2 Samuel 23:1-7
New English Translation
David’s Final Words
23 These are the final words of David:
“The oracle of David son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man raised up as
the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob,[a]
Israel’s beloved[b] singer of songs:
2 The Lord’s Spirit spoke through me;
his word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel spoke,
the Protector[c] of Israel spoke to me.
The one who rules fairly among men,
the one who rules in the fear of God,
4 is like the light of morning when the sun comes up,
a morning in which there are no clouds.
He is like the brightness after rain
that produces grass from the earth.
5 My dynasty is approved by God,[d]
for he has made a perpetual covenant with me,
arranged in all its particulars and secured.
He always delivers me,
and brings all I desire to fruition.[e]
6 But evil people are like thorns—
all of them are tossed away,
for they cannot be held in the hand.
7 The one who touches them
must use an iron instrument
or the wooden shaft of a spear.
They are completely burned up right where they lie!”[f]
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 23:1 tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”
- 2 Samuel 23:1 tn Or “pleasant.”
- 2 Samuel 23:3 tn Heb “rock,” used as a metaphor of divine protection.
- 2 Samuel 23:5 tn Heb “For not thus [is] my house with God?”
- 2 Samuel 23:5 tn Heb “for all my deliverance and every desire, surely does he not make [it] grow?”
- 2 Samuel 23:7 tn Heb “and with fire they are completely burned up in [the place where they] remain.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize that they are completely consumed by the fire.
2 Samuel 23:1-7
English Standard Version
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]
2 (C)“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;
his word is on my tongue.
3 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,
4 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.
5 “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?
6 But worthless men[c] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
for they cannot be taken with the hand;
7 but the man who touches them
arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
and they are utterly consumed with fire.”[d]
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 23:1 Or the favorite of the songs of Israel
- 2 Samuel 23:4 Hebrew from rain
- 2 Samuel 23:6 Hebrew worthlessness
- 2 Samuel 23:7 Hebrew consumed with fire in the sitting
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
