2Sa 6, 2Sa 8 | ESV | STEP | David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel , thirty thousand .

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 8

David’s Victories

1 ^agAfter this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took ^ahMetheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 ^aiAnd he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites ^ajbecame servants to David and ^akbrought tribute.

3 David also defeated ^alHadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^amZobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 ^anAnd David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David ^aohamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 ^apAnd when the ^aqSyrians of Damascus came to help ^arHadadezer king of ^asZobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians ^atbecame servants to David and brought tribute. ^auAnd the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took ^avthe shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

9 When Toi king of ^awHamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 ^axThese also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, ^ayMoab, ^azthe Ammonites, ^bathe Philistines, ^bbAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^bcZobah.

13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^bdthe Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, ^beand all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Officials

15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 ^bfJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^bgJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and ^bhZadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and ^biSeraiah was secretary, 18 and ^bjBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over ^{▼▼Compare 20:23, 1 Chronicles 18:17, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks was over} the ^blCherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were priests.