went to claim[bu] a nation for himself! You made a name for yourself by doing great and awesome deeds[bv] when you drove out[bw] nations before your people whom you had delivered from the Egyptian empire and its gods.[bx] 22 You made Israel your very own nation for all time.[by] You, O Lord, became their God. 23 So now, O Lord, may the promise you made about your servant and his family become a permanent reality![bz] Do as you promised,[ca] 24 so[cb] it may become a reality[cc] and you may gain lasting fame,[cd] as people say,[ce] ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is the God of Israel.’[cf] The dynasty[cg] of your servant David will be established before you, 25 for you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a dynasty[ch] for him. That is why your servant has had the courage to pray to you.[ci] 26 Now, O Lord, you are the true God;[cj] you have made this good promise to your servant.[ck] 27 Now you are willing to bless your servant’s dynasty[cl] so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O Lord, have blessed it and it will be blessed from now on into the future.”[cm]
David Conquers the Neighboring Nations
18 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding towns[cn] away from the Philistines.[co]
2 He defeated the Moabites; the Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.[cp]
3 David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authority[cq] to the Euphrates River.[cr] 4 David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers,[cs] and 20,000 infantrymen . David cut the hamstrings of all but 100 of Hadadezer’s[ct] chariot horses.[cu] 5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus;[cv] the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected[cw] David wherever he campaigned.[cx] 7 David took the golden shields which Hadadezer’s servants had carried[cy] and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tibhath[cz] and Kun,[da] Hadadezer’s cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called “The Sea,”[db] the pillars, and other bronze items.)
9 When King Tou[dc] of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram[dd] to King David to extend his best wishes[de] and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer.[df] He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.[dg] 11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord,[dh] along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including[di] Edom,[dj] Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.
12 Abishai son of Zeruiah[dk] killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected[dl] David wherever he campaigned.[dm]
David’s Officials
14 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.[dn] 15 Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general of[do] the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha[dp] was scribe; 17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised[dq] the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were the king’s leading officials.[dr]
28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts,[a] cried out,[b] “You both know me and know where I come from![c] And I have not come on my own initiative,[d] but the one who sent me[e] is true. You do not know him,[f] 29 but[g] I know him, because I have come from him[h] and he[i] sent me.”
30 So then they tried to seize Jesus,[j] but no one laid a hand on him, because his time[k] had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the crowd[l] believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ[m] comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?”[n]
32 The Pharisees[o] heard the crowd[p] murmuring these things about Jesus,[q] so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers[r] to arrest him.[s] 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer,[t] and then[u] I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me[v] but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jewish leaders[w] said to one another, “Where is he[x] going to go that we cannot find him?[y] He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed[z] among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?[aa] 36 What did he mean by saying,[ab] ‘You will look for me[ac] but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
Teaching About the Spirit
37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day,[ad] Jesus stood up and shouted out,[ae] “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 38 let the one who believes in me drink.[af] Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him[ag] will flow rivers of living water.’”[ah] 39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given,[ai] because Jesus was not yet glorified.)[aj]
Differing Opinions About Jesus
40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd[ak] began to say, “This really[al] is the Prophet!”[am] 41 Others said, “This is the Christ!”[an] But still others said, “No,[ao] for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he?[ap] 42 Don’t the scriptures say that the Christ is a descendant[aq] of David[ar] and comes from Bethlehem,[as] the village where David lived?”[at] 43 So there was a division in the crowd[au] because of Jesus.[av] 44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.[aw]
Lack of Belief
45 Then the officers[ax] returned[ay] to the chief priests and Pharisees,[az] who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?”[ba] 46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 Then the Pharisees answered,[bb] “You haven’t been deceived too, have you?[bc] 48 None of the members of the ruling council[bd] or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?[be] 49 But this rabble[bf] who do not know the law are accursed!”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus[bg] before and who was one of the rulers,[bh] said,[bi] 51 “Our law doesn’t condemn[bj] a man unless it first hears from him and learns[bk] what he is doing, does it?”[bl] 52 They replied,[bm] “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?[bn] Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet[bo] comes from Galilee!”
A Woman Caught in Adultery[bp]
53 [[ And each one departed to his own house.
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