Beginning
A Psalm by David
(Psalm 18)[a]
22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the grasp of all his enemies, even from the grasp of Saul. 2 He said:
The Lord is my rocky cliff,
my stronghold, and my deliverer.
3 My God is my rock. I take refuge in him.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my high fortress, my refuge, and my savior.
You save me from violence.
4 I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 The waves of death swirled around me.
Floodwaters of destruction[b] rolled over me.
6 The ropes of the grave wrapped around me.
The traps of death threatened me.
7 In my distress I called to the Lord.
To my God I cried out.
He heard my voice from his temple.
My cry for help reached his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and quaked,
and the foundations of the heavens[c] trembled.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and fire out of his mouth devoured.
Coals were set on fire by it.
10 Then he tore open the heavens and came down.
A dark cloud was under his feet.
11 He rode upon a cherub,[d] and he flew.
He soared[e] on the wings of the wind.
12 He made the darkness around him his shelter,
the dark rain clouds of the sky.[f]
13 From the brightness in front of him, coals of fire burned.
14 Then the Lord thundered in the heavens.
The Most High raised his voice.
15 Then he shot his arrows and scattered the enemy.
He hurled great bolts of lightning and routed them.
16 Then the sources of the sea[g] were revealed,
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
by the rebuke of the Lord,
by the breath of wind from his nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high and took hold of me.
He drew me out of deep waters.
18 Because they were too strong for me,
he rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hate me.
19 They confronted me on the day of my disaster,
but the Lord supported me.
20 Then he brought me out into a wide open space.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands, he has repaid me,
22 because I have kept the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil and departed from my God.
23 So all his just decrees remain before me,
and I have not turned away from his statutes.
24 I have been blameless with him.
I have kept myself from guilt.
25 The Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands[h] in his sight.
26 To the merciful[i] you reveal yourself as merciful.
To the blameless person you reveal yourself as blameless.
27 To the pure you reveal yourself as pure,
but to the crooked you reveal yourself as crafty.[j]
28 Yes, you save humble people,
but your eyes are on the proud, and you bring them down.
29 Yes, you are my lamp, O Lord.
The Lord turns my darkness to light.
30 For with you I can charge against a battalion,[k]
and with my God I can jump over a wall.
31 This God—his way is blameless.
The speech of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
33 This God wraps me with strength[l]
and makes my way smooth.[m]
34 By making my feet like those of a deer,
he enables me to stand on high places.
35 Because he trains my hands for battle,
my arms can draw a bronze bow.
36 Then you give me the shield of your salvation.
Your response makes me great.
37 You widen the path under my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
38 I pursued my enemies, and I destroyed them.
Yes, I did not turn back until they were wiped out.
39 I wiped them out. I crushed them.
They could not rise again.
They fell beneath my feet.
40 You wrapped me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down to me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs and flee.
I destroyed those who hate me.
42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them.
They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 So I ground them as fine as dust of the earth.
I scattered them and trampled them down like mud in the streets.
44 You delivered me from the accusations of my people.
You preserved me as the head of nations.
A people I did not know serve me.
45 Foreigners cringe before me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
46 Foreigners fall exhausted.
They come trembling from their strongholds.
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!
May God, the Rock who saves me, be exalted!
48 This God, who avenges me, subdues peoples under me.
49 You delivered me from my enemies.
Yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me.
You rescued me from the violent man.
50 Therefore, I will thank you among the nations, Lord.
To your name I will make music.
51 By providing great salvation for his King,
he shows mercy to his Anointed One,
to David and to his Seed[n] forever.
The Last Words of David
23 These are the last words of David,
the oracle[o] of David, the son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man raised up high,
the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
the pleasant singer of Israel’s songs.
2 The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me.
His word is on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has spoken.
To me the Rock of Israel has said,
“The one who rules over people with righteousness,
who rules in the fear of God,
4 he is like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
like a morning without clouds,
like brightness after rain, which produces grass from the earth.”
5 But my house is not like this with God.[p]
Nevertheless, he has made an everlasting covenant with me,
completely ordered and secure.
Certainly he will make it spring up for my salvation, to fulfill my desires.[q]
6 Worthless, wicked men are all like thorns to be thrown away.
No one even picks them up with his hand.
7 Anyone who touches them uses an iron tool or the shaft of a spear.
They are completely burned up in the fire, right where they are.
David’s Elite Warriors
8 These are the names of the elite warriors of David:
Jashobeam[r] son of Hakmon was leader among the Three.[s] He lifted up his spear and killed eight hundred[t] at once.[u]
9 After him came Eleazar son of Dodo, the Ahohite. As one of the three elite warriors, he was with David when they defied the Philistines gathered there[v] for battle. The men of Israel retreated, 10 but he took a stand and struck down the Philistines until his hand got tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory on that day. The people of the army returned to Eleazar but only to strip the fallen.
11 After him came Shamma son of Agee, the Hararite. The Philistines were gathered at Lehi. In that location there was a parcel of land full of lentils. The people fled from the Philistines, 12 but Shamma took his stand in the middle of that parcel of ground and defended it. He struck down the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Three of the Thirty went down and came to David at the Cave of Adullam at the time of the grain harvest. A band of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. 15 David expressed a deep craving, “Who will give me water to drink from the well[w] of Bethlehem, which is by the gate?” 16 So the three elite warriors broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. They took it and brought it to David, but he was not willing to drink it, so he poured it out to the Lord. 17 He said, “May I be cursed, Lord, if I would do this. This is the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives!” He would not drink it. These are the things the three elite warriors did.
18 Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was the leader of the Thirty.[x] He wielded his spear against three hundred, all of whom were killed. His reputation equaled that of[y] the Three. 19 In fact, he was praised more than the Three, and he became their commander, but he did not belong to the Three.
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, an energetic warrior from Kabze’el, performed great deeds. He struck the two Lions of God[z] from Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a cistern on a snowy day. 21 He killed an impressive Egyptian, who was armed with a spear. Benaiah went down against him with a staff, snatched the spear from the hand of the Egyptian, and killed him with his own spear. 22 These were the accomplishments of Benaiah son of Jehoiada. His reputation equaled that of the Three. 23 He was praised more than the Thirty, but he did not belong to the Three. David placed him over his bodyguard.
24 Among the Thirty were:
Asahel, the brother of Joab,
Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem,
25 Shammah the Harodite,[aa]
Elika the Harodite,
26 Helez the Paltite,[ab]
Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa,
27 Abiezer from Anathoth,
Mebunnai[ac] the Hushathite,
28 Zalmon[ad] the Ahohite,
Maharai the Netophathite,
29 Heleb[ae] son of Ba’anah the Netophathite,
Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin,
30 Benaiah a Pirathonite,
Hiddai[af] from the ravines of Ga’ash,
31 Abi-Albon[ag] the Arbathite,
Azmaveth the Barhumite,[ah]
32 Eliahba the Sha’albonite,
the sons of Jashen,[ai]
Jehonathan, 33 Shammah the Hararite,
Ahiam son of Sharar[aj] the Ararite,
34 Eliphelet son of Ahasbai[ak]
the son of the Ma’akathite,[al]
Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,[am]
35 Hezro the Carmelite,
Pa’arai the Arbite,[an]
36 Igal son of Nathan from Zobah,[ao]
Bani the Gadite,[ap]
37 Zelek the Ammonite,
Naharai of Be’eroth, the armor bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,
38 Ira the Ithrite,
Gareb the Ithrite,
39 Uriah the Hittite.
In all there were thirty-seven.
The Census
24 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel again, and he incited David against them so that he said, “Go count Israel and Judah.”
2 The king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Travel through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the fighting men. Then I will know how many there are.”
3 Joab said to the king, “The Lord your God will make the people a hundred times larger, however many they may be, and the eyes of my lord the king will see it. But why does my lord the king have such a strong desire to do this?”
4 But the word of the king overruled Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to register Israel. 5 They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer on the south side of the city that is in the middle of the canyon. Next they went to Gad and then to Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi. After that, they came to Dan Ja’an and around to Sidon. 7 Then they came to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. After that they went out to the Negev of Judah at Beersheba.
8 So they went throughout all the land, and then came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 Joab reported the numbers from the registration of the fighting men to the king. Israel had eight hundred thousand soldiers who could draw a sword. Judah had five hundred thousand men.
10 David had a guilty conscience after he had counted the fighting men. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But, Lord, please take away the guilt of your servant, because I have acted very foolishly.”
11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet, David’s seer. The Lord said, 12 “Go tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says. I am laying out three choices before you. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will carry it out against you.’”
13 So Gad went to David and told him about this. He said, “Shall seven[aq] years of famine in your land come upon you, or three months of fleeing with your enemies pursuing you, or three days of plague[ar] in your land? Now consider this and decide what answer I should return to the one who sent me.”
14 David said to Gad, “This puts me in a difficult position. Please! Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great. But do not let me fall into the hands of man.”
15 So the Lord sent a plague against Israel from the next morning until the appointed time. Seventy thousand people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 The angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord relented and did not bring the disaster. He said to the angel who was carrying out the destruction among the people, “Enough. Now hold back your hand.”
The angel of the Lord was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 David said to the Lord, as he was watching the angel striking the people, “Look! I am the one who sinned. I am guilty. But these sheep—what have they done? Please! Let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.”
David Builds an Altar to the Lord
18 Gad came to David on that day and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up and obeyed Gad’s instructions as the Lord had commanded.
20 Araunah looked up and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed down to the king with his face to the ground, 21 and he said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
David said, “To purchase the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, so the plague will be held back from the people.”
22 Araunah said to David, “My lord the king can take it and offer whatever seems good to him. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, as well as the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 O King, Araunah is giving all this to the king.” Araunah also said to the king, “The Lord your God will accept you.”
24 But the king said to Araunah, “No. I insist on purchasing it from you for what it is worth. I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that I did not pay for.”
So David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.[as] 25 He built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings there. The Lord heard the requests for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.