2 Samuel 23:1–17

David’s Last Words

23These are the last words of David:

The declaration of David son of Jesse, ^e

the declaration of the man raised on high, ^f

the one anointed by the God of Jacob, ^g

the favorite singer of Israel:

²The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,

His word was on my tongue. ^h

³The God of Israel spoke;

the Rock of Israel said to me,

“The one who rules the people with justice,

who rules in the fear of God, ⁱ

⁴is like the morning light when the sun rises

on a cloudless morning,

the glisten of rain on sprouting grass.”

⁵Is it not true my house is with God?

For He has established an everlasting covenant ^jwith me,

ordered and secured in every detail. ^k

Will He not bring about

my whole salvation and my every desire?

⁶But all the wicked are like thorns raked aside;

they can never be picked up by hand.

⁷The man who touches them

must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear.

They will be completely burned up on the spot.

Exploits of David’s Warriors

⁸These are the names of David’s warriors: ^l

Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the officers. ^mHe wielded his spear ⁿagainst 800 men that he killed at one time.

⁹After him, Eleazar son of Dodo son of an Ahohite was among the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines. The men of Israel retreated in the place they had gathered for battle, ¹⁰but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.

¹¹After him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had assembled in formation where there was a field full of lentils. The troops fled from the Philistines, ¹²but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³Three of the 30 leading warriors went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam, ^owhile a company of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴At that time David was in the stronghold, ^pand a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵David was extremely thirsty ^qand said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶So three of the warriors 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. ¹⁷David said, “Lord, I would never do such a thing! Is this not the blood of men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.