Beginning
22 And David spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hands of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.
2 And he said, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and He Who delivers me.
3 “God is my strength! In Him will I trust, my Shield and the Horn of My Salvation, my High Tower and my Refuge. My Savior, You have saved me from violence!
4 “I will call on the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised! So shall I be safe from my enemies.
5 “For the pangs of death have surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness have made me afraid.
6 “The sorrows of the grave surrounded me all around. The snares of death overtook me.
7 “In my tribulation, I called upon the LORD and cried to my God. And He heard my voice out of His Temple, and my cry into His Ears.
8 “Then the Earth trembled and quaked! The foundations of the heavens moved and shook, because He was angry!
9 “Smoke went out at His Nostrils, and consuming fire out of His Mouth. Coals were kindled there.
10 “He also bent the heavens and came down, darkness under his feet.
11 “And He rode upon Cherubim and flew. And He was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 “And He made darkness a tabernacle all around Him, the gatherings of waters and the clouds of the air.
13 “At the brightness of His presence the coals of fire were kindled.
14 “The LORD thundered from Heaven! And the Most High gave His Voice!
15 “He also shot arrows and scattered them (lightning) and destroyed them.
16 “Also, the channels of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world were discovered by the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His Nostrils!
17 “He sent from Above and took me. He drew me out of many waters.
18 “He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me. For they were too strong for me.
19 “They confronted me on the day of my calamity. But the LORD was my Stay,
20 “and brought me forth into a large place. He delivered me, because He favored me.
21 “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the pureness of my hands, He brought me back.
22 “For I kept the ways of the LORD and did not do wickedly against my God.
23 “For all His Laws were before me, and His Statutes. I did not depart from them.
24 “I was also upright toward Him and have kept myself from my wickedness.
25 “Therefore, the LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my pureness before His Eyes.
26 “With the godly, You will show Yourself godly. With the upright man, You will show Yourself upright.
27 “With the pure, You will show Yourself pure. And with the crooked, You will show Yourself a Wrestler.
28 “Thus You will save the poor people. But Your Eyes are upon the haughty, to humble.
29 “Surely, You are my Light, O LORD! And the LORD will lighten my darkness!
30 “For by You have I broken through an army. And by my God have I leapt over a wall.
31 “The way of God is complete. The Word of the LORD is tested. He is a Shield to all who trust in Him.
32 “For who is God besides the LORD? And who is mighty, except our God?
33 “God is my strength in battle and makes my way upright.
34 “He makes my feet like hinds’ and has set me upon my high places.
35 “He teaches my hands to fight, so that a bowl of bronze is broken with my arms.
36 “You have also given me the Shield of Your Salvation, and Your loving kindness has caused me to increase.
37 “You have enlarged my steps under me. And my heels have not slid.
38 “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them and have not turned back until I had consumed them.
39 “Yea, I have consumed them and thrust them through. And they shall not arise but shall fall under my feet.
40 “For You have girded me with power to battle. Those who rose against me You have subdued under me.
41 “And You have given me the necks of my enemies, so that I might destroy those who hate me.
42 “They looked around but there was no one to save, to the LORD but He did not answer them.
43 “Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. I tread them flat as the clay of the street and scattered them.
44 “You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people. You have preserved me to be the head over nations. The people whom I did not know, serve me.
45 “Strangers shall be in subjection to me. As soon as they hear, they shall obey me.
46 “Strangers shall shrink away and fear in their strongholds.
47 “Let the LORD live! And blessed be my Strength and God! The Force of my Salvation be exalted!
48 “It is God Who gives me power, to revenge me and subdue the people under me
49 “and rescue me from my enemies! You also have lifted me up from those who rose against me. You have delivered me from the cruel man!
50 “Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations, and will sing to Your Name!
51 “He is the Tower of Salvation for His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and to his seed, forever.”
23 These, also, are the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, says. The man who was set up on high. The anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet singer of Israel, says,
2 “The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me. And His Word was in my tongue.
3 “The God of Israel spoke to me, the Strength of Israel said: ‘Bear rule over men, being just, ruling in the fear of God,
4 ‘as the morning light when the Sun rises. Be as the morning, I say, without clouds, as the grass of the earth by the bright rain.’
5 “For my House shall not be so with God. For He has made with me an everlasting Covenant, perfect in all points, and sure. It is with all my health and whole desire. Will He not make it grow?
6 “But every one of the wicked shall be as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands.
7 “But the man who shall touch them must be filled with iron, or with the shaft of a spear. And they shall be burnt with fire in the same place.”
8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David has. He who sat in the seat of wisdom, being chief of the princes, was Adino of Ezni. He killed eight hundred at one time.
9 And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the son of Ahohi, one of the three worthies with David when they defied the Philistines gathered there to battle when the men of Israel had gone up.
10 He arose and struck the Philistines, until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD gave great victory that same day. And the people returned after him only to plunder.
11 After him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. For the Philistines assembled at a town where there was a piece of a field full of lentils. And the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stood in the midst of the field and defended it and killed the Philistines. So, the LORD gave great victory.
13 Afterward, thirty-three of the captains went down and came to David in the harvest time, to the cave of Adullam. And the army of the Philistines camped in the Valley of Rephaim.
14 And David was then in a stronghold. And the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
15 And David longed, and said, “Oh, that one would give me a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!”
16 Then the three mighty men broke through the army of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took and brought it to David, who would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
17 and said, “O LORD! Far be it from me that I should do this! Is not this the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore, he would not drink it. These things these three mighty men did.
18 And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among the three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them. And he had the name among the three.
19 For he was most excellent of the three and was their captain. But he did not aspire to be in the first three.
20 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, killed two strong men of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow.
21 And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature. And the Egyptian had a spear in his hand. But he went down to him with a staff and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.
22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did and had the name among the three worthies.
23 He was honorable among thirty, but he did not aspire to be in the first three. And David made him one of his counsel.
24 Asahel, the brother of Joab, was one of the thirty; and Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
25 Shammoth the Harorite, Elika the Harodite,
26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
28 Zalmon an Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
29 Heleb the son of Baanah a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
30 Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the river of Gaash,
31 Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,
32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,
33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite,
34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of Maachathi, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
35 Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,
36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
39 and Uriah the Hittite, thirty-seven in all.
24 And the wrath of the LORD was again kindled against Israel. And He moved David against them, in that He said: “Go! Count Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joab, the captain of the army who was with him, “Go speedily now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, so that I may know the number of the people.”
3 And Joab said to the king, “May the LORD your God increase the people a hundredfold more than they are. And may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?”
4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore, Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.
5 And they passed over Jordan and camped in Aroer, at the right side of the city that is in the midst of the Valley of Gad and toward Jazer.
6 Then they came to Gilead and to Tahtim Hodshi. So, they came to Dan Jaan, and so about to Sidon,
7 and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites and went toward the southern part of Judah, to Beersheba.
8 So when they had gone around all the land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 And Joab delivered the number and sum of the people to the king. And there were eight hundred thousand strong men who drew swords in Israel. And the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10 Then David’s heart struck him, after he had counted the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned exceedingly in what I have done! Therefore now, LORD, I pray, take away the trespass of Your servant! For I have done very foolishly!”
11 And when David was up in the morning, the Word of the LORD came to the Prophet Gad, David’s Seer, saying:
12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things. Choose for yourself which of them I shall do to you.”’”
13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Would you rather that seven years famine come upon you in your land, or would you rather flee for three months before your enemies (they following you) or that there were three days pestilence in my land? Now be advised and consider what answer I shall give to Him Who sent me.”
14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall now into the hand of the LORD (for His mercies are great) and let me not fall into the hand of man.”
15 So the LORD sent a pestilence in Israel, from the morning to the time appointed. And of the people from Dan to Beersheba, there died seventy thousand men.
16 And when the Angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem, to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the Angel that destroyed the people: “It is sufficient. Restrain your hand now.” And the Angel of the LORD was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 And David spoke to the LORD (when he saw the Angel that struck the people) and said, “Behold, I have sinned. Yea, I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, I pray, let Your hand be against me and against my father’s House.”
18 So the same day, Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up. Raise an Altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 And David (according to the saying of Gad) went up, as the LORD had Commanded.
20 And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. And Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king, on his face, to the ground.
21 And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” Then David answered, “To buy your threshing floor in order to build an Altar to the LORD, so that the plague may cease from the people.”
22 Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer what seems good to him in his eyes. Behold the oxen for the Burnt Offering, and chariots and the instruments of the oxen for wood.”
23 (All these things Araunah gave to the king, as a king.) And Araunah said to the king, “The LORD your God be favorable to you.”
24 Then the king said to Araunah, “Not so. But I will buy it from you at a price and will not offer Burnt Offering to the LORD my God of that which cost me nothing.” So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
25 And David built an Altar to the LORD there and offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings. And the LORD was appeased toward the land. And the plague ceased from Israel.
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