1 Chronicles 10–12

Tragic End of Saul and His Sons

10Now ^athe Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ²Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, ¹Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ³The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. ⁵And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. ⁶So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. ⁷And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to ²strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. ^10bThen they put his armor in the ³temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all the ^cvaliant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to ^dJabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹³So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had ⁴committed against the Lord, ^ebecause he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because ^fhe consulted a medium for guidance. ¹⁴But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and ^gturned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

David Made King Over All Israel

11Then ^aall Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. ²Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord your ^bGod said to you, ‘You shall ^cshepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’ ” ³Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And ^dthey anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord ¹by ^eSamuel.

The City of David

⁴And David and all Israel ^fwent to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, ^gwhere the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. ⁵But the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not come in here!” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁶Now David said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites first shall be ²chief and captain.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and became chief. ⁷Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it ³the City of David. ⁸And he built the city around it, from ⁴the Millo to the surrounding area. Joab ⁵repaired the rest of the city. ⁹So David ^hwent on and became great, and the Lord of hosts was with ⁱhim.

The Mighty Men of David

¹⁰Now ^jthese were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to ^kthe word of the Lord concerning Israel.

¹¹And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: ^lJashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, ^mchief of ⁶the captains; he had lifted up his spear against three hundred, killed by him at one time.

¹²After him was Eleazar the son of ⁿDodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. ¹³He was with David at ⁷Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴But they ⁸stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹⁵Now three of the thirty chief men ^owent down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines encamped ^pin the Valley of ⁹Rephaim. ¹⁶David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁸So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁹And he said, “Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.

^20qAbishai the brother of Joab was chief of another ¹three. He had lifted up his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. ^21rOf the three he was more honored than the other two men. Therefore he became their captain. However he did not attain to the first three.

²²Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who ²had done many deeds. ^sHe had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. ²³And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, ³five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. ²⁵Indeed he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁶Also the mighty warriors were ^tAsahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷⁴Shammoth the Harorite, ^uHelez the ⁵Pelonite, ^28vIra the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ^wAbiezer the Anathothite, ²⁹⁶Sibbechai the Hushathite, ⁷Ilai the Ahohite, ^30xMaharai the Netophathite, ⁸Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹⁹Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin, ^yBenaiah the Pirathonite, ³²¹Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, ²Abiel the Arbathite, ³³Azmaveth the ³Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴the sons of ⁴Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shageh the Hararite, ³⁵Ahiam the son of ⁵Sacar the Hararite, ⁶Eliphal the son of ⁷Ur, ³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷⁸Hezro the Carmelite, ⁹Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the ¹Berothite (the armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), ⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ^41zUriah the Hittite, ²Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴²Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite (a chief of the Reubenites) and thirty with him, ⁴³Hanan the son of Maachah, Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

The Growth of David’s Army

12Now ^athese were the men who came to David at ^bZiklag while he was still a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war, ²armed with bows, using both the right hand and ^cthe left in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Saul’s brethren.

³The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of ¹Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Berachah, and Jehu the Anathothite; ⁴Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite; ⁵Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite; ⁶Elkanah, Jisshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; ⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸Some Gadites ²joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were ^das swift as gazelles on the mountains: ⁹Ezer the first, Obadiah the second, 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 Machbanai the eleventh. ¹⁴These were from the sons of Gad, captains of the army; the least was over a hundred, and the greatest was over a ^ethousand. ¹⁵These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its ^fbanks; and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. ¹⁷And David went out ³to meet them, and answered and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no ⁴wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.” ¹⁸Then the Spirit ⁵came upon ^gAmasai, chief of the captains, and he said:

“We are yours, O David;

We are on your side, O son of Jesse!

Peace, peace to you,

And peace to your helpers!

For your God helps you.”

So David received them, and made them captains of the troop.

¹⁹And some from Manasseh defected to David ^hwhen he was going with the Philistines to battle against Saul; but they did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away by agreement, saying, ⁱ“He may defect to his master Saul and endanger our heads.” ²⁰When he went to Ziklag, those of Manasseh who defected to him were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael,…