2 Samuel 4

• 1. When Ishbosheth heard about Abner's death at Hebron, he lost all courage, and his people were paralyzed with fear.
• 2. Now there were two brothers, Baanah and Recab, who were captains of Ishbosheth's raiding parties. They were sons of Rimmon, a member of the tribe of Benjamin who lived in Beeroth. The town of Beeroth is now part of Benjamin's territory
• 3. because the original people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim, where they still live as foreigners.
• 4. (Saul's son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled as a child. He was five years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed at the battle of Jezreel. When news of the battle reached the capital, the child's nurse grabbed him and fled. But she fell and dropped him as she was running, and he became crippled as a result.)
• 5. One day Recab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, went to Ishbosheth's home around noon as he was taking a nap.
• 6. The doorkeeper, who had been sifting wheat, became drowsy and fell asleep. So Recab and Baanah slipped past the doorkeeper, went into Ishbosheth's bedroom, and stabbed him in the stomach. Then they escaped.
• 7. But before leaving, they cut off his head as he lay there on his bed. Taking his head with them, they fled across the Jordan Valley through the night.
• 8. They arrived at Hebron and presented Ishbosheth's head to David. "Look!" they exclaimed. "Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you. Today the LORD has given you revenge on Saul and his entire family!"
• 9. But David said to Recab and Baanah, "As surely as the LORD lives, the one who saves me from my enemies, I will tell you the truth.
• 10. Once before, someone told me, `Saul is dead,' thinking he was bringing me good news. But I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That's the reward I gave him for his news!
• 11. Now what reward should I give the wicked men who have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed? Should I not also demand your very lives?"
• 12. So David ordered his young men to kill them, and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb in Hebron.

2 Samuel 5

• 1. Then all the tribes of Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, "We are all members of your family.
• 2. For a long time, even while Saul was our king, you were the one who really led Israel. And the LORD has told you, `You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be their leader.'"
• 3. So there at Hebron, David made a covenant with the leaders of Israel before the LORD. And they anointed him king of Israel.
• 4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in all.
• 5. He had reigned over Judah from Hebron for seven years and six months, and from Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.
• 6. David then led his troops to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites. "You'll never get in here," the Jebusites taunted. "Even the blind and lame could keep you out!" For the Jebusites thought they were safe.
• 7. But David captured the fortress of Zion, now called the City of David.
• 8. When the insulting message from the defenders of the city reached David, he told his own troops, "Go up through the water tunnel into the city and destroy those `lame' and `blind' Jebusites. How I hate them." That is the origin of the saying, "The blind and the lame may not enter the house."
• 9. So David made the fortress his home, and he called it the City of David. He built additional fortifications around the city, starting at the Millo and working inward.
• 10. And David became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.
• 11. Then King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with carpenters and stonemasons to build him a palace. Hiram also sent many cedar logs for lumber.
• 12. And David realized that the LORD had made him king over Israel and had made his kingdom great for the sake of his people Israel.
• 13. After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more wives and concubines, and he had many sons and daughters.
• 14. These are the names of David's sons who were born in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
• 15. Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
• 16. Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
• 17. When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming and went into the stronghold.
• 18. The Philistines arrived and spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
• 19. So David asked the LORD, "Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The LORD replied, "Yes, go ahead. I will certainly give you the victory."
• 20. So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. "The LORD has done it!" David exclaimed. "He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!" So David named that place Baal-perazim (which means "the Lord who bursts through").
• 21. The Philistines had abandoned their idols there, so David and his troops confiscated them.
• 22. But after a while the Philistines returned and again spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
• 23. And once again David asked the LORD what to do. "Do not attack them straight on," the LORD replied. "Instead, circle around behind them and attack them near the balsam trees.
• 24. When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the balsam trees, attack! That will be the signal that the LORD is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistines."
• 25. So David did what the LORD commanded, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

2 Samuel 6

• 1. Then David mobilized thirty thousand special troops.
• 2. He led them to Baalah of Judah to bring home the Ark of God, which bears the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim.
• 3. They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the hillside home of Abinadab. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab's sons, were guiding the cart
• 4. with the Ark of God on it, with Ahio walking in front.
• 5. David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all their might, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments--lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
• 6. But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark of God.
• 7. Then the LORD's anger blazed out against Uzzah for doing this, and God struck him dead beside the Ark of God.
• 8. David was angry because the LORD's anger had blazed out against Uzzah. He named that place Perez-uzzah (which means "outbreak against Uzzah"). It is still called that today.
• 9. David was now afraid of the LORD and asked, "How can I ever bring the Ark of the LORD back into my care?"
• 10. So David decided not to move the Ark of the LORD into the City of David. He took it instead to the home of Obed-edom of Gath.
• 11. The Ark of the LORD remained there with the family of Obed-edom for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.
• 12. Then King David was told, "The LORD has blessed Obed-edom's home and everything he has because of the Ark of God." So David went there and brought the Ark to the City of David with a great celebration.
• 13. After the men who were carrying it had gone six steps, they stopped and waited so David could sacrifice an ox and a fattened calf.
• 14. And David danced before the LORD with all his might, wearing a priestly tunic.
• 15. So David and all Israel brought up the Ark of the LORD with much shouting and blowing of trumpets.
• 16. But as the Ark of the LORD entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she was filled with contempt for him.
• 17. The Ark of the LORD was placed inside the special tent that David had prepared for it. And David sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
• 18. When he had finished, David blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty.
• 19. Then he gave a gift of food to every man and woman in Israel: a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. Then everyone went home.
• 20. When David returned home to bless his family, Michal came out to meet him and said in disgust, "How glorious the king of Israel looked today! He exposed himself to the servant girls like any indecent person might do!"
• 21. David retorted to Michal, "I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me above your father and his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the LORD. So I am willing to act like a fool in order to show my joy in the LORD.
• 22. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, but I will be held in honor by the girls of whom you have spoken!"
• 23. So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her life.

New Living Translation: 94 of 324 days.