23 Now these be the last words of David.

aDavid the son of Jesse said,

bAnd the man who was raised up on high,

cThe anointed of the God of Jacob,

And the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

2  dThe Spirit of the Lord spake by me,

And his word was in my tongue.

3  The God of Israel said,

eThe Rock of Israel spake to me,

||He that ruleth over men must be just,

Ruling fin the fear of God.

4  And he shall be as the light of the morning, when gthe sun riseth,

Even a morning without clouds;

As the tender grass springing out of the earth

By clear shining after rain.

5  Although my house be not so with God;

hYet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,

Ordered in all things, and sure:

For this is all my salvation, and all my desire,

Although ihe make it not to grow.

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

Because they cannot be taken with hands:

7  But the man that shall touch them must be †fenced with iron and kthe staff of a spear;

And they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

8 lThese be the names of the mighty men whom David had: ||The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among mthe captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: ||he lift up his spear against eight hundred, †whom he slew at one time. 9 And after him was nEleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when othey defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: 10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great pvictory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil. 11 And after him was qShammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together ||into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great pvictory. 13 And ||three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto rthe cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in sthe valley of Rephaim. 14 And David was then in tan hold, and uthe garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem. 15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! 16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. 17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this wthe blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. 18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, †and slew them, and had the name among three. 19 Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the xfirst three. 20 And yBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of zKabzeel, †who had done many acts, he slew two †lionlike men of aMoab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: 21 And he slew an Egyptian, †a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. 22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men. 23 He was ||more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the bfirst three. And David set him over his ||guard.

24 cAsahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem, 25 Shammah the dHarodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez ethe Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh fthe Tekoite, 27 Abiezer gthe Anethothite, Mebunnai hthe Hushathite, 28 Zalmon ithe Ahohite, Maharai the jNetophathite, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah, a jNetophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of kGibeah of the children of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah lthe Pirathonite, Hiddai of the ||brooks of mGaash, 31 Abi-albon nthe Arbathite, Azmaveth othe Barhumite, 32 Eliahba pthe Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 qShammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the rMaachathite, sEliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezrai tthe Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of uZobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek vthe Ammonite, Naharai wthe Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 xIra an yIthrite, Gareb an Ithrite, 39 zUriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.