2 Samuel 23:1–17

David’s Last Words

¹Now these are the last words of David.

David the son of Jesse declares,

^aThe man who was raised on high declares,

^bThe anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the sweet psalmist of Israel,

²“^aThe Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me,

And His word was on my tongue.

³“The God of Israel said,

^aThe Rock of Israel spoke to me,

‘^bHe who rules over men as a righteous one,

^cWho rules in the fear of God,

^4aIs as the light of the morning when the sun rises,

A morning without clouds,

From brightness of the sun after rain.’

With the tender grass springing from the earth,

⁵¹Truly is not my house so with God?

For ^aHe has made an everlasting covenant with me,

Ordered in all things, and secured;

For all my salvation and all my desire,

Will He not indeed make it grow?

⁶“^aBut the vile men, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns,

Because they cannot be taken in hand;

⁷But the man who touches them

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

And ^athey will be completely burned with fire where they sit.”

David’s Mighty Men

^8aThese are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the ¹captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time;

⁹and after him was Eleazar the son of ^aDodo the ^bson of Ahohi, one of the three mighty men with David when they ¹reproached the Philistines who were gathered together there to battle and the men of Israel had gone up to retreat.

^10aHe arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and ¹clung to the sword, and ^bYahweh brought about a great salvation that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.

¹¹Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a ^aHararite. And the Philistines were gathered ¹into a troop where there was a portion of the field full of lentils; and the people fled from before the Philistines.

¹²But he took his stand in the midst of that portion and delivered it and struck down the Philistines. So ^aYahweh brought about a great salvation.

¹³Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the ^acave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in ^bthe valley of Rephaim.

¹⁴And David was then ^ain the fortress, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

^15aThen David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”

^16aSo the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he was not willing to drink it, but ^bpoured it out to Yahweh;

¹⁷and he said, “Be it far from me, O Yahweh, that I should do this. ^aShall I drink the blood of the men who went ¹at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.