1 Chronicles 17-19

21st Century King James Version

17 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.”

² Then Nathan said unto David, “Do all that is in thine heart, for God is with thee.”

³ And it came to pass the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴ “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not build Me a house to dwell in;

⁵ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

⁶ Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spoke I 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?”’

⁷ Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto My servant David, ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over My people Israel.

⁸ And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth.

⁹ Also I will ordain a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning

¹⁰ and since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the Lord will build thee a house.

¹¹ And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired 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.

¹² He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.

¹³ I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee.

¹⁴ But I will settle him in Mine house and in My kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for evermore.’”

¹⁵ According to all these words and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁶ And David the king came and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?

¹⁷ And yet this was a small thing in Thine 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.

¹⁸ What can David speak more to Thee for the honor of Thy servant? For Thou knowest Thy servant.

¹⁹ O Lord, for Thy servant’s sake and according to Thine own heart hast Thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

²⁰ O Lord, there is none like Thee, neither is there any God besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²¹ And what one nation on 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 fearsomeness by driving out nations from before Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

²² For Thy people Israel didst Thou make Thine own people for ever; and Thou, Lord, becamest their God.

²³ 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.

²⁴ 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.’

²⁵ 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.

²⁶ And now, Lord, Thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto Thy servant.

²⁷ 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.”

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

² And he smote Moab, and the Moabites became David’s servants and brought gifts.

³ And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah toward Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the River Euphrates.

⁴ And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen. David also hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for a hundred chariots.

⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.

⁶ Then David put garrisons in Syriadamascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸ Likewise from Tibhath and from Chun, cities of Hadadezer, David brought very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brazen sea and the pillars and the vessels of brass.

⁹ Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer king of Zobah,

¹⁰ he sent Hadoram his son to King David to inquire of his welfare and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and smitten him (for Hadadezer had wars with Tou); and he sent with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.

¹¹ These also King David dedicated unto 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.

¹² Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew eighteen thousand of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹³ And he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.

¹⁵ And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder.

¹⁶ And Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;

¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.

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

² And David said, “I will show kindness unto 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.

³ But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, “Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Are not his servants come unto thee to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

⁴ Therefore Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle by their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵ Then went certain ones 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 have grown, and then return.”

⁶ 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 for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia and from Syriamaachah and from Zobah.

⁷ So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, who came and pitched camp before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities and came to battle.

⁸ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.

⁹ And the children of Ammon came out and assembled in battle array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that the battle line was formed against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

¹¹ And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.

¹² And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

¹³ 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.”

¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle, and they fled before him.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers and drew forth the Syrians who were beyond the river; and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadadezer went before them.

¹⁷ And it was told to David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over the 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.

¹⁸ But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men who fought in chariots and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants; neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.