David Anointed King of All Israel

11 Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron, and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you that led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.

Jerusalem Captured

⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jeb′usites were, the inhabitants of the land. ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁶ David said, “Whoever shall smite the Jeb′usites first shall be chief and commander.” And Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah went up first, so he became chief. ⁷ And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ And he built the city round about from the Millo in complete circuit; and Jo′ab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

David’s Mighty Men and Their Exploits

¹⁰ Now these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹ This is an account of David’s mighty men: Jasho′be-am, a Hach′monite, was chief of the three;^[a] he wielded his spear against three hundred whom he slew at one time.

¹² And next to him among the three mighty men was Elea′zar the son of Dodo, the Aho′hite. ¹³ He was with David at Pas-dam′mim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But he^[b] took his^[c] stand in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Reph′aim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David said longingly, “O that some one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took and brought it to David. But David would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, ¹⁹ and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

²⁰ Now Abi′shai, the brother of Jo′ab, was chief of the thirty.^[d] And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and slew them, and won a name beside the three. ²¹ He was the most renowned^[e] of the thirty,^[f] and became their commander; but he did not attain to the three.

²² And Benai′ah the son of Jehoi′ada was a valiant man^[g] of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he smote two ariels^[h] of Moab. He also went down and slew a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. ²³ And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver’s beam; but Benai′ah went down to him with a staff, and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. ²⁴ These things did Benai′ah the son of Jehoi′ada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. ²⁵ He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

²⁶ The mighty men of the armies were As′ahel the brother of Jo′ab, Elha′nan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth of Harod,^[i] Helez the Pel′onite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh of Teko′a, Abi-e′zer of An′athoth, ²⁹ Sib′becai the Hu′shathite, I′lai the Aho′hite, ³⁰ Ma′harai of Netoph′ah, Heled the son of Ba′anah of Netoph′ah, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gib′eah of the Benjaminites, Benai′ah of Pir′athon, ³² Hurai of the brooks of Ga′ash, Abi′el the Ar′bathite, ³³ Az′maveth of Baha′rum, Eli′ahba of Sha-al′bon, ³⁴ Hashem^[j] the Gi′zonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Har′arite, ³⁵ Ahi′am the son of Sachar the Har′arite, Eli′phal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Meche′rathite, Ahi′jah the Pel′onite, ³⁷ Hezro of Carmel, Na′arai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Jo′el the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Na′harai of Be-er′oth, the armor-bearer of Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uri′ah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Ad′ina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a leader of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Ma′acah, and Josh′aphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzi′a the Ash′terathite, Shama and Je-i′el the sons of Hotham the Aro′erite, ⁴⁵ Jedi′a-el the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eli′el the Ma′havite, and Jer′ibai, and Joshavi′ah, the sons of El′na-am, and Ithmah the Mo′abite, ⁴⁷ Eli′el, and Obed, and Ja-asi′el the Mezo′ba-ite.

David’s Followers in the Wilderness

12 Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. ² They were bowmen, and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul’s kinsmen. ³ The chief was Ahi-e′zer, then Jo′ash, both sons of Shema′ah of Gib′e-ah; also Je′zi-el and Pelet the sons of Az′maveth; Ber′acah, Jehu of An′athoth, ⁴ Ishma′iah of Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader over the thirty; Jeremiah,^[k] Jaha′ziel, Joha′nan, Jo′zabad of Gede′rah, ⁵ Elu′zai,^[l] Jer′imoth, Beali′ah, Shemari′ah, Shephati′ah the Har′uphite; ⁶ Elka′nah, Isshi′ah, Az′arel, Jo-e′zer, and Jasho′be-am, the Ko′rahites; ⁷ And Joe′lah and Zebadi′ah, the sons of Jero′ham of Gedor.

⁸ From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains: ⁹ Ezer the chief, Obadi′ah second, Eli′ab third, ¹⁰ Mishman′nah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, ¹¹ Attai sixth, Eli′el seventh, ¹² Joha′nan eighth, Elza′bad ninth, ¹³ Jeremiah tenth, Mach′bannai eleventh. ¹⁴ These Gadites were officers of the army, the lesser over a hundred and the greater over a thousand. ¹⁵ These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be knit to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.” ¹⁸ Then the Spirit came upon Ama′sai, chief of the thirty, and he said,

Then David received them, and made them officers of his troops.

Paul on the Island of Malta

28 After we had escaped, we then learned that the island was called Malta. ² And the natives showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. ³ Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, when a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. ⁴ When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They waited, expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. ⁸ It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. ⁹ And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. ¹⁰ They presented many gifts to us;^[a] and when we sailed, they put on board whatever we needed.

Paul Arrives at Rome

¹¹ After three months we set sail in a ship which had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the Twin Brothers as figurehead. ¹² Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³ And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhe′gium; and after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Pute′oli. ¹⁴ There we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And the brethren there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Ap′pius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them Paul thanked God and took courage. ¹⁶ And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him.

Paul and Jewish Leaders in Rome

¹⁷ After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. ¹⁸ When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. ¹⁹ But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. ²⁰ For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” ²¹ And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brethren coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

Paul Preaches in Rome

²³ When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in great numbers. And he expounded the matter to them from morning till evening, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. ²⁴ And some were convinced by what he said, while others disbelieved. ²⁵ So, as they disagreed among themselves, they departed, after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁸ Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”^[b]

³⁰ And he lived there two whole years at his own expense,^[c] and welcomed all who came to him, ³¹ preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered.

God’s Power and Justice

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.