New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible

David’s Last Words

These are the last words of David:
“David, the son of Jesse, speaks —
David, the man who was raised up so high,
David, the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
David, the sweet psalmist of Israel.a

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David’s Last Song

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,

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“The Spirit of the LORD speaks through me;
his words are upon my tongue.

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

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The God of Israel spoke.
The Rock of Israel said to me:
‘The one who rules righteously,
who rules in the fear of God,

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“The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘He who rules over men righteously,
Who rules in the fear of God,

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is like the light of morning at sunrise,
like a morning without clouds,
like the gleaming of the sun
on new grass after rain.’

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Is 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.’

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“Is it not my family God has chosen?
Yes, he has made an everlasting covenant with me.
His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail.
He will ensure my safety and success.

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“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?

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But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away,
for they tear the hand that touches them.

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

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One must use iron tools to chop them down;
they will be totally consumed by fire.”

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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 in their place.”

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David’s Mightiest Warriors

These are the names of David’s mightiest warriors. The first was Jashobeam the Hacmonite,b who was leader of the Threec — the three mightiest warriors among David’s men. He once used his spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle.d

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His Mighty Men

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;

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Next in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Eleazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled.

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and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, 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.

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He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the LORD gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!

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

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Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled,

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Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. 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.

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but Shammahe held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.

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But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the LORD brought about a great victory.

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Once during the harvest, when David was at the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty — an elite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there.

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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.

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David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem.

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David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

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David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.”

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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!”

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So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the LORD.

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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 took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD;

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“The LORD forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these menf who risked their lives to bring it to me.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three.

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and he said, “Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall 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.

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David’s Thirty Mighty Men

Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was the leader of the Thirty.g He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. It was by such feats that he became as famous as the Three.

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Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as the three.

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Abishai was the most famous of the Thirtyh and was their commander, though he was not one of the Three.

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He was most honored of the thirty, therefore he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three.

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There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warriori from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two championsj of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it.

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Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, 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.

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Once, armed only with a club, he killed an imposing Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.

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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.

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Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors.

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These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.

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He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.

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He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.

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Other members of the Thirty included:
Asahel, Joab’s brother;
Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem;

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Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,