David appointed some of the Levites to be ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate the Lord God of Israel, and to give thanks and praise to Him.

On that day David decreed for the first time that thanks be given to the Lord by Asaph and his relatives:

So David left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the Lord’s covenant to minister regularly before the ark according to the daily requirements.

David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon

David also appointed Heman, Jeduthun, and others chosen by name to give thanks to the LORD, because "his gracious love is eternal."

Then all the people left for their homes, and David returned home to bless his household.

When David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under tent curtains.”

So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your heart, for God is with you.”

“Go to David My servant and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in.

“Now this is what you will say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.

Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.

Then King David went in, sat in the Lord’s presence, and said,

Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

What more can David say to You for honoring Your servant? You know Your servant.

Let Your name be confirmed and magnified forever in the saying, “Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.” May the house of Your servant David be established before You.

After this, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from Philistine control.

He also defeated the Moabites, and they became David’s subjects and brought tribute.

David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah at Hamath when he went to establish his control at the Euphrates River.

David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers from him, hamstrung all the horses, and kept 100 chariots.

When the Arameans of Damascus came to assist King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 Aramean men.

Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

David took the gold shields carried by Hadadezer’s officers and brought them to Jerusalem.

From Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer’s cities, David also took huge quantities of bronze, from which Solomon made the bronze reservoir, the pillars, and the bronze articles.

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 greet him and to congratulate him because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Tou and Hadadezer had fought many wars. Hadoram brought all kinds of gold, silver, and bronze items.

King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had carried off from all the nations—from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.

He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

So David reigned over all Israel, administering justice and righteousness for all his people.

Joab the son of Zeruiah was in command of the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over
the Cherethites and the Pelethites;
and David’s sons were the chief officials at the king’s side.

Then David said, “I’ll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. However, when David’s emissaries arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him,

the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn’t David sent his emissaries in order to scout out, overthrow, and spy on the land?”

So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved them, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.

It was reported to David about his men, so he sent messengers to meet them, since the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

When the Ammonites realized they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 38 tons of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.

David heard about this and sent Joab and the entire army of warriors.

When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He came up to the Arameans and lined up in battle formation against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought against him.

But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 7,000 of their charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach, commander of the army.

When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. After this, the Arameans were never willing to help the Ammonites again.

In the spring when kings march out to war, Joab led the army and destroyed the Ammonites’ land. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it.

Then David took the crown from the head of their king, and it was placed on David’s head. He found that the crown weighed 75 pounds of gold, and there was a precious stone in it. In addition, David took away a large quantity of plunder from the city.

He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.

These were the descendants of the giant in Gath killed by David and his soldiers.

Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count the people of Israel.

So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number.”

Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 swordsmen and in Judah itself 470,000 swordsmen.

David said to God, “I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing. Now, please take away Your servant’s guilt, for I’ve been very foolish.”

Then the Lord instructed Gad, David’s seer,

“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.’”

So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice:

David answered Gad, “I’m in anguish. Please, let me fall into the Lord’s hands because His mercies are very great, but don’t let me fall into human hands.”

When David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell down with their faces to the ground.

David said to God, “Wasn’t I the one who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? My Lord God, please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s family, but don’t let the plague be against Your people.”

So the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go and set up an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David went up at Gad’s command spoken in the name of the Lord.

David came to Ornan, and when Ornan looked and saw David, he left the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.

Then David said to Ornan, “Give me this threshing-floor plot so that I may build an altar to the Lord on it. Give it to me for the full price, so the plague on the people may be stopped.”

Ornan said to David, “Take it! My lord the king may do whatever he wants. See, I give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering—I give it all.”

King David answered Ornan, “No, I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the Lord what belongs to you or offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David gave Ornan 15 pounds of gold for the plot.

Then David built an altar there to Yahweh, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he called to Yahweh. And he answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.

At that time, David offered sacrifices there when he saw that the Lord answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

but David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was terrified of the sword of the Lord’s angel.

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

So David gave orders to gather the foreigners that were in the land of Israel, and he appointed stonecutters to cut finished stones for building God’s house.

David supplied a great deal of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with an immeasurable quantity of bronze,

and innumerable cedar logs because the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.

David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands. Therefore, I must make provision for it.” So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.

Later, David called for his son Solomon and directed him to build a temple to the LORD God of Israel.

“My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God,

Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon:

When David was old and full of days, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

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

“Of these,” David said, “24,000 are to be in charge of the work on the Lord’s temple, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

Then David divided them into divisions according to Levi’s sons: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He has come to stay in Jerusalem forever.

for according to the last words of David, the Levites 20 years old or more were to be counted—

David issued these orders:

Together with Zadok from the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech from the sons of Ithamar, David divided them according to the assigned duties of their service.

Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them in the presence of the king, the officers, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar [the priest who escaped Saul’s massacre at Nob], and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; one father’s household taken for Eleazar and one taken for Ithamar.

They also cast lots the same way as their relatives the sons of Aaron did in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.

David and the officers of the army also set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy accompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals. This is the list of the men who performed their service:

This Shelomith and his brothers were in charge of all the treasuries of what had been dedicated by King David, by the heads of families who were the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and by the army commanders.

From the Hebronites: Jerijah was the head of the Hebronites, according to the genealogical records of his ancestors. A search was made in the fortieth year of David’s reign and strong, capable men were found among them at Jazer in Gilead.

There were among Jerijah’s relatives, 2,700 capable men who were heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh as overseers in every matter relating to God and the king.

for Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; for Issachar, Omri son of Michael;

David didn’t count the men aged 20 or under, for the Lord had said He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of heaven.

Joab son of Zeruiah began to count them, but he didn’t complete it. There was wrath against Israel because of this census, and the number was not entered in the Historical Record of King David.

Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the flocks.
All these were officials in charge of King David’s property.

David’s uncle Jonathan was a counselor; he was a man of understanding and a scribe. Jehiel son of Hachmoni attended the king’s sons.

David assembled all the leaders of Israel in Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials, the fighting men, and all the brave warriors.

Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the Lord’s covenant and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build,

Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple and its buildings, treasuries, upper rooms, inner rooms, and a room for the mercy seat.

David also transferred to him by weight the gold that was to be used to craft the service utensils, the silver that was to be used to craft the service utensils,

David concluded, “By the Lord’s hand on me, He enabled me to understand everything in writing, all the details of the plan.”

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished.

Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon—God has chosen him alone—is young and inexperienced. The task is great because the temple will not be for man but for the Lord God.

Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders’ willingness to give, for they had given to the Lord with a whole heart. King David also rejoiced greatly.

Then David praised the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. David said,

May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity.