1 Chronicles 10–12

Saul Takes His Life

10:1–12pp—1Sa 31:1–13; 2Sa 1:4–12

10Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him.

⁴Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and abuse me.”

But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. ⁶So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together.

⁷When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. ¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon.^d

¹¹When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead^e heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

¹³Saul died^f because he was unfaithful^g to the Lord; he did not keep^h the word of the Lord and even consulted a mediumⁱ for guidance, ¹⁴and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned^j the kingdom^k over to David son of Jesse.

David Becomes King Over Israel

11:1–3pp—2Sa 5:1–3

11All Israel^l came together to David at Hebron^m and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. ²In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.ⁿ And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You will shepherd^o my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.^p’ ”

³When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed^q David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel.

David Conquers Jerusalem

11:4–9pp—2Sa 5:6–10

⁴David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites^r who lived there ⁵said to David, “You will not get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

⁶David had said, “Whoever leads the attack on the Jebusites will become commander-in-chief.” Joab^s son of Zeruiah went up first, and so he received the command.

⁷David then took up residence in the fortress, and so it was called the City of David. ⁸He built up the city around it, from the terraces^at to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city. ⁹And David became more and more powerful,^u because the Lord Almighty was with him.

David’s Mighty Warriors

11:10–41pp—2Sa 23:8–39

¹⁰These were the chiefs of David’s mighty warriors—they, together with all Israel,^v gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the Lord had promised^w—¹¹this is the list of David’s mighty warriors:^x

Jashobeam,^b a Hakmonite, was chief of the officers^c; he raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.

¹²Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite, one of the three mighty warriors. ¹³He was with David at Pas Dammim when the Philistines gathered there for battle. At a place where there was a field full of barley, the troops fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴But they took their stand in the middle of the field. They defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.^y

¹⁵Three of the thirty chiefs came down to David to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley^z of Rephaim. ¹⁶At that time David was in the stronghold,^a and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. ¹⁷David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured^b it out to the Lord. ¹⁹“God forbid that I should do this!” he said. “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?” Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it.

Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors.

²⁰Abishai^c the brother of Joab was chief of the Three. He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three. ²¹He was doubly honored above the Three and became their commander, even though he was not included among them.

²²Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel,^d performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.^{e 23}And he struck down an Egyptian who was five cubits^d tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s rod^f in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. ²⁵He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁶The mighty warriors were:

Asahel^g the brother of Joab,

Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem,

²⁷Shammoth^h the Harorite,

Helez the Pelonite,

²⁸Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa,

Abiezerⁱ from Anathoth,

²⁹Sibbekai^j the Hushathite,

Ilai the Ahohite,

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite,

Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,

³¹Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin,

Benaiah^k the Pirathonite,^l

³²Hurai from the ravines of Gaash,

Abiel the Arbathite,

³³Azmaveth the Baharumite,

Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

³⁴the sons of Hashem the Gizonite,

Jonathan son of Shagee the Hararite,

³⁵Ahiam son of Sakar the Hararite,

Eliphal son of Ur,

³⁶Hepher the Mekerathite,

Ahijah the Pelonite,

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite,

Naarai son of Ezbai,

³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan,

Mibhar son of Hagri,

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite,

Naharai the Berothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite,

Gareb the Ithrite,

⁴¹Uriah^m the Hittite,

Zabadⁿ son of Ahlai,

⁴²Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, who was chief of the Reubenites, and the thirty with him,

⁴³Hanan son of Maakah,

Joshaphat the Mithnite,

⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite,^o

Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

⁴⁵Jediael son of Shimri,

his brother Joha the Tizite,

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite,

Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam,

Ithmah the Moabite,

⁴⁷Eliel, Obed and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

Warriors Join David

12These were the men who came to David at Ziklag,^p while he was banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; ²they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed;^q they were relatives of Saul^r from the tribe of Benjamin):

³Ahiezer their chief and Joash the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Berakah, Jehu the Anathothite, ⁴and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty warrior among the Thirty, who was a leader of the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite,^{as 5}Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah and Shephatiah the Haruphite; ⁶Elkanah, Ishiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam the Korahites; ⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.^t

⁸Some Gadites^u defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions,^v and they were as swift as gazelles^w in the mountains.

⁹Ezer was the chief,

Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

¹³Jeremiah the tenth and Makbannai the eleventh.

¹⁴These Gadites were army commanders; the least was a match for a hundred,^x and the greatest for a thousand.^{y 15}It was they who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks,^z and they put to flight everyone living in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Other Benjamites^a and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold. ¹⁷David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, I am ready for you to join me. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free from violence, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge you.”

¹⁸Then the Spirit^b came on Amasai,^c chief of the Thirty, and he said:

“We are yours, David!

We are with you, son of Jesse!

Success,^d success to you,

and success to those who help you,

for your God will help you.”

So David received them and made them leaders of his raiding bands.

¹⁹Some of the tribe of Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (He and his men did not help the Philistines because, after consultation, their rulers sent him away. They said, “It will cost us our heads if he deserts to his master Saul.”)^{e 20}When David went to Ziklag,^f these were the men of Manasseh who defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai, leaders of units of a thousand in Manasseh. ²¹They helped David against raiding bands, for all of them were brave warriors, and they were commanders in his army. ²²Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like…