1 Chronicles 11:11–31

¹¹This is an account of David’s mighty warriors: Jashobeam, son of Hachmoni,^y was chief of the Three;^z he wielded his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.^*

¹²And next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo, the Ahohite. ¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley. Now the people had fled from the Philistines,^{* 14}but he and David took their stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines, and the Lord saved them by a great victory.

¹⁵Three of the thirty chiefs went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam while the army of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.^{* 16}David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁸Then the Three broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and they brought it to David. But David would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord ¹⁹and said, “My God forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.

²⁰Now Abishai,^a the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty.^b With his spear he fought against three hundred and killed them and won a name^c beside the Three.^{* 21}He was the most renowned^d of the Thirty^e and became their commander, but he did not attain to the Three.^*

²²Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant man^f of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he struck down two sons of^g Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.^{* 23}And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver’s beam, but Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.^{* 24}Such were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did, and he won a name beside the three warriors. ²⁵He was renowned among the Thirty, but he did not attain to the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

²⁶The warriors of the armies were Asahel brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,^{* 27}Shammoth of Harod,^h Helez the Pelonite, ²⁸Ira son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, Abiezer of Anathoth, ²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰Maharai of Netophah, Heled son of Baanah of Netophah, ³¹Ithai son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjaminites, Benaiah of Pirathon,