The sons of Judah: Er and Onan, and Shelah, three born to him from the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the first-born of Judah, was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and He killed him.

And they went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to look for pasture for their flocks.

And these are the men whom David set over the service of song in the house of Jehovah, after the ark had rest.

And on the other side Jordan by Jericho, on the east side of Jordan: out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness, with its open lands, and Jahzah with its open lands,

All these chosen for gatekeepers in the gates were two hundred and twelve. These by their genealogies, in their villages, were the ones David and Samuel the seer ordained in their set office.

And Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and pierce me with it, lest these uncircumcised ones come and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not, for he was very much afraid. So Saul took a sword and fell on it.

And also in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel. And Jehovah your God said to you, You shall feed My people Israel, and you shall be ruler over My people Israel.

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

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

And they set themselves in the midst of that place, and delivered it, and killed the Philistines. And Jehovah saved them by a great deliverance.

And David longed and said, Oh that someone would give me drink from the water of the well of Bethlehem, which was by the gate!

And he said, May my God forbid me to do this thing. Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in danger? For they brought it with their lives. And he was not willing to drink it. These three mighty ones did these things.

Behold, he was honorable among the thirty, but did not attain the first three. And David set him over his court.

And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If you have come to me in peace, to help me, my heart shall be knit to you. But if you come to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, let the God of our fathers look on it and rebuke it.

And the Spirit came on Amasai, chief of the Thirty. And he said, We are yours, David, and on your side, son of Jesse. Peace, peace be on you, and peace on your helpers. For your God has helped you. And David received them and made them captains of the band.

And of Asher, going out to the army to set in order the battle were forty thousand.

And on the other side of Jordan, from the Reubenites, and of the Gadites, and from the half tribe of Manasseh, with all of the weapons of war for battle were a hundred and twenty thousand.

And David said to all the congregation of Israel, If it is good to you, and if it has broken forth from Jehovah our God, let us send to our brothers, those remaining in all the lands of Israel, and with them to the priests and Levites in their cities that they be gathered to us.

And all the congregation said to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

And David asked of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You deliver them into my hand? And Jehovah said to him, Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.

And they came up to Baal-perazim. And David struck them there. Then David said, God has broken in on my enemies by my hand like the breaking forth of waters. Therefore they called the name of that place The Breaking of Baal.

And David asked again of God. And God said to him, Do not go up after them. Turn away from them, and come on them over against the weeping trees.

Then David said, No one ought to carry the ark of God except the Levites, for God has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to Him forever.

And he said to them, You are the heads of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel to the place which I have prepared for it.

and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps set to Alamoth.

And they brought the ark of God and set it in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

O seed of Israel His servant, sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

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

And it happened as David sat in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is under curtains.

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

And I will set a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall live in their place and shall be moved no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,

And it will be, when your days have ended so that you must go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, who shall be from your sons. And I will make his kingdom sure.

And David the king came and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, O, Jehovah God, and what is my house, that You have brought me here?

And now, O Jehovah, let the thing which 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 to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun, in order to comfort him.

But the rulers of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, Is David honoring your father in your eyes, because he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?

And some came and told David how the men were treated. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Stay at Jericho until your beards are grown, and then return.

And Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, and he chose out of all the choice young men of Israel and set in order against the Syrians.

And he delivered the rest of the people into the hand of his brother Abishai. And they set in order against the sons of Ammon.

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

Be of good courage and let us behave ourselves bravely for our people, and for the cities of our God. And let Jehovah do what is good in His sight.

And it was told to David. And he gathered all Israel and passed over Jordan and came on them. And he set in order against them. And David set in order against the Syrians, and they fought with him.

And David took the crown of their king from off his head and found its weight a talent of gold. And precious stones were in it. And it was set on David's head, and he also brought exceeding much spoil out of the city.

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

And David said to God, I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. But now, I beseech You, remove the iniquity of Your servant for I have done very foolishly.

And Gad came to David and said to him, So says Jehovah, Choose for yourself:

And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let me fall now into the hand of Jehovah, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. And as he was destroying, Jehovah looked. And He repented of the evil and said to the angel who destroyed, Enough! Stay your hand now! And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And David said to God, Did not I command to number the people? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed. But these sheep, what have they done? I pray You, let Your hand be on me, O Jehovah my God, and on my father's house, but not on Your people, that they should be plagued.

And the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and set up an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, so that I may build an altar in it to Jehovah. You shall give it to me for the full price, so that the plague may be stayed from the people.

And Ornan said to David, Take for yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Lo, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the food offering. I give it all.

And King David said to Ornan, No, but I will truly buy it for the full silver. For I will not take what is yours for Jehovah, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.

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

And David commanded the strangers in the land of Israel to be gathered. And he set masons to cut squared stones to build the house of God.

And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house to be built for Jehovah is to be highly magnificent, for a name and for beauty to all the lands. I will now prepare for it. And 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 to the name of Jehovah my God.

But the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My name because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.

Now, my son, may Jehovah be with you and bless you, and build the house of Jehovah your God as He has said of you.

Is not Jehovah your God with you? And has He not given you rest on every side? For He has given the people of the land into my hand. And the land is humbled before Jehovah and before His people.

Now set your heart and your soul to seek Jehovah your God. Arise therefore and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of Jehovah.

Of these, twenty-four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of Jehovah, and six thousand officers and judges.

For David said, Jehovah, the God of Israel has given rest to His people so that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever,

And they were to offer all burnt sacrifices to Jehovah in the sabbath, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded to them, continually before Jehovah,

Of the men of Hebron, Hashabiah and his brothers, men of valor, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of Jehovah, and in the service of the king.

But David did not take the number of those from twenty years old and under, because Jehovah had said He would increase Israel like the stars of the heavens.

And David the king stood up on his feet and said, Hear me, my brothers and my people. 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 to me, You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.

And of all my sons (for Jehovah has given me many sons), He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

And He said to me, Solomon your son shall build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.

And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of Jehovah, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of Jehovah your God, so that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance for your sons after you forever.

And David gave to his son Solomon the pattern of the porch, and of its houses, and of its treasuries, and of its upper rooms, and of its innermost rooms, and of the place of the mercy-seat,

And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it. Do not fear, nor be dismayed, for Jehovah God, my God, will be with you. He will not fail you nor leave you until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah.

And David the king said to all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and tender, and the work is great. For the palace is not for man, but for Jehovah God.

And I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the bronze for things of bronze, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood, onyx stones, and stones to be set, and also stones of antimony, and stones of many colors, and every precious stone, and stones of alabaster, in abundance.

And David blessed Jehovah before all the congregation. And David said, Blessed are You, Jehovah, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

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

And Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king in place of David his father. And he was blessed, and all Israel obeyed him.

And Jehovah made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel, and placed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.