The Daily Audio Bible

David Becomes King of Israel and Judah^(A)

11 All the people of Israel went to David at Hebron and said to him, “We are your own flesh and blood. ² In the past, even when Saul was still our king, you led the people of Israel in battle, and the Lord your God promised you that you would lead his people and be their ruler.” ³ So all the leaders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them, they anointed him, and he became king of Israel, just as the Lord had promised through Samuel.

^4 (B)King David and all the Israelites went and attacked the city of Jerusalem. It was then known as Jebus, and the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land, were still living there. ⁵ The Jebusites told David he would never get inside the city, but David captured their fortress of Zion, and it became known as “David's City.” ⁶ David said, “The first man to kill a Jebusite will be commander of the army!” Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, led the attack and became commander. ⁷ Because David went to live in the fortress, it came to be called “David's City.” ⁸ He rebuilt the city, starting at the place where land was filled in on the east side of the hill, and Joab restored the rest of the city. ⁹ David grew stronger and stronger, because the Lord Almighty was with him.

David's Famous Soldiers^(C)

¹⁰ This is the list of David's famous soldiers. Together with the rest of the people of Israel, they helped him become king, as the Lord had promised, and they kept his kingdom strong.

¹¹ First was Jashobeam of the clan of Hachmon, the leader of “The Three.”^[a] He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them all in one battle. ¹² Next among the famous “Three” was Eleazar son of Dodo, of the clan of Ahoh. ¹³ He fought on David's side against the Philistines at the battle of Pas Dammim. He was in a barley field when the Israelites started to run away, ¹⁴ so he and his men took a stand in the middle of the field and fought the Philistines. The Lord gave him a great victory.

¹⁵ One day three of the thirty leading soldiers went to a rock where David was staying near Adullam Cave, while a band of Philistines was camping in Rephaim Valley. ¹⁶ At that time David was on a fortified hill, and a group of Philistines had occupied Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David got homesick and said, “How I wish someone would bring me a drink of water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ The three famous soldiers forced their way through the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he would not drink it; instead he poured it out as an offering to the Lord ¹⁹ and said, “I could never drink this! It would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives!” So he refused to drink it. These were the brave deeds of the three famous soldiers.

²⁰ Joab's brother Abishai was the leader of “The Famous Thirty.”^[b] He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and became famous among “The Thirty.”^{[c] 21} He was the most famous of “The Thirty”^[d] and became their leader, but he was not as famous as “The Three.”

²² Benaiah son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel was a famous soldier; he did many brave deeds, including killing two great Moabite warriors. He once went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²³ He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man seven and a half feet tall, who was armed with a gigantic spear. Benaiah attacked him with a club, snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with it. ²⁴ Those were the brave deeds of Benaiah, who was one of “The Thirty.”^{[e] 25} He was outstanding among “The Thirty,” but not as famous as “The Three.” David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

^26-47 These are the other outstanding soldiers:

David's Early Followers from the Tribe of Benjamin

12 David was living in Ziklag, where he had gone to escape from King Saul. There he was joined by many experienced, reliable soldiers, ² members of the tribe of Benjamin, to which Saul belonged. They could shoot arrows and sling stones either right-handed or left-handed. ^3-7 They were under the command of Ahiezer and Joash, sons of Shemaah, from Gibeah.

These were the soldiers:

David's Followers from the Tribe of Gad

⁸ These are the names of the famous, experienced soldiers from the tribe of Gad who joined David's troops when he was at the desert fort. They were experts with shields and spears, as fierce looking as lions and as quick as mountain deer. ^9-13 They were ranked in the following order: Ezer, Obadiah, Eliab, Mishmannah, Jeremiah, Attai, Eliel, Johanan, Elzabad, Jeremiah, and Machbannai.

¹⁴ Some of these men from the tribe of Gad were senior officers in command of a thousand men, and others were junior officers in command of a hundred. ¹⁵ In the first month of one year, the time when the Jordan River overflowed its banks, they crossed the river, scattering the people who lived in the valleys both east and west of the river.

Followers from Benjamin and Judah

¹⁶ Once a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went out to the fort where David was. ¹⁷ David went to meet them and said, “If you are coming as friends to help me, you are welcome here. Join us! But if you intend to betray me to my enemies, even though I have not tried to hurt you, the God of our ancestors will know it and punish you.”

¹⁸ God's spirit took control of one of them, Amasai, who later became the commander of “The Thirty,” and he called out,

David welcomed them and made them officers in his army.

In Malta

28 When we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta. ² The natives there were very friendly to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they built a fire and made us all welcome. ³ Paul gathered up a bundle of sticks and was putting them on the fire when a snake came out on account of the heat and fastened itself to his hand. ⁴ The natives saw the snake hanging on Paul's hand and said to one another, “This man must be a murderer, but Fate will not let him live, even though he escaped from the sea.” ⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire without being harmed at all. ⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after waiting for a long time and not seeing anything unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and said, “He is a god!”

⁷ Not far from that place were some fields that belonged to Publius, the chief of the island. He welcomed us kindly and for three days we were his guests. ⁸ Publius' father was in bed, sick with fever and dysentery. Paul went into his room, prayed, placed his hands on him, and healed him. ⁹ When this happened, all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. ¹⁰ They gave us many gifts, and when we sailed, they put on board what we needed for the voyage.

From Malta to Rome

¹¹ After three months we sailed away on a ship from Alexandria, called “The Twin Gods,” which had spent the winter in the island. ¹² We arrived in the city of Syracuse and stayed there for three days. ¹³ From there we sailed on and arrived in the city of Rhegium. The next day a wind began to blow from the south, and in two days we came to the town of Puteoli. ¹⁴ We found some believers there who asked us to stay with them a week. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ The believers in Rome heard about us and came as far as the towns of Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.

In Rome

¹⁶ When we arrived in Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier guarding him.

¹⁷ After three days Paul called the local Jewish leaders to a meeting. When they had gathered, he said to them, “My fellow Israelites, even though I did nothing against our people or the customs that we received from our ancestors, I was made a prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. ¹⁸ After questioning me, the Romans wanted to release me, because they found that I had done nothing for which I deserved to die. ^19 (A)But when the Jews opposed this, I was forced to appeal to the Emperor, even though I had no accusation to make against my own people. ²⁰ That is why I asked to see you and talk with you. As a matter of fact, I am bound in chains like this for the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope.”

²¹ They said to him, “We have not received any letters from Judea about you, nor have any of our people come from there with any news or anything bad to say about you. ²² But we would like to hear your ideas, because we know that everywhere people speak against this party to which you belong.”

²³ So they set a date with Paul, and a large number of them came that day to the place where Paul was staying. From morning till night he explained to them his message about the Kingdom of God, and he tried to convince them about Jesus by quoting from the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets. ²⁴ Some of them were convinced by his words, but others would not believe. ²⁵ So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Paul had said this one thing: “How well the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors! ^26 (B)For he said,

²⁸ And Paul concluded: “You are to know, then, that God's message of salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen!” ^29 [a]

³⁰ For two years Paul lived in a place he rented for himself, and there he welcomed all who came to see him. ³¹ He preached about the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking with all boldness and freedom.

Thanksgiving to God for His Justice^[a]

19 It is better to be poor but honest than to be a lying fool.

² Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good; impatience will get you into trouble.

³ Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the Lord.