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Two men kill Ish-Bosheth
4 Saul's son Ish-Bosheth heard the news that Abner had died in Hebron.[a] Then he felt very frightened. All the people in Israel became afraid. 2 Ish-Bosheth had two officers called Baanah and Recab. They were leaders of small groups of soldiers. Their father was Rimmon from Beeroth. He belonged to Benjamin's tribe. At that time, Beeroth was part of Benjamin's land. 3 The people from Beeroth had run away to Gittaim. So Beeroth's people still live there as strangers.
4 Saul's son Jonathan had a son called Mephibosheth. Since he was five years old he had not been able to walk. At that time someone had come from Jezreel to say that Saul and Jonathan had died. So Mephibosheth's nurse picked him up to escape with him. But as she ran in a hurry, he fell to the ground. It hurt his feet very badly.
5 Rimmon's sons, Recab and Baanah, left their home and they went to Ish-Bosheth's house. They arrived in the middle of the day when it was very hot. Ish-Bosheth was resting on his bed. 6 They went into the house as if they wanted to get some wheat. But they pushed knives into Ish-Bosheth's stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.
7 When they had gone into the house, Ish-Bosheth had been lying on his bed in his bedroom. After they had killed him, they cut off his head. They took it with them and they travelled all night through the Jordan Valley. 8 They brought Ish-Bosheth's head to David in Hebron. They said to the king, ‘Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth, Saul's son! Saul was your enemy who wanted to kill you. So today the Lord has punished him and his descendants. They have paid for the bad things that they did to you, our lord, the king.’
9 David answered Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth. He said to them, ‘The Lord has rescued me from all my troubles. So I tell you this, as surely as the Lord lives: 10 When someone told me in Ziklag, “Saul is dead”, he thought that he was bringing good news to me. But I took hold of him and I told my men to kill him. That was how I paid him for his good news![b] 11 Now you wicked men have done a worse thing. You killed a good man in his own house while he was asleep! So I must surely punish you for his death. You must disappear from the earth!’
12 So David commanded his young men to kill Recab and Baanah. After they had killed them, they cut off their hands and their feet. They hung the dead bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-Bosheth's head and they buried it in Abner's grave in Hebron.
David becomes king over all Israel
5 All Israel's tribes came to David at Hebron. They said, ‘We all belong to the same family as you do. 2 In the past, when Saul ruled over us as king, you were the leader of Israel's army in the wars. The Lord said to you, “You will take care of my people as a shepherd takes care of his sheep. You will rule over Israel.” ’
3 So King David made an agreement with the leaders of Israel when they came to him at Hebron. They made promises in the Lord's name. Then they anointed David to be king over Israel.
4 David was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled Israel as king for 40 years. 5 He ruled over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he ruled over all Israel and Judah for 33 years.
David wins Jerusalem from the Jebusites
6 King David and his soldiers marched to Jerusalem. They went to attack the Jebusites who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, ‘You will never get into our city. Even blind men and those who are lame could keep you out.’
They thought, ‘David will never get in here.’
7 But David did get in and he took Zion, the city's strong place. It is now called ‘The City of David’.
8 On that day, David said to his men, ‘We must attack my enemies, the Jebusites. To do that, we must go into the city through the water tunnel.[c] Then we will see if their blind and lame people can stop us! I hate them all.’
That is why people still say, ‘Anybody who is blind or lame must not go into the palace.’[d]
David comes to live in Jerusalem
9 Then David went to live in the strong place of the city. He called it ‘The City of David’. He built more houses all around it, from the edge of the hill into the city. 10 David became more and more powerful because the Lord God Almighty was with him.
11 Then Hiram, king of Tyre, sent some of his men to David. They brought wood from Lebanon's cedar trees. Men who could work with wood and stone also came. They built a palace for David. 12 David knew that the Lord had made him strong as king over Israel. He knew that God had given honour to his kingdom, to help his people, the Israelites.[e]
13 After David moved to Jerusalem from Hebron, he married more wives. He also took more slave wives to live with him. They gave birth to more sons and daughters for David. 14 These are the names of David's children who were born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.
David fights against the Philistines
17 The Philistines heard the news that David had now become king over Israel. So their whole army went to look for him to catch him. When David heard about this, he went out of the city to a strong, safe place.
18 The Philistine soldiers arrived at Rephaim valley. They covered all the ground there. 19 So David asked the Lord, ‘Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will you put them under my power?’
The Lord answered him, ‘Yes, go and attack the Philistines. I will certainly help you to win against them.’
20 So David went to Baal Perazim. He won the fight against the Philistines in that place. He said, ‘The Lord has swept away my enemy like a flood of water.’ So they called that place ‘Baal Perazim’.[f]
21 When the Philistines ran away from there, they did not take their idols with them. So David and his men took them away.
22 Once again, the Philistine soldiers came and they covered the ground in Rephaim valley. 23 So David again asked the Lord what he should do. This time the Lord said, ‘Do not march straight towards them. Instead, go round behind them. Then attack them from the other side, where the poplar trees are. 24 When you hear a noise in the tops of the trees like marching men, go quickly to attack them. Then you will know that the Lord has gone in front of you. He will knock down the Philistine army for you.’
25 So David did as the Lord had commanded him to do. His men chased the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
David brings the Covenant Box to Jerusalem
6 David chose 30,000 of the best soldiers in Israel. 2 He took them with him to Baalah, a town in Judah. He wanted to bring God's Covenant Box from there to Jerusalem. The Israelites called it by the name of the Lord Almighty. He sits as King between the two cherubs that are on the top of the Covenant Box. 3 They put the Covenant Box on a new cart. They took it out of Abinadab's house which was on the hill. Abinadab's sons, Uzzah and Ahio, were leading the new cart 4 which had the Covenant Box on it. Ahio walked in front of the Covenant Box. 5 David and all Israel's people were singing and dancing with all their strength to praise the Lord. They made music with harps, lyres, tambourines, shakers and cymbals.[g]
6 They reached the place of Nacon's threshing floor. There the oxen that were pulling the cart almost fell. So Uzzah reached out to hold God's Covenant Box to stop it falling. 7 The Lord was very angry with Uzzah because he did not respect God's rules.[h] He immediately knocked Uzzah down to the ground. Uzzah died there, beside the Covenant Box.
8 David was angry because the Lord had punished Uzzah. So he called that place ‘Perez Uzzah’. That is still its name today.[i]
9 So David now became afraid of the Lord. He said, ‘The Lord's Covenant Box is too holy to come with me!’ 10 He no longer wanted to take the Lord's Covenant Box to the City of David to be with him there. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom, who came from Gath. 11 The Lord's Covenant Box stayed in Obed-Edom's house for three months. During that time, the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all the people in his house.
12 People told King David, ‘The Lord has blessed Obed-Edom's family and everything that belongs to him, because of the Covenant Box.’
So David went back to Obed-Edom's house. He was now happy to bring the Covenant Box from there to the City of David. 13 The men who were carrying it walked six steps and they stopped. Then David offered a bull and a fat calf as sacrifices to God. 14 David was wearing a linen ephod.[j] He danced with all his strength to worship the Lord. 15 He and all the Israelites brought the Lord's Covenant Box to Jerusalem. They shouted and they made a loud noise with trumpets.
16 While they were bringing the Lord's Covenant Box into the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked out through a window. She saw what King David was doing. He was jumping and dancing to worship the Lord. Michal felt ashamed of him.
17 David had put up a special tent for the Covenant Box, so they took it there. They put it in its place inside the tent. Then David offered burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.
18 After David had offered those sacrifices, he prayed that the Lord Almighty would bless the people. 19 Then he gave a gift to every man and woman in the crowd of Israelite people. Each person received a loaf of bread, some dates and some raisins. Then all the people went to their homes.
20 David returned to his home to bless his own family. As he arrived, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him. She said, ‘The king of Israel has brought honour to himself today, has he? No, he has brought shame on himself! Even your officers' slave girls have seen how stupid you are. You have made your body bare like a useless fool!’
21 David said to Michal, ‘I was worshipping the Lord with joy! It was the Lord who chose me to be the ruler of his people, Israel. He chose me instead of your father or any of his family. 22 I am ready to bring even more shame on myself. Even I will be ashamed of myself! But the slave girls that you spoke about will still give me honour!’
23 Saul's daughter Michal gave birth to no children all her life.
Jesus' new rule
31 When Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now people will see how great the Son of Man is. Because of him, they will also see how great God is. 32 The Son will show how great God is. Then God will take the Son to himself and he will show how great the Son is. He will do that very soon.
33 My children, I will be with you for only a short time now. You will look for me. But I tell you now what I told the Jews. You cannot go where I am now going. 34 I give a new rule to you. Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. 35 In this way, everyone will know that you are my disciples. They will know it, if you really love each other.’
36 Simon Peter asked him, ‘Lord, where will you go?’ Jesus replied, ‘You cannot follow now where I will go. But some time after this, you will follow.’ 37 Peter said, ‘Lord, why can I not go with you now? I would even die for you.’ 38 Jesus answered, ‘You say that you would die for me. But I tell you this: Soon you will say that you do not know me. Before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning, you will say that three times.’
Jesus is the way to the Father
14 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not be sad or afraid. Believe in God, and also believe in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father's house. I will go now so that I can prepare a place for you there. If it was not true, I would not have told you this. 3 After I have prepared a place for you, I will return. Then I will take you so that you will be with me. You will be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I will go.’
5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you will go. So how can we know the way to get there?’ 6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes to the Father except by me. 7 If you really know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.’
8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show the Father to us. That is all that we need.’ 9 Jesus answered, ‘I have been with all of you for a long time. But still you do not seem to know me, Philip! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, “Show the Father to us”? 10 I am in the Father and the Father is in me. You should believe that. The words that I say to you do not come from me myself. But the Father lives in me, and he is doing his work. 11 I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Believe me when I say that. You have seen the things that I have done. So, if you do not believe my words, believe because of my work. 12 I tell you this: Whoever believes in me will do the same things that I have been doing. Yes, he will do even greater things than these, because I will go to my Father. 13 Ask me to help you. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it for you. In that way, the Son will show everyone how great the Father is. 14 Yes, you should ask me for anything in my name.[a] I will do it for you.’
GIMEL
17 Please be kind to me, your servant.
Then I will live and I will obey your message.
18 Open my eyes wide!
Then I will see great things in your Law.
19 I live like a stranger here on the earth.
Please do not hide your commands from me.
20 I really want to obey your rules all the time.
I want that more than anything else.
21 You warn people who are proud.
If they turn away from your commands,
you will surely punish them.
22 I obey your rules.
So do not let people insult me,
so that I become ashamed.
23 Rulers may think of ways to hurt me.
But I will think carefully about your rules.
24 Yes, your laws make me really happy.
They show me the right way to live.
DALETH
25 I have fallen to the ground. I am almost dead.
Give me life again, as you have promised to do.
26 I told you what my life is like,
and you answered me.
Please teach me your laws.
27 Help me to understand what your teaching means.
Then I will think carefully about the great things that you do.
28 I am so sad that I feel very weak.
Use your word to make me strong again.
29 Stop me from living in a wrong way.
Please be kind to me,
so that I know your Law.
30 I have chosen to live in the right way.
I will continue to obey your rules.
31 Yes, Lord, I will always respect your teaching.
Please do not let me become ashamed.
32 I want to obey your commands all the time.
Help me to understand them more and more.
31 If anyone accepts teaching that helps him to live in a good way,
he becomes a friend of wise people.
32 If you refuse to accept it when people warn you,
you are hurting yourself.
But if you agree to listen,
you will learn to do what is right.
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