City

Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.

When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.

But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.

Then the Ekronites called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel. It must return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people!” For a deadly confusion had pervaded the city; the hand of God was very heavy upon it.

Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

“Listen to their voice,” the LORD said to Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Everyone must go back to his city.”

“Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.”

“Good,” said Saul to his servant. “Come, let us go.” So they set out for the city where the man of God was.

And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”

“Yes, he is ahead of you,” they answered. “Hurry now, for today he has come to the city because the people have a sacrifice on the high place.

As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.”

So Saul and his servant went up toward the city, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house.

As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I will reveal to you the word of God.” So the servant went on.

After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.

…saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account.

Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.

So he was unwilling to move the ark of the LORD to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

Now it was reported to King David, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing.

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

…the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?”

The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the strongest enemy soldiers were.

And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.

…if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?

Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.”

Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.

Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”

Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”

Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”

Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had passed out of the city.

Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again.

The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan.

But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’

So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, for they dared not be seen entering the city.

But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will not care about us. Even if half of us die, they will not care. But you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better now if you support us from the city.”

So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle.

Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.”

And Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel-beth-maacah and built a siege ramp against the outer rampart of the city. As all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to topple it,

…a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.”

I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”

That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

Now Adonijah and all his guests were finishing their feast when they heard the sound of the ram’s horn. “Why is the city in such a loud uproar?” asked Joab.

Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there with rejoicing that rings out in the city. That is the noise you hear.

Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.

At that time Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads and family leaders of the Israelites—to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

…and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.

…and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.

But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.

And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived.

So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him.

Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.’ For the LORD has spoken.

As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.

Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.

And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.

And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.

And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

Then Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging the city.

Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”

When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down upon himself. So he died

He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”

Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel,

Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.

Meanwhile, these young officers of the district governors marched out of the city, with the army behind them,

The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.

So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel had instructed in the letters she had written to them.

And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”