1 Chronicles 10–12

THE DEATH OF SAUL AND HIS SONS

10The Philistines^r fought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them. Many were killed on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers spotted him and severely wounded him. ⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me.” But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died. ⁶So Saul and his three sons died—his whole house died together.

⁷When all the men of Israel in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news to their idols and the people. ¹⁰Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his skull in the temple of Dagon.^a

¹¹When all Jabesh-gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all their brave men set out and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak^A in Jabesh^b and fasted seven days.

¹³Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word.^c He even consulted a medium for guidance,^{d 14}but he did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.^e

DAVID’S ANOINTING AS KING

11All Israel^f came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.^{B 2}Even previously when Saul was king, you were leading Israel out to battle and bringing us back. The Lord your God also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over my people Israel.’ ”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the Lord’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the Lord’s word through Samuel.^g

DAVID’S CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM

⁴David^h and all Israel marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); the Jebusites who inhabited the land were there.^{i 5}The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.” Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.

⁶David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab^j son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

⁷Then David took up residence in the stronghold; therefore, it was called the city of David. ⁸He built up the city all the way around, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding parts, and Joab restored the rest of the city. ⁹David steadily grew more powerful,^k and the Lord of Armies was with him.

EXPLOITS OF DAVID’S WARRIORS

¹⁰The following were the chiefs of David’s warriors who, together with all Israel, strongly supported him in his reign to make him king according to the Lord’s word about Israel.^{l 11}This^m is the list of David’s warriors:

Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chiefⁿ of the Thirty;^A he wielded his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.

¹²After him, Eleazar son of Dodo^o the Ahohite was one of the three warriors. ¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had gathered there for battle. There was a portion of a field full of barley, where the troops had fled from the Philistines.^{p 14}But Eleazar and David^B took their stand in the middle of the field and defended it. They killed the Philistines, and the Lord gave them a great victory.

¹⁵Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam,^q while the Philistine army was encamped in Rephaim Valley.^{r 16}At that time David was in the stronghold,^s and a Philistine garrison^t was at Bethlehem. ¹⁷David was extremely thirsty^C and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸So the Three broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁹David said, “I would never do such a thing in the presence of my God! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” For they brought it at the risk of their lives. So he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

²⁰Abishai,^u Joab’s brother, was the leader of the Three.^D He raised his spear against three hundred men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three. ²¹He was more honored than the Three and became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.

²²Benaiah son of Jehoiada^a was the son of a brave man^E from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab,^F and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²³He also killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall.^G Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand like a weaver’s beam,^b Benaiah went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and then killed him with his own spear. ²⁴These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors. ²⁵He was the most honored of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁶The best soldiers^c were

Joab’s brother Asahel,^d

Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁷Shammoth the Harorite,

Helez the Pelonite,

²⁸Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

Abiezer the Anathothite,

²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite,

Ilai the Ahohite,

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite,

Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,

³¹Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjaminites,

Benaiah the Pirathonite,

³²Hurai from the wadis of Gaash,

Abiel the Arbathite,

³³Azmaveth the Baharumite,

Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

³⁴the sons of^e Hashem the Gizonite,

Jonathan son of Shagee the Hararite,

³⁵Ahiam son of Sachar the Hararite,

Eliphal son of Ur,

³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite,

Ahijah the Pelonite,

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite,

Naarai son of Ezbai,

³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan,

Mibhar son of Hagri,

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite,

Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer for Joab son of Zeruiah,

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite,

Gareb the Ithrite,

⁴¹Uriah the Hethite,

Zabad son of Ahlai,

⁴²Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,

⁴³Hanan son of Maacah,

Joshaphat the Mithnite,

⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite,

Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

⁴⁵Jediael son of Shimri and his brother Joha the Tizite,

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite,

Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam,

Ithmah the Moabite,

⁴⁷Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

DAVID’S FIRST SUPPORTERS

12The following were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still banned from the presence of Saul son of Kish.^f They were among the warriors who helped him in battle. ²They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow.^g They were Saul’s relatives^h from Benjamin:

³Their chief was Ahiezer son of Shemaah the Gibeathite.

Then there was his brother Joash;

Jeziel and Pelet sons of Azmaveth;

Beracah, Jehu the Anathothite;

⁴Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a warrior among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty;

Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite;

⁵Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite;

⁶Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

⁸Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were valiant warriors, trained for battle, expert with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.ⁱ

⁹Ezer was the chief, Obadiah second, Eliab third,

¹⁰Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth,

¹¹Attai sixth, Eliel seventh,

¹²Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth,

¹³Jeremiah tenth, and Machbannai eleventh.

¹⁴These Gadites were army commanders; the least of them was a match for a hundred, and the greatest of them for a thousand.^{a 15}These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month^A when it was overflowing all its banks,^b and put to flight all those in the valleys to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Other Benjaminites and men from Judah also went to David at the stronghold.^{c 17}David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you, but if you have come to betray me to my enemies even though my hands have done no wrong, may the God of our ancestors look on it and judge.”

¹⁸Then the Spirit enveloped^d Amasai,^e chief of the Thirty, and he said:

We are yours, David,

we are with you, son of Jesse!

Peace, peace to you,

and peace to him who helps you,^f

for your God helps you.

So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

¹⁹Some Manassites defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. However, they did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers sent David away after a discussion. They said, “It will be our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”^{g 20}When David went to Ziklag, some men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh. ²¹They helped David against the raiders,^h for they were all valiant warriors and commanders in the army. ²²At that time, men came day after day to help David until there was a great army, like an army of God.^Ci

DAVID’S SOLDIERS IN HEBRON

²³The numbers of the armed troops who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom…