17When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. "Look," David said, "I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the LORD's Covenant is out there under a tent!"H1732H3427H1004H1732H559H5416H5030H3427H1004H730H727H1285H3068H3407 2Nathan replied to David, "Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you."H5416H559H1732H6213H3824H430 3But that same night God said to Nathan,H3915H1697H430H5416H559 4"Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in.H3212H559H1732H5650H559H3068H1129H1004H3427 5I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle.H3427H1004H3117H5927H3478H3117H168H168H4908 6Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel's leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, "Why haven't you built me a beautiful cedar house?"'H1980H3478H1696H1697H259H8199H3478H6680H7462H5971H559H1129H1004H730 7"Now go and say to my servant David, 'This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel.H559H5650H1732H559H3068H6635H3947H5116H310H6629H5057H5971H3478 8I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth!H1980H3772H341H6440H6213H8034H8034H1419H776 9And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won't oppress them as they've done in the past,H7760H4725H5971H3478H5193H7931H7264H1121H5766H1086H3254H7223 10starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies."'Furthermore, I declare that the LORD will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!H3117H6680H8199H5971H3478H3665H341H5046H3068H1129H1004 11For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong.H3117H4390H3212H1H6965H2233H310H1121H3559H4438 12He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me. And I will secure his throne forever.H1129H1004H3559H3678H5704H5769 13I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you.H1H1121H5493H2617H5493H5493H6440 14I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.'"H5975H1004H4438H5769H3678H3559H5704H5769 15So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said in this vision.H1697H2377H5416H1696H1732 16Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?H1732H4428H935H3427H6440H3068H559H3068H430H1004H935H1988 17And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O LORD God!H6994H5869H430H1696H5650H1004H7350H7200H8448H120H4609H3068H430 18"What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like.H3254H1732H3254H3519H5650H3045H5650 19For the sake of your servant, O LORD, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.H3068H5650H3820H6213H1420H3045H1420 20"O LORD, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!H3068H430H2108H8085H241 21What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way.H259H1471H776H5971H3478H430H1980H6299H5971H7760H8034H1420H3372H1644H1471H6440H5971H6299H4714 22You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.H5971H3478H5414H5971H5704H5769H3068H430 23"And now, O LORD, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever.H3068H1697H1696H5650H1004H539H5704H5769H6213H1696 24And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, 'The LORD of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel's God!' And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.H539H8034H1431H5704H5769H559H3068H6635H430H3478H430H3478H1004H1732H5650H3559H6440 25"O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him—a dynasty of kings!H430H1540H241H5650H1129H1004H5650H4672H6419H6440 26For you are God, O LORD. And you have promised these good things to your servant.H3068H430H1696H2896H5650 27And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O LORD, it is an eternal blessing!"H2974H1288H1004H5650H6440H5769H1288H3068H1288H5769
18After this, David defeated and subdued the Philistines by conquering Gath and its surrounding towns.H310H1732H5221H6430H3665H3947H1661H1323H3027H6430 2David also conquered the land of Moab, and the Moabites who were spared became David's subjects and paid him tribute money.H5221H4124H4124H1732H5650H5375H4503 3David also destroyed the forces of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, as far as Hamath, when Hadadezer marched out to strengthen his control along the Euphrates River.H1732H5221H1928H4428H6678H2574H3212H5324H3027H5104H6578 4David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, and 20,000 foot soldiers. He crippled all the chariot horses except enough for 100 chariots.H1732H3920H505H7393H7651H505H6571H6242H505H376H7273H1732H6131H7393H3498H3967H7393 5When Arameans from Damascus arrived to help King Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them.H758H1834H935H5826H1928H4428H6678H1732H5221H758H8147H6242H505H376 6Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David's subjects and paid him tribute money. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.H1732H7760H758H1834H758H1732H5650H5375H4503H3068H3467H1732H1980 7David brought the gold shields of Hadadezer's officers to Jerusalem,H1732H3947H7982H2091H5650H1928H935H3389 8along with a large amount of bronze from Hadadezer's towns of Tebah and Cun. Later Solomon melted the bronze and molded it into the great bronze basin called the Sea, the pillars, and the various bronze articles used at the Temple.H2880H3560H5892H1928H3947H1732H3966H7227H5178H8010H6213H5178H3220H5982H3627H5178 9When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had destroyed the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,H8583H4428H2574H8085H1732H5221H2428H1928H4428H6678 10he sent his son Joram to congratulate King David for his successful campaign. Hadadezer and Toi had been enemies and were often at war. Joram presented David with many gifts of gold, silver, and bronze.H7971H1913H1121H4428H1732H7592H7965H1288H3898H1928H5221H1928H376H4421H8583H3627H2091H3701H5178 11King David dedicated all these gifts to the LORD, along with the silver and gold he had taken from the other nations—from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.H4428H1732H6942H3068H3701H2091H5375H1471H123H4124H1121H5983H6430H6002 12Abishai son of Zeruiah destroyed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.H52H1121H6870H5221H123H1516H4417H8083H6240H505 13He placed army garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's subjects. In fact, the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.H7760H5333H123H123H1732H5650H3068H3467H1732H1980 14So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people.H1732H4427H3478H6213H4941H6666H5971 15Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.H3097H1121H6870H6635H3092H1121H286H2142 16Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were the priests. Seraiah was the court secretary.H6659H1121H285H40H1121H54H3548H7798H5608 17Benaiah son of Jehoiada was captain of the king's bodyguard. And David's sons served as the king's chief assistants.H1141H1121H3077H3774H6432H1121H1732H7223H3027H4428
19Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.H310H5176H4428H1121H5983H4191H1121H4427 2David said, "I am going to show loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me." So David sent messengers to express sympathy to Hanun about his father's death. But when David's ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,H1732H559H6213H2617H2586H1121H5176H1H6213H2617H1732H7971H4397H5162H1H5650H1732H935H776H1121H5983H2586H5162 3the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, "Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the land so they can come in and conquer it!"H8269H1121H5983H559H2586H5869H1732H3513H1H7971H5162H5650H935H2713H2015H7270H776 4So Hanun seized David's ambassadors and shaved them, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.H2586H3947H1732H5650H1548H3772H4063H2677H4667H7971 5When David heard what had happened to the men, he sent messengers to tell them, "Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back." For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.H3212H5046H1732H582H7971H7125H582H3966H3637H4428H559H3427H3405H2206H6779H7725 6When the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 75,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.H1121H5983H7200H887H1732H2586H1121H5983H7971H505H3603H3701H7936H7393H6571H763H758H4601H6678 7They also hired 32,000 chariots and secured the support of the king of Maacah and his army. These forces camped at Medeba, where they were joined by the Ammonite troops that Hanun had recruited from his own towns.H7936H7970H8147H505H7393H4428H4601H5971H935H2583H6440H4311H1121H5983H622H5892H935H4421 8When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them.H1732H8085H7971H3097H6635H1368 9The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city, while the other kings positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.H1121H5983H3318H4421H6186H6607H5892H4428H935H7704 10When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the rear, he chose some of Israel's elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields.H3097H7200H4421H6440H268H977H977H3478H6186H7125H758 11He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites.H3499H5971H5414H3027H52H251H6186H7125H1121H5983 12"If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me," Joab told his brother. "And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you.H559H758H2388H8668H1121H5983H2388H3467 13Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD's will be done."H2388H2388H5971H5892H430H3068H6213H2896H5869 14When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.H3097H5971H5066H6440H758H4421H5127H6440 15And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they also ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem.H1121H5983H7200H758H5127H5127H6440H52H251H935H5892H3097H935H3389 16The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel, so they sent messengers and summoned additional Aramean troops from the other side of the Euphrates River. These troops were under the command of Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer's forces.H758H7200H5062H6440H3478H7971H4397H3318H758H5676H5104H7780H8269H6635H1928H6440 17When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and positioned his troops in battle formation. Then David engaged the Arameans in battle, and they fought against him.H5046H1732H622H3478H5674H3383H935H6186H1732H4421H6186H7125H758H3898 18But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David's forces killed 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, including Shobach, the commander of their army.H758H5127H6440H3478H1732H2026H758H7651H505H7393H705H505H376H7273H4191H7780H8269H6635 19When Hadadezer's allies saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to David and became his subjects. After that, the Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.H5650H1928H7200H5062H6440H3478H7999H1732H5647H14H758H3467H1121H5983
Dublin, OH
, but the Ark of the LORD's Covenant is out there under a tent!"H1732
