17:1And it cometh to pass as David sat in his house, that David saith unto Nathan the prophet, `Lo, I am dwelling in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is under curtains;'

17:2and Nathan saith unto David, `All that is in thy heart do, for God is with thee.'

17:3And it cometh to pass on that night that a word of God is unto Nathan, saying,

17:4`Go, and thou hast said unto David My servant, Thus said Jehovah, Thou dost not build for Me the house to dwell in:

17:5for I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought up Israel till this day, and I am from tent unto tent: and from the tabernacle,

17:6whithersoever I have walked up and down among all Israel, a word spake I, with one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, Why have ye not built for Me a house of cedars?

17:7`And now, thus dost thou say to My servant, to David, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have taken thee from the habitation, from after the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel,

17:8and I am with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and I cut off all thine enemies from thy presence, and have made for thee a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.

17:9`And I have prepared a place for My people Israel, and planted it, and it hath dwelt in its place, and is not troubled any more, and the sons of perverseness add not to wear it out as at first,

17:10yea, even from the days that I appointed judges over My people Israel. `And I have humbled all thine enemies, and I declare to thee that a house doth Jehovah build for thee,

17:11and it hath come to pass, when thy days have been fulfilled to go with thy fathers, that I have raised up thy seed after thee, who is of thy sons, and I have established his kingdom,

17:12he doth build for Me a house, and I have established his throne unto the age;

17:13I am to him for a father, and he is to Me for a son, and My kindness I turn not aside from him as I turned it aside from him who was before thee,

17:14and I have established him in My house, and in My kingdom unto the age, and his throne is established unto the age.'

17:15According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so spake Nathan unto David.

17:16And David the king cometh in and sitteth before Jehovah, and saith, `Who am I, O Jehovah God, and what my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?

17:17And this is small in Thine eyes, O God, and Thou speakest concerning the house of thy servant afar off, and hast seen me as a type of the man who is on high, O Jehovah God!

17:18`What doth David add more unto Thee for the honour of Thy servant; and Thou Thy servant hast known.

17:19O Jehovah, for Thy servant's sake, and according to Thine own heart Thou hast done all this greatness, to make known all these great things.

17:20O Jehovah, there is none like Thee, and there is no god save Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

17:21`And who is as Thy people Israel, one nation in the earth whom God hath gone to ransom to Him for a people, to make for Thee a name great and fearful, to cast out from the presence of Thy people whom Thou hast ransomed out of Egypt -- nations?

17:22Yea, Thou dost appoint Thy people Israel to Thee for a people unto the age, and Thou, O Jehovah, hast been to them for God.

17:23`And now, O Jehovah, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, let be stedfast unto the age, and do as Thou hast spoken;

17:24and let it be stedfast, and Thy name is great unto the age, saying, Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, is God to Israel, and the house of Thy servant David is established before Thee;

17:25for Thou, O my God, Thou hast uncovered the ear of Thy servant -- to build to him a house, therefore hath Thy servant found to pray before Thee.

17:26`And now, Jehovah, Thou art God Himself, and Thou speakest concerning Thy servant this goodness;

17:27and now, Thou hast been pleased to bless the house of Thy servant, to be to the age before Thee; for Thou, O Jehovah, hast blessed, and it is blessed to the age.'

18:1And it cometh to pass after this, that David smiteth the Philistines, and humbleth them, and taketh Gath and its small towns out of the hand of the Philistines;

18:2and he smiteth Moab, and the Moabites are servants to David, bringing a present.

18:3And David smiteth Hadarezer king of Zobah, at Hamath, in his going to establish his power by the river Phrat,

18:4and David captureth from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and David destroyeth utterly all the chariots, and leaveth of them a hundred chariots only.

18:5And Aram of Damascus cometh in to give help to Hadarezer king of Zobah, and David smiteth in Aram twenty and two thousand men,

18:6and David putteth garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Aramaeans are to David for servants, bearing a present, and Jehovah giveth salvation to David whithersoever he hath gone.

18:7And David taketh the shields of gold that have been on the servants of Hadarezer, and bringeth them in to Jerusalem;

18:8and from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, hath David taken very much brass; with it hath Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.

18:9And Tou king of Hamath heareth that David hath smitten the whole force of Hadarezer king of Zobah,

18:10and he sendeth Hadoram his son unto king David, to ask of him of peace, and to bless him (because that he hath fought against Hadarezer, and smiteth him, for a man of wars with Tou had Hadarezer been,) and all kinds of vessels, of gold, and silver, and brass;

18:11also them hath king David sanctified to Jehovah with the silver and the gold that he hath taken from all the nations, from Edom, and from Moab, and from the sons of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

18:12And Abishai son of Zeruiah hath smitten Edom in the valley of salt -- eighteen thousand,

18:13and he putteth in Edom garrisons, and all the Edomites are servants to David; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone.

18:14And David reigneth over all Israel, and he is doing judgment and righteousness to all his people,

18:15and Joab son of Zeruiah is over the host, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is remembrancer,

18:16and Zadok son of Ahitub, and Abimelech son of Abiathar, are priests, and Shavsha is scribe,

18:17and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over the Cherethite and the Pelethite, and the elder sons of David are at the hand of the king.

19:1And it cometh to pass after this, that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon dieth, and his son reigneth in his stead,

19:2and David saith, `I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father did with me kindness;' and David sendeth messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David come in unto the land of the sons of Ammon, unto Hanun, to comfort him,

19:3and the heads of the sons of Ammon say to Hanun, `Is David honouring thy father, in thine eyes, because he hath sent to thee comforters? in order to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out, the land, have not his servants come in unto thee?'

19:4And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth them, and cutteth their long robes in the midst, unto the buttocks, and sendeth them away.

19:5And some go, and declare to David concerning the men, and he sendeth to meet them -- for the men have been greatly ashamed -- and the king saith, `Dwell in Jericho till that your beard is grown, then ye have returned.'

19:6And the sons of Ammon see that they have made themselves abhorred by David, and Hanun and the sons of Ammon send a thousand talents of silver, to hire to them, from Aram-Naharaim, and from Aram-Maachah, and from Zobah, chariots and horsemen;

19:7and they hire to them two and thirty thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, and they come in and encamp before Medeba, and the sons of Ammon have been gathered out of their cities, and come in to the battle.

19:8And David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host of the mighty men,

19:9and the sons of Ammon come out and set battle in array at the opening of the city, and the kings who have come are by themselves in the field.

19:10And Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him, before and behind, and he chooseth out of all the choice in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram,

19:11and the remnant of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set in array to meet the sons of Ammon.

19:12And he saith, `If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation; and if the sons of Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have saved thee;

19:13be strong, and we strengthen ourselves, for our people, and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah doth that which is good in His eyes.'

19:14And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who are with him, before Aram to battle, and they flee from his face;

19:15and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee -- they also -- from the face of Abishai his brother, and go in to the city. And Joab cometh in to Jerusalem.

19:16And Aram seeth that they have been smitten before Israel, and send messengers, and bring out Aram that is beyond the River, and Shophach head of the host of Hadarezer is before them.

19:17And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in unto them, and setteth in array against them; yea, David setteth in array the battle to meet Aram, and they fight with him;

19:18and Aram fleeth from the face of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven thousand charioteers, and forty thousand footmen, and Shophach head of the host he hath put to death.

19:19And the servants of Hadarezer see that they have been smitten before Israel, and they make peace with David and serve him, and Aram hath not been willing to help the sons of Ammon any more.