Joab Disapproves of David’s Mourning

19 [a]Then it was reported to Joab, “Behold, (A)the king is weeping and he mourns for Absalom.” So the [b]victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, “The king is in mourning over his son.” And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle. And the king (B)covered his face and [c]cried out with a loud voice, “(C)My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!” Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed [d]all your servants, who have saved your life today and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that [e]commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right [f]as far as you are concerned. Now therefore arise, go out and speak [g]kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, (D)no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has [h]happened to you from your youth until now!”

David Restored as King

So the king got up and sat at the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is (E)sitting at the gate,” then all the people came before the king.

Now (F)Israel had fled, each to his tent. And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “(G)The king rescued us from the [i]hands of our enemies and (H)saved us from the [j]hands of the Philistines, but now (I)he has fled out of the land from Absalom. 10 However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?”

11 Then King David sent word to (J)Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house? 12 You are my brothers; (K)you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ 13 And say to (L)Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? (M)May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be (N)commander of the army [k]for me continually, (O)in place of Joab.’” 14 So he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah (P)as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.” 15 The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to (Q)Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.

16 Then (R)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and (S)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. 18 Then they crossed the shallow places repeatedly to bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan. 19 And he said to the king, “(T)May my lord not consider me guilty, nor call to mind what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would [l]take it to heart. 20 For your servant knows that I have sinned; so behold, I have come today, (U)the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.” 21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, “(V)Should Shimei not be put to death for this, (W)the fact that he cursed the Lords anointed?” 22 David then said, “(X)What [m]is there between you and me, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? (Y)Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?” 23 So the king said to Shimei, “(Z)You shall not die.” The king also swore to him.

24 Then (AA)Mephibosheth the [n]grandson of Saul came down to meet the king; but (AB)he had neither [o]tended to his feet, nor [p]trimmed his mustache, nor (AC)washed his clothes since the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace. 25 And it was when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “(AD)Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” 26 So he said, “My lord the king, my servant betrayed me; for your servant said, ‘I will [q]saddle the donkey for myself so that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ (AE)since your servant cannot walk. 27 Furthermore, (AF)he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is (AG)like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in your sight. 28 For (AH)all my father’s household was only people worthy of death to my lord the king; (AI)yet you placed your servant among those who ate at your own table. So what right do I still have, that I should [r]complain anymore to the king?” 29 So the king said to him, “Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have [s]decided, ‘You and Ziba shall divide the land.’” 30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house.”

31 Now (AJ)Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to [t]escort him over the Jordan. 32 Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had (AK)provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. 33 So the king said to Barzillai, “You cross over with me, and I will provide you food in Jerusalem with me.” 34 But Barzillai said to the king, “(AL)How long [u]do I still have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35 I am [v]now (AM)eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear (AN)the voice of men and women singing? (AO)Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 36 Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. So why should the king compensate me with this reward? 37 Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant (AP)Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.” 38 And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you [w]require of me, I will do for you.” 39 All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then (AQ)kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

40 Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also (AR)half the people of Israel [x]accompanied the king. 41 And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “(AS)Why have our brothers, (AT)the men of Judah, abducted you and brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him, over the Jordan?” 42 Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because (AU)the king is a close relative to [y]us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all [z]at the king’s expense, or has anything been taken for us?” 43 But the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “[aa](AV)We have ten parts in the king, therefore [ab]we also have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat [ac]us with contempt? Was it not [ad]our [ae]advice first to bring back [af]our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

Sheba’s Revolt

20 Now (AW)a worthless man happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of (AX)Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said,

(AY)We have no share in David,
Nor do we have an inheritance in (AZ)the son of Jesse;
(BA)Every man to his tents, Israel!”

So all the men of Israel [ag]withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah [ah]remained loyal to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

Then David came to his house in Jerusalem, and (BB)the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left behind to take care of the house, and put them in custody and provided them with food, but did not [ai]have relations with them. So they were locked up until the day of their death, living as widows.

Now the king said to (BC)Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.” So Amasa went to summon the men of Judah, but he was (BD)delayed longer than the set time which he had designated for him. And David said to (BE)Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; (BF)take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight.” So Joab’s men went out after him, (BG)along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors; and they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the large stone which is in (BH)Gibeon, Amasa came [aj]to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it he had a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped on at his waist; and as he went forward, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it going well for you, my brother?” And (BI)Joab took hold of Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

Amasa Murdered

10 But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand, so (BJ)he struck him in the belly with it and spilled out his intestines on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 Now one of Joab’s young men stood by him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, (BK)follow Joab!” 12 But Amasa was wallowing in his own blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the road to the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

Revolt Put Down

13 As soon as he was removed from the road, all the men went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

14 Now he went on through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, that is, Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and went after him as well. 15 And they came and besieged him in (BL)Abel Beth-maacah, and (BM)they [ak]built up an assault ramp against the city, and it stood against the outer rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall. 16 Then (BN)a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen, listen! Please tell Joab, ‘Come here that I may speak with you.’” 17 So he approached her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your slave.” And he said, “I am listening.” 18 Then she spoke, saying, “In the past they used to say, ‘They will undoubtedly ask advice at Abel,’ and that is how they ended a dispute. 19 I am one of those who are ready for peace and faithful in Israel. (BO)You are trying to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up (BP)the inheritance of the Lord?” 20 Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me that I would consume or destroy! 21 Such is not the case. But a man from (BQ)the hill country of Ephraim, (BR)Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has raised his hand against King David. Only turn him over, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman (BS)wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So (BT)he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.

23 (BU)Now Joab was in command of the entire army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was over the forced labor, and (BV)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary; 25 and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and (BW)Abiathar were priests; 26 Ira the Jairite also was a priest to David.

Gibeonite’s Revenge

21 Now there was (BX)a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and (BY)David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and (BZ)the sons of Israel had [al]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to [am]kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless (CA)the inheritance of the Lord?” Then the Gibeonites said to him, “(CB)For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” Nevertheless David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” So they said to the king, “(CC)The man who destroyed us and who planned [an]to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel— let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [ao]hang them (CD)before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, (CE)the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

But the king spared (CF)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, (CG)because of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. So the king took the two sons of (CH)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of [ap](CI)Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the (CJ)Meholathite. Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they [aq]hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at (CK)the beginning of barley harvest.

10 (CL)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [ar]it rained on them from the sky; and (CM)she [as]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took (CN)the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of (CO)Beth-shan, (CP)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day (CQ)the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [at]hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in (CR)Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that (CS)God responded to prayer for the land.

15 Now when (CT)the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was (CU)among the descendants of the [au]giant, the weight of whose spear was [av]three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, [aw]had strapped on a new sword, and he [ax]intended to kill David. 17 But (CV)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “(CW)You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish (CX)the lamp of Israel.”

18 (CY)Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then (CZ)Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the [ay]giant. 19 And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite [az]killed [ba]Goliath the Gittite, (DA)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born (DB)to the [bb]giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him. 22 (DC)These four were born to the [bc]giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Psalm of Deliverance

22 (DD)Now David spoke (DE)the words of this song to the Lord on the day that the Lord had saved him from the [bd]hand of all his enemies and from the [be]hand of Saul. He said,

(DF)The Lord is my [bf]rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
[bg](DG)My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
My (DH)shield and (DI)the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and (DJ)my refuge;
My savior, You save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, (DK)who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
For (DL)the waves of death encompassed me;
(DM)The floods of [bh]destruction terrified me;
(DN)The ropes of [bi]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
(DO)In my distress I called upon the Lord,
Yes, I called out to my God;
And from His temple He heard my voice,
And my cry for help came into His ears.
Then (DP)the earth shook and quaked,
(DQ)The foundations of heaven were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
Smoke went up [bj]out of His nostrils,
(DR)And fire from His mouth was devouring;
(DS)Coals were kindled by it.
10 He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With (DT)thick darkness under His feet.
11 (DU)He rode on a cherub and flew;
He [bk]appeared on (DV)the wings of the wind.
12 (DW)He made darkness canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.
13 From the brightness before Him
(DX)Coals of fire were kindled.
14 (DY)The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
15 (DZ)And He shot arrows and scattered them,
Lightning, and [bl]routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were exposed
By the rebuke of the Lord,
(EA)From the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17 (EB)He sent from on high, He took me;
(EC)He drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me on the day of my disaster,
(ED)But the Lord was my support.
20 (EE)He also brought me out into an open place;
He rescued me, (EF)because He delighted in me.
21 (EG)The Lord has treated me in accordance with my righteousness;
(EH)In accordance with the cleanliness of my hands He has repaid me.
22 (EI)For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
23 (EJ)For all His ordinances were before me,
And as for His statutes, I did not deviate from [bm]them.
24 (EK)I was also [bn]blameless toward Him,
And I have kept myself from my wrongdoing.
25 (EL)So the Lord has repaid me in accordance with my righteousness,
In accordance with my cleanliness before His eyes.
26 (EM)With the one who is faithful You show Yourself faithful,
With the [bo]blameless one You prove Yourself [bp]blameless;
27 (EN)With the one who is pure You show Yourself pure,
(EO)But with the perverted You [bq]show Yourself astute.
28 (EP)And You save an afflicted people;
(EQ)But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You humiliate.
29 (ER)For You are my lamp, Lord;
And the Lord illuminates my darkness.
30 (ES)For by You I can run at a [br]troop of warriors;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
31 (ET)As for God, His way is [bs]blameless;
(EU)The word of the Lord is refined;
(EV)He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32 (EW)For who is God, except the Lord?
(EX)And who is a rock, except our God?
33 (EY)God is my strong fortress;
And He [bt]sets the [bu]blameless on [bv]His way.
34 (EZ)He makes [bw]my feet like deer’s feet,
(FA)And sets me on my high places.
35 (FB)He trains my hands for battle,
(FC)So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have also given me (FD)the shield of Your salvation,
And Your [bx]help makes me great.
37 (FE)You enlarge my steps under me,
And my [by]feet have not slipped.
38 I pursued my enemies and (FF)eliminated them,
And I did not turn back until they were finished off.
39 And I have devoured them and smashed them, so that they would not rise;
And (FG)they fell under my feet.
40 For You have encircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced (FH)those who rose up against me to bow down under me.
41 You have also (FI)made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I [bz]destroyed those who hated me.
42 (FJ)They looked, but there was no one to save them;
(FK)Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
43 (FL)Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;
(FM)I crushed and trampled them like the mud of the streets.
44 (FN)You have also saved me from the contentions of my people;
(FO)You have kept me as head of the nations;
(FP)A people I have not known serve me.
45 (FQ)Foreigners pretend to obey me;
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
46 Foreigners lose heart,
(FR)And [ca]come trembling out of their fortresses.
47 The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock;
And exalted be [cb](FS)my God, the rock of my salvation,
48 (FT)The God who executes vengeance for me,
(FU)And brings down peoples under me,
49 Who also brings me out from my enemies;
You also raise me above (FV)those who rise up against me;
(FW)You rescue me from the violent person.
50 (FX)Therefore I will [cc]give thanks to You, Lord, among the nations,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
51 (FY)He is a tower of [cd]salvation to His king,
And (FZ)shows favor to His anointed,
(GA)To David and his [ce]descendants forever.”

David’s Last Song

23 Now these are the last words of David.

David the son of Jesse declares,
(GB)The man who was raised on high,
(GC)The anointed of the God of Jacob
And the sweet psalmist of Israel, declares,
(GD)The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
And His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel said it;
(GE)The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
(GF)He who rules over mankind righteously,
(GG)Who rules in the fear of God,
(GH)Is like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the fresh grass springs out of the earth
From sunshine after rain.’
Is my house not indeed so with God?
For (GI)He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Properly ordered in all things, and secured;
For will He not indeed make
All my salvation and all my delight grow?
(GJ)But the worthless, every one of them, are like scattered thorns,
Because they cannot be taken in hand;
Instead, the man who touches them
Must be [cf]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And (GK)they will be completely burned with fire in their [cg]place.”

David’s Mighty Men

(GL)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the [ch]captains; he was called Adino the Eznite because of eight hundred who were killed by him at one time. And after him was Eleazar the son of (GM)Dodo the (GN)Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had [ci]withdrawn. 10 (GO)He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and [cj]it clung to the sword, and (GP)the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder the dead.

11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee, a (GQ)Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered [ck]into an army where there was a plot of land full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines; and (GR)the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time to the (GS)cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in (GT)the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then (GU)in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And (GV)David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” 16 (GW)So the three mighty men forced their way into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Yet he would not drink it, but (GX)poured it out as an offering to the Lord; 17 and he said, “Far be it from me, Lord, that I would do this! (GY)Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

18 Now (GZ)Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was (HA)chief of the [cl]thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred [cm]and killed them, and had a name [cn]as well as the three. 19 He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.

20 Then (HB)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of (HC)Kabzeel, who had done great deeds, [co]killed the [cp]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 21 And he [cq]killed an Egyptian, [cr]an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things (HD)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name [cs]as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

24 (HE)Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; and there was Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 (HF)Shammah the (HG)Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the (HH)Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the (HI)Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the (HJ)Netophathite, 29 (HK)Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of (HL)Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a (HM)Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of (HN)Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the (HO)Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the (HP)Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 (HQ)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of (HR)the Maacathite, (HS)Eliam the son of (HT)Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 (HU)Hezro the (HV)Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of (HW)Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the (HX)Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the (HY)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 and (HZ)Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

The Census Taken

24 (IA)Now (IB)the anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and He incited David against them to say, “(IC)Go, count Israel and Judah.” So the king said to Joab the commander of the army, who was with him, “Roam about now through all the tribes of Israel, (ID)from Dan to Beersheba, and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” But Joab said to the king, “(IE)May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king can still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” Nevertheless, the king’s order prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the presence of the king to conduct a census of the people of Israel. They crossed the Jordan and camped in (IF)Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the Valley of Gad and toward (IG)Jazer. Then they came to Gilead and to [ct]the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to (IH)Sidon, then they came to the (II)fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the (IJ)Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to (IK)Beersheba. So when they had roamed about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. And Joab gave (IL)the number of the census of the people to the king: in Israel there were (IM)eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

10 Now (IN)David’s heart [cu]troubled him after he had counted the people. So David said to the Lord, “(IO)I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, Lord, please [cv]overlook the guilt of Your servant, for (IP)I have acted very foolishly.” 11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to (IQ)Gad the prophet, David’s (IR)seer, saying, 12 “Go and speak to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I am imposing upon you three choices; choose for yourself one of them, and I will do it to you.”’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall (IS)seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee for three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ of plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, (IT)for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

Plague Sent

15 So (IU)the Lord [cw]sent a plague upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people (IV)from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 (IW)When the angel extended his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, (IX)the Lord relented of the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now drop your hand!” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, (IY)it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but (IZ)these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s house!”

David Builds an Altar

18 So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “(JA)Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of [cx]Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 Then David went up in accordance with the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. 20 And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; so Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, (JB)so that the plague may be [cy]withdrawn from the people.” 22 Araunah then said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, here are (JC)the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God be (JD)favorable to you.” 24 However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; for (JE)I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God [cz]that cost me nothing.” So (JF)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 Then David built there an altar to the Lord, and he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And (JG)the Lord responded to prayer for the land, and the plague was [da]withdrawn from Israel.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 19:1 Ch 19:2 in Heb
  2. 2 Samuel 19:2 Lit salvation
  3. 2 Samuel 19:4 Lit the king cried
  4. 2 Samuel 19:5 Lit the faces of all
  5. 2 Samuel 19:6 Or princes
  6. 2 Samuel 19:6 Lit in your eyes
  7. 2 Samuel 19:7 Lit to the heart of your
  8. 2 Samuel 19:7 Lit come upon
  9. 2 Samuel 19:9 Lit palm
  10. 2 Samuel 19:9 Lit palm
  11. 2 Samuel 19:13 Lit before me
  12. 2 Samuel 19:19 Lit set
  13. 2 Samuel 19:22 Lit to me and to you; an ancient idiom
  14. 2 Samuel 19:24 Lit son
  15. 2 Samuel 19:24 Lit done
  16. 2 Samuel 19:24 Lit done
  17. 2 Samuel 19:26 I.e., have the donkey saddled
  18. 2 Samuel 19:28 Lit cry out
  19. 2 Samuel 19:29 Lit said
  20. 2 Samuel 19:31 Lit send
  21. 2 Samuel 19:34 Lit are the days of the years of my life
  22. 2 Samuel 19:35 Lit today
  23. 2 Samuel 19:38 Lit choose
  24. 2 Samuel 19:40 Lit crossed over with
  25. 2 Samuel 19:42 Lit me
  26. 2 Samuel 19:42 Lit from the king
  27. 2 Samuel 19:43 Singular in Heb
  28. 2 Samuel 19:43 Singular in Heb
  29. 2 Samuel 19:43 Singular in Heb
  30. 2 Samuel 19:43 Singular in Heb
  31. 2 Samuel 19:43 Lit word
  32. 2 Samuel 19:43 Singular in Heb
  33. 2 Samuel 20:2 Lit went up
  34. 2 Samuel 20:2 Lit clung to
  35. 2 Samuel 20:3 Lit come in to
  36. 2 Samuel 20:8 Lit before
  37. 2 Samuel 20:15 Lit poured out
  38. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit sworn to
  39. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit strike
  40. 2 Samuel 21:5 Lit against us that we are eliminated from
  41. 2 Samuel 21:6 Or expose them
  42. 2 Samuel 21:8 As in some ancient versions and two Heb mss; MT Michal
  43. 2 Samuel 21:9 Or exposed them
  44. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit water gushed forth
  45. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit gave
  46. 2 Samuel 21:13 Or exposed
  47. 2 Samuel 21:16 Heb Raphah
  48. 2 Samuel 21:16 About 9 lb. or 4 kg
  49. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit and he had strapped
  50. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit said
  51. 2 Samuel 21:18 Heb Raphah
  52. 2 Samuel 21:19 Lit struck
  53. 2 Samuel 21:19 In 1 Chr 20:5, Lahmi, the brother of Goliath
  54. 2 Samuel 21:20 Heb Raphah
  55. 2 Samuel 21:22 Heb Raphah
  56. 2 Samuel 22:1 Lit palm
  57. 2 Samuel 22:1 Lit palm
  58. 2 Samuel 22:2 Lit crag
  59. 2 Samuel 22:3 As in LXX; MT God of my rock
  60. 2 Samuel 22:5 Or wickedness; Heb Belial
  61. 2 Samuel 22:6 I.e., the netherworld
  62. 2 Samuel 22:9 I.e., in his anger
  63. 2 Samuel 22:11 Many mss glided
  64. 2 Samuel 22:15 Lit confused
  65. 2 Samuel 22:23 Lit it
  66. 2 Samuel 22:24 Lit complete; or having integrity
  67. 2 Samuel 22:26 Lit complete; or having integrity
  68. 2 Samuel 22:26 Lit complete; or having integrity
  69. 2 Samuel 22:27 As in two Heb mss and Ps 18:26; MT pretend stupidity
  70. 2 Samuel 22:30 Or wall
  71. 2 Samuel 22:31 Lit complete; or having integrity
  72. 2 Samuel 22:33 Or sets free
  73. 2 Samuel 22:33 Lit complete; or having integrity
  74. 2 Samuel 22:33 Another reading is my
  75. 2 Samuel 22:34 Another reading is His
  76. 2 Samuel 22:36 Lit answering
  77. 2 Samuel 22:37 Lit ankles
  78. 2 Samuel 22:41 Or silenced
  79. 2 Samuel 22:46 Reading based on Ps 18:45; MT belt up themselves
  80. 2 Samuel 22:47 As in LXX; MT the God of the rock
  81. 2 Samuel 22:50 Or praise
  82. 2 Samuel 22:51 Lit acts of salvation
  83. 2 Samuel 22:51 Lit seed
  84. 2 Samuel 23:7 Lit filled
  85. 2 Samuel 23:7 Lit sitting
  86. 2 Samuel 23:8 Or three
  87. 2 Samuel 23:9 Lit gone up
  88. 2 Samuel 23:10 Lit his hand
  89. 2 Samuel 23:11 Or possibly, at Lehi
  90. 2 Samuel 23:18 As in two Heb mss and Syriac; MT three
  91. 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit slain ones
  92. 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit among the
  93. 2 Samuel 23:20 Lit struck
  94. 2 Samuel 23:20 Or two warriors of Moab
  95. 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit struck
  96. 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit a man of appearance
  97. 2 Samuel 23:22 Lit among the
  98. 2 Samuel 24:6 Another reading is Kadesh in the land of the Hittite
  99. 2 Samuel 24:10 Lit struck
  100. 2 Samuel 24:10 Lit allow to pass
  101. 2 Samuel 24:15 Lit gave
  102. 2 Samuel 24:18 In 2 Chr 3:1, Ornan
  103. 2 Samuel 24:21 Or brought to a halt
  104. 2 Samuel 24:24 Lit gratuitously
  105. 2 Samuel 24:25 Or brought to a halt

19 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.

And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.

And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.

Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.

10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.

12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?

13 And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.

14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.

16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.

18 And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;

19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?

22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?

23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.

24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?

26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.

27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

28 For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?

29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.

31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.

34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?

35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.

38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.

39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.

40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.

41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?

42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift?

43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

20 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.

So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.

And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.

So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.

And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.

And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab.

12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.

17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

18 Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

19 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?

20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

21 The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

23 Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:

24 And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:

25 And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.

21 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?

And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.

And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,

Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:

13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.

15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.

16 And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.

19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

21 And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.

22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

22 And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:

And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.

13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.

14 The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.

15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.

16 And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;

18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.

20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

21 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

23 For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.

25 Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.

26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.

27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.

28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.

30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.

31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

32 For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God?

33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.

34 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places.

35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.

37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.

38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.

39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.

40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.

41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.

42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.

43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.

44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.

45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.

46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places.

47 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.

48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me.

49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.

23 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:

10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.

12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.

13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.

14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!

16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.

17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three.

19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three.

20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:

21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.

22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men.

23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard.

24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

27 Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,

30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,

31 Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,

34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

37 Zelek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah,

38 Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,

39 Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.

24 And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people.

And Joab said unto the king, Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?

Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer, on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of Gad, and toward Jazer:

Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon,

And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the south of Judah, even to Beersheba.

So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

15 So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.

20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.

21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood.

23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.

24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

19 Word soon reached Joab that the king was weeping and mourning for Absalom. As the people heard of the king’s deep grief for his son, the joy of that day’s wonderful victory was turned into deep sadness. The entire army crept back into the city as though they were ashamed and had been beaten in battle.

The king covered his face with his hands and kept on weeping, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom my son, my son!”

Then Joab went to the king’s room and said to him, “We saved your life today and the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and concubines; and yet you act like this, making us feel ashamed, as though we had done something wrong. You seem to love those who hate you, and hate those who love you. Apparently we don’t mean anything to you; if Absalom had lived and all of us had died, you would be happy. Now go out there and congratulate the troops, for I swear by Jehovah that if you don’t, not a single one of them will remain here during the night; then you will be worse off than you have ever been in your entire life.”

8-10 So the king went out and sat at the city gates, and as the news spread throughout the city that he was there, everyone went to him.

Meanwhile, there was much discussion and argument going on all across the nation: “Why aren’t we talking about bringing the king back?” was the great topic everywhere. “For he saved us from our enemies, the Philistines; and Absalom, whom we made our king instead, chased him out of the country, but now Absalom is dead. Let’s ask David to return and be our king again.”

11-12 Then David sent Zadok and Abiathar the priests to say to the elders of Judah, “Why are you the last ones to reinstate the king? For all Israel is ready, and only you are holding out. Yet you are my own brothers, my own tribe, my own flesh and blood!”

13 And he told them to tell Amasa, “Since you are my nephew, may God strike me dead if I do not appoint you as commander-in-chief of my army in place of Joab.” 14 Then Amasa convinced all the leaders of Judah, and they responded as one man. They sent word to the king, “Return to us and bring back all those who are with you.”

15 So the king started back to Jerusalem. And when he arrived at the Jordan River, it seemed as if everyone in Judah had come to Gilgal to meet him and escort him across the river! 16 Then Shimei (the son of Gera the Benjaminite), the man from Bahurim, hurried across with the men of Judah to welcome King David. 17 A thousand men from the tribe of Benjamin were with him, including Ziba, the servant of Saul, and Ziba’s fifteen sons and twenty servants; they rushed down to the Jordan to arrive ahead of the king. 18 They all worked hard ferrying the king’s household and troops across, and helped them in every way they could.

As the king was crossing, Shimei fell down before him, 19 and pleaded, “My lord the king, please forgive me and forget the terrible thing I did when you left Jerusalem; 20 for I know very well how much I sinned. That is why I have come here today, the very first person in all the tribe of Joseph to greet you.”

21 Abishai asked, “Shall not Shimei die, for he cursed the Lord’s chosen king!”

22 “Don’t talk to me like that!” David exclaimed. “This is not a day for execution but for celebration! I am once more king of Israel!”

23 Then, turning to Shimei, he vowed, “Your life is spared.”

24-25 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, arrived from Jerusalem to meet the king. He had not washed his feet or clothes nor trimmed his beard since the day the king left Jerusalem.

“Why didn’t you come with me, Mephibosheth?” the king asked him.

26 And he replied, “My lord, O king, my servant Ziba deceived me. I told him, ‘Saddle my donkey so that I can go with the king.’ For as you know I am lame. 27 But Ziba has slandered me by saying that I refused to come.[a] But I know that you are as an angel of God, so do what you think best. 28 I and all my relatives could expect only death from you, but instead you have honored me among all those who eat at your own table! So how can I complain?”

29 “All right,” David replied. “My decision is that you and Ziba will divide the land equally between you.”

30 “Give him all of it,” Mephibosheth said. “I am content just to have you back again!”

31-32 Barzillai, who had fed the king and his army during their exile in Mahanaim, arrived from Rogelim to conduct the king across the river. He was very old now, about eighty, and very wealthy.

33 “Come across with me and live in Jerusalem,” the king said to Barzillai. “I will take care of you there.”

34 “No,” he replied, “I am far too old for that. 35 I am eighty years old today, and life has lost its excitement.[b] Food and wine are no longer tasty, and entertainment is not much fun; I would only be a burden to my lord the king. 36 Just to go across the river with you is all the honor I need! 37 Then let me return again to die in my own city, where my father and mother are buried. But here is Chimham.[c] Let him go with you and receive whatever good things you want to give him.”

38 “Good,” the king agreed. “Chimham shall go with me, and I will do for him whatever I would have done for you.”

39 So all the people crossed the Jordan with the king; and after David had kissed and blessed Barzillai, he returned home. 40 The king then went on to Gilgal, taking Chimham with him. And most of Judah and half of Israel were there to greet him. 41 But the men of Israel complained to the king because only men from Judah had ferried him and his household across the Jordan.

42 “Why not?” the men of Judah replied. “The king is one of our own tribe. Why should this make you angry? We have charged him nothing—he hasn’t fed us or given us gifts!”

43 “But there are ten tribes in Israel,” the others replied, “so we have ten times as much right in the king as you do; why didn’t you invite the rest of us? And, remember, we were the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again.”

The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah were very rough in their replies.

20 Then a hothead whose name was Sheba (son of Bichri, a Benjaminite) blew a trumpet and yelled, “We want nothing to do with David. Come on, you men of Israel, let’s get out of here. He’s not our king!”

So all except Judah and Benjamin turned around and deserted David and followed Sheba! But the men of Judah stayed with their king, accompanying him from the Jordan to Jerusalem. When he arrived at his palace in Jerusalem, the king instructed that his ten wives he had left to keep house should be placed in seclusion. Their needs were to be cared for, he said, but he would no longer sleep with them as his wives. So they remained in virtual widowhood until their deaths.

Then the king instructed Amasa to mobilize the army of Judah within three days and to report back at that time. So Amasa went out to notify the troops, but it took him longer than the three days he had been given.

Then David said to Abishai, “That fellow Sheba is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my bodyguard and chase after him before he gets into a fortified city where we can’t reach him.”

So Abishai and Joab set out after Sheba with an elite guard from Joab’s army and the king’s own bodyguard. 8-10 As they arrived at the great stone in Gibeon, they came face-to-face with Amasa. Joab was wearing his uniform with a dagger strapped to his side. As he stepped forward to greet Amasa, he stealthily slipped the dagger from its sheath. “I’m glad to see you, my brother,” Joab said, and took him by the beard with his right hand as though to kiss him. Amasa didn’t notice the dagger in his left hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it, so that his bowels gushed out onto the ground. He did not need to strike again, and he died there. Joab and his brother, Abishai, left him lying there and continued after Sheba.

11 One of Joab’s young officers shouted to Amasa’s troops, “If you are for David, come and follow Joab.”

12 But Amasa lay in his blood in the middle of the road, and when Joab’s young officers saw that a crowd was gathering around to stare at him, they dragged him off the road into a field and threw a garment over him. 13 With the body out of the way, everyone went on with Joab to capture Sheba.

14 Meanwhile Sheba had traveled across Israel to mobilize his own clan of Bichri at the city of Abel in Beth-maacah. 15 When Joab’s forces arrived, they besieged Abel and built a mound to the top of the city wall and began battering it down.

16 But a wise woman in the city called out to Joab, “Listen to me, Joab. Come over here so I can talk to you.”

17 As he approached, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”

And he replied, “I am.”

18 So she told him, “There used to be a saying, ‘If you want to settle an argument, ask advice at Abel.’ For we always give wise counsel. 19 You are destroying an ancient, peace-loving city, loyal to Israel. Should you destroy what is the Lord’s?”

20 And Joab replied, “That isn’t it at all. 21 All I want is a man named Sheba from the hill country of Ephraim, who has revolted against King David. If you will deliver him to me, we will leave the city in peace.”

“All right,” the woman replied, “we will throw his head over the wall to you.”

22 Then the woman went to the people with her wise advice, and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet and called his troops back from the attack, and they returned to the king at Jerusalem.

23 Joab was commander-in-chief of the army, and Benaiah was in charge of the king’s bodyguard.[d] 24 Adoram was in charge of the forced labor battalions, and Jehoshaphat was the historian who kept the records. 25 Sheva was the secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were the chief priests. 26 Ira the Jairite was David’s personal chaplain.

21 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted year after year for three years, and David spent much time in prayer about it. Then the Lord said, “The famine is because of the guilt of Saul and his family, for they murdered the Gibeonites.”

So King David summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were what was left of the nation of the Amorites. Israel had sworn not to kill them; but Saul, in his nationalistic zeal, had tried to wipe them out.

David asked them, “What can I do for you to rid ourselves of this guilt and to induce you to ask God to bless us?”

“Well, money won’t do it,” the Gibeonites replied, “and we don’t want to see Israelites executed in revenge.”

“What can I do, then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”

5-6 “Well, then,” they replied, “give us seven of Saul’s sons—the sons of the man who did his best to destroy us. We will hang them before the Lord in Gibeon, the city of King Saul.”

“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.”

He spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath between himself and Jonathan. But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five adopted sons of Michal that she brought up for Saul’s daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel. The men of Gibeon impaled them in the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.

10 Then Rizpah, the mother of two of the men,[e] spread sackcloth upon a rock and stayed there through the entire harvest season to prevent the vultures from tearing at their bodies during the day and the wild animals from eating them at night. 11 When David learned what she had done, 12-14 he arranged for the men’s bones to be buried in the grave of Saul’s father, Kish. At the same time he sent a request to the men of Jabesh-gilead, asking them to bring him the bones of Saul and Jonathan. They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth-shan where the Philistines had impaled them after they had died in battle on Mount Gilboa. So their bones were brought to him. Then at last God answered prayer and ended the famine.

15 Once when the Philistines were at war with Israel, and David and his men were in the thick of the battle, David became weak and exhausted. 16 Ishbi-benob, a giant whose speartip weighed more than twelve pounds and who was sporting a new suit of armor, closed in on David and was about to kill him. 17 But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his rescue and killed the Philistine. After that David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle again! Why should we risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

18 Later, during a war with the Philistines at Gob, Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another giant. 19 At still another time and at the same place, Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite,[f] whose spear handle was as huge as a weaver’s beam! 20-21 And once when the Philistines and the Israelis were fighting at Gath, a giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot defied Israel, and David’s nephew Jonathan—the son of David’s brother Shimei—killed him. 22 These four were from the tribe of giants in Gath and were killed by David’s troops.

22 David sang this song to the Lord after he had rescued him from Saul and from all his other enemies:

“Jehovah is my rock,

My fortress and my savior.

I will hide in God,

Who is my rock and my refuge.

He is my shield

And my salvation,

My refuge and high tower.

Thank you, O my Savior,

For saving me from all my enemies.

I will call upon the Lord,

Who is worthy to be praised;

He will save me from all my enemies.

The waves of death surrounded me;

Floods of evil burst upon me;

I was trapped and bound

By hell and death;

But I called upon the Lord in my distress,

And he heard me from his Temple.

My cry reached his ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of the heavens quaked

Because of his wrath.

Smoke poured from his nostrils;

Fire leaped from his mouth

And burned up all before him,

Setting fire to the world.[g]

10 He bent the heavens down and came to earth;

He walked upon dark clouds.

11 He rode upon the glorious—

On the wings of the wind.

12 Darkness surrounded him,

And clouds were thick around him;

13 The earth was radiant with his brightness.

14 The Lord thundered from heaven;

The God above all gods gave out a mighty shout.

15 He shot forth his arrows of lightning

And routed his enemies.

16 By the blast of his breath

Was the sea split in two.

The bottom of the sea appeared.

17 From above, he rescued me.

He drew me out from the waters;

18 He saved me from powerful enemies,

From those who hated me

And from those who were too strong for me.

19 They came upon me

In the day of my calamity,

But the Lord was my salvation.

20 He set me free and rescued me,

For I was his delight.

21 The Lord rewarded me for my goodness,

For my hands were clean;

22 And I have not departed from my God.

23 I knew his laws,

And I obeyed them.

24 I was perfect in obedience

And kept myself from sin.

25 That is why the Lord has done so much for me,

For he sees that I am clean.

26 You are merciful to the merciful;

You show your perfections

To the blameless.

27 To those who are pure,

You show yourself pure;

But you destroy those who are evil.

28 You will save those in trouble,

But you bring down the haughty;

For you watch their every move.

29 O Lord, you are my light!

You make my darkness bright.

30 By your power I can crush an army;

By your strength I leap over a wall.

31 As for God, his way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is true.

He shields all who hide behind him.

32 Our Lord alone is God;

We have no other Savior.[h]

33 God is my strong fortress;

He has made me safe.

34 He causes the good to walk a steady tread

Like mountain goats upon the rocks.

35 He gives me skill in war

And strength to bend a bow of bronze.

36 You have given me the shield of your salvation;

Your gentleness has made me great.

37 You have made wide steps for my feet,

To keep them from slipping.

38 I have chased my enemies

And destroyed them.

I did not stop till all were gone.

39 I have destroyed them

So that none can rise again.

They have fallen beneath my feet.

40 For you have given me strength for the battle

And have caused me to subdue

All those who rose against me.

41 You have made my enemies

Turn and run away;

I have destroyed them all.

42 They looked in vain for help;

They cried to God,

But he refused to answer.

43 I beat them into dust;

I crushed and scattered them

Like dust along the streets.

44 You have preserved me

From the rebels of my people;

You have preserved me

As the head of the nations.

Foreigners shall serve me

45 And shall quickly submit to me

When they hear of my power.

46 They shall lose heart

And come, trembling,

From their hiding places.

47 The Lord lives.

Blessed be my Rock.

Praise to him—

The Rock of my salvation.

48 Blessed be God

Who destroys those who oppose me

49 And rescues me from my enemies.

Yes, you hold me safe above their heads.

You deliver me from violence.

50 No wonder I give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations,

And sing praises to your name.

51 He gives wonderful deliverance to his king

And shows mercy to his anointed—

To David and his family,

Forever.”

23 These are the last words of David:

“David, the son of Jesse, speaks.

David, the man to whom God gave such wonderful success;

David, the anointed of the God of Jacob;

David, sweet psalmist of Israel:

The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,

And his word was on my tongue.

The Rock of Israel said to me:

‘One shall come who rules righteously,

Who rules in the fear of God.

He shall be as the light of the morning;

A cloudless sunrise

When the tender grass

Springs forth upon the earth;

As sunshine after rain.’

And it is my family

He has chosen!

Yes, God has made

An everlasting covenant with me;

His agreement is eternal, final, sealed.

He will constantly look after

My safety and success.[i]

But the godless are as thorns to be thrown away,

For they tear the hand that touches them.

One must be armed to chop them down;

They shall be burned.”

These are the names of the Top Three—the most heroic men in David’s army: the first was Josheb-basshebeth from Tahchemon, known also as Adino, the Eznite. He once killed eight hundred men in one battle.

Next in rank was Eleazar, the son of Dodo and grandson of Ahohi. He was one of the three men who, with David, held back the Philistines that time when the rest of the Israeli army fled. 10 He killed the Philistines until his hand was too tired to hold his sword; and the Lord gave him a great victory. (The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the loot!)

11-12 After him was Shammah, the son of Agee from Harar. Once during a Philistine attack, when all his men deserted him and fled, he stood alone at the center of a field of lentils and beat back the Philistines; and God gave him a great victory.

13 One time when David was living in the cave of Adullam and the invading Philistines were at the valley of Rephaim, three of the Thirty—the top-ranking officers of the Israeli army—went down at harvest time to visit him. 14 David was in the stronghold at the time, for Philistine marauders had occupied the nearby city of Bethlehem.

15 David remarked, “How thirsty I am for some of that good water in the city well!” (The well was near the city gate.)

16 So the three men broke through the Philistine ranks and drew water from the well and brought it to David. But he refused to drink it! Instead, he poured it out before the Lord.

17 “No, my God,” he exclaimed, “I cannot do it! This is the blood of these men who have risked their lives.”

18-19 Of those three men, Abishai, the brother of Joab (son of Zeruiah), was the greatest. Once he took on three hundred of the enemy single-handed and killed them all. It was by such feats that he earned a reputation equal to the Three, though he was not actually one of them. But he was the greatest of the Thirty—the top-ranking officers of the army—and was their leader.

20 There was also Benaiah (son of Jehoiada), a heroic soldier from Kabzeel. Benaiah killed two giants,[j] sons of Ariel of Moab. Another time he went down into a pit and, despite the slippery snow on the ground, took on a lion that was caught there and killed it. 21 Another time, armed only with a staff, he killed an Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear; he wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it. 22 These were some of the deeds that gave Benaiah almost as much renown as the Top Three. 23 He was one of the greatest of the Thirty, but was not actually one of the Top Three. And David made him chief of his bodyguard.

24-39 Asahel, the brother of Joab, was also one of the Thirty. Others were:

Elhanan (son of Dodo) from Bethlehem;

Shammah from Harod;

Elika from Harod;

Helez from Palti;

Ira (son of Ikkesh) from Tekoa;

Abiezer from Anathoth;

Mebunnai from Hushath;

Zalmon from Ahoh;

Maharai from Netophah;

Heleb (son of Baanah) from Netophah;

Ittai (son of Ribai) from Gibeah, of the tribe of Benjamin;

Benaiah of Pirathon;

Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash;

Abi-albon from Arbath;

Azmaveth from Bahurim;

Eliahba from Shaalbon;

The sons of Jashen;

Jonathan;

Shammah from Harar;

Ahiam (the son of Sharar) from Harar;

Eliphelet (son of Ahasbai) from Maacah;

Eliam (the son of Ahithophel) from Gilo;

Hezro from Carmel;

Paarai from Arba;

Igal (son of Nathan) from Zobah;

Bani from Gad;

Zelek from Ammon;

Naharai from Beeroth, the armor bearer of Joab (son of Zeruiah);

Ira from Ithra;

Gareb from Ithra;

Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.[k]

24 Once again the anger of the Lord flared against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a national census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.

So the king said to Joab, commander-in-chief of his army, “Take a census of all the people from one end of the nation to the other, so that I will know how many of them there are.”

But Joab replied, “God grant that you will live to see the day when there will be a hundred times as many people in your kingdom as there are now! But you have no right to rejoice in their strength.”[l]

But the king’s command overcame Joab’s remonstrance; so Joab and the other army officers went out to count the people of Israel. First they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, south of the city that lies in the middle of the valley of Gad, near Jazer; then they went to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi and to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon; and then to the stronghold of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, and south to Judah as far as Beersheba. Having gone through the entire land, they completed their task in nine months and twenty days. And Joab reported the number of the people to the king—800,000 men of conscription age in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.

10 But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him, and he said to the Lord, “What I did was very wrong. Please forgive this foolish wickedness of mine.”

11 The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s contact with God.

The Lord said to Gad, 12 “Tell David that I will give him three choices.”

13 So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose seven years of famine across the land, or to flee for three months before your enemies, or to submit to three days of plague? Think this over and let me know what answer to give to God.”

14 “This is a hard decision,” David replied, “but it is better to fall into the hand of the Lord (for his mercy is great) than into the hands of men.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days; and seventy thousand men died throughout the nation. 16 But as the death angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was sorry for what was happening and told him to stop. He was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite at the time.

17 When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “Look, I am the one who has sinned! What have these sheep done? Let your anger be only against me and my family.”

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came forward and fell flat on the ground with his face in the dust.

21 “Why have you come?” Araunah asked.

And David replied, “To buy your threshing floor, so that I can build an altar to the Lord, and he will stop the plague.”

22 “Use anything you like,” Araunah told the king. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing instruments and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, and may the Lord God accept your sacrifice.”

24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, I will not have it as a gift. I will buy it, for I don’t want to offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that have cost me nothing.”

So David paid him[m] for the threshing floor and the oxen. 25 And David built an altar there to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 19:27 saying that I refused to come, implied.
  2. 2 Samuel 19:35 life has lost its excitement, literally, “can I discern between good and bad?”
  3. 2 Samuel 19:37 Chimham. According to Josephus, Chimham was Barzillai’s son.
  4. 2 Samuel 20:23 the king’s bodyguard, literally, “the Cherithites and Pelethites.”
  5. 2 Samuel 21:10 the mother of two of the men, implied. the entire harvest season, which lasted six months, from April until October.
  6. 2 Samuel 21:19 the brother of Goliath the Gittite, literally, “slew Goliath of Gath.” See 1 Chronicles 20:5.
  7. 2 Samuel 22:9 Setting fire to the world, literally, “coals were kindled by it.”
  8. 2 Samuel 22:32 We have no other Savior, literally, “Who is a rock save our God?”
  9. 2 Samuel 23:5 He will constantly look after my safety and success, literally, “He will cause my salvation and my desire to sprout.”
  10. 2 Samuel 23:20 two giants. The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain.
  11. 2 Samuel 23:24 thirty-seven in all. The Thirty, plus the Top Three, plus Generals Joab, Abishai, Asahel, and Benaiah. Apparently new names were elected to this hall of fame to replace those who died.
  12. 2 Samuel 24:3 But you have no right to rejoice in their strength, literally, “But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”
  13. 2 Samuel 24:24 paid him, literally, “paid him fifty shekels of silver.”