For all the gods of the nations are worthless, ¹  but the Lord made the heavens. ² 

(But some of the priests mixed the spices.)

(But the city’s land and nearby towns were allotted to Caleb son of Jephunneh.)

The son of Eliezer was ¹  Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah.

But David could not go before it to seek God’s will, for he was afraid of the sword of the Lord’s messenger.

But God said to me, ‘You must not build a temple to honor me, ¹  for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.’

But the king’s edict stood, despite Joab’s objections. ¹  So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel before returning to Jerusalem. ² 

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors ¹  and worshiped instead ²  the gods of the native peoples ³  whom God had destroyed before them.

but then they made a stand in the middle of that area. They defended it ¹  and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory. ² 

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

The residents of Jebus said to David, “You cannot invade this place!” But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

Joab son of Zeruiah started to count the men but did not finish. God was angry with Israel ¹  because of this, so the number was not recorded in the scroll ²  called The Annals of King David.

“But who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much? ¹  Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours. ² 

King David said to the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, ¹  and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of Hadadezer’s ²  chariot horses. ³ 

David said to God, “Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! ¹  As for these sheep – what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, ²  but remove the plague from your people!” ³ 

Hosah, one of the descendants of Merari, had sons: The firstborn Shimri (he was not actually the firstborn, but his father gave him that status),

But the Lord said to me: ¹  ‘You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me, ²  for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me.

So the three elite warriors ¹  broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate. They carried it back to David, but David refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord