Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, you were he that led out and brought in Israel: and the LORD your God said unto you, You shall feed my people Israel, and you shall be ruler over my people Israel.

And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, You shall not come here. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, which is the city of David.

And David said, Whosoever smites the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate!

And said, My God forbid me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If you are come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you: but if you are come to betray me to my enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look on it, and rebuke it.

Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Yours we are, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you. Then David received them, and made them captains of his troop.

And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seems good unto you, and that it is of the LORD our God, let us send out unto our brethren everywhere, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites who are in their cities and pasture lands, that they may gather themselves unto us:

And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

And David inquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and will you deliver them into my hand? And the LORD said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into your hand.

So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David defeated them there. Then David said, God has broken in upon my enemies by my hand like the breaking forth of waters: therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazim.

Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees.

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them has the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him forever.

And said unto them, You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites: Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel forever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD.

Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remains under curtains.

Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.

And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far?

Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have said.

And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Think you that David does honor your father, that he has sent comforters unto you? are not his servants come unto you to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

Then there went certain, and told David how the men were treated. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Remain at Jericho until your beards are grown, and then return.

And he said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me: but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.

And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech you, take away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.

So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus says the LORD, Choose you

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, restrain now your hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I pray you, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on your people, that they should be plagued.

Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar on it unto the LORD: you shall give it to me for the full price: that the plague may be averted from the people.

And Ornan said unto David, Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give you the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering; I give it all.

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will indeed buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God:

Now, my son, the LORD be with you; and prosper you, and build the house of the LORD your God, as he has said of you.

Moreover four thousand were gatekeepers; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, for praise.

For David said, The LORD God of Israel has given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever:

But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the heavens.

Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

But God said unto me, You shall not build a house for my name, because you have been a man of war, and have shed blood.

And he said unto me, Solomon your son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this plan.

And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be you, LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshiped the LORD, and the king.