Gibeonite Revenge
Now there was aa famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and bDavid sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and athe sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless athe inheritance of the Lord?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “aWe have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “aThe man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them abefore the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, bthe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
7 But the king spared aMephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, bbecause of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of aRizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of bMerab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the cMeholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at athe beginning of barley harvest.
10 aAnd Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and bshe allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took athe bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of bBeth-shan, cwhere the Philistines had hanged them on the day dthe Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in aZela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that bGod was moved by prayer for the land.
15 Now when athe Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was aamong the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. 17 But aAbishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “bYou shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish cthe lamp of Israel.”
18 aNow it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then bSibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, athe shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born ato the giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 aThese four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
David’s Psalm of Deliverance
aAnd David spoke bthe words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,
“aThe Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
3 aMy God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
My bshield and cthe horn of my salvation, my stronghold and dmy refuge;
My savior, You save me from violence.
4 “I call upon the Lord, awho is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
5 “For athe waves of death encompassed me;
bThe torrents of destruction overwhelmed me;
6 aThe cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
7 “aIn my distress I called upon the Lord,
Yes, I cried to my God;
And from His temple He heard my voice,
And my cry for help came into His ears.
8 “Then athe earth shook and quaked,
bThe foundations of heaven were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
9 “Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
aFire from His mouth devoured;
bCoals were kindled by it.
10 “He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With athick darkness under His feet.
11 “aAnd He rode on a cherub and flew;
And He appeared on bthe wings of the wind.
12 “aAnd He made darkness canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.
13 “From the brightness before Him
aCoals of fire were kindled.
14 “aThe Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
15 “aAnd He sent out arrows, and scattered them,
Lightning, and routed them.
16 “Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare
By the rebuke of the Lord,
aAt the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17 “aHe sent from on high, He took me;
bHe 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 in the day of my calamity,
aBut the Lord was my support.
20 “aHe also brought me forth into a broad place;
He rescued me, bbecause He delighted in me.
21 “aThe Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
bAccording to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
22 “aFor I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
23 “aFor all His ordinances were before me,
And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
24 “aI was also blameless toward Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
25 “aTherefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to my cleanness before His eyes.
26 “aWith the kind You show Yourself kind,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
27 aWith the pure You show Yourself pure,
bAnd with the perverted You show Yourself astute.
28 “aAnd You save an afflicted people;
bBut Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.
29 “aFor You are my lamp, O Lord;
And the Lord illumines my darkness.
30 “aFor by You I can run upon a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
31 “aAs for God, His way is blameless;
bThe word of the Lord is tested;
cHe is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32 “aFor who is God, besides the Lord?
bAnd who is a rock, besides our God?
33 “aGod is my strong fortress;
And He sets the blameless in His way.
34 “aHe makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
bAnd sets me on my high places.
35 “aHe trains my hands for battle,
bSo that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 “You have also given me athe shield of Your salvation,
And Your help makes me great.
37 “aYou enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
38 “I pursued my enemies and adestroyed them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 “And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;
And athey fell under my feet.
40 “For You have girded me with strength for battle;
You have subdued under me athose who rose up against me.
41 “You have also amade my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
42 “aThey looked, but there was none to save;
bEven to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
43 “aThen I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;
bI crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.
44 “aYou have also delivered me from the contentions of my people;
bYou have kept me as head of the nations;
cA people whom I have not known serve me.
45 “aForeigners pretend obedience to me;
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
46 “Foreigners lose heart,
aAnd come trembling out of their fortresses.
47 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be aGod, the rock of my salvation,
48 aThe God who executes vengeance for me,
bAnd brings down peoples under me,
49 Who also brings me out from my enemies;
You even lift me above athose who rise up against me;
bYou rescue me from the violent man.
50 “aTherefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
51 “aHe is a tower of deliverance to His king,
And bshows lovingkindness to His anointed,
cTo David and his descendants forever.”
David’s Last Song
Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
aThe man who was raised on high declares,
bThe anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,
2 “aThe Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 “The God of Israel said,
aThe Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘bHe who rules over men righteously,
cWho rules in the fear of God,
4 aIs as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
When the tender grass springs out of the earth,
Through sunshine after rain.’
5 “Truly is not my house so with God?
For aHe 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 “aBut the worthless, 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 athey will be completely burned with fire in their place.”
His Mighty Men
8 aThese 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 aDodo the bAhohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn. 10 aHe arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and bthe Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a aHararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and athe Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the acave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in bthe valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then ain the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 aDavid 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 aSo 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 took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but bpoured it out to the Lord; 17 and he said, “Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. aShall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.
18 aAbishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was bchief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as the three. 19 He was most honored of the thirty, therefore he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three.
20 Then aBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of bKabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. 21 He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things aBenaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.
24 aAsahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 aShammah the bHarodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the aTekoite, 27 Abiezer the aAnathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the aNetophathite, 29 aHeleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of bGibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a aPirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of bGaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the aBarhumite, 32 Eliahba the aShaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 aShammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of athe Maacathite, bEliam the son of cAhithophel the Gilonite, 35 aHezro the bCarmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of aZobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the aBeerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the aIthrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 aUriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.