2 Samuel 23
New American Standard Bible
David’s Last Song
23 Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
(A)The man who was raised on high,
(B)The anointed of the God of Jacob
And the sweet psalmist of Israel, declares,
2 “(C)The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said it;
(D)The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘(E)He who rules over mankind righteously,
(F)Who rules in the fear of God,
4 (G)Is like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the fresh grass springs out of the earth
From sunshine after rain.’
5 Is my house not indeed so with God?
For (H)He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Properly ordered in all things, and secured;
For will He not indeed make
All my salvation and all my delight grow?
6 (I)But the worthless, every one of them, are like scattered thorns,
Because they cannot be taken in hand;
7 Instead, the man who touches them
Must be [a]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And (J)they will be completely burned with fire in their [b]place.”
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 who were killed by him at one time. 9 And after him was Eleazar the son of (L)Dodo the (M)Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had [d]withdrawn. 10 (N)He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and [e]it clung to the sword, and (O)the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder the dead.
11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee, a (P)Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered [f]into an army where there was a plot of land full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines; and (Q)the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time to the (R)cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in (S)the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then (T)in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And (U)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 forced their way into 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. Yet he would not drink it, but (W)poured it out as an offering to the Lord; 17 and he said, “Far be it from me, Lord, that I would do this! (X)Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
18 Now (Y)Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was (Z)chief of the [g]thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred [h]and killed them, and had a name [i]as well as the three. 19 He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.
20 Then (AA)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of (AB)Kabzeel, who had done great deeds, [j]killed the [k]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 21 And he [l]killed an Egyptian, [m]an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, 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 [n]as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.
24 (AD)Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; and there was 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 and (AY)Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 23:7 Lit filled
- 2 Samuel 23:7 Lit sitting
- 2 Samuel 23:8 Or three
- 2 Samuel 23:9 Lit gone up
- 2 Samuel 23:10 Lit his hand
- 2 Samuel 23:11 Or possibly, at Lehi
- 2 Samuel 23:18 As in two Heb mss and Syriac; MT three
- 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit slain ones
- 2 Samuel 23:18 Lit among the
- 2 Samuel 23:20 Lit struck
- 2 Samuel 23:20 Or two warriors of Moab
- 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit struck
- 2 Samuel 23:21 Lit a man of appearance
- 2 Samuel 23:22 Lit among the
2 Samuel 23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Last Words of David
23 Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,[a]
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:(A)
2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me;
his word is upon my tongue.(B)
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
“One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,(C)
4 is like the light of morning,
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”(D)
5 Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?(E)
6 But the godless[b] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;(F)
7 to touch them one uses an iron bar
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.[c]
David’s Mighty Men
8 These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the Three;[d] he wielded his spear[e] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
9 Next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle. The Israelites withdrew,(G) 10 but he stood his ground. He struck down the Philistines until his arm grew weary, though his hand clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the people came back to him—but only to strip the dead.(H)
11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the army fled from the Philistines.(I) 12 But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Toward the beginning of harvest three of the thirty chiefs went down to join David at the cave of Adullam while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.(J) 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.(K) 15 David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three warriors broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, 17 for he said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.(L)
18 Now Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty.[f] With his spear he fought against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the Three.(M) 19 He was the most renowned of the Thirty[g] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the Three.
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant warrior[h] from Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he struck down two sons of Ariel[i] of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.(N) 21 And he killed an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did and won a name beside the three warriors. 23 He was renowned among the Thirty, but he did not attain to the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.(O)
24 Among the Thirty were Asahel brother of Joab; Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem;(P) 25 Shammah of Harod; Elika of Harod;(Q) 26 Helez the Paltite; Ira son of Ikkesh of Tekoa; 27 Abiezer of Anathoth; Mebunnai the Hushathite; 28 Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharai of Netophah; 29 Heleb son of Baanah of Netophah; Ittai son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjaminites; 30 Benaiah of Pirathon; Hiddai of the wadis of Gaash; 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite; Azmaveth of Bahurim;[j] 32 Eliahba of Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen: Jonathan 33 son of[k] Shammah the Hararite; Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite; 34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai of Maacah; Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite; 35 Hezro[l] of Carmel; Paarai the Arbite; 36 Igal son of Nathan of Zobah; Bani the Gadite; 37 Zelek the Ammonite; Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah; 38 Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite;(R) 39 Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.(S)
Footnotes
- 23.1 Q ms: MT who was raised on high
- 23.6 Heb worthless
- 23.7 Heb in sitting
- 23.8 Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 23.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 23.18 Heb mss Syr: MT Three
- 23.19 Heb ms Syr: Heb Was he the most renowned of the Three?
- 23.20 Another reading is the son of Ish-hai
- 23.20 Gk: Heb lacks sons of
- 23.31 Cn: Heb the Barhumite
- 23.33 Gk: Heb lacks son of
- 23.35 Another reading is Hezrai
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