David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, ¹  that you should have brought me to this point?

so ¹  it may become a reality ²  and you may gain lasting fame, ³  as people say, ⁴  ‘The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.’ ⁵  David’s dynasty ⁶  will be established before you,

Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding towns ¹  away from the Philistines. ² 

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

When King Tou ¹  of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,

So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved their beards off. ¹  He cut off the lower part of their robes so that their buttocks were exposed ²  and then sent them away.

“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.”’” ¹ 

David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. ¹  He called out to the Lord, and the Lord ²  responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar.

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 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 said to Solomon: “My son, I really wanted ¹  to build a temple to honor ²  the Lord my God.

David and the army officers selected some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy as they played stringed instruments and cymbals. ¹  The following men were assigned this responsibility: ² 

Shelomith ¹  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 ¹  there were highly respected men in Jazer in Gilead.

David did not count the males twenty years old and under, for the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise adviser and scribe; ¹  Jehiel son of Hacmoni cared for ²  the king’s sons.

David gave to his son Solomon the blueprints for the temple porch, ¹  its buildings, its treasuries, ²  its upper areas, its inner rooms, and the room ³  for atonement.

The people were delighted with their donations, for they contributed to the Lord with a willing attitude; ¹  King David was also very happy. ² 

They held a feast ¹  before the Lord that day and celebrated. ²  Then they designated Solomon, David’s son, as king a second time; ³  before the Lord they anointed him as ruler and Zadok as priest.

Solomon sat on the Lord’s throne as king in place of his father David; he was successful and all Israel was loyal to him. ¹