2 Samuel 23:1-19 ▼

1 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel,

2 “The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘He who rules over men as a righteous one, Who rules in the fear of God,

4 Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, From brightness of the sun after rain.’ With the tender grass springing from the earth,

5 Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow?

6 But the vile men, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns, Because they cannot be taken in hand;

7 But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they will be completely burned with fire where they sit.”

8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time;

9 and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of Ahohi, one of the three mighty men with David when they reproached the Philistines who were gathered together there to battle and the men of Israel had gone up to retreat.

10 He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and Yahweh brought about a great salvation that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.

11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a portion of the field full of lentils; and the people fled from before the Philistines.

12 But he took his stand in the midst of that portion and delivered it and struck down the Philistines. So Yahweh brought about a great salvation.

13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim.

14 And David was then in the fortress, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

15 Then David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”

16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he was not willing to drink it, but poured it out to Yahweh;

17 and he said, “Be it far from me, O Yahweh, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred who were slain by him; and he had a name as well as the three.

19 Of the thirty he was most honored and became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three.