1 Chronicles 10–12

The Death of Saul and His Sons

10^zNow the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ²And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. ⁵And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. ⁶Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. ⁷And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army¹ had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹But when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

¹³So Saul died ^afor his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also ^bconsulted a medium, seeking guidance. ¹⁴He ^cdid not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and ^dturned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

David Anointed King

11^eThen all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. ²In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, ^f‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’ ” ³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, ^gaccording to the word of the Lord by Samuel.

David Takes Jerusalem

⁴And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, ^hthat is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, ⁱthe inhabitants of the land. ⁵The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁶David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first ^jshall be chief and commander.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief. ⁷And David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸And he built the city all around from the Millo in complete circuit, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹And David ^kbecame greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

^10lNow these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, ^maccording to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹This is an account of David’s mighty men: ⁿJashobeam, a ⁿHachmonite, was ^ochief of the three.¹ He wielded his spear against 300 whom he killed at one time.

¹²And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of ^pDodo, the Ahohite. ¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim ^qwhen the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴But he took his² stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and killed the Philistines. And the Lord saved them by a great victory.

¹⁵Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the ^rValley of Rephaim. ¹⁶David was then in the stronghold, and the ^sgarrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷And David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁸Then the three mighty men broke through the camp 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. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord ¹⁹and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

²⁰Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the thirty.³ And he wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them and won a name beside the three. ²¹He was the most renowned⁴ of the thirty⁵ and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.

²²And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man⁶ of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. ²³And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits⁷ tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear ^tlike a weaver’s beam, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and won a name beside the three mighty men. ²⁵He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

²⁶The mighty men were ^uAsahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷Shammoth of Harod,⁸ Helez the Pelonite, ²⁸Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, Abiezer of Anathoth, ²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰Maharai of Netophah, Heled the son of Baanah of Netophah, ³¹Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, Benaiah of Pirathon, ³²Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³Azmaveth of Baharum, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴Hashem⁹ the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷Hezro of Carmel, Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of ^vHagri, ³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, ^wZabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴²Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a leader of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, ⁴³Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

The Mighty Men Join David

12^xNow these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. ²They ^ywere bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the ^zleft hand; they were Benjaminites, ^aSaul’s kinsmen. ³The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, both sons of Shemaah of ^bGibeah; also Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, Jehu of ^cAnathoth, ⁴Ishmaiah of ^dGibeon, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader over the thirty; Jeremiah,¹ Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah, ⁵Eluzai,² Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite; ⁶Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the ^eKorahites; ⁷And Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were ^fswift as gazelles upon the mountains: ⁹Ezer the chief, Obadiah second, Eliab third, ¹⁰Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, ¹¹Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, ¹²Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth, ¹³Jeremiah tenth, Machbannai eleventh. ¹⁴These Gadites were officers of the army; the least was a ^gmatch for a hundred men and the greatest for a thousand. ¹⁵These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was ^hoverflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁷David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.” ¹⁸Then ⁱthe Spirit clothed ^jAmasai, chief of the thirty, and he said,

“We are yours, O David,

and with you, O son of Jesse!

^kPeace, peace to you,

and peace to your helpers!

For your God helps you.”

Then David received them and made them officers of his troops.

¹⁹Some of the men of Manasseh deserted to David ^lwhen he came with the Philistines for the battle against Saul. (Yet he did not help them, for the rulers of the Philistines took counsel and sent him away, saying, ^m“At peril to our heads he will desert to his master Saul.”) ²⁰As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh deserted to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh. ²¹They helped David against ⁿthe band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were commanders in the army. ²²For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.

²³These are the numbers of the divisions of the armed troops…