Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would indeed bless me and enlarge my border [property], and that Your hand would be with me, and You would keep me from evil so that it does not hurt me!” And God granted his request.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, neither did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah.

Now [we come to] the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—for Reuben was the eldest, but because he defiled his father’s bed [with Bilhah his father’s concubine], his birthright was given to [Manasseh and Ephraim] the sons of Joseph [the favorite] son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.

Their relatives the Levites [who were not descended from Aaron] were appointed for all the other kinds of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

Now these are the singers, heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites, living in the temple chambers, free from other service because they were on duty day and night.

Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised [Philistines] will come and abuse and humiliate me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, for his failure to keep the word of the Lord; and also because he consulted a medium [regarding a spirit of the dead], to inquire of her,

and did not inquire of the Lord [instead]. Therefore the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Then the Jebusites said to David, “You shall not come in here.” But David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).

Then the three [mighty men] broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was next to the gate, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it; he poured it out to the Lord [as an offering];

and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this thing! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

Of the three in the second [rank] he was the most honored and became their captain; however, he did not attain to the first three [Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah].

He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to [the rank of] the [first] three. David appointed him over his bodyguard.

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no violence or wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on [what you are doing] and punish [you].”

Some [of the men] of Manasseh also defected to David when he came with the Philistines to go to battle against Saul. But David’s men did not [actually] assist the Philistines, for the lords (governors) of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, “At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul.”

of the tribe of Zebulun, there were 50,000 in military service who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David, men with an undivided heart.

and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it during the days of Saul.”

So David did not bring the ark with him to the City of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

So David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “Do not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Because you did not [carry it as God directed] the first time, the Lord our God made an [angry] outburst against us, for we did not seek Him in accordance with the ordinance.”

“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

But it came about that same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

“Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;

for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought Israel up [from Egypt] until this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another.

Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I say a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’

I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My steadfast love and mercy away from him, as I took it from him (King Saul) who was before you.

But the leaders of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think that David has sent people to console and comfort you because he honors your father? Have his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

Joab said, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this? Why will he bring guilt on Israel?”

But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, because the king’s order was detestable to Joab.

David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded the people to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done evil; but as for these sheep [the people of Israel], what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

But King David said to Ornan, “No, I will certainly pay the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.”

But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house for My Name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before me.

Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe and fulfill the statutes and ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed.

“Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you rest and peace on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and before His people.

Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons [not enough for a father’s house or clan], so they were [counted together] as one father’s household, one working group.

Also, the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.”

Also Hosah, one of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the first and chief (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first),

But David did not count those twenty years of age and under, for the Lord had said he would multiply Israel as the stars of heaven.

Joab the son of Zeruiah began a census but did not finish; and because of this, [God’s] wrath came on Israel, and the number was not recorded in the chronicles of King David.

But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My Name (Presence), because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and take action; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor abandon you [but will guide you in the construction] until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

And King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man but for the Lord God.

The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been on any king before him in Israel.