Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons

10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from them and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines followed closely after Saul and his sons and overtook them, and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³ The battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was [mortally] wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised [Philistines] will come and abuse and humiliate me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. ⁶ So Saul died with his three sons and all those of his house died together.

⁷ When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip (plunder) the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they stripped Saul and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to bring the good news to their ^[a]idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s armor in the house of their gods and nailed up his head in the house (temple) of Dagon.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

¹¹ When all Jabesh-gilead heard about everything that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the brave men arose, took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh; then they fasted seven days.^(A)

¹³ So Saul died for his ^[b]trespass which he committed against the Lord, for his failure to keep the word of the Lord; and also because he consulted a medium [regarding a spirit of the dead], to inquire of her, ¹⁴ and did not inquire of the Lord [instead]. Therefore the Lord killed him and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.^(B)

David Made King over All Israel

11 ^[c]Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.^{(C) 2} In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince and leader over My people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant (solemn agreement) with them there before the Lord; and they anointed him king over Israel, in accordance with the word of the Lord through Samuel.^(D)

Jerusalem, Capital City

⁴ Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. ⁵ Then the Jebusites said to David, “You shall not come in here.” But David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁶ Now David said, “Whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander.” Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] went up first, and so he was made chief. ⁷ Then David lived in the stronghold; so it was called the City of David. ⁸ He built the city around it, from the Millo (fortification) to the surrounding area; and Joab repaired the rest of the [old Jebusite] city. ⁹ David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

¹⁰ Now these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who strongly supported him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, in accordance with the word of the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹ This is the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty [heroes]. He lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.

¹² Next to him [in rank] was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. ¹³ He was with David at Pasdammim [where David had killed Goliath] and there the Philistines were gathered together for battle, and there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people [of Israel] fled before the Philistines. ¹⁴ But they took their stand in the midst of that plot and defended it, and killed the Philistines; and the Lord rescued them by a great victory.^(E)

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is next to 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 next to the gate, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it; he poured it out to the Lord [as an offering]; ¹⁹ and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this thing! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

²⁰ Abishai the brother of Joab was chief of the [other] ^[d]three, and he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and he had a name as well as the three. ²¹ Of the three in the second [rank] he was the most honored and became their captain; however, he did not attain to the first three [Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah].

²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a courageous man of Kabzeel who had done great things, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. Also he went down and killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. ²³ He killed an Egyptian also, a man of great stature, five ^[e]cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam, and Benaiah went down to him with [only] a staff (rod) and grabbed the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. ²⁵ He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to [the rank of] the [first] three. David appointed him over his bodyguard.

²⁶ Now the mighty men of the armies were: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, Abiezer of Anathoth, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰ Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjamites, Benaiah the Pirathonite, ³² Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷ Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister], ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite [Bathsheba’s husband], Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty [heroes] with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵ Jediael the son of Shimri, and his brother Joha, the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel and Obed and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

David’s Supporters in Ziklag

12 These are the ones who came to David at Ziklag, while he still concealed himself from Saul the son of Kish; they were among the courageous men who helped him in battle. ² They were armed with bows, and could use the right hand or the left to sling stones and shoot arrows from the bow; they were Saul’s relatives from [the tribe of] Benjamin. ³ The chief was Ahiezer and then Joash, the sons of Shemaah of Gibeah; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, and Jehu of Anathoth, ⁴ Ishmaiah of Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty, and [a leader] over them; ^[f]Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah, ^5 [g]Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite, ⁶ Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites, ⁷ and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸ Courageous men from the Gadites came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and who were swift as gazelles on the mountains. ⁹ Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, ¹⁰ Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, ¹¹ Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, ¹² Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, ¹³ Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh. ¹⁴ These from the sons (descendants) of Gad were captains of the army; he who was least was ^[h]equal to a hundred, and the greatest was equal to a thousand. ¹⁵ These are the men who crossed over the Jordan in the first month when it had overflowed all its banks and they put to flight all those in the valleys, east and west.

¹⁶ Then some of the ^[i]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 peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no violence or wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on [what you are doing] and punish [you].” ¹⁸ Then the [Holy] Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said,

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

¹⁹ Some [of the men] of Manasseh also defected to David when he came with the Philistines to go to battle against Saul. But David’s men did not [actually] assist the Philistines, for the lords (governors) of the Philistines after consultation sent him away, saying, “At the cost of our heads he may defect to his master Saul.”^{(F) 20} As David went to Ziklag, these men defected to him from Manasseh: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all courageous men, and [all seven] became commanders in his army. ²² For day by day men kept coming to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army of God.

Supporters Gathered at Hebron

²³ These are the numbers of the [armed] units equipped for war who came to David at Hebron to turn [over] the kingdom of Saul to him, in accordance with the word of the Lord. ²⁴ Those of the tribe of Judah who carried shield and spear were 6,800, armed for war; ²⁵ of the tribe of Simeon, brave warriors, 7,100; ²⁶ of the tribe of Levi, 4,600. ²⁷ Jehoiada was the leader of [the house of] Aaron, and with him were 3,700, ²⁸ and Zadok, a courageous young man, and twenty-two captains from his father’s house. ²⁹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, the relatives of [King] Saul, 3,000; for until now the majority of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. ³⁰ Of the tribe of Ephraim, 20,800, courageous men, famous in their fathers’ houses. ³¹ Of the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000, who were designated by name to come and make David king. ³² Of the tribe of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, two hundred chiefs; and all their relatives were at their command; ³³ of the tribe of Zebulun, there were 50,000 in military service who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David, men with ^[j]an undivided heart. ³⁴ Of the tribe of Naphtali, there were 1,000 captains, and with them 37,000 [of the rank and file armed] with shield and spear. ³⁵ Of the tribe of Dan, 28,600 men who could draw up in battle formation. ³⁶ Of the tribe of Asher, 40,000 men in military service, able to draw up in battle formation. ³⁷ From the other side [east] of the Jordan River, of [the tribes of] Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 120,000 men, armed with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle.

³⁸ All these, being men of war arrayed in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect (committed) heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were also of one mind to make David king. ³⁹ They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their relatives had prepared for them. ⁴⁰ Also those who were [living] near them [from] as far as [the tribes of] Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen, abundant supplies of flour, cakes of figs and raisins, wine, [olive] oil, oxen, and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.