Study Desk

But it was the priests who had the job of mixing the special oil.

Then Saul said to the helper who carried his armor, "Pull out your sword and use it to kill me. Then these foreigners will not hurt me and make fun of me when they come." But the helper was afraid. He refused to kill Saul. So Saul used his own sword to kill himself by falling on it.

said to David, "You cannot get inside our city." But David did defeat them. He took over the fortress of Zion, and it became the City of David.

But the Three Heroes stood there in that field and defended it. They defeated the Philistines. The Lord gave the Israelites a great victory.

So the Three Heroes fought their way through the Philistine army and got some water from the well near the city gate in Bethlehem. They took it to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it on the ground as an offering to the Lord .

Benaiah was even more famous than the Thirty Heroes, but he was not one of the Three Heroes. David made Benaiah the leader of his bodyguards.

David went out to meet them and said, "If you have come in peace to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But if you have come to spy on me when I have done nothing wrong, may the God of our ancestors see what you did and punish you."

Some of the men from the tribe of Manasseh also joined David. They joined him when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. The Philistine leaders talked about David helping them, but then they decided to send him away. They said, "If David goes back to his master Saul, our heads will be cut off!"

But the Lord did not let anyone mistreat them. He warned kings not to harm them.

All the "gods" in other nations are nothing but statues, but the Lord made the heavens!

Everyone on earth should tremble before him! But the world stands firm and cannot be moved.

After David had moved into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, I am living in this nice palace made of cedar, but the Box of the Lord 's Agreement sits in a tent."

But that night the word of God came to Nathan.

Those bad things happened, but I chose leaders to care for my people Israel. And I will also defeat all your enemies. "‘I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you.

I will be his father, and he will be my son. Saul was the king before you, and I took away my support from Saul. But I will never stop loving your son.

David took 1000 chariots, 7000 chariot drivers, and 20,000 soldiers from Hadadezer. David also crippled most of Hadadezer's horses that were used for pulling chariots. But David saved enough horses to pull 100 chariots.

The Arameans from the city of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah. But David defeated and killed 22,000 Aramean soldiers.

But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, "Don't be fooled. David didn't really send these men to comfort you or to honor your dead father! No, David sent his servants to spy on you and your land. He really wants to destroy your country!"

Joab said to Abishai, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, you must help me. But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you.

In the spring, Joab led the army of Israel out to battle. That was the time of year when kings went out to battle, but David stayed in Jerusalem. The army of Israel went to the country of Ammon and destroyed it. Then they went to the city of Rabbah. The army camped around the city—they stayed there to keep people from going in or out of the city. Joab and the army of Israel fought against the city of Rabbah until they destroyed it.