1 Chronicles 10–12

The Deaths of Saul and His Sons

10The Philistines ^lfought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found 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 wouldn’t 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 their people. ¹⁰Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his skull in the temple of Dagon. ^m

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 ⁿin Jabesh ^oand fasted seven days.

¹³Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word. ^pHe even consulted a medium for guidance, ^q14but he did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. ^r

David’s Anointing as King

11All Israel ^scame together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. ^t2Even when Saul was king, you led us out to battle and brought us back. The Lord your God also said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and 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. ^u

David’s Capture of Jerusalem

⁴David ^vand all Israel marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus ^w); the Jebusites who inhabited the land were there. ⁵The 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 ^xson 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, ^yand the Lord of Hosts 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. ^z11This ^ais the list of David’s warriors:

Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief ^bof the Thirty; ^che wielded his spear against 300 and killed them at one time.

¹²After him, Eleazar son of Dodo ^dthe 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. ^e14But Eleazar and David ^ftook 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 30 chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, ^gwhile the Philistine army was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ^h16At that time David was in the stronghold, ⁱand a Philistine garrison ^jwas at Bethlehem. ¹⁷David was extremely thirsty ^kand 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 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, ^lJoab’s brother, was the leader of the Three. ^mHe raised his spear against 300 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 ⁿwas the son of a brave man ^ofrom Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab, ^pand 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. ^qEven though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand like a weaver’s beam, ^rBenaiah went down to him with a club, 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 fighting men ^swere:

Joab’s brother Asahel, ^t

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 ^uvHashem 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 Hittite,

Zabad son of Ahlai,

⁴²Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, chief of the Reubenites, and 30 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. ^wThey 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. ^xThey were Saul’s relatives ^yfrom 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;

^zJeremiah, 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 fighting men, 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. ^a

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. ^b15These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month ^cwhen it was overflowing all its banks, ^dand 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. ^e17David 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 took control of ^fgAmasai, ^hchief 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, ⁱ

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.” ^j20When 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, ^kfor they were all brave 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. ^lm

David’s Soldiers in Hebron

²³The numbers of the armed troops who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, ⁿaccording to the Lord’s word, ^owere as…