2 Samuel 23

David’s Last Words

23Now these are the last words of David.

Thus says David the son of Jesse;

Thus says ^athe man raised up on high,

^bThe anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

²“The ^cSpirit of the Lord spoke by me,

And His word was on my tongue.

³The God of Israel said,

^dThe Rock of Israel spoke to me:

‘He who rules over men must be just,

Ruling ^ein the fear of God.

⁴And ^fhe shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,

A morning without clouds,

Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,

By clear shining after rain.’

⁵“Although my house is not so with God,

^gYet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,

Ordered in all things and secure.

For this is all my salvation and all my desire;

Will He not make it increase?

⁶But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,

Because they cannot be taken with hands.

⁷But the man who touches them

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

And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”

David’s Mighty Men

⁸These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: ²Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among ³the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time. ⁹And after him was ^hEleazar the son of ⁴Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. ¹⁰He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was ⁱweary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to ^jplunder. ¹¹And after him was ^kShammah the son of Agee the Hararite. ^lThe Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. ¹²But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³Then ^mthree of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at ⁿthe cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in ^othe Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴David was then in ^pthe stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁶So the three mighty men 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 he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁷And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not ^qthe blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.

These things were done by the three mighty men.

¹⁸Now ^rAbishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of ⁵another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. ¹⁹Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.

²⁰Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from ^sKabzeel, ⁶who had done many deeds. ^tHe 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. ²¹And he killed an Egyptian, ⁷a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²²These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. ²³He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him ^uover his guard.

^24vAsahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ^25wShammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, ³⁰Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of ^xGaash, ³¹Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan, ^33yShammah the ⁸Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of ^zAhithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵⁹Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶Igal the son of Nathan of ^aZobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), ^38bIra the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹and ^cUriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.