Add parallel Print Page Options

David’s Song of Thanksgiving

22 David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.(A) He said,

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,(B)
    my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my savior; you save me from violence.(C)
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.(D)

For the waves of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of perdition assailed me;(E)
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.(F)

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry came to his ears.(G)

Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations of the heavens trembled
    and reeled because he was angry.(H)
Smoke went up from his nostrils
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.(I)
10 He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.(J)
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he was seen upon the wings of the wind.(K)
12 He made darkness around him a canopy,
    thick clouds, a gathering of water.(L)
13 Out of the brightness before him
    coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the Most High uttered his voice.(M)
15 He sent out arrows and scattered them,
    lightning and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
    the foundations of the world were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.(N)

17 He reached from on high; he took me;
    he drew me out of mighty waters.(O)
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
    from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my stay.(P)
20 He brought me out into a broad place;
    he delivered me because he delighted in me.(Q)

21 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.(R)
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.(S)
23 For all his ordinances were before me,
    and from his statutes I did not turn aside.(T)
24 I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from guilt.(U)
25 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
    according to my cleanness in his sight.(V)

26 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
    with the blameless[a] you show yourself blameless;(W)
27 with the pure you show yourself pure,
    and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.(X)
28 You deliver a humble people,
    but your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.(Y)
29 Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord;
    the Lord lightens my darkness.(Z)
30 By you I can outrun a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
    the promise of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(AA)

32 For who is God but the Lord?
    And who is a rock except our God?(AB)
33 The God who has girded me with strength[b]
    has opened wide my path.[c](AC)
34 He made my feet like the feet of deer
    and set me secure on the heights.(AD)
35 He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AE)
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your help[d] has made me great.
37 You have made me stride freely,
    and my feet do not slip;(AF)
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them
    and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I struck them down so that they did not rise;
    they fell under my feet.(AG)
40 For you girded me with strength for the battle;
    you made my assailants sink under me.(AH)
41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
    those who hated me, and I destroyed them.(AI)
42 They looked, but there was no one to save them;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.(AJ)
43 I beat them fine like the dust of the earth;
    I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.(AK)

44 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;[e]
    you kept me as the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.(AL)
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
    as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.(AM)
46 Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out[f] of their strongholds.(AN)

47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,(AO)
48 the God who gave me vengeance
    and brought down peoples under me,(AP)
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
    you exalted me above my adversaries;
    you delivered me from the violent.(AQ)

50 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations
    and sing praises to your name.(AR)
51 He is a tower of salvation for his king
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his descendants forever.”(AS)

The Last Words of David

23 Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
    the oracle of the man whom God exalted,[g]
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
    the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:(AT)

The spirit of the Lord speaks through me;
    his word is upon my tongue.(AU)
The God of Israel has spoken;
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
“One who rules over people justly,
    ruling in the fear of God,(AV)
is like the light of morning,
    like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
    gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”(AW)

Is not my house like this with God?
    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?(AX)
But the godless[h] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
    for they cannot be picked up with the hand;(AY)
to touch them one uses an iron bar
    or the shaft of a spear.
    And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.[i]

David’s Mighty Men

These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the Three;[j] he wielded his spear[k] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.

Next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle. The Israelites withdrew,(AZ) 10 but he stood his ground. He struck down the Philistines until his arm grew weary, though his hand clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the people came back to him—but only to strip the dead.(BA)

11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the army fled from the Philistines.(BB) 12 But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 Toward the beginning of harvest three of the thirty chiefs went down to join David at the cave of Adullam while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.(BC) 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.(BD) 15 David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three warriors broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, 17 for he said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.(BE)

18 Now Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty.[l] With his spear he fought against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the Three.(BF) 19 He was the most renowned of the Thirty[m] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the Three.

20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant warrior[n] from Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he struck down two sons of Ariel[o] of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.(BG) 21 And he killed an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did and won a name beside the three warriors. 23 He was renowned among the Thirty, but he did not attain to the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.(BH)

24 Among the Thirty were Asahel brother of Joab; Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem;(BI) 25 Shammah of Harod; Elika of Harod;(BJ) 26 Helez the Paltite; Ira son of Ikkesh of Tekoa; 27 Abiezer of Anathoth; Mebunnai the Hushathite; 28 Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai of Netophah; 29 Heleb son of Baanah of Netophah; Ittai son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjaminites; 30 Benaiah of Pirathon; Hiddai of the wadis of Gaash; 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite; Azmaveth of Bahurim;[p] 32 Eliahba of Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen: Jonathan 33 son of[q] Shammah the Hararite; Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite; 34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai of Maacah; Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite; 35 Hezro[r] of Carmel; Paarai the Arbite; 36 Igal son of Nathan of Zobah; Bani the Gadite; 37 Zelek the Ammonite; Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah; 38 Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite;(BK) 39 Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.(BL)

Footnotes

  1. 22.26 Heb mss Gk: MT blameless warrior
  2. 22.33 Q ms Gk Syr Vg: MT God is my strong refuge
  3. 22.33 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  4. 22.36 Q ms: MT your answering
  5. 22.44 Heb mss Q ms Gk: MT my people
  6. 22.46 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  7. 23.1 Q ms: MT who was raised on high
  8. 23.6 Heb worthless
  9. 23.7 Heb in sitting
  10. 23.8 Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  11. 23.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  12. 23.18 Heb mss Syr: MT Three
  13. 23.19 Heb ms Syr: Heb Was he the most renowned of the Three?
  14. 23.20 Another reading is the son of Ish-hai
  15. 23.20 Gk: Heb lacks sons of
  16. 23.31 Cn: Heb the Barhumite
  17. 23.33 Gk: Heb lacks son of
  18. 23.35 Another reading is Hezrai