All the troops with Joab were g-engaged in battering the wall,-g 16when a clever woman shouted from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come over here so I can talk to him.” 17He approached her, and the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “Yes,” he answered; and she said to him, “Listen to what your handmaid has to say.” “I’m listening,” he replied. 18And she continued, “In olden times people used to say, a-‘Let them inquire of Abel,’-a and that was the end of the matter. 19I am one of those who seek the welfare of the faithful in Israel. But you seek to bring death upon a mother city in Israel! Why should you destroy the Lord’s possession?” 20Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me to destroy or to ruin! 21Not at all! But a certain man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba son of Bichri, has rebelled against King David. Just hand him alone over to us, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman assured Joab, “His head shall be thrown over the wall to you.” 22The woman came to all the people with her clever plan; and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it down to Joab. He then sounded the horn; all the men dispersed to their homes, and Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
23Joab was commander of the whole army [of] Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24Adoramh was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 25Shevai was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests. 26Ira the Jairite also served David as priest.
21 There was a famine during the reign of David, year after year for three years. David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD replied, “It is because of the bloodguilt of Saul and [his] house, for he put some Gibeonites to death.” 2The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.—Now the Gibeonites were not of Israelite stock, but a remnant of the Amorites, to whom the Israelites had given an oath; and Saul had tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.— 3David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make expiation, so that you may bless the Lord’s own people?” 4The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no claim for silver or gold against Saul and his household; and we have no claim on the life of any other man in Israel.” And [David] responded, “Whatever you say I will do for you.” 5Thereupon they said to the king, “The man who massacred us and planned to a-exterminate us, so that we-a should not survive in all the territory of Israel—6let seven of his male issue be handed over to us, and we will impale them before the LORD in b-Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.”-b And the king replied, “I will do so.”
7The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between the two, between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8Instead, the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons that Rizpah daughter of Aiah bore to Saul, and the five sons that Merabc daughter of Saul bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite, 9and he handed them over to the Gibeonites. They impaled them on the mountain before the LORD; all seven of them perished at the same time. They were put to death in the first days of the harvest, the beginning of the barley harvest.
10Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it on a rock for herself, and she stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until rain from the sky fell on d-the bodies;-d she did not let the birds of the sky settle on them by day or the wild beasts [approach] by night. 11David was told what Saul’s concubine Rizpah daughter of Aiah had done. 12And David went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had made off with them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them up on the day the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. 13He brought up the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan from there; and he gathered the bones of those who had been impaled. 14And they buried the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathane in Zela, in the territory of Benjamin, in the tomb of his father Kish. And when all that the king had commanded was done, God responded to the plea of the land thereafter.
15Again war broke out between the Philistines and Israel, and David and the men with him went down and fought the Philistines; David grew weary, 16and a-Ishbi-benob-a tried to kill David.—He was a descendant of the Raphah;f his bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and he wore new armor.—17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid; he attacked the Philistine and killed him. It was then that David’s men declared to him on oath, “You shall not go with us into battle any more, lest you extinguish the lamp of Israel!”
18gAfter this, fighting broke out again with the Philistines, at Gob; that was when Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of the Raphah.f 19Again there was fighting with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregimh the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft like a weaver’s bar. 20Once again there was fighting, at Gath. There was a a-giant of a man,-a who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all; he too was descended from the Raphah. 21When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him. 22Those four were descended from the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his men.
22 aDavid addressed the words of this song to the LORD, after the LORD had saved him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hands of Saul. 2He said:
O LORD, my crag, my fastness, my deliverer!
3O b-God, the rock-b wherein I take shelter:
My shield, my c-mighty champion,-c my fortress and refuge!
My savior, You who rescue my from violence!
4d-All praise! I called on the LORD,-d
And I was delivered from my enemies.
5For the breakers of Death encompassed me,
The torrents of Beliale terrified me;
6The snares of Sheol encircled me,
The toils of Death engulfed me.
7In my anguish I called on the LORD,
Cried out to my God;
In His Abodef He heard my voice,
My cry entered His ears.
8Then the earth rocked and quaked,
The foundations of heaveng shook—
Rocked by His indignation.
9Smoke went up from His nostrils,
From His mouth came devouring fire;
Live coals blazed forth from Him.
10He bent the sky and came down,
Thick cloud beneath His feet.
11He mounted a cherub and flew;
h-He was seen-h on the wings of the wind.
12He made pavilions of darkness about Him,
Dripping clouds, huge thunderheads;
13In the brilliance before Him
Blazed fiery coals.
14The LORD thundered forth from heaven,
The Most High sent forth His voice;
15He let loose bolts, and scattered them;i
Lightning, and put them to rout.
16The bed of the sea was exposed,
The foundations of the world were laid bare
By the mighty roaring of the LORD,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17He reached down from on high, He took me,
Drew me out of the mighty waters;j
18He rescued me from my enemy so strong,
From foes too mighty for me.
19They attacked me on my day of calamity,
But the LORD was my stay.
20He brought me out to freedom,
He rescued me because He was pleased with me.
21The LORD rewarded me according to my merit,
He requited the cleanness of my hands.
22For I have kept the ways of the LORD
And have not been guilty before my God;
23I am mindful of all His rules
And have not departed from His laws.
24I have been blameless before Him,
And have guarded myself against sinning—
25And the LORD has requited my merit,
According to my purity in His sight.
26With the loyal You deal loyally;
With the blameless hero,k blamelessly.
27With the pure You act in purity,
And with the perverse You are wily.
28To humble folk You give victory,
l-And You look with scorn on the haughty.-l
29You, O LORD, are my lamp;
The LORD lights up my darkness.
30With You, I can rush a barrier,m
With my God, I can scale a wall.
31The way of God is perfect,
The word of the LORD is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32Yea, who is a god except the LORD,
Who is a rock except God—
33The God, n-my mighty stronghold,-n
Who kepto my path secure;
34Who made my legs like a deer’s,
And set me firm on theP heights;
35Who trained my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze!
36You have granted me the shield of Your protection
q-And Your providence has made me great.-q
37You have let me stride on freely,
And my feet have not slipped.
38I pursued my enemies and wiped them out,
I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
39I destroyed them, I struck them down;
They rose no more, they lay at my feet.
40You have girt me with strength for battle,
Brought low
