David’s Wars

8 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Meth′eg-am′mah out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he defeated Moab, and measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground; two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadade′zer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphra′tes. ⁴ And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for a hundred chariots. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadade′zer king of Zobah, David slew twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadade′zer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Betah and from Bero′thai, cities of Hadade′zer, King David took very much bronze.

⁹ When To′i king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadade′zer, ¹⁰ To′i sent his son Joram to King David, to greet him, and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadade′zer and defeated him; for Hadade′zer had often been at war with To′i. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze; ¹¹ these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, ¹² from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Am′alek, and from the spoil of Hadade′zer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ And David won a name for himself. When he returned, he slew eighteen thousand E′domites^[a] in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the E′domites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Officers

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁶ And Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah was over the army; and Jehosh′aphat the son of Ahi′lud was recorder; ¹⁷ and Zadok the son of Ahi′tub and Ahim′elech the son of Abi′athar were priests; and Serai′ah was secretary; ¹⁸ and Benai′ah the son of Jehoi′ada was over^[b] the Cher′ethites and the Pel′ethites; and David’s sons were priests.

Death of Saul and His Sons

10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilbo′a. ² And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abin′adab and Mal′chishu′a, the sons of Saul. ³ The battle pressed hard upon Saul, and the archers found him; and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer would not; for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword, and fell upon it. ⁵ And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword, and died. ⁶ Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. ⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army^[a] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ On the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilbo′a. ⁹ And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ And they put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹ But when all Ja′besh-gil′ead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance, ¹⁴ and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord slew him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

David Anointed King of All Israel

11 Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron, and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you that led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.

Jerusalem Captured

⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jeb′usites were, the inhabitants of the land. ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁶ David said, “Whoever shall smite the Jeb′usites first shall be chief and commander.” And Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah went up first, so he became chief. ⁷ And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ And he built the city round about from the Millo in complete circuit; and Jo′ab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him.

David’s Mighty Men and Their Exploits

¹⁰ Now these are the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹ This is an account of David’s mighty men: Jasho′beam, a Hach′monite, was chief of the three;^[b] he wielded his spear against three hundred whom he slew at one time.

¹² And next to him among the three mighty men was Elea′zar the son of Dodo, the Aho′hite. ¹³ He was with David at Pas-dam′mim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But he^[c] took his^[d] stand in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adul′lam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Reph′aim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David said longingly, “O that some one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took and brought it to David. But David would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, ¹⁹ and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

²⁰ Now Abi′shai, the brother of Jo′ab, was chief of the thirty.^[e] And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and slew them, and won a name beside the three. ²¹ He was the most renowned^[f] of the thirty,^[g] and became their commander; but he did not attain to the three.

²² And Bena′iah the son of Jehoi′ada was a valiant man^[h] of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he smote two ariels^[i] of Moab. He also went down and slew a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. ²³ And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver’s beam; but Bena′iah went down to him with a staff, and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. ²⁴ These things did Bena′iah the son of Jehoi′ada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. ²⁵ He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

²⁶ The mighty men of the armies were As′ahel the brother of Jo′ab, Elha′nan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth of Harod,^[j] Helez the Pel′onite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh of Teko′a, Abi-e′zer of An′athoth, ²⁹ Sib′becai the Hu′shathite, I′lai the Aho′hite, ³⁰ Ma′harai of Neto′phah, Heled the son of Ba′anah of Neto′phah, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gib′e-ah of the Benjaminites, Bena′iah of Pir′athon, ³² Hurai of the brooks of Ga′ash, Abi′el the Ar′bathite, ³³ Az′maveth of Baha′rum, Eli′ahba of Sha-al′bon, ³⁴ Hashem^[k] the Gi′zonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Har′arite, ³⁵ Ahi′am the son of Sachar the Har′arite, Eli′phal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Meche′rathite, Ahi′jah the Pel′onite, ³⁷ Hezro of Carmel, Na′arai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Jo′el the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Na′harai of Be-er′oth, the armor-bearer of Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uri′ah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Ad′ina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a leader of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Ma′acah, and Josh′aphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzi′a the Ash′terathite, Shama and Je-i′el the sons of Hotham the Aro′erite, ⁴⁵ Jedi′a-el the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eli′el the Ma′havite, and Jer′ibai, and Joshavi′ah, the sons of El′na-am, and Ithmah the Mo′abite, ⁴⁷ Eli′el, and Obed, and Ja-a′siel the Mezo′ba-ite.

Prayer for National Victory after Defeat

To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.