The Death of King Saul and His Sons

10 Now the many Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from the Philistines, and were killed on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines went after Saul and his sons. And they killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. ³ The battle was hard for Saul. Those who fought with the bow found him, and hurt him with an arrow. ⁴ Then Saul said to the one who carried his battle-clothes, “Take your sword and kill me with it. Or these men who have not gone through our religious act will come and make fun of me.” But the one who carried his battle-clothes would not do it. For he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When the one who carried his battle-clothes saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword and died also. ⁶ So Saul died with his three sons. All those of his house died together.

⁷ All the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in their cities. ⁸ When the Philistines came the next day to take what had belonged to the dead, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they took his clothes, his head, and his battle-clothes. And they sent men around the land of the Philistines to take the good news to their false gods and to the people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s battle-clothes in the house of their gods. And they put his head in the house of Dagon. ¹¹ All the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹² So all the powerful soldiers went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the oak tree there. Then they went without food for seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for his sin against the Lord, because he did not keep the Word of the Lord. He had asked a woman who spoke with spirits what he should do. ¹⁴ He did not ask the Lord. So the Lord killed him, and gave the nation to David the son of Jesse.

David Becomes King of Israel and Judah

11 Then all Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “See, we are your bone and your flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel. The Lord your God said to you, ‘You will be the shepherd of My people Israel. And you will be king over My people Israel.’” ³ So all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. And David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. Then they poured oil on David to be the king of Israel, just as the Lord had said through Samuel. ⁴ David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). And the Jebusites, the people of the land, were there. ⁵ The people of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” But David took the strong-place of Zion (that is, the city of David). ⁶ Now David had said, “Whoever kills a Jebusite first will be captain and leader.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became captain. ⁷ Then David lived in the strong-place. So it was called the city of David. ⁸ He built the city all around, from the Millo and then around. And Joab built the rest of the city up again. ⁹ David became greater and greater, for the Lord of All was with him.

David’s Strong Men

¹⁰ These are the leaders of David’s strong men. They gave him much help in his nation, together with all Israel, to make him king. It was just as the Lord had said would happen with Israel. ¹¹ These are the names of David’s strong men. There was Jashobeam the son of Hachmonite, the head of the thirty. He killed 300 men with his spear at one time. ¹² Then there was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite. He was one of the three powerful soldiers. ¹³ He was with David at Pasdammim when the Philistines were gathered there to battle, where there was a piece of ground full of grain. And the people ran away from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But he and his men stood on the piece of ground and fought for it, and killed the Philistines. The Lord saved them by His great power.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty leaders went down to the rock and into the cave of Adullam where David was staying. The Philistine army was staying in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was in a strong-place, while the Philistine soldiers had their place in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David had a strong desire. He said, “O, if only someone would give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ So the three men broke through the Philistine army. They took water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord, ¹⁹ and said, “Far be it from me that I should do this before my God. Should I drink the blood of these men? For they put their lives in danger to bring it.” So he would not drink it. These things are what the three powerful soldiers did.

²⁰ As for Abishai the brother of Joab, he was the head of the thirty. He fought and killed 300 men with his spear. And his name became well-known like the three. ²¹ He was the best known of the thirty. But he was not as important as the three.

²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a powerful soldier from Kabzeel, did great things. He killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He went down and killed a lion inside a deep hole on a day when there was snow. ²³ And he killed an Egyptian who was very tall, five cubits tall. The Egyptian held a spear as big as the cross-piece of a cloth-maker. But Benaiah went down to him with a heavy stick and took the spear from the Egyptian’s hand. Then he killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These are the things Benaiah the son of Johoiada did. His name was well-known like the three powerful soldiers. ²⁵ He was respected among the thirty. But he was not as important as the three. David chose him to be the head of his house soldiers.

²⁶ The strong men of the armies were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth the Harorite, and Helez the Pelonite. ²⁸ And there were Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, and Ilai the Ahohite. ³⁰ There were Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, and Benaiah the Pirathonite. ³² There were Hurai of the rivers of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of Hashem the Gizonite. There were Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, and Ahijah the Pelonite. ³⁷ There were 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. Naharai was the one who carried the battle-clothes of Joab the son of Zeruiah. ⁴⁰ There were Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² and Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite. Adina was a leader of the Reubenites, and had thirty men with him. ⁴³ Then there were Hanan the son of Maacah, Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, and Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite. ⁴⁵ There were Jediael the son of Shimri, his brother Joha the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam. And there were Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

David’s Army Gets Larger

12 These are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while David was still hidden because of Saul the son of Kish. They were among the strong men who helped him in war. ² They fought with the bow. They could also throw stones or shoot arrows with both the right and left hand. They were Saul’s brothers from Benjamin. ³ The leader was Ahiezer, then Joash. Both of them were sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite. And there were Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, Beracah, Jehu the Anathothite, ⁴ and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite. He was a strong man among the thirty, and a leader over them. There were Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite, ⁵ Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite. ⁶ There were Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam, the Korahites. ⁷ And there were Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸ Powerful soldiers came from the Gadites to David in the strong-place in the desert. They had been taught how to fight in war, and could use the battle-covering and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions. And they were as fast as the deer on the mountains. ⁹ Ezer was the first. Obadiah was the second. Eliab was the third. ¹⁰ Mishmannah was the fourth. Jeremiah was the fifth. ¹¹ Attai was the sixth. Eliel was the seventh. ¹² Johanan was the eighth. Elzabad was the ninth. ¹³ Jeremiah was the tenth. Machbannai was the eleventh. ¹⁴ These Gadites were captains of the army. He who was least led 100. And he who was greatest led 1,000. ¹⁵ These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when the water was flowing over its sides. They drove away all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at his strong-place. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them. He said to them, “If you come in peace to help me, my heart will be joined to you. But if you have come to hand me over to those who hate me, may the God of our fathers see it and speak strong words to you. For I have done nothing wrong.” ¹⁸ Then the Spirit came upon Amasai the captain of the thirty. Amasai said, “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to those who help you! For your God helps you!” Then David received them and made them captains of his soldiers.

¹⁹ Some men from Manasseh came over to David’s side when he was about to go to battle with the Philistines against Saul. But they did not help him. For after talking it over, the Philistine leaders sent him away, saying, “He might go over to Saul’s side with our heads.” ²⁰ The men who came over to David’s side from Manasseh as he went to Ziklag were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. They were captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against the army of soldiers who came to fight him. For they were all powerful soldiers, and captains in the army. ²² Each day men came to David to help him. They came until there was a great army, like the army of God.

²³ These are the numbers of the armies who came to David at Hebron. They came to turn the nation of Saul to him, as the Word of the Lord had said. ²⁴ There were 6,800 sons of Judah who carried a battle-covering and spear, ready for war. ²⁵ There were 7,100 powerful soldiers from the sons of Simeon. ²⁶ There were 4,600 sons of Levi. ²⁷ Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron. There were 3,700 men with him. ²⁸ And there was Zadok, a young, powerful soldier, and twenty-two captains from his own father’s house. ²⁹ There were 3,000 sons of Benjamin, Saul’s brothers. For until now most of them had stayed faithful to the house of Saul. ³⁰ There were 20,800 powerful soldiers from the sons of Ephraim. They were important men in their fathers’ houses. ³¹ There were 18,000 men of the half-family group of Manasseh. They were chosen by name to come and make David king. ³² There were 200 captains of the sons of Issachar. They understood the times and had much understanding of what Israel should do. And all their brothers obeyed them. ³³ There were 50,000 men of Zebulun who were soldiers. They could fight in battle with everything used in war. And they helped David as if they had one heart. ³⁴ There were 1,000 captains from Naphtali. With them were 37,000 men with battle-coverings and spears. ³⁵ There were 28,600 Danites ready for battle. ³⁶ There were 40,000 soldiers from Asher, ready for battle. ³⁷ And there were 120,000 sons of Reuben, Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh from the other side of the Jordan. They came with everything used in war.

³⁸ All these were men of war, ready for battle. They came to Hebron with one desire, to make David the king of all Israel. And all the rest of Israel were of one mind to make David king. ³⁹ They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking. For their brothers had made food ready for them. ⁴⁰ And their neighbors brought food, from as far as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, horses and cattle. They brought many loaves of bread and figs, many dried grapes, wine, oil, cattle and sheep. For there was joy in Israel.

The Special Box Brought from Kiriath-Jearim

13 Then David spoke with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds and with every leader about what should be done. ² David spoke to all the people of Israel. He said, “If you think it is good, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send word to our brothers who are staying in all the land of Israel. Let us send word to the religious leaders and Levites who are with them in their cities that have fields. And let us ask them to meet with us. ³ Let us bring the special box with the Law of our God to us. For we did not think of it in the days of Saul.” ⁴ Then all the people said that they would do so. For it was right in the eyes of all the people.

⁵ So David gathered all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt to the gate of Hamath, to bring the special box of God from Kiriath-jearim. ⁶ David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim which belongs to Judah. They went to bring the special box of God. It is called by the name of the Lord Who sits on His throne above the cherubim. ⁷ They carried the special box of God on a new wagon from the house of Abinadab. And Uzza and Ahio drove the wagon. ⁸ David and all Israel were showing their joy before God with all their strength. They were singing and playing harps and timbrels, and blowing horns.

⁹ When they came to the grain-floor of Chidon, the cattle pulling the wagon tripped. And Uzza put out his hand to hold the special box of God. ¹⁰ Then the anger of the Lord burned against Uzza. So He killed him because Uzza had put out his hand to the special box of God, so before God he died. ¹¹ Then David became angry because the Lord had killed Uzza in His anger. That place is called Perez-uzza to this day. ¹² David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the special box of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the special box of God with him to the city of David. He took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ The special box of God stayed with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months. The Lord brought good to Obed-edom’s family and all that he had.