David's Success

⁵ All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood! ² In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

³ When all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. They designated David as king over Israel. ⁴ David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

⁶ Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

⁷ But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁸ David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies by going through the water tunnel.” For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.”

⁹ So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards. ¹⁰ David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him.

¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace for David. ¹² David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. ¹³ David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ These are the names of children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been designated king over Israel, they all went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress. ¹⁸ Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹ So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰ So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. ²¹ The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men picked them up.

²² The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. ²³ So David asked the Lord what he should do. This time the Lord said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵ David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.

⁶ David again assembled all the best men in Israel, 30,000 in number. ² David and all the men who were with him traveled to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. ³ They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart. ⁴ They brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark, ⁵ while David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing and playing various stringed instruments, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.

⁶ When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. ⁷ The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him on the spot for his negligence. He died right there beside the ark of God.

⁸ David was angry because the Lord attacked Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, which remains its name to this very day. ⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How will the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰ So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in 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. The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family. ¹² King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David. ¹³ Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. ¹⁴ Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord. ¹⁵ David and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets.

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. ¹⁷ They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹⁹ He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel, both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home. ²⁰ When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him. She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool might do!”

²¹ David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family and appointed me as leader over the Lord’s people Israel. ²² I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this. But with the slave girls whom you mentioned, let me be distinguished.” ²³ Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, had no children to the day of her death.