The Last Words of David

23 Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
    the oracle of (A)the man who was raised on high,
(B)the anointed of the God of Jacob,
    the sweet psalmist of Israel:[a]

(C)“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;
    his word is on my tongue.
The God of Israel has spoken;
    (D)the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
    ruling (E)in the fear of God,
he (F)dawns on them like the morning light,
    like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
    like rain[b] that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

“For does not my house stand so with God?
    (G)For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?
But worthless men[c] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
    for they cannot be taken with the hand;
but the man who touches them
    arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
    and they are utterly consumed with fire.”[d]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 23:1 Or the favorite of the songs of Israel
  2. 2 Samuel 23:4 Hebrew from rain
  3. 2 Samuel 23:6 Hebrew worthlessness
  4. 2 Samuel 23:7 Hebrew consumed with fire in the sitting

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