The Holy Bible

[16:8] Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness; tell the nations what he has done.

[16:9] Sing praise to the Lord; tell the wonderful things he has done.

[16:10] Be glad that we belong to him; let all who worship him rejoice!

[16:11] Go to the Lord for help, and worship him continually. descendants of Israel, whom God chose, remember the miracles that God performed and the judgments that he gave.

[16:14] The Lord is our God; his commands are for all the world.

[16:15] Never forget God's covenant, which he made to last forever,

[16:16] the covenant he made with Abraham, the promise he made to Isaac.

[16:17] The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever.

[16:18] “I will give you the land of Canaan,” he said. “It will be your own possession.”

[16:19] God's people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan.

[16:20] They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another.

[16:21] But God let no one oppress them; to protect them, he warned the kings:

[16:22] “Don't harm my chosen servants; do not touch my prophets.”

[16:23] Sing to the Lord, all the world! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us.

[16:24] Proclaim his glory to the nations, his mighty deeds to all peoples.

[16:25] The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; he is to be honored more than all the gods.

[16:26] The gods of all other nations are only idols, but the Lord created the heavens.

[16:27] Glory and majesty surround him, power and joy fill his Temple.

[16:28] Praise the Lord, all people on earth, praise his glory and might.

[16:29] Praise the Lord's glorious name; bring an offering and come into his Temple. Bow down before the Holy One when he appears;

[16:30] tremble before him, all the earth! The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved.

[16:31] Be glad, earth and sky! Tell the nations that the Lord is king.

[16:32] Roar, sea, and every creature in you; be glad, fields, and everything in you!

[16:33] The trees in the woods will shout for joy when the Lord comes to rule the earth.

[16:34] Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal.

[16:35] Say to him, “Save us, O God our Savior; gather us together; rescue us from the nations, so that we may be thankful and praise your holy name.”

[16:36] Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! Praise him now and forever! Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

[16:37] King David put Asaph and the other Levites in permanent charge of the worship that was held at the place where the Covenant Box was kept. They were to perform their duties there day by day.

[16:38] Obed Edom son of Jeduthun and sixty-eight men of his clan were to assist them. Hosah and Obed Edom were in charge of guarding the gates.

[16:39] Zadok the priest and his fellow priests, however, were in charge of the worship of the Lord at the place of worship in Gibeon.

[16:40] Every morning and evening they were to burn sacrifices whole on the altar in accordance with what was written in the Law which the Lord gave to Israel.

[16:41] There with them were Heman and Jeduthun and the others who were specifically chosen to sing praises to the Lord for his eternal love.

[16:42] Heman and Jeduthun also had charge of the trumpets and cymbals and the other instruments which were played when the songs of praise were sung. The members of Jeduthun's clan were in charge of guarding the gates.

[16:43] Then everyone went home, and David went home to spend some time with his family.

[17:1] King David was now living in his palace. One day he sent for the prophet Nathan and said to him, “Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but the Lord's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!”

[17:2] Nathan answered, “Do whatever you have in mind, because God is with you.”

[17:3] But that night God said to Nathan,

[17:4] “Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, ‘You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.

[17:5] From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now I have never lived in a temple; I have always lived in tents and moved from place to place.

[17:6] In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.’

[17:7] “So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, ‘I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel.

[17:8] I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world.

[17:11] When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong.

[17:12] He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever.

[17:13] I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king.

[17:14] I will put him in charge of my people and my kingdom forever. His dynasty will never end.’”

[17:15] Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

[17:16] Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, sat down, and prayed, “I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, Lord God, nor is my family.

[17:17] Yet now you are doing even more; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come, and you, Lord God, are already treating me like someone great.

[17:18] What more can I say to you! You know me well, and yet you honor me, your servant.

[17:19] It was your will and purpose to do this for me and to show me my future greatness.

[17:20] Lord, there is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God.

[17:21] There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them spread your fame throughout the world. You rescued your people from Egypt and drove out other nations as your people advanced.

[17:22] You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

[17:23] “And now, O Lord, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would.

[17:24] Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.’ And you will preserve my dynasty for all time.

[17:25] I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, my God, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.

[17:26] You, Lord, are God, and you have made this wonderful promise to me.

[17:27] I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Lord, have blessed them, and your blessing will rest on them forever.”

[18:1] Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again and defeated them. He took out of their control the city of Gath and its surrounding villages.

[18:2] He also defeated the Moabites, who became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

[18:3] Next, David attacked King Hadadezer of the Syrian state of Zobah, near the territory of Hamath, because Hadadezer was trying to gain control of the territory by the upper Euphrates River.

[18:4] David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand cavalry troops, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.

[18:5] When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed twenty-two thousand men.

[18:6] Then he set up military camps in their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

[18:7] David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officials and took them to Jerusalem.

[18:8] He also took a great quantity of bronze from Tibhath and Kun, cities ruled by Hadadezer. (Solomon later used this bronze to make the tank, the columns, and the bronze utensils for the Temple.)

[18:9] King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated Hadadezer's entire army.

[18:10] So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him for his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram brought David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze.

[18:11] King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he conquered—Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.

[18:12] Abishai, whose mother was Zeruiah, defeated the Edomites in Salt Valley and killed eighteen thousand of them.

[18:13] He set up military camps throughout Edom, and the people there became King David's subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

[18:14] David ruled over all Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly.

[18:15] Abishai's brother Joab was commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records;

[18:16] Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was court secretary;

[18:17] Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of David's bodyguards; and King David's sons held high positions in his service.

[19:1] Some time later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king.

[19:2] King David said, “I must show loyal friendship to Hanun, as his father Nahash did to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy. When they arrived in Ammon and called on King Hanun,

[19:3] the Ammonite leaders said to the king, “Do you think that it is in your father's honor that David has sent these men to express sympathy to you? Of course not! He has sent them here as spies to explore the land, so that he can conquer it!”

[19:4] Hanun seized David's messengers, shaved off their beards, cut off their clothes at the hips, and sent them away.

[19:5] They were too ashamed to return home. When David heard what had happened, he sent word for them to stay in Jericho and not return until their beards had grown again.

[19:6] King Hanun and the Ammonites realized that they had made David their enemy, so they paid nearly forty tons of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Upper Mesopotamia and from the Syrian states of Maacah and Zobah.

[19:7] The thirty-two thousand chariots they hired and the army of the king of Maacah came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites too came out from all their cities and got ready to fight.

[19:8] When David heard what was happening, he sent out Joab and the whole army.

[19:9] The Ammonites marched out and took up their position at the entrance to Rabbah, their capital city, and the kings who had come to help took up their position in the open countryside.

[19:10] Joab saw that the enemy troops would attack him in front and from the rear, so he chose the best of Israel's soldiers and put them in position facing the Syrians.

[19:11] He placed the rest of his troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who put them in position facing the Ammonites.

[19:12] Joab said to him, “If you see that the Syrians are defeating me, come and help me, and if the Ammonites are defeating you, I will go and help you.

[19:13] Be strong and courageous! Let's fight hard for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord's will be done.”

[19:14] Joab and his men advanced to attack, and the Syrians fled.

[19:15] When the Ammonites saw the Syrians running away, they fled from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab went back to Jerusalem.

[19:16] The Syrians realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, so they brought troops from the Syrian states on the east side of the Euphrates River and placed them under the command of Shobach, commander of the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah.

[19:17] When David heard of it, he gathered the Israelite troops, crossed the Jordan River, and put them in position facing the Syrians. The fighting began,

[19:18] and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed seven thousand Syrian chariot drivers and forty thousand foot soldiers. They also killed the Syrian commander, Shobach.

[19:19] When the kings who were subject to Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Syrians were never again willing to help the Ammonites.

[20:1] The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, Joab led out the army and invaded the land of Ammon; King David, however, stayed in Jerusalem. They besieged the city of Rabbah, attacked it, and destroyed it.

[20:2] The Ammonite idol Molech had a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds. In it there was a jewel, which David took and put in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city.

[20:3] He took the people of the city and put them to work with saws, iron hoes, and axes. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

[20:4] Later on, war broke out again with the Philistines at Gezer. This was when Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Sippai, and the Philistines were defeated.

[20:5] There was another battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath, whose spear had a shaft as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom.

[20:6] Another battle took place at Gath, where there was a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He was a descendant of the ancient giants.

[20:7] He defied the Israelites, and Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shammah, killed him.

[20:8] These three, who were killed by David and his men, were descendants of the giants at Gath.