Old/New Testament

The Special Box in the Place of Worship

16 They brought the special box of God, and put it inside the tent David had set up for it. Then they gave burnt gifts and peace gifts to God. ² When David finished giving the burnt gifts and peace gifts, he prayed in the name of the Lord that good would come to the people. ³ He gave to every man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a share of meat, and a loaf of dried grapes.

⁴ David chose some of the Levites to do the work in front of the special box of the Lord. They were to be glad and thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the leader, then Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play harps. And Asaph played loud-sounding timbrels. ⁶ The religious leaders Benaiah and Jahaziel sounded the horns all the time in front of the special box with the Law of God.

A Song of Praise

⁷ Then on that day David first called upon Asaph and his brothers to give thanks to the Lord. ⁸ “O give thanks to the Lord. Call upon His name. Let the people know what He has done. ⁹ Sing to Him. Sing praises to Him. Tell of all His great works. ¹⁰ Have joy in His holy name. Let the heart of those who look to the Lord be glad. ¹¹ Look to the Lord and ask for His strength. Look to Him all the time. ¹² Remember His great works which He has done. Remember the special things He has done and how He has judged, ¹³ O children of Israel His servant, sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! ¹⁴ He is the Lord our God. He is judge of all the earth. ¹⁵ Remember His agreement forever, the Word which He gave to families and a thousand of their family groups to come. ¹⁶ Remember the agreement He made with Abraham, and His promise to Isaac. ¹⁷ To Jacob He made it a Law to be kept, as an agreement forever to Israel. ¹⁸ He said, ‘I will give the land of Canaan to you as the share of your birth-right,’ ¹⁹ when they were few in number. They were very few, and strangers in the land. ²⁰ They traveled from nation to nation, from the people of one king to the people of another. ²¹ He let no man make it hard for them. He spoke strong words to kings because of them, saying, ²² ‘Do not touch My chosen ones. Do not hurt those who speak for Me.’ ²³ Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Tell the good news of His saving power from day to day. ²⁴ Tell of His greatness among the nations. Tell of His great works among all the people. ²⁵ For great is the Lord. He is to be given much praise. And He is to be honored with fear more than all gods. ²⁶ For all the gods of the people are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. ²⁷ Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and joy are in His place. ²⁸ Praise the Lord, O families of the people. Praise the Lord for His greatness and strength. ²⁹ Praise the Lord for the greatness of His name. Bring a gift and come to Him. Worship the Lord clothed in His holiness. ³⁰ Shake with fear before Him, all the earth. Yes, the world is made to last. It will not be moved. ³¹ Let the heavens be glad. Let the earth be filled with joy. And let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord rules!’ ³² Let the sea thunder, and all that is in it. Let the field be happy, and all that is in it. ³³ Then the trees of the woods will sing for joy before the Lord. For He is coming to judge the earth. ³⁴ O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. ³⁵ Then say, ‘Set us free, O God Who saves us. Gather and save us from among the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name, and have joy in Your praise. ³⁶ Honor be to the Lord, the God of Israel forever and ever.’” Then all the people said, “Let it be so!” and they praised the Lord.

Worship at Jerusalem

³⁷ So David left Asaph and his brothers there in front of the special box with the Law of the Lord. He left them there to do the work in front of the special box always. They were to do whatever work needed to be done each day. ³⁸ He left Obed-edom there with his sixty-eight brothers. Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to watch the gate. ³⁹ David left Zadok and his brothers who were the religious leaders in front of the meeting tent of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon. ⁴⁰ They were to give burnt gifts to the Lord on the altar of burnt gifts all the time, morning and evening. They were to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He told Israel. ⁴¹ With them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen by name. They were to give thanks to the Lord, because His loving-kindness lasts forever. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun had horns and timbrels for making sounds of joy as the songs of God were sung. The sons of Jeduthun were to watch the gate.

⁴³ Then all the people left. Each one went home. And David returned to bring good to those of his house.

God’s Agreement with David

17 Now when David lived in his house, he said to Nathan the special preacher, “See, I am living in a house of cedar wood. But the special box with the Law of the Lord is under a tent.” ² Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart. For God is with you.” ³ But that same night the Word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says. “You will not build a house for Me to live in. ⁵ For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day. But I have gone from tent to tent and from one place to another to live. ⁶ In all the places I have gone with all Israel, have I said a word to any of the judges of Israel about this? Have I said to anyone whom I told to watch over My people, ‘Why have you not built a house of cedar wood for Me?’”’ ⁷ So now say to My servant David, ‘The Lord of All says, “I took you from the field, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you in every place you have gone. I have destroyed in front of you all those who hate you. And I will make your name to be known like the name of the great ones of the earth. ⁹ I will choose a place for My people Israel, and will plant them. So they will live in their own place and not be moved again. Never again will they be under the power of sinful men, as they were before, ¹⁰ from the time that I told judges to rule My people Israel. I will put under your power all those who hate you. And I say to you that the Lord will build a house for you. ¹¹ When your days are over, the time will come when you must go to be with your fathers. But then I will put into power one of your sons after you. I will make him king. ¹² He will build a house for Me. And I will make his throne last forever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he will be My son. I will not take My loving-kindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ But I will put him over My house and in My nation forever. And his throne will last forever.”’” ¹⁵ Nathan told David all these words from all this special dream.

David’s Prayer of Thanks

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O God? What is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁷ This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God. You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a long time to come. You have thought of me as if I were an important man, O Lord God. ¹⁸ What more can David say to You about the honor given to Your servant? For You know Your servant. ¹⁹ You have made all this greatness, O Lord. You have made known all these great things, for Your servant, and by Your own heart. ²⁰ O Lord, there is no one like You. There is no God other than You, by all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ What other nation on earth is like Your people Israel? God went to free them to be His people. You made Yourself a name by great things which filled people with fear. You drove out the nations before Your people, whom You set free from Egypt. ²² You made Your people Israel to be Your people forever. And You, O Lord, became their God. ²³ Now, O Lord, let the Word that You have spoken about Your servant and his house be made sure forever. Do as You have said. ²⁴ Let Your name be made sure and honored forever, saying, ‘The Lord of All, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God. And the house of Your servant David is made to last before You.’ ²⁵ For You, O my God, have made it known to Your servant that You will build a house for him. So Your servant has found strength of heart to pray to You. ²⁶ And now, O Lord, You are God. You have promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁷ Now it has pleased You to bring good to the house of Your servant. May it last forever before You. For when You bring good to something, O Lord, good is with it forever.”

David’s Battles

18 After this David won the war against the Philistines and put them under his power. He took Gath and its towns from the Philistines. ² He won the war against Moab. And the Moabites were made to work for David, bringing taxes to him. ³ David won the war against King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to bring his power to the Euphrates River. ⁴ David took from him 1,000 war-wagons, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And he cut the legs of all but 100 war-wagon horses.

⁵ The Syrians of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah. But David killed 22,000 of the Syrian men. ⁶ Then David put soldiers in Syria of Damascus. And the Syrians became servants to David, paying taxes. The Lord helped David in every place he went. ⁷ David took the battle-coverings of gold which were carried by Hadadezer’s servants, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ He took a very large amount of brass from Hadadezer’s cities, Tibhath and Cun. This was the brass Solomon used to make the brass pool, the pillars, and the brass pots.

⁹ King Tou of Hamath heard that David had won the war against all the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah. ¹⁰ So he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to greet him and give honor to him, because David had fought against Hadadezer and won. For Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. Hadoram brought all kinds of things of gold and silver and brass. ¹¹ King David set these apart to the Lord, with the silver and gold he had carried away from all the nations. He took things from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² Abishai the son of Zeruiah won the war from 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put soldiers in Edom. And the Edomites became servants to David. The Lord helped David every place he went.

¹⁴ So David ruled over all Israel. He did what was fair and right and good for all his people. ¹⁵ Joab the son of Zeruiah was captain of the army. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud wrote down the things of the nation. ¹⁶ Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were religious leaders. Shavsha was the one who writes everything down. ¹⁷ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And the sons of David were leaders at the king’s side.

²⁸ Then Jesus spoke with a loud voice as He taught in the house of God. He said, “You know Me. You know where I came from. I have not come on My own. The One Who sent Me is true but you do not know Him. ²⁹ I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me.”

³⁰ Then they wanted to take Jesus but no one put his hands on Him. His time had not yet come. ³¹ Many of the people believed in Him. They said, “When Christ comes, will He do more powerful works than this Man?”

³² The proud religious law-keepers heard the people talking about Jesus. The religious leaders of the Jews and the proud religious law-keepers sent soldiers to take Him. ³³ Jesus said to them, “I will be with you a little while yet. Then I will go back to Him Who sent Me. ³⁴ You will look for Me but you will not find Me. Where I go, you cannot come.”

³⁵ The Jews said to themselves, “Where can He go that we will not find Him? Will He go to our people who live among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does He mean when He says, ‘You will look for Me but you will not find Me, and where I go, you cannot come’?”

Jesus Promises to Give the Holy Spirit

³⁷ It was the last and great day of the religious gathering. Jesus stood up and spoke with a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ The Holy Writings say that rivers of living water will flow from the heart of the one who puts his trust in Me.” ³⁹ Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit Who would come to those who put their trust in Him. The Holy Spirit had not yet been given. Jesus had not yet been raised to the place of honor.

The People Cannot Make Up Their Minds Who He Is

⁴⁰ When many of the people heard His words, they said, “For sure, this is the One Who speaks for God.” ⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Christ!” Some said, “The Christ would not come from the country of Galilee, would He? ⁴² Do not the Holy Writings say that the Christ will come from the family of David? Will He not come from the town of Bethlehem where David lived?” ⁴³ The people were divided in what they thought about Him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to take Him. But no one put their hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The soldiers came back to the religious leaders of the Jews and to the proud religious law-keepers. They said to the soldiers, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The soldiers answered, “No man has ever spoken like this Man speaks.” ⁴⁷ The proud religious law-keepers said, “Have you been led the wrong way also? ⁴⁸ Has anyone of the leaders or anyone from our group believed in Him? ⁴⁹ As for all these people, they do not know the Law. They are guilty and will be punished by God.”

⁵⁰ (Nicodemus was one of the proud religious law-keepers. He had come to Jesus at another time.) Nicodemus said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Law does not say a man is guilty before he has been in court and before we know what he has done.” ⁵² They said to him, “Are you from Galilee also? Look into the Word of God yourself. You will see that no one who speaks for God comes from Galilee.” ⁵³ *Then everyone went home.