They would spend the night in their posts all around God’s sanctuary, ¹  for they were assigned to guard it and would open it with the key every morning.

David was thirsty and said, “How I wish someone would give me some water to drink ¹  from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate!”

They cast lots, both young and old, according to their families, to determine which gate they would be responsible for. ¹ 

Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only ¹  you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!” ²  God answered his prayer. ³ 

“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would. ¹ 

When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans. ¹ 

Some men from Manasseh joined ¹  David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (But in the end they did not help the Philistines because, after taking counsel, the Philistine lords sent David away, saying: “It would be disastrous for us if he deserts to his master Saul.”) ² 

The whole assembly agreed to do this, ¹  for the proposal seemed right to all the people. ² 

Saul told his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come and torture me.” ¹  But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

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.

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

and said, “God forbid that I should do this! ¹  Should I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” ²  Because they risked their lives to bring it to him, he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³ 

When Hadadezer’s subjects saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

He let no one oppress them, he disciplined kings for their sake,

for the gold used in the display tables, including the amount to be used in each table, for the silver to be used in the silver tables,

So David did not move the ark to the City of David; ¹  he left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

David supplied a large amount of iron for the nails of the doors of the gates and for braces, more bronze than could be weighed,

They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the holy place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar. ¹ 

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.

for the gold lampstands and their gold lamps, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps, for the silver lampstands, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps, according to the prescribed use of each lampstand,