31 As for God, oHis way is perfect;

pThe word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

32 “For qwho is God, except the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?

33 8God is my rstrength and power,

And He smakes 9my way tperfect.

34 He makes 1my feet ulike the feet of deer,

And vsets me on my high places.

35 He teaches my hands 2to make war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;

Your gentleness has made me great.

37 You wenlarged my path under me;

So my feet did not slip.

38 “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them;

Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

39 And I have destroyed them and wounded them,

So that they could not rise;

They have fallen xunder my feet.

40 For You have yarmed me with strength for the battle;

You have 3subdued under me zthose who rose against me.

41 You have also 4given me the anecks of my enemies,

So that I destroyed those who hated me.

42 They looked, but there was none to save;

Even bto the Lord, but He did not answer them.

43 Then I beat them as fine cas the dust of the earth;

I trod them dlike dirt in the streets,

And I 5spread them out.

44 “You ehave also delivered me from the 6strivings of my people;

You have kept me as the fhead of the nations.

gA people I have not known shall serve me.

45 The foreigners submit to me;

As soon as they hear, they obey me.

46 The foreigners fade away,

And 7come frightened hfrom their hideouts.

47 “The Lord lives!

Blessed be my Rock!

Let God be exalted,

The iRock of my salvation!

48 It is God who avenges me,

And jsubdues the peoples under me;

49 He delivers me from my enemies.

You also lift me up above those who rise against me;

You have delivered me from the kviolent man.

50 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among lthe Gentiles,

And sing praises to Your mname.

51 “He nis the tower of salvation to His king,

And shows mercy to His oanointed,

To David and phis descendants forevermore.”

David’s Last Words

23 Now these are the last words of David.

Thus says David the son of Jesse;

Thus says athe man raised up on high,

bThe anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 “The cSpirit of the Lord spoke by me,

And His word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Israel said,

dThe Rock of Israel spoke to me:

‘He who rules over men must be just,

Ruling ein the fear of God.

4 And fhe shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,

A morning without clouds,

Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,

By clear shining after rain.’

5 “Although my house is not so with God,

gYet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,

Ordered in all things and secure.

For this is all my salvation and all my desire;

Will He not make it increase?

6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,

Because they cannot be taken with hands.

7 But the man who touches them

Must be 1armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,

And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”

David’s Mighty Men

8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: 2Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among 3the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time. 9 And after him was hEleazar the son of 4Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. 10 He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was iweary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to jplunder. 11 And after him was kShammah the son of Agee the Hararite. lThe Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 Then mthree of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at nthe cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in othe Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in pthe stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” 16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. 17 And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not qthe blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.

These things were done by the three mighty men.

18 Now rAbishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of 5another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. 19 Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.

20 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from sKabzeel, 6who had done many deeds. tHe had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. 21 And he killed an Egyptian, 7a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. 23 He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him uover his guard.

24 vAsahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 wShammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of xGaash, 31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan, 33 yShammah the 8Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of zAhithophel the Gilonite, 35 9Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of aZobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), 38 bIra the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 and cUriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David’s Census of Israel and Judah

24 Again athe anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, b“Go, 1number Israel and Judah.”

2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, cfrom Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that dI may know the number of the people.”

3 And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God eadd to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” 4 Nevertheless the king’s word 2prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

5 And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in fAroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward gJazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to hDan Jaan and around to iSidon; 7 and they came to the stronghold of jTyre and to all the cities of the kHivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. 8 So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. lAnd there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

The Judgment on David’s Sin

10 And mDavid’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So nDavid said to the Lord, o“I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have pdone very foolishly.”

11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet qGad, David’s rseer, saying, 12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall sseven 3years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, tfor His mercies are great; but udo not let me fall into the hand of man.”

15 So vthe Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 wAnd when the 4angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, xthe Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the 4angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the 4angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of 5Araunah the Jebusite.

17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely yI have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

The Altar on the Threshing Floor

18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, z“Go up, erect an …