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23 And these [are] the last words of David: -- `The affirmation of David son of Jesse -- And the affirmation of the man raised up -- Concerning the Anointed of the God of Jacob, And the Sweetness of the Songs of Israel:

The Spirit of Jehovah hath spoken by me, And His word [is] on my tongue.

He said -- the God of Israel -- to me, He spake -- the Rock of Israel: He who is ruling over man [is] righteous, He is ruling in the fear of God.

And as the light of morning he riseth, A morning sun -- no clouds! By the shining, by the rain, Tender grass of the earth!

For -- not so [is] my house with God; For -- a covenant age-during He made with me, Arranged in all things, and kept; For -- all my salvation, and all desire, For -- He hath not caused [it] to spring up.

As to the worthless -- As a thorn driven away [are] all of them, For -- not by hand are they taken;

And the man who cometh against them Is filled with iron and the staff of a spear, And with fire they are utterly burnt In the cessation.'

These [are] the names of the mighty ones whom David hath: sitting in the seat [is] the Tachmonite, head of the captains -- he [is] Adino, who hardened himself against eight hundred -- wounded at one time.

And after him [is] Eleazar son of Dodo, son of Ahohi, of the three mighty men with David; in their exposing themselves among the Philistines -- they have been gathered there to battle, and the men of Israel go up --

10 he hath arisen, and smiteth among the Philistines till that his hand hath been weary, and his hand cleaveth unto the sword, and Jehovah worketh a great salvation on that day, and the people turn back after him only to strip off.

11 And after him [is] Shammah son of Agee the Hararite, and the Philistines are gathered into a company, and there is there a portion of the field full of lentiles, and the people hath fled from the presence of the Philistines,

12 and he stationeth himself in the midst of the portion, and delivereth it, and smiteth the Philistines, and Jehovah worketh a great salvation.

13 And three of the thirty heads go down and come unto the harvest, unto David, unto the cave of Adullam, and the company of the Philistines are encamping in the valley of Rephaim,

14 and David [is] then in a fortress, and the station of the Philistines [is] then in Beth-Lehem,

15 and David longeth and saith, `Who doth give me a drink of the water of the well of Beth-Lehem, which [is] by the gate?'

16 And the three mighty ones cleave through the camp of the Philistines, and draw water out of the well of Beth-Lehem, which [is] by the gate, and take [it] up, and bring in unto David; and he was not willing to drink it, and poureth it out to Jehovah,

17 and saith, `Far be it from me, O Jehovah, to do this; is it the blood of the men who are going with their lives?' and he was not willing to drink it; these [things] did the three mighty ones.

18 And Abishai brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, he [is] head of three, and he is lifting up his spear against three hundred -- wounded, and he hath a name among three.

19 Of the three is he not the honoured? and he becometh their head; and unto the [first] three he hath not come.

20 And Benaiah son of Jehoiada (son of a man of valour, great in deeds from Kabzeel), he hath smitten two lion-like men of Moab, and he hath gone down and smitten the lion in the midst of the pit in a day of snow.

21 And he hath smitten the Egyptian man, a man of appearance, and in the hand of the Egyptian [is] a spear, and he goeth down unto him with a rod, and taketh violently away the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slayeth him with his own spear.

22 These [things] hath Benaiah son of Jehoiada done, and hath a name among three mighty.

23 Of the thirty he is honoured, and unto the three he came not; and David setteth him over his guard.

24 Asahel brother of Joab [is] of the thirty; Elhanan son of Dodo of Beth-Lehem.

25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

26 Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

27 Abiezer the Annethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

29 Heleb son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin,

30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,

31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, [of] the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite,

34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai, son of the Maachathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

36 Igal son of Nathan from Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, bearer of the weapons of Joab son of Zeruiah,

38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

39 Uriah the Hittite; in all thirty and seven.

David’s Last Words

23 These are the last words of David:

“The inspired utterance of David son of Jesse,
    the utterance of the man exalted(A) by the Most High,
the man anointed(B) by the God of Jacob,
    the hero of Israel’s songs:

“The Spirit(C) of the Lord spoke through me;
    his word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke,
    the Rock(D) of Israel said to me:
‘When one rules over people in righteousness,(E)
    when he rules in the fear(F) of God,(G)
he is like the light(H) of morning(I) at sunrise(J)
    on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain(K)
    that brings grass from the earth.’

“If my house were not right with God,
    surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant,(L)
    arranged and secured in every part;
surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation
    and grant me my every desire.
But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns,(M)
    which are not gathered with the hand.
Whoever touches thorns
    uses a tool of iron or the shaft of a spear;
    they are burned up where they lie.”

David’s Mighty Warriors(N)

These are the names of David’s mighty warriors:(O)

Josheb-Basshebeth,[a](P) a Tahkemonite,[b] was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed[c] in one encounter.

Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai(Q) the Ahohite.(R) As one of the three mighty warriors, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim[d] for battle. Then the Israelites retreated, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.

11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. 12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.

13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief warriors came down to David at the cave of Adullam,(S) while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.(T) 14 At that time David was in the stronghold,(U) and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.(V) 15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” 16 So the three mighty warriors 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(W) it out before the Lord. 17 “Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood(X) of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it.

Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors.

18 Abishai(Y) the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three.[e] He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as famous as the Three. 19 Was he not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them.

20 Benaiah(Z) son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel,(AA) 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. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear 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. 22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. 23 He 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.

24 Among the Thirty were:

Asahel(AB) the brother of Joab,

Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem,

25 Shammah the Harodite,(AC)

Elika the Harodite,

26 Helez(AD) the Paltite,

Ira(AE) son of Ikkesh from Tekoa,

27 Abiezer(AF) from Anathoth,(AG)

Sibbekai[f] the Hushathite,

28 Zalmon the Ahohite,

Maharai(AH) the Netophathite,(AI)

29 Heled[g](AJ) son of Baanah the Netophathite,

Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah(AK) in Benjamin,

30 Benaiah the Pirathonite,(AL)

Hiddai[h] from the ravines of Gaash,(AM)

31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite,

Azmaveth the Barhumite,(AN)

32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

the sons of Jashen,

Jonathan 33 son of[i] Shammah the Hararite,

Ahiam son of Sharar[j] the Hararite,

34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai the Maakathite,(AO)

Eliam(AP) son of Ahithophel(AQ) the Gilonite,

35 Hezro the Carmelite,(AR)

Paarai the Arbite,

36 Igal son of Nathan from Zobah,(AS)

the son of Hagri,[k]

37 Zelek the Ammonite,

Naharai the Beerothite,(AT) the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

38 Ira the Ithrite,(AU)

Gareb the Ithrite

39 and Uriah(AV) the Hittite.

There were thirty-seven in all.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 23:8 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts suggest Ish-Bosheth, that is, Esh-Baal (see also 1 Chron. 11:11 Jashobeam).
  2. 2 Samuel 23:8 Probably a variant of Hakmonite (see 1 Chron. 11:11)
  3. 2 Samuel 23:8 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:11); Hebrew and other Septuagint manuscripts Three; it was Adino the Eznite who killed eight hundred men
  4. 2 Samuel 23:9 See 1 Chron. 11:13; Hebrew gathered there.
  5. 2 Samuel 23:18 Most Hebrew manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:20); two Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac Thirty
  6. 2 Samuel 23:27 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 21:18; 1 Chron. 11:29); Hebrew Mebunnai
  7. 2 Samuel 23:29 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate (see also 1 Chron. 11:30); most Hebrew manuscripts Heleb
  8. 2 Samuel 23:30 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:32) Hurai
  9. 2 Samuel 23:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:34); Hebrew does not have son of.
  10. 2 Samuel 23:33 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:35) Sakar
  11. 2 Samuel 23:36 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 11:38); Hebrew Haggadi