Beginning
David sings to praise God[a]
22 David wrote this song when the Lord saved him from the power of his enemies when Saul was king.
2 This is what he sang:
‘The Lord keeps me safe.
He is my great rock and my strong place.
3 My God is my high rock.
I run to him to hide and be safe.
He keeps me safe like a soldier's shield.
He is the strong place where I can hide safely.
God, you have saved me from men who want to attack me.
4 I praise the Lord because he deserves it!
When I called to him for help,
he saved me from my enemies.
5 Death was near enough to catch me!
Danger was like a river that wanted to drown me.
6 Death was tying me up with ropes,
to pull me into the deep hole of the grave.
7 In my trouble I prayed to the Lord.
I called to my God to help me.
He heard my voice from his home in heaven.
My prayer reached his ears.
8 Then the earth moved and it shook.
Even the sky shook,
because God was angry.
9 He breathed out smoke from his nose.
Fire and hot coals came out from his mouth,
to destroy his enemies.
10 God caused the sky to bend as he came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
11 He sat on a cherub and he flew.
He flew like the wind.
12 God put darkness all round him.
He hid himself under dark clouds that held rain.
13 Bright light went in front of him.
There was lightning like hot coals!
14 The Lord sent thunder from the sky.
People everywhere heard the voice of the Most High God.
15 The Lord shot arrows of lightning.
He caused his enemies to run away.
16 When the Lord shouted against his enemies,
even the bottom of the deep sea appeared.
People could see the deepest places of the earth,
when he breathed out in anger.
17 The Lord reached down to me from above.
He took hold of me and he pulled me up out of the deep water.
18 Yes, he saved me from my powerful enemies.
The people who hated me were too strong for me,
but the Lord saved me from their power.
19 They attacked me when I was in trouble,
but the Lord helped me.
20 He led me out to an open place where I would be safe.
He saved me because I made him happy.
21 The Lord was kind to me
because I do things that please him.
He blesses me
because I am not guilty of bad things.
22 I have obeyed the Lord's commands.
I have not turned against my God.
23 I understand all his rules,
and I do not refuse to obey them.
24 He knows that I have done nothing that is wrong.
I kept away from any sin.
25 The Lord was kind to me,
because I did good things.
He sees that I am not guilty.
26 Lord, if people are faithful to you,
then you are faithful to them.
If people do nothing that is bad,
they can trust you to do nothing bad to them.
27 If people keep themselves pure,
they can trust you to do only good things.
But if people are wicked,
you turn against them.
28 You save people who are humble.
But if people are proud, you cause them to fall.
29 Lord, you make my lamp burn brightly.
You are my light in the dark.
30 You make me strong,
so that I can chase a whole army!
With the help of my God,
I can climb over any high wall.
31 God's way is perfect.
The Lord's promises are always true.
He keeps safe everyone who goes to him for help,
like a shield that keeps a soldier safe.
32 We know that the Lord is God,
and no one else.
Only our God can keep us safe,
like a strong rock!
33 It is God who makes me strong.
He shows me the safe way through my life.
34 He makes my feet stand strongly on the ground.
Like a deer,
I can stand on high hills and not fall.
35 He teaches me how to fight in war.
He makes my arms strong
to shoot arrows from a metal bow.
36 You keep me safe in the battle,
like a shield.
Your kind help has made me great.
37 You have helped me to move safely,
so that my feet do not slip.
38 I ran after my enemies and I destroyed them.
I did not turn back until I had killed them.
39 I destroyed them completely.
I knocked them down to the ground.
They could not get up again.
They fell under my feet.
40 You have made me strong to fight battles
so that I win against my enemies.
41 You caused my enemies to turn their backs,
and they ran away from me.
I destroyed those who hate me.
42 They called out for help,
but nobody was there to save them.
They called to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
43 I beat them until they became like dust.
I walked over them,
like dirt that lies on the streets.
44 You have saved me when my people were attacking me.
You have made me a ruler of other nations.
People that I did not know before
now serve me as their ruler.
45 Foreign people cannot stand against me,
because they are afraid.
When they hear about me,
they choose to obey me.
46 They are not brave enough to fight me.
They shake with fear
as they leave their strong cities.
47 The Lord is alive! He is my strong Rock!
Everyone should praise him!
He rules as king!
He is the strong God who saves me.
48 He is the true God who punishes my enemies.
He makes the nations obey me.
49 He is the one who saves me from my enemies.
Yes, God, you give me power
to win against those who attack me.
You keep me safe from angry and cruel men.
50 Lord, I will thank you,
so that all the nations know about you.
I will sing to praise your name.
51 Yes, the Lord gives power to me, David, his king.
He gives me great strength to win against my enemies.
I am the special king that he has chosen.
He will continue to be kind to me
and to my descendants for ever.’
David's last words
23 These are David's last words. The God that Jacob worshipped made Jesse's son David great. God chose him to rule Israel as king. He also wrote beautiful songs for the Israelites. This is David's message:
2 ‘The Spirit of the Lord gives me his message.
I speak what he tells me to say.
3 Israel's God has spoken.
The one who keeps Israel safe said to me,
“A king should rule over people in a way that is right and fair.
He should show that he respects and obeys God.
4 A king who rules like that is like the light of the sun at dawn.
He is like the sky when it has no clouds in it in the morning.
He is like bright sun after rain,
that helps the grass to grow strongly.”
5 That is how God will bless my descendants.
He has made a promise to me that will continue for ever.
It is a strong promise that will never change.
I know that he will always help me.
He will do for me everything that I hope for.
6 But God will remove all wicked people.
He will throw them away like weeds.
They are like thorn bushes
that you cannot pull out with your hands.
7 You need an iron tool or a spear to remove them.
Then you burn them completely in a fire.’
David's brave soldiers
8 These are the names of David's bravest soldiers:
Josheb-Basshebeth was the leader of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. He belonged to Tahkemon's clan. He used his spear to fight against 800 men in one battle and he killed them all.
9 Another of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ was Dodai's son, Eleazar. He belonged to Ahoh's clan. He was with David at Pas-Dammim when they insulted the Philistine soldiers before a battle.[b] The Israelite soldiers ran away from the fight, 10 but Eleazar stood there. He knocked down the Philistine soldiers until his hand became tired. It became fixed to his sword. On that day, the Lord caused him to win a great battle. When the other Israelite soldiers returned to help him, they took things from the dead Philistines. That was the only thing left for them to do.
11 The third of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ was Shammah, the son of Agee, who belonged to Harar's clan. The Philistine soldiers had come together in a field of beans. The Israelite soldiers ran away from them. 12 But Shammah stood in the middle of the field to stop the Philistines taking it for themselves. He killed the Philistines. The Lord caused him to win a great battle.
13 At the time of the harvest, three of David's 30 bravest soldiers went to be with David near Adullam. He was hiding there in a cave. A group of Philistine soldiers had made their camp in Rephaim valley. 14 David was in his strong safe place. A group of Philistine soldiers had made their home in Bethlehem. 15 David was very thirsty. He said, ‘I want someone to bring water from the well near Bethlehem's gate for me to drink.’ 16 So the three brave soldiers fought through the Philistine camp and they reached Bethlehem's gate. They took some water from the well there and they carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it. He poured it on the ground as an offering to the Lord. 17 He said, ‘Lord, it is not right for me to drink this water. It would seem like the blood of the men who fetched it for me. The Philistines might have killed them on the way.’ So David refused to drink it.
Those were some of the great things that the three brave soldiers did.
18 Abishai was the leader of David's 30 great soldiers. He was the brother of Zeruiah's son Joab. One time, he used his spear to fight 300 men and he killed them all. So he became as famous as the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. 19 He was not one of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ but he received more honour than the other 30 great soldiers. So he became their leader.
20 Jehoiada's son, Benaiah, was also one of David's brave soldiers. He came from Kabzeel and he did many great things. He killed two of Moab's best soldiers. He also went down into a deep hole to kill a lion when snow was on the ground. 21 Benaiah also killed a great Egyptian man who held a spear. Benaiah attacked him with a heavy stick. He took the spear from the Egyptian's hand and he used it to kill him. 22 Those were some things that Jehoiada's son Benaiah did. He became as famous as the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. 23 He received more honour than the other 30 great soldiers, but he did not belong to the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. David made him the leader of his own special soldiers who were his guards.
24 These men were among David's 30 great soldiers:[c]
Joab's brother Asahel,
Elhanan, Dodo's son, from Bethlehem,
25 Shammah and Elika, from Harod's clan,
26 Helez, from Pelet,
Ira, Ikkesh's son, from Tekoa,
27 Abiezer, from Anathoth,
Mebunnai, from Hushah's clan,
28 Zalmon, from Ahoh's clan,
Maharai, from Netophah,
29 Heleb, Baanah's son, from Netophah,
Ittai, Ribai's son, from Gibeah in the land that belonged to Benjamin's tribe,
30 Benaiah, from Pirathon,
Hiddai, from the valleys near Gaash,
31 Abi-Albon from Arabah's clan,
Azmaveth, from Bahurim,
32 Eliahba, from Shaalbon,
Jashen's sons,
Jonathan, 33 Shammah's son, from Harar,
Ahiam, Sharar's son, from Harar,
34 Eliphelet, Ahasbai's son, from Maakah,
Eliam, Ahithophel's son, from Gilo,
35 Hezro, from Carmel,
Paarai, from Arba,
36 Igal, Nathan's son, from Zobah,
Bani, who belonged to Gad's tribe,
37 Zelek, from Ammon,
Naharai, from Beeroth (he carried Joab's weapons),
38 Ira and Gareb, from Jattir,
39 and Uriah the Hittite.
There were 37 great soldiers if you count them all.[d]
David counts his soldiers
24 The Lord again became angry with the Israelites. So he caused David to bring trouble to them. He said to David, ‘Send men to count the people in Israel and Judah.’
2 So the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, ‘Go from Dan to Beersheba, through all the tribes of Israel.[e] Count all the men who can fight. I want to know how many men there are.’
3 But Joab said to the king, ‘I pray that the Lord your God will make your army bigger and bigger. May it grow 100 times while you are alive to see it! But, my lord the king, why do you want to do this?’
4 But Joab and his officers had to obey the king's command. So Joab and the officers of the army went out to count the number of people in Israel.
5 They crossed the Jordan River. They made their first camp in a valley, on the south side of Aroer. Then they went through Gad's land and they reached Jazer. 6 They went from there to Gilead. Then they went to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. Then they went to Dan and they continued west to Sidon. 7 Then they went south to Tyre, a strong city with walls around it. They went to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they arrived at Beersheba in the south part of Judah.
8 In that way, they travelled through the whole country. After nine months and 20 days they returned to Jerusalem.
9 Joab reported to the king about the number of soldiers who could fight. There were 800,000 men in Israel who could use a sword to fight. There were also 500,000 soldiers in Judah.
The Lord punishes David
10 David had counted the men who were able to fight in his army. But now he was sorry that he had done it. He said to the Lord, ‘What I have done was a bad sin. Please forgive me, Lord. I have done a foolish thing.’
11 While David slept that night, the Lord gave a message to Gad, David's prophet. 12 The Lord told him, ‘Go and give my message to David: “There are three ways that I could punish you. You must choose one of them, and that is what I will do to punish you.” ’
13 So when David woke up, Gad went to him and he said, ‘You may choose to have three years when there will be a famine in the whole country. Or you may choose to have three months when your enemies are chasing after you. Or you may choose to have three days of very bad disease in the whole country. Now think carefully and decide. I will take your answer to God, who sent me with this message.’
14 David said to Gad, ‘I am very upset. I do not want men to punish me. The Lord is kind and he forgives people. So it would be better for him to punish me.’
15 So, from that morning, the Lord caused a bad disease to kill people in Israel. It continued for three days, as the Lord had said. 70,000 Israelite men died in that time, in the whole country, from Dan to Beersheba. 16 The Lord's angel was ready to destroy Jerusalem. But the Lord decided to stop the trouble that he was causing for the people. He said to the angel who was killing the people, ‘That is enough. Stop what you are doing!’ When the Lord said that, his angel was standing near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 David saw the angel who was killing the people. So he said to the Lord, ‘I am the person who has done an evil thing. These people have followed me like sheep that follow a shepherd. They have not done anything wrong. You should only punish me and my family.’
David builds an altar
18 That day, Gad went to David. He said to David, ‘Go up to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Build an altar there to worship the Lord.’ 19 So David obeyed the Lord's message that Gad had spoken to him.
20 When Araunah looked, he saw the king and his officers. They were coming towards him. So he went out and he bent down low in front of the king, with his face towards the ground.
21 Araunah said, ‘My lord the king, why have you come here to me, your servant?’
David replied, ‘I have come to buy your threshing floor from you. I want to build an altar here to worship the Lord. Then he will stop this bad disease from killing the people.’
22 Araunah said to David, ‘My lord the king, take anything that you would like to offer to the Lord. You can take these oxen to offer as sacrifices. You can use the wood from these tools and yokes to make a fire. 23 I will give all these things to you sir, my lord the king.’
Araunah also said to the king, ‘I pray that the Lord your God will accept your offerings.’
24 But the king said to Araunah, ‘No, I must pay you for it. I will not burn as an offering to the Lord my God any sacrifice that costs me nothing.’
So David bought Araunah's threshing floor and his oxen for 50 silver coins. 25 Then he built an altar there to worship the Lord. He made burnt offerings and friendship offerings on the altar.
Then the Lord answered David's prayer. The disease stopped killing people in Israel.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.