and distributed to all the people the entire multitude of Israel, including both men and women a cake made of bread, one made of dates, and one made of raisins to each one. Then all the people left, each headed for home.

When David returned to bless his household, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him and called out, "How the king of Israel honored himself today by undressing himself right in front of his women staff members, just like any pervert would dare to expose himself!"

But David replied to Michal, "It was in front of the LORD, who appointed me to replace your father and his entire household by selecting me as Commander-in-Chief over Israel, the people of the LORD, that I danced in front of the LORD.

And Saul's daughter Michal bore no children from that day on until the day she died.

After the king had settled down in his palace and the LORD had given him respite from all of his surrounding enemies,

""The LORD also announces to you: "The LORD will himself build a house for you. When your life is complete and you go to join your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come forth from your body, and I will fortify his kingdom.

He will build a Temple dedicated to my Name, and I will make the throne of his kingdom last forever.

I will be a father to him, and he will be to me a son who, when he commits iniquity, I will discipline with the rod wielded by armies and with wounds inflicted by human beings.

Your dynasty and your kingdom will remain forever in my presence your throne will be secure forever."'"

Then King David went in to the presence of the LORD, sat down, and said:

"Who am I, Lord GOD, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this? And this is still a small thing to you, Lord GOD you also have spoken about the future of your servant's house, and this is the charter for mankind, O Lord GOD!

"What more can David say to you, and you surely know your servant, Lord GOD.

For the sake of your word and consistent with your desire, you have done all of these great things, informing your servant.

And therefore you are great, Lord GOD, there is no one like you, there is no God except for you, just as we've heard with our own ears.

"And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt?

You have prepared your people Israel to be your very own people for ever, and you, LORD, have become their God!

"And now, LORD God, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done and let it be done just as you've promised.

May your name be made great forever with the result that it is said that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is God over Israel, and that the household of your servant David may be established before you.

"Now therefore, Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have spoken to your servant these good things.

So may it please you to bless the household of your servant, so that it might remain forever in your presence, because you, Lord GOD, have spoken, and from your blessing may the household of your servant be blessed forever."

Sometime later, David defeated and subdued the Philistines, taking Metheg-ammah away from the Philistines.

David also conquered Moab, then measured them with a cord, making them lie down on the ground. He executed everyone measured out in each two lengths' measurement of the cord, but spared the ones measured out by every third length. Then the Moabites were placed under servitude to David, and made to pay tribute.

David captured 1,000 of his chariots, 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses except for enough to supply 100 chariots.

David erected garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, placing the Arameans under servitude to him, and they paid tribute to him.

David also confiscated the gold shields that belonged to Hadadezer's officers and took them to Jerusalem.

He also confiscated a vast quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, cities under Hadadezer's control.

Tou sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory over Hadadezer, because he had been at war with Tou. Joram brought articles of silver, gold, and bronze with him,

and King David dedicated them to the LORD, along with the silver and gold that had been dedicated from all the nations that he had conquered,

including from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and spoil from King Hadadezer, Rehob's son from Zobah.

He erected garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subservient to David, while the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

David reigned over all of Israel, administering justice and equity to every one of his people.

Ahitub's son Zadok and Abiathar's son Ahimelech were priests, Seraiah was his personal secretary,

Jehoida's son Benaiah supervised the special forces and mercenaries, and David's sons were priests.

A household servant of Saul named Ziba was called to appear before David, and the king asked him, "Are you Ziba?" "I am your servant," Ziba replied.

At this, King David sent for him and brought him from the home of Ammiel's son Makir in Lo-debar.

When Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son and a grandson of Saul, approached David, he threw himself on his face out of respect. "Mephibosheth!" David said as he greeted him. "Hello! I am your servant," he replied.

"Don't be afraid," David reassured him, "because I'm going to show gracious love to you in memory of your father Jonathan. I'm going to restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you'll always have a place at my table!"

Mephibosheth bowed low again and asked, "Who am I, your servant, that you would pay attention to a dead dog like me?"

At this, the king called for Saul's servant Ziba and told him, "I'm restoring to your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family.

You and your servants are to farm the land on his behalf and bring in the crops in order to provide for your master's grandson. Meanwhile, Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will always have a place at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and 20 servants.)

Mephibosheth fathered a son named Mica, and everyone who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants.

Sometime later, the Ammonite king died and his son Hanun succeeded him as king,

But when David's delegation arrived in Ammonite territory, the Ammonite officials asked their lord Hanun, "Do you think that because David has sent a delegation of consolers to you that he is honoring your father? His delegation has arrived intending to search, scout the land, and then overthrow it, hasn't it?"

So Hanun arrested David's delegation, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their clothes at the waist line, and sent them away in disgrace.

When David had been informed about the incident, he sent word to them, since the men had been deeply humiliated. The king told them, "Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return."

When the Ammonites realized that they had created quite a stink with David, they hired 20,000 Aramean mercenaries from Beth-rehob and Zobah, along with the king of Maacah and 1,000 men, and 12,000 men from Tob.

In response, David sent out Joab and his entire army of elite soldiers.

The Ammonites went out in battle formation at the entrance to the city gate, while the Arameans from Zobah and Rehob, along with the army from Tob and Maacah, were out by themselves in the open fields.

When Joab observed that the battle lines were set up to oppose him both in front and behind, he appointed the best troops in Israel and arrayed them to oppose the Arameans,

Be strong, be courageous on behalf of our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what he thinks is best."

So Joab and the soldiers who were with him attacked the Arameans in battle formation, and the Arameans retreated in front of him.

When the Ammonites saw the Arameans retreating, they also retreated from Abishai back to the city. Then Joab broke off his attack against the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.

Hadadezer sent for the Arameans who lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they set out for Helam, with Shobach leading them as commander of Hadadezer's army.

When David learned this, he mustered all of Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and approached Helam. The Arameans assembled in battle array to attack David, and started their assault.

But the Arameans retreated from Israel, and David's forces killed 700 of their charioteers, 40,000 soldiers, and mortally wounded Shobach, the commander of their army. As a result, Shobach died there.

When all the kings who were allied with Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sought terms of peace with the Israelis and became subservient to them. Furthermore, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

One spring day, during the time of year when kings go off to war, David sent out Joab, along with his personal staff and all of Israel's army. They utterly destroyed the Ammonites and then attacked Rabbah while David remained in Jerusalem.

Late one afternoon about dusk, David got up from his couch and was walking around on the roof of the royal palace. From there he watched a woman taking a bath, and she was very beautiful to look at.

David sent word to inquire about her, and someone told him, "This is Eliam's daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, isn't it?"

So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home.

The woman conceived, and she sent this message to David: "I'm pregnant."

So David summoned Joab, and told him, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David.

When Uriah arrived, David inquired about how Joab was doing, how the army was doing, and how the war was progressing.

Then David told Uriah, "Go on down to your house and relax a while." So Uriah left the king's palace, and the king sent a gift along after him.

Uriah replied, "The ark, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master's staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life! I won't do something like this, will I?"

Then David invited Uriah, "Stay here today, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem all that day and the next.

Then at David's invitation, he and Uriah dined and drank wine together, and David got him drunk. Later that evening, Uriah went out to lie on a couch in the company of his lord's servants, and he did not go down to his house.

In the message, he wrote: "Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed."

When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David's army staff members fell, and Uriah the Hittite died, too.

if the king starts to get angry and asks you, "Why did you get so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot from the wall?

So the messenger left Joab, set out for Jerusalem, and disclosed to David everything that Joab had sent him to say.

The messenger told David, "The men surprised us and attacked us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate.

Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's staff members are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite has died as well."

David responded to the messenger, "Here's what you're to tell Joab: "Don't be troubled by this incident, because the battle sword consumes one or another from time to time. Consolidate your attack against the city and conquer it.' Be sure to encourage him."

When Uriah's wife heard about the death of her husband Uriah, she went into mourning for the head of her household.

When her mourning period was completed, David sent for her, brought her to his palace, and she became his wife. Later on, she bore him a son.

Nathan approached David and said, "There are two men in the city. One is rich and one is poor. The rich man has many flocks and herds,

but the poor man had nothing except for one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It used to share his food and drink from his own cup. It even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

A traveler arrived to visit the rich man. Because he was unwilling to take an animal from one of his own flocks or herds to prepare for the guest who had come to visit him, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to visit him."

David flew into a rage at the man and told Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

He will restore the lamb four times its value, because he did this thing, and because he did it without compassion."

But Nathan replied to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ""I anointed you king and you became king over Israel. ""I delivered you from Saul's control.

""I gave you your former master's household. ""I placed your former master's wives right in your arms. ""I gave you Israel and Judah. ""And if this had been too little, I would have added much more than that to you!

"This is what the LORD says: ""Listen very carefully! ""I'm raising up evil against you right out of your own household. ""I'm going to take your wives away from you right before your eyes. ""Then I'll give them to your neighbor. ""And then he's going to have sex with your wives in broad daylight!

""What you did in secret I'm going to do right in front of all Israel and in broad daylight as well!'"

Then Nathan went home.

After this, the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah's wife had born to David, and the child became very ill. David begged God on behalf of the youngster. He fasted, went inside, and spent the night lying on the ground.

His closest advisors at the palace got up, remained with him, and tried to help him get up from the ground, but he would not do so. He also wouldn't eat with them.

A week later, the child died, and David's staff was afraid to tell him that the child had died. They were telling themselves, "Look, when the child was still alive, we talked to him but he wouldn't listen to what we said. Now what kind of trouble will he bring on himself if we tell him that the child has died?"

At this, David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the LORD's tent to worship. Then he went back to his palace where, at his request, they served him food and he ate.

His staff asked him, "What's this about? When the child was alive, you fasted and cried. Now that the child has died, you get up and eat!"

He answered, "When the child was alive, I fasted and cried. I asked myself, "Who knows? Maybe the LORD will show grace to me and the child will live.'

Then David consoled his wife Bathsheba. He went in and had sex with her, and she bore a son whom he named Solomon. The LORD loved him,

and sent a message written by Nathan the prophet to call his name Jedidiah, for the Lord's sake.

Meanwhile, Joab attacked the Ammonite city of Rabbah and captured its stronghold.

Then Joab sent messengers to David to tell him, "I just attacked Rabbah and captured its municipal water supply,

so call out the rest of the army, attack the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I'll take the city myself and name it after me."

So David mustered his entire army and marched on Rabbah, attacked it, and captured it.

He confiscated the crown of their king from his head it weighed one talent in gold and was set with precious stones and it was placed on David's head. He confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city,

brought back the people who had lived in it, placing them under conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. He did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.