And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.

And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:

Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;

Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.

Sing to him, sing psalms to him, talk ye of all his wonderous works.

Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath to Isaac;

And which he confirmed to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

Saying, To thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;

And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people;

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,

Saying, Touch not my anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Sing to the LORD, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation.

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Give to the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give to the LORD glory and strength.

Give to the LORD the glory due to his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Then shall the trees of the wood sing at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.

O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.

So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required:

And Obed-edom with their brethren, sixty and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters:

To offer burnt-offerings to the LORD upon the altar of the burnt-offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;

And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever;

And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.

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 remaineth under curtains.

Then Nathan said to David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee.

And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in:

For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

Wherever I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars?

Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheep-cote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over my people Israel:

And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover, I will subdue all thy enemies. Furthermore, I tell thee that the LORD will build thee a house.

And it shall come to pass, when thy days shall be ended that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.

And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.

What can David speak more to thee for the honor of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.

O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thy own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

Therefore now, LORD, Let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.

Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.

For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him a house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee.

And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness to thy servant:

Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever.

Now after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah to Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.

And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.

And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;

He sent Hadoram his son to king David to inquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had warred with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold, and silver, and brass.

Them also king David dedicated to the LORD, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

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. 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, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters to thee? are not his servants come to thee to search, and to overthrow, and to explore the land?

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

And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-maachah, and out of Zobah.

So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the children of Ammon assembled from their cities, and came to battle.

And the rest of the people he delivered to the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.

And he said, If the Syrians shall be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon shall be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.

So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians to the battle; and they fled before him.

And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

And it was told to David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

And it came to pass, that after the year had expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.

And David took the crown of their king from his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David's head: and he brought also a great quantity of spoil out of the city.

And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so David dealt with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines: at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.

These were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

And Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to number Israel.

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 Joab answered, the LORD make his people a hundred times more numerous than they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred and seventy thousand men that drew sword.

But Levi and Benjamin he counted not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.

And David said to God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

And the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying,

Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it to thee.

So Gad came to David, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee

Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while the sword of thy enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

And David said to 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 to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thy hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And David said to 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 thy hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be afflicted.

Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and erect an altar to the LORD in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked, and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build an altar in it to the LORD: thou shalt grant it to me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

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

And king David said to Ornan, No; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt-offerings without cost.

So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering.

But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

And David commanded to assemble the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

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

Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel.

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

But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house to my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies around: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.

Then shalt thou prosper, if thou shalt take heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

Now behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add to them.