41Made my enemies turn tail before me,
My foes—and I wiped them out.
42They looked,r but there was none to deliver;
To the LORD, but He answered them not.
43I pounded them like dust of the earth,
Stamped, crushed them like dirt of the streets.
44You have rescued me from the strife of peoples,s
t-Kept me to be-t a ruler of nations;
Peoples I knew not must serve me.
45Aliens have cringed before me,
Paid me homage at the mere report of me.
46Aliens have lost courage
q-And come trembling out of their fastnesses.-q
47The LORD lives! Blessed is my rock!
Exalted be God, the rock
Who gives me victory;
48The God who has vindicated me
And made peoples subject to me,
49Rescued me from my enemies,
Raised me clear of my foes,
Saved me from lawless men!
50For this I sing Your praise among the nations
And hymn Your name:
51u-Tower of victory-u to His king,
Who deals graciously with His anointed,
With David and his offspring evermore.
23 These are the last words of David:
aThe utterance of David son of Jesse,
The utterance of the man b-set on high,-b
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
c-The favorite of the songs of Israel:-c
2The spirit of the LORD has spoken through me,
His message is on my tongue;
3The God of Israel has spoken,
The Rock of Israel said concerning me:
“He who rules men justly,
He who rules ind awe of God
4Is like the light of morning at sunrise,
A morning without clouds—
e-Through sunshine and rain
[Bringing]-e vegetation out of the earth.”
5Is not my House established before God?
For He has granted me an eternal pact,
Drawn up in full and secured.
Will He not cause all my success
And [my] every desire to blossom?
6But the wicked shall all
Be raked aside like thorns;
For no one will take them in his hand.
7Whoever touches them
Must arm himself with iron
And the shaft of a spear;
And they must be burned up on the spot.
8These are the namesf of David’s warriors: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, the chief officer—he is Adino the Eznite; g-[he wielded his spear]-g against eight hundred h-and slew them-h on one occasion.
9Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodo son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines gathered there for battle. The Israelite soldiers retreated, 10but he held his ground. He struck down Philistines until his arm grew tired and his hand stuck to his sword; and the LORD wrought a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him—but only to strip [the slain].
11Next to him was Shammah son of Age the Ararite. The Philistines had gathered e-in force-e where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the troops fled from the Philistines. 12But [Shammah] took his stand in the middle of the plot and defended it, and he routed the Philistines. Thus the LORD wrought a great victory.
13e-Once, during the harvest,-e three of the thirty chiefs went down to David at the cavei of Adullam, while a force of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14David was then in the stronghold,i and a Philistine garrison was then at Bethlehem. 15David felt a craving and said, “If only I could get a drink of water from the cistern which is by the gate of Bethlehem!” 16So the three warriors got through the Philistine camp and drew water from the cistern which is by the gate of Bethlehem, and they carried it back. But when they brought it to David he would not drink it, and he poured it out as a libation to the LORD. 17For he said, “The LORD forbid that I should do this! Can [I drink]j the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.
18Abishai, the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah, was head of k-another three.-k He once wielded his spear against three hundred h-and slew them.-h 19He won a name among the three;l since he was the most highly regarded among the three,l he became their leader. However, he did not attain to the three.
20Benaiah son of Jehoiada, from Kabzeel, was m-a brave soldier-m who performed great deeds. He killed the two e-[sons] of Ariel of Moab.-e Once, on a snowy day, he went down into a pit and killed a lion. 21He also killed an Egyptian, a hugen man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, yet [Benaiah] went down against him with a club, wrenched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; and he won a name among the threel warriors. 23He was highly regarded among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.e
24Among the thirty were Asahel, the brother of Joab; Elhanan son of Dodo [from] Bethlehem, 25Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa, 27Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29Heleb son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjaminites, 30Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of Nahalegaash, 31Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32Eliahba of Shaalbon, sons of e-Jashen, Jonathan,-e 33Shammah the Ararite, Ahiam son of Sharar the Ararite, 34Eliphelet son of Ahasbai son of the Maacathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36Igal son of Nathan from Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite—the arms-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah—38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.o
24 aThe anger of the LORD againb flared up against Israel; and He incited David against them, saying, “Go and number Israel and Judah.” 2The king said to Joab, c-his army commander,-c “Make the rounds of all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and take a census of the people, so that I may know the size of the population.” 3Joab answered the king, “May the LORD your God increase the number of the people a hundredfold, while your own eyes see it! But why should my lord king want this?” 4However, the king’s command to Joab and to the officers of the army remained firm; and Joab and the officers of the army set out, at the instance of the king, to take a census of the people of Israel.
5They crossed the Jordan and d-encamped at Aroer, on the right side of the town, which is in the middle of the wadi of Gad, and-d [went on] to Jazer. 6They continued to Gilead and to the region of e-Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to-e Sidon. 7They went onto the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites, and finished at Beer-sheba in southern Judah. 8They traversed the whole country, and then they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9Joab reported to the king the number of the people that had been recorded: in Israel there were 800,000 soldiers ready to draw the sword, and the men of Judah numbered 500,000.
10But afterward David f-reproached himself-f for having numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned grievously in what I have done. Please, O LORD, remit the guilt of Your servant, for I have acted foolishly.” 11When David rose in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer: 12“Go and tell David, ‘Thus said the LORD: I hold three things over you; choose one of them, and I will bring it upon you.’ ” 13Gad came to David and told him; he asked, “Shall a seven-year famine come upon you in the land, or shall you be in flight from your adversaries for three months while they pursue you, or shall there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider carefully what reply I shall take back to Him who sent me.” 14David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for His compassion is great; and let me not fall into the hands of men.”g
15The LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from morning e-until the set time;-e and 70,000 of the people died, from Dan to Beer-sheba. 16But when the angel extended his hand against Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD renounced further punishment and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Stay your hand!” The angel of the LORD was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “I alone am guilty, I alone have done wrong; but these poor sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house!”
18Gad came to David the same day and said to him, “Go and set up an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19David went up, following Gad’s instructions, as the LORD had commanded. 20Araunah looked out and saw the king and his courtiers approaching him.h So Araunah went out and bowed low to the king, with his face to the ground. 21And Araunah asked, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy the threshing floor from you, that I may build an altar to the LORD and that the plague against the people may be checked.” 22And Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take it and offer up whatever he sees fit. Here are oxen for a burnt offering, and the threshing
