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23 Now these are the last words of David.

David the son of Jesse saith,
And the man who was raised on high saith,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And [a]the sweet psalmist of Israel:
The Spirit of Jehovah spake [b]by me,
And his word was upon my tongue.
The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spake to me:
[c]One that ruleth over men [d]righteously,
That ruleth in the fear of God,
He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,
A morning without clouds,
When the tender grass springeth out of the earth,
Through clear shining after rain.
[e]Verily my house is not so with God;
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things, and sure:
For it is all my salvation, and all my desire,
Although he maketh it not to grow.
But [f]the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with the hand;
But the man that toucheth them
Must be [g]armed with iron and the staff of a spear:
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 23:1 Hebrew pleasant in the psalms of Israel.
  2. 2 Samuel 23:2 Or, in
  3. 2 Samuel 23:3 Or, There shall be one . . . and it shall be as etc.
  4. 2 Samuel 23:3 Hebrew a righteous one.
  5. 2 Samuel 23:5 Or, For is not my house so with God? for he . . . for all my salvation, and all my desire, will he not make it to grow?
  6. 2 Samuel 23:6 Hebrew Belial, that is, worthlessness.
  7. 2 Samuel 23:7 Hebrew filled.

David Extols Yahweh

23 These are the last words of David, the declaration of David the son of Jesse, and the declaration of the man exalted by the Most High, the anointed one of the God of Jacob and the darling of the songs of Israel. “The spirit of Yahweh speaks through me, and his word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel said to me, the rock of Israel has spoken; ‘He who rules over mankind rules righteously, in the fear of God. Like the light of the morning when the sun rises, shining with no clouds, bringing vegetation from the earth apart from rain.’[a] Yet not so is my house with God, for he made an everlasting covenant for me, arranging everything. He has secured all my deliverance, and all my desire he will cause to happen. But evil persons are like thorns cast aside; all of them, because they cannot be picked up in the hand. And if a man wants to touch them, he must use an iron instrument or the shaft of a spear; then they are consumed entirely with fire on the spot.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 23:4 In other words, even men who rule rightly pass like the dew of the morning