So David did not move the ark to the City of David; he left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him.

David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

In Jerusalem David married more wives and fathered more sons and daughters.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of all Israel, all the Philistines marched up to confront him. When David heard about it, he marched out against them.

David asked God, "Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The Lord said to him, "March up! I will hand them over to you!"

So they marched against Baal Perazim and David defeated them there. David said, "Using me as his instrument, God has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out." So that place is called Baal Perazim.

The Philistines left their idols there, so David ordered that they be burned.

So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, "Don't march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

David did just as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.

So David became famous in all the lands; the Lord caused all the nations to fear him.

David constructed buildings in the City of David; he then prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

Then David said, "Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve before him perpetually.

David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring the ark of the Lord up to the place he had prepared for it.

David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:

David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, along with the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint some of their relatives as musicians; they were to play various instruments, including stringed instruments and cymbals, and to sing loudly and joyfully.

So David, the leaders of Israel, and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark of the Lord's covenant from the house of Obed-Edom with celebration.

David was wrapped in a linen robe, as were all the Levites carrying the ark, the musicians, and Kenaniah the supervisor of transport and the musicians; David also wore a linen ephod.

As the ark of the Lord's covenant entered the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out the window. When she saw King David jumping and celebrating, she despised him.

They brought the ark of God and put it in the middle of the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

When David finished offering burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the Lord's name.

That day David first gave to Asaph and his colleagues this song of thanks to the Lord:

David left Asaph and his colleagues there before the ark of the Lord's covenant to serve before the ark regularly and fulfill each day's requirements,

Then all the people returned to their homes, and David went to pronounce a blessing on his family.

When David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of the Lord's covenant is under a tent."

Nathan said to David, "You should do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you."

"Go, tell my servant David: 'This is what the Lord says: "You must not build me a house in which to live.

"So now, say this to my servant David: 'This is what the Lord who commands armies says: "I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you a leader of my people Israel.

Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.

David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

What more can David say to you? You have honored your servant; you have given your servant special recognition.

so it may become a reality and you may gain lasting fame, as people say, 'The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.' David's dynasty will be established before you,

Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding towns away from the Philistines.

He defeated the Moabites; the Moabites became David's subjects and brought tribute.

David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authority to the Euphrates River.

David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of Hadadezer's chariot horses.

The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans.

David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David's subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

David took the golden shields which Hadadezer's servants had carried and brought them to Jerusalem.

From Tibhath and Kun, Hadadezer's cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called "The Sea," the pillars, and other bronze items.

When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,

he sent his son Hadoram to King David to extend his best wishes and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer. He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.

King David dedicated these things to the Lord, along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David's sons were the king's leading officials.

David said, "I will express my loyalty to Hanun son of Nahash, for his father was loyal to me." So David sent messengers to express his sympathy over his father's death. When David's servants entered Ammonite territory to visit Hanun and express the king's sympathy,

the Ammonite officials said to Hanun, "Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? No, his servants have come to you so they can get information and spy out the land!"

So Hanun seized David's servants and shaved their beards off. He cut off the lower part of their robes so that their buttocks were exposed and then sent them away.

Messengers came and told David what had happened to the men, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards grow again; then you may come back."

When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maacah, and Zobah.

When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them.

When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and marched against them. David deployed his army against the Arameans for battle and they fought against him.

The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 7,000 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 infantrymen; he also killed Shophach the commanding general.

When Hadadezer's subjects saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.

David took the crown from the head of their king and wore it (its weight was a talent of gold and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city.

He removed the city's residents and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David's brother, killed him.

These were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed by the hand of David and his soldiers.

An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.

David told Joab and the leaders of the army, "Go, count the number of warriors from Beer Sheba to Dan. Then bring back a report to me so I may know how many we have."

Joab reported to David the number of warriors. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 sword-wielding soldiers; Judah alone had 470,000 sword-wielding soldiers.

David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly."

The Lord told Gad, David's prophet,

"Go, tell David, 'This is what the Lord says: "I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them."'"

Gad went to David and told him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Pick one of these:

David said to Gad, "I am very upset! I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by men!"

David looked up and saw the Lord's messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.

David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep -- what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

So the Lord's messenger told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

So David went up as Gad instructed him to do in the name of the Lord.

When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.

David said to Ornan, "Sell me the threshing floor so I can build on it an altar for the Lord -- I'll pay top price -- so that the plague may be removed from the people."

Ornan told David, "You can have it! My master, the king, may do what he wants. Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you."

King David replied to Ornan, "No, I insist on buying it for top price. I will not offer to the Lord what belongs to you or offer a burnt sacrifice that cost me nothing.

So David bought the place from Ornan for 600 pieces of gold.

David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. He called out to the Lord, and the Lord responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar.

At that time, when David saw that the Lord responded to him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

But David could not go before it to seek God's will, for he was afraid of the sword of the Lord's messenger.

David then said, "This is the place where the temple of the Lord God will be, along with the altar for burnt sacrifices for Israel."

David ordered the resident foreigners in the land of Israel to be called together. He appointed some of them to be stonecutters to chisel stones for the building of God's temple.

David supplied a large amount of iron for the nails of the doors of the gates and for braces, more bronze than could be weighed,

and more cedar logs than could be counted. (The Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large amount of cedar logs to David.)

David said, "My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man, and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for its construction." So David made extensive preparations before he died.

David said to Solomon: "My son, I really wanted to build a temple to honor the Lord my God.

David ordered all the officials of Israel to support his son Solomon.

When David was old and approaching the end of his life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

David assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites.

David said, "Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord's temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges;

David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

For David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem.

According to David's final instructions, the Levites twenty years old and up were counted.

David, Zadok (a descendant of Eleazar), and Ahimelech (a descendant of Ithamar) divided them into groups to carry out their assigned responsibilities.

Just like their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, they also cast lots before King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of families, the priests, and the Levites. The families of the oldest son cast lots along with the those of the youngest.

David and the army officers selected some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy as they played stringed instruments and cymbals. The following men were assigned this responsibility:

Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the storehouses containing the consecrated items dedicated by King David, the family leaders who led units of a thousand and a hundred, and the army officers.

As for the Hebronites: Jeriah was the leader of the Hebronites according to the genealogical records. In the fortieth year of David's reign, they examined the records and discovered there were highly respected men in Jazer in Gilead.

Jeriah had 2,700 relatives who were respected family leaders. King David placed them in charge of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh; they took care of all matters pertaining to God and the king.