2 Samuel 23
Legacy Standard Bible
David’s Last Words
23 Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
(A)The man who was raised on high declares,
(B)The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,
2 “(C)The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said,
(D)The Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘(E)He who rules over men as a righteous one,
(F)Who rules in the fear of God,
4 (G)Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
From brightness of the sun after rain.’
With the tender grass springing from the earth,
5 [a]Truly is not my house so with God?
For (H)He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Ordered in all things, and secured;
For all my salvation and all my desire,
Will He not indeed make it grow?
6 (I)But the vile men, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns,
Because they cannot be taken in hand;
7 But the man who touches them
Must be [b]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And (J)they will be completely burned with fire where they sit.”
David’s Mighty Men
8 (K)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the [c]captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time; 9 and after him was Eleazar the son of (L)Dodo the (M)son of Ahohi, one of the three mighty men with David when they [d]reproached the Philistines who were gathered together there to battle and the men of Israel had gone up to retreat. 10 (N)He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and [e]clung to the sword, and (O)Yahweh brought about a great salvation that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a (P)Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered [f]into a troop where there was a portion of the field full of lentils; and the people fled from before the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of that portion and delivered it and struck down the Philistines. So (Q)Yahweh brought about a great salvation.
13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the (R)cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in (S)the valley of Rephaim. 14 And David was then (T)in the fortress, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 (U)Then 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!” 16 (V)So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he was not willing to drink it, but (W)poured it out to Yahweh; 17 and he said, “Be it far from me, O Yahweh, that I should do this. (X)Shall I drink the blood of the men who went [g]at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
18 (Y)Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was (Z)chief of the [h]thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred [i]who were slain by him; and he had a name as well as the three. 19 Of the thirty he was most honored and became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three.
20 Then (AA)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of (AB)Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the [j]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. 21 He had also struck down an Egyptian, [k]an impressive man. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear, 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. 22 These things (AC)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.
24 (AD)Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 (AE)Shammah the (AF)Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the (AG)Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the (AH)Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the (AI)Netophathite, 29 (AJ)Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of (AK)Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a (AL)Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of (AM)Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the (AN)Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the (AO)Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 (AP)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of (AQ)the Maacathite, (AR)Eliam the son of (AS)Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 (AT)Hezro the (AU)Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of (AV)Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the (AW)Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the (AX)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 (AY)Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 23:5 Or But my house is not so with God
- 2 Samuel 23:7 Lit filled
- 2 Samuel 23:8 Or 3
- 2 Samuel 23:9 Or defied
- 2 Samuel 23:10 Lit his hand clung
- 2 Samuel 23:11 Possibly, at Lehi
- 2 Samuel 23:17 Lit with their souls
- 2 Samuel 23:18 As in two Heb mss and Syr; M.T. 3
- 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit slain ones
- 2 Samuel 23:20 Or two lion-like heroes
- 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit a man of appearance
2 Samuel 23
Christian Standard Bible
David’s Last Words
23 These are the last words of David:
The declaration of David son of Jesse,(A)
the declaration of the man raised on high,[a]
the one anointed by the God of Jacob.(B)
This is the most delightful of Israel’s songs.
2 The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
his word was on my tongue.(C)
3 The God of Israel spoke;
the Rock of Israel said to me,
“The one who rules the people with justice,
who rules in the fear of God,(D)
4 is like the morning light when the sun rises
on a cloudless morning,
the glisten of rain on sprouting grass.”
5 Is it not true my house is with God?
For he has established a permanent covenant(E) with me,
ordered and secured in every detail.(F)
Will he not bring about
my whole salvation and my every desire?
6 But all the wicked are like thorns raked aside;
they can never be picked up by hand.
7 The man who touches them
must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear.
They will be completely burned up on the spot.
Exploits of David’s Warriors
8 These are the names of David’s warriors:(G)
Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the officers.[b] He wielded his spear[c] against eight hundred men that he killed at one time.
9 After him, Eleazar son of Dodo son of an Ahohite was among the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines. The men of Israel retreated in the place they had gathered for battle, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.
11 After him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had assembled in formation where there was a field full of lentils. The troops fled from the Philistines, 12 but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Three of the thirty leading warriors went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam,(H) while a company of Philistines was camping in Rephaim Valley. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold,(I) and a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David was extremely thirsty[d] and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” 16 So three of the warriors broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. 17 David said, “Lord, I would never do such a thing! Is this not the blood of men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.
18 Abishai, Joab’s brother and son of Zeruiah,(J) was leader of the Three.[e] He wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three. 19 Was he not more honored than the Three? He became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.(K)
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada(L) was the son of a brave man from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons[f] of Ariel[g] of Moab, and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 He also killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and then killed him with his own spear. 22 These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors. 23 He was the most honored of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.
24 Among the Thirty were
Joab’s brother Asahel,(M)
Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
25 Shammah the Harodite,
Elika the Harodite,
26 Helez the Paltite,
Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
27 Abiezer the Anathothite,
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 Benjaminites,
30 Benaiah the Pirathonite,
Hiddai from the wadis of Gaash,[h]
31 Abi-albon the Arbathite,
Azmaveth the Barhumite,
32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite,
the sons of Jashen,
Jonathan son of[i] 33 Shammah the Hararite,
Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite,
34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai son of the Maacathite,
Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,(N)
35 Hezro the Carmelite,
Paarai the Arbite,
36 Igal son of Nathan from Zobah,
Bani the Gadite,
37 Zelek the Ammonite,
Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer for Joab son of Zeruiah,
38 Ira the Ithrite,
Gareb the Ithrite,
There were thirty-seven in all.
Footnotes
- 23:1 Or raised up by the high God
- 23:8 Some Hb mss, LXX read Three
- 23:8 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss, LXX read He was Adino the Eznite
- 23:15 Lit And David craved
- 23:18 Some Hb mss, Syr read the Thirty
- 23:20 LXX; MT omits sons
- 23:20 Or two warriors
- 23:30 Or from Nahale-gaash
- 23:32 Some LXX mss; MT omits son of; 1Ch 11:34
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