2 Samuel 23:1–17

David’s Last Song

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 the Lord 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 righteously,

^cWho rules in the fear of God,

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

A morning without clouds,

When the tender grass springs out of the earth,

Through sunshine after rain.’

⁵“Truly 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 worthless, 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 in their ²place.”

His 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 ^bAhohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they ¹defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had ²withdrawn.

^10aHe arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and ¹clung to the sword, and ^bthe Lord brought about a great ²victory 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 plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines.

¹²But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and ^athe Lord brought about a great ¹victory.

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.

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

^15aDavid 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 took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but ^bpoured it out to the Lord;

¹⁷and he said, “Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. ^aShall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.