The Lord’s Covenant with David

1 ^sNow when the king lived in his house and the Lord ^thad given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to ^uNathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell ^vin a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells ^win a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, ^x“Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^yWould you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house ^zsince the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about ^ain a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where ^bI have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with ^cany of the judges¹ of Israel, whom I commanded ^dto shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^eI took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince² over my people Israel. 9 ^fAnd I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel ^gand will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place ^hand be disturbed no more. ⁱAnd violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 ^jfrom the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And ^kI will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that ^lthe Lord will make you a house. 12 ^mWhen your days are fulfilled and ⁿyou lie down with your fathers, ^oI will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 ^pHe shall build a house for my name, and ^qI will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 ^rI will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, ^sI will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 ^sbut my steadfast love will not depart from him, ^tas I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 ^uAnd your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.^{3 u}Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer of Gratitude

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, ^v“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. ^wYou have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? ^xFor you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 ^yTherefore you are great, O Lord God. ^zFor there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 ^aAnd who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name ^band doing for them⁴ great and awesome things by driving out before your people,⁵ whom ^cyou redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 ^dAnd you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and ^eyour words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, ^fand with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

David’s Victories

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

2 ⁱAnd 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 ^jbecame servants to David and ^kbrought tribute.

3 David also defeated ^lHadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^mZobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 ⁿAnd David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David ^ohamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 ^pAnd when the ^qSyrians of Damascus came to help ^lHadadezer king of ^mZobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians ^rbecame servants to David and brought tribute. ^sAnd the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took ^tthe 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 ^uHamath 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 ^vThese 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, ^wMoab, ^xthe Ammonites, ^ythe Philistines, ^zAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^mZobah.

13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^athe Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, ^band 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 ^cJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^dJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and ^eZadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and ^fSeraiah was secretary, 18 and ^gBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over⁶ the ^hCherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were priests.

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may ⁱshow him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^jZiba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show ^kthe kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of ^lJonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of ^mMachir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And ⁿMephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, ⁱfor I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and ^oyou shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for ^pa dead dog such as I?”

9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson ^oshall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had ^qfifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ^oate at David’s⁷ table, like one of the king’s sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, ^rwhose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^ohe ate always at the king’s table. Now ^lhe was lame in both his feet.

Pe

Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

1 Finally, my brothers,^{1 k}rejoice in the Lord. ^lTo write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

2 Look out for ^mthe dogs, look out for ⁿthe evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For ^owe are the circumcision, ^pwho worship ^qby the Spirit of God² and ^rglory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 ^sthough I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 ^tcircumcised on the eighth day, ^uof the people of Israel, ^vof the tribe of Benjamin, ^ua Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, ^wa Pharisee; 6 ^xas to zeal, ^ya persecutor of the church; ^zas to righteousness under the law,³ blameless. 7 But ^awhatever gain I had, ^bI counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of ^cthe surpassing worth of ^dknowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I ^ehave suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having ^fa righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but ^gthat which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 ^hthat I may know him and ⁱthe power of his resurrection, and ^jmay share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may ^kattain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already ^lobtained this or ^mam already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: ⁿforgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for ^othe prize of the upward ^pcall of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are ^qmature think this way, and if in anything ^ryou think otherwise, ^sGod will reveal that also to you. 16 Only ^tlet us hold true to what we have attained.

17 Brothers, ^ujoin in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk ^vaccording to the example you have in us. 18 For ^wmany, of whom I have often told you and now tell you ^xeven with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 ^yTheir end is destruction, ^ztheir god is their belly, and ^athey glory in their shame, with ^bminds set on earthly things. 20 But ^cour citizenship is in heaven, and ^dfrom it we ^eawait a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform ^four lowly body ^gto be like his glorious body, ^hby the power that enables him even ⁱto subject all things to himself.

1 Therefore, my brothers,⁴ whom I love and ^jlong for, ^kmy joy and ^lcrown, ^mstand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to ⁿagree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion,⁵ help these women, who have labored⁶ side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, ^owhose names are in the book of life.

4 ^pRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness⁷ be known to everyone. ^qThe Lord is at hand; 6 ^rdo not be anxious about anything, ^sbut in everything by prayer and supplication ^twith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And ^uthe peace of God, ^vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned⁸ and ^wreceived and heard and seen ^xin me—practice these things, and ^ythe God of peace will be with you.

God’s Provision

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length ^zyou have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be ^acontent. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and ^bhunger, abundance and ^cneed. 13 I can do all things ^dthrough him who strengthens me.

14 Yet it was kind of you ^eto share⁹ my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that ^fin the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, ^gno church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 ^hNot that I seek the gift, but I seek ⁱthe fruit that increases to your credit.¹⁰ 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, ^jhaving received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, ^ka fragrant offering, ^la sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God ^mwill supply every need of yours ⁿaccording to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To ^oour God and Father be ^pglory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. ^qThe brothers who are with me greet you. 22 ^rAll the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

23 ^sThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.