He had six sons in Hebron; he was ruling there for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.

And in Jerusalem he had four sons, Shimea and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon, by Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel;

And the sons of Ezrah: Jether and Mered and Epher and Jalon; and these are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, the wife of Mered. And she became the mother of Miriam and Shammai and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa.

And all the small places round these towns, as far as Baalath-beer, the high place of the South. These were their living-places, and they have lists of their generations.

And they went to the opening into Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, in search of grass-land for their flocks.

And they came to some good fertile grass-land, in a wide quiet country of peace-loving people; for the people who were living there before were of the offspring of Ham.

And these whose names are given came in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and made an attack on the Meunim who were living there, and put an end to them to this day, and took their place, because there was grass there for their flocks.

And the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, (for he was the oldest son, but, because he made his father's bride-bed unclean, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; but he is not to be given the place of the oldest.

And Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who was living in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon;

And to the east his limits went as far as the starting point of the waste land, ending at the river Euphrates, because their cattle were increased in number in the land of Gilead.

And the sons of Gad were living opposite to them, in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah:

And they were living in Gilead in Bashan, in its small towns and in all the grass-land of Sirion as far as its limits.

There were forty-four thousand, seven hundred and sixty of the sons of Reuben and of the Gadites and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, all strong men, expert in the use of the body-cover, the sword, and the bow, and in the art of war, all able to take up arms.

And they were helped against them, so that the Hagarites, and those with them, were given into their power. For they sent up prayers to God in the fight, and he gave ear to them, because they put their faith in him.

And these are those whom David made responsible for the music in the house of the Lord, after the ark had rest.

They gave worship with songs before the House of the Tent of meeting, till Solomon put up the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they took their places for their work in their regular order.

And their brothers the Levites were responsible for all the work of the Tent of the house of God.

But Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burned offering, and on the altar of perfume, for all the work of the most holy place, and to take away the sin of Israel, doing everything ordered by Moses, the servant of God.

And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its outskirts, and Bileam with its outskirts, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.

And of the sons of Issachar: Tola and Puah, Jashub and Shimron, four.

And with them, recorded in generations by their families, were bands of fighting-men, thirty-six thousand of them, for they had a great number of wives and sons.

And the sons of Bela: Ezbon and Uzzi and Uzziel and Jerimoth and Iri, five; heads of their families, great men of war; there were twenty-two thousand and thirty-four of them recorded by their families.

All these were the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their families, seventeen thousand, two hundred men of war, able to go out with the army for war.

And for a long time Ephraim their father went on weeping for them, and his brothers came to give him comfort.

Their heritage and their living-places were Beth-el and its daughter-towns, and Naaran to the east, and Gezer to the west, with its daughter-towns, as well as Shechem and its daughter-towns as far as Azzah and its daughter-towns;

All these were the children of Asher, heads of their families, specially strong men of war, chiefs of the rulers. They were recorded in the army for war, twenty-six thousand men in number.

Up till then they had been at the king's door to the east. They were door-keepers for the tents of the sons of Levi.

And Shallum, the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brothers, of his family, the Korahites, were responsible for everything which had to be done in connection with the order of worship, keepers of the doors of the Tent; their fathers had had the care of the tents of the Lord, being keepers of the doorway.

There were keepers of the doors on the four sides, to the east, west, north, and south.

For the four chief door-keepers, who were Levites, had a special position, looking after the rooms and the store-houses of the house of God.

Their sleeping-rooms were round the house of God, for they had the care of it, and were responsible for opening it morning by morning.

And some of them were responsible for the holy things and for the vessels of the holy place, and the meal and the wine and the oil and the perfume and the spices.

And some of the sons of the priests were responsible for crushing the spices.

And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the oldest son of Shallum the Korahite, was responsible for cooking the flat cakes.

And some of their brothers, sons of the Kohathites, were responsible for the holy bread which was put in order before the Lord, to get it ready every Sabbath.

And these were those who had the ordering of the music and songs, heads of families of the Levites, who were living in the rooms, and were free from other work, for their work went on day and night.

Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, falling on it himself.

And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the men of Israel had gone in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they went in flight away from their towns; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.

All the fighting-men came up and took away Saul's body and the bodies of his sons, and took them to Jabesh, and put their bones to rest under the oak-tree in Jabesh, and took no food for seven days.

So death came to Saul because of the sin which he did against the Lord, that is, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not; and because he went for directions to one who had an evil spirit,

And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

And David took the strong tower for his living-place, so it was named the town of David.

He was with David at Pas-dammim, where the Philistines had come together for the fight, near a bit of land full of barley; and the people went in flight before the Philistines.

Saying, By my God, far be it from me to do this! How may I take as drink the life-blood of these men who have put their lives in danger? so he did not take it. These things did the three great men of war.

And Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the thirty, for he put to death three hundred with his spear, but he had not a name among the three.

And some of the Gadites, siding with David, went to his strong place in the waste land, great and strong men, trained for war, expert in the use of arms, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were quick-footed like roes on the mountains;

Then the spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, We are yours, David, we are on your side, O son of Jesse: may peace be with you and peace be with your helpers; for God is your helper. Then David took them into his army and made them captains of the band.

And some of the men of Manasseh came over to David, when he went with the Philistines to the war against Saul, but he gave them no help: for the lords of the Philistines, after discussion, sent him away, saying, He will go back to his master Saul, at the price of our lives.

And they gave David help against the armed bands, for they were all great men of war, and captains in the army.

These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said.

There were six thousand, eight hundred spearmen of the children of Judah, armed for war;

Of the children of Levi, four thousand, six hundred.

And of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand; for up to that time the greater part of them had been true to Saul.

And of the children of Issachar, there were two hundred chiefs, men who had expert knowledge of the times and what it was best for Israel to do, and all their brothers were under their orders.

For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them.

And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.

And let us get back for ourselves the ark of our God: for in the days of Saul we did not go to it for directions.

And all the people said they would do so, for it seemed right to them.

So David sent for all Israel to come together, from Shihor, the river of Egypt, as far as the way into Hamath, to get the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

And when they came to the grain-floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to keep the ark in its place, for the oxen were slipping.

And so great was David's fear of God that day, that he said, How may I let the ark of God come to me?

And the ark of God was in the house of Obed-edom for three months; and the Lord sent a blessing on the house of Obed-edom and on all he had.

And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David with cedar-trees, and stoneworkers and woodworkers for the building of his house.

And David, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go up against the Philistines? and will you give them into my hands? And the Lord said, Go up; for I will give them into your hands.

And the Philistines did not take their images with them in their flight; and at David's orders they were burned with fire.

And David went for directions to God; and God said to him, You are not to go up after them; but, turning away from them, come face to face with them opposite the spice-trees.

And at the sound of footsteps in the tops of the trees, go out to the fight, for God has gone out before you to overcome the army of the Philistines.

And David did as the Lord had said; and they overcame the army of the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon as far as Gezer.

And David's name was honoured in all lands; and the Lord put the fear of him on all nations.

And David made houses for himself in the town of David; and he got ready a place for the ark of God, and put up a tent for it.

Then David said, The ark of God may not be moved by any but the Levites, for they have been marked out by God to take the ark of God, and to do his work for ever.

And David made all Israel come together at Jerusalem, to take the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had got ready for it.

And David sent for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, Uriel, Asaiah and Joel, Shemaiah and Eliel and Amminadab,

And said to them, You are the heads of the families of the Levites: make yourselves holy, you and your brothers, so that you may take the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place which I have made ready for it.

For because you did not take it at the first, the Lord our God sent punishment on us, because we did not get directions from him in the right way.

And Berechiah and Elkanah were door-keepers for the ark.

And Shebaniah and Joshaphat and Nethanel and Amasai and Zechariah and Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, made music on the horns before the ark of God; and Obed-edom and Jehiah were door-keepers for the ark.

And David was clothed with a robe of fair linen, as were all the Levites who took up the ark, and those who made melody, and Chenaniah the master of those who made melody; and David had on a linen ephod;

Then they took in the ark of God and put it inside the tent which David had put up for it; and they made offerings, burned offerings and peace-offerings before God.

Let your search be for the Lord and for his strength; let your hearts ever be turned to him.

He has kept his agreement in mind for ever, the word which he gave for a thousand generations;

And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement;

For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; and he is more to be feared than all other gods.

For all the gods of the nations are false gods; but the Lord made the heavens.

Be in fear before him, all the earth: the world is ordered so that it may not be moved.

Then let all the trees of the wood be sounding with joy before the Lord, for he is come to be the judge of the earth.

O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and for ever. And all the people said, So be it; and gave praise to the Lord.

And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were marked out by name to give praise to the Lord, for his mercy is unchanging for ever;

And Heman and Jeduthun had horns and brass instruments sounding loudly, and instruments of music for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the door.

And Nathan said to David, Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.

Go and say to David my servant, The Lord says, You are not to make me a house for my living-place:

For from the day when I took Israel up, till this day, I have had no house, but have gone from tent to tent, and from living-place to living-place.

In all the places where I have gone with all Israel, did I ever say to any of the judges of Israel, whom I made the keepers of my people, Why have you not made for me a house of cedar?

And I will make a resting-place for my people Israel, planting them there, so that they may be in the place which is theirs and never again be moved; and never again will they be made waste by evil men, as they were at first,

And when the time comes for you to go to your fathers, I will put in your place your seed after you, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong.

He will be the builder of my house, and I will make the seat of his authority certain for ever.

But I will make his place in my house and in my kingdom certain for ever; and the seat of his authority will never be overturned.

And this was only a small thing to you, O God; but your words have even been about the far-off future of your servant's family, looking on me as on one of high position, O Lord God.

What more may David say to you? for you have knowledge of your servant.