2Sa 6, 2Sa 12 | ESV | STEP | David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel , thirty thousand .

2 Samuel 6

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

1 ^aDavid again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from ^bBaale-judah ^cto bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts ^dwho sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3 And they carried the ark of God ^eon a new cart and brought it ^fout of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, ^{▼▼Or and his brother; also verse 4} the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint; Hebrew the new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill} 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.

Uzzah and the Ark

5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with ⁱsongs ^{▼▼Septuagint, 1 Chronicles 13:8; Hebrew fir trees} and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of ^kNacon, Uzzah ^lput out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and ^mGod struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah ^{▼▼ Perez-uzzah means the breaking out against Uzzah} to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside ^oto the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, ^pand the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” ^qSo David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom ^rto the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when ^sthose who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, ^the sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David ^udanced before the Lord with all his might. And David was ^vwearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.

David and Michal

16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it ^win its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. ^xAnd David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, ^yhe blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts 19 and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, ^{▼▼Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain} and a cake of raisins to each one. ^aaThen all the people departed, each to his house.

20 And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, ^abuncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the ^acvulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21 And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, ^adwho chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew my} eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” 23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

1 And the Lord sent ^agNathan to David. He came to him and said to him, ^ah“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, ^{▼▼Hebrew bosom; also verse 8} and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ^aj“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb ^akfourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^al‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 ^amWhy have you despised the word of the Lord, ^anto do what is evil in his sight? ^aoYou have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and ^aphave taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, ^aqbut I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13 ^arDavid said to Nathan, ^as“I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, ^at“The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly ^auscorned the Lord, ^{▼▼Masoretic Text the enemies of the Lord; Dead Sea Scroll the word of the Lord} the child who is born to you shall die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.

David’s Child Dies

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. 16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David ^awfasted and went in ^axand lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth ^ayand washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord ^azand worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ^ba‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, ^bbbut he will not return to me.”

Solomon’s Birth

24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and ^bcshe bore a son, and he called his name ^bdSolomon. And the Lord loved him 25 and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, ^{▼▼ Jedidiah means beloved of the Lord} because of the Lord.

Rabbah Is Captured

26 ^bfNow Joab ^bgfought against ^bhRabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. 28 Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.” 29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. 30 And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent ^{▼▼A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms} of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. 31 And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at ^{▼▼Hebrew pass through} the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.