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.
The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
his word was on my tongue.(C)
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)
is like the morning light when the sun rises
on a cloudless morning,
the glisten of rain on sprouting grass.”

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?
But all the wicked are like thorns raked aside;
they can never be picked up by hand.
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.

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Footnotes

  1. 23:1 Or raised up by the high God

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