David Made King over All Israel

11 ^(A)Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron ^[a]and said, “Behold, 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; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘^(B)You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be leader over My people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and ^(C)they anointed David king over Israel, ^(D)in accordance with the word of the Lord through Samuel.

Jerusalem Is the Capital City

⁴ Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (^(E)that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not enter here.” Nevertheless David took the mountain stronghold of Zion (that is, the city of David). ⁶ Now David had said, “Whoever is first to ^[b]kill a Jebusite shall be chief and commander.” ^(F)Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief. ⁷ Then David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ He ^[c]built the city all around, from the ^[d]Millo to the surrounding area; and Joab ^[e]repaired the rest of the city. ^9 (G)And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of armies was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

^10 (H)Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who remained faithful to him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, ^(I)in accordance with the word of the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹ These constitute the list of David’s mighty men: ^(J)Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, ^(K)the chief of the thirty; he wielded his spear against three hundred ^[f]whom he killed at one time.

¹² After him was Eleazar the son of ^(L)Dodo, the Ahohite, who was ^[g]one of the three mighty men. ¹³ He was with David at ^[h]Pas-dammim ^(M)when the Philistines were gathered together there to battle, and there was a plot of land full of barley; and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But they took their stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and defeated the Philistines; and the Lord saved them with a great ^[i]victory.

¹⁵ Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while ^(N)the army of the Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, while ^(O)the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁸ So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; however, David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; ¹⁹ and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went ^[j]at the risk of their lives? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

²⁰ As for ^[k]Abshai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the ^[l]thirty, and he wielded his spear against three hundred ^[m]and killed them; and he had a name ^[n]as well as the ^[o]thirty. ²¹ Of the three in the second rank he was the most honored, and he became their commander; however, he did not attain the reputation of the first three.

^22 (P)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a warrior of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck and killed the ^[p]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and struck and killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day. ²³ And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature ^[q]five cubits tall. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was ^(Q)a spear like a weaver’s beam, but he went down to him with a club and snatched 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 ^[r]as well as the three mighty men. ²⁵ Behold, he was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the first three; and 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 [s]Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the ^[t]Pelonite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, ^29 [u]Sibbecai the Hushathite, ^[v]Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰ Maharai the Netophathite, ^[w]Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, ^32 [x]Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, ^[y]Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of ^[z]Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of ^[aa]Sacar the Hararite, ^[ab]Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷ Hezro the Carmelite, ^[ac]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, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty 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, and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

David’s Supporters in Ziklag

12 ^(R)Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still restricted because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. ² They were equipped with bows, ^(S)using both the right hand and the left to sling stones and shoot arrows with the bow; ^(T)they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin. ³ The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite, ⁴ and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and in charge of the thirty. ^[ad]Then Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite, ^5 [ae]Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite, ⁶ Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam, the Korahites, ⁷ and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸ From the Gadites valiant mighty men went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness, men trained for war who could handle a large shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and ^(U)they were as swift as the 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, and Machbannai, the eleventh. ¹⁴ These men from the sons of Gad were ^[af]captains of the army; ^(V)the one who was least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest, to a thousand. ^15 (W)These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no ^[ag]wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.” ¹⁸ Then ^(X)the Spirit ^[ah]covered ^(Y)Amasai like clothing, the chief of the thirty; and he said,

Then David received them and made them ^[ai]captains of the troops.

^19 (AA)From Manasseh some also defected to David when he was about to go to battle with the Philistines against Saul. But they did not help them, because the governors of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, “At the cost of our heads he might defect to his master Saul.” ²⁰ As he was going to Ziklag, men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, ^[aj]captains of thousands who belonged to Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against ^(AB)the band of raiders, for they were all valiant mighty men, and were captains in the army. ²² For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army ^(AC)like the army of God.

Supporters Gathered at Hebron

²³ Now these are the numbers of the ^[ak]divisions equipped for war, ^(AD)who came to David at Hebron, ^(AE)to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, ^(AF)according to the ^[al]word of the Lord. ²⁴ The sons of Judah who carried shield and spear numbered 6,800, equipped for war. ²⁵ From the sons of Simeon, valiant mighty men of war, 7,100. ²⁶ From the sons of Levi, 4,600. ²⁷ Now Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were 3,700, ²⁸ also ^(AG)Zadok, a young valiant mighty man, and from his father’s house, twenty-two captains. ²⁹ From the sons of Benjamin, ^(AH)Saul’s kinsmen, three thousand; for until now ^(AI)the majority of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. ³⁰ From the sons of Ephraim 20,800, valiant mighty men, famous men in their fathers’ households. ³¹ From the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated by name to come and make David king. ³² From the sons of Issachar, ^(AJ)men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command. ³³ From Zebulun, there were fifty thousand who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David ^[am]with ^(AK)an undivided heart. ³⁴ From Naphtali there were a thousand captains, and with them thirty-seven thousand with shield and spear. ³⁵ From the Danites who could draw up in battle formation, there were 28,600. ³⁶ From Asher there were forty thousand who went out in the army to draw up in battle formation. ³⁷ From the other side of the Jordan, from the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle.

³⁸ All of these, being men of war who helped in battle formation, came to Hebron with ^(AL)a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel also were of one mind to make David king. ³⁹ They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them. ⁴⁰ Moreover, those who were near to them, as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, ^(AM)brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and on oxen, great quantities of flour cakes, fig cakes and bunches of raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep. There was joy indeed in Israel.

Peril in Transporting the Ark

13 Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, with every leader. ² David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, ^[an]let us send word everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they meet with us; ³ and ^[ao]let us bring back the ark of our God to us, ^(AN)since we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” ⁴ Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for ^[ap]this was right in the eyes of all the people.

^5 (AO)So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, ^(AP)to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. ^6 (AQ)David and all Israel went up to ^(AR)Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the Lord ^(AS)who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called. ⁷ And they ^[aq]carried the ark of God on a new cart from ^(AT)the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. ⁸ David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, ^(AU)with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

⁹ When they came to ^(AV)the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly overturned it. ¹⁰ But the anger of the Lord burned against Uzza, so He struck him ^(AW)because he had put out his hand toward the ark; ^(AX)and he died there before God. ¹¹ Then David became angry because ^[ar]of the Lord’s outburst against Uzza; and he called that place ^[as]Perez-uzza as it is to this day. ¹² David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside ^(AY)to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months; and ^(AZ)the Lord blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that he had.