Category: 2 Samuel

Gibeonite Revenge

1 There was famine in the days of David for three consecutive years; and David sought the presence (face) of the Lord[asking the reason]. The Lordreplied, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, becausehe put the Gibeonites to death.”

2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel but of the remnant (survivors) of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn [an oath] to [spare] them, but Saul in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah had sought to strike down the Gibeonites).

3 So David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make it good so that you will bless the Lord’sinheritance (Israel)?”

4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We will not accept silver or gold belonging to Saul or his household (descendants); nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.”

5 So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to exterminate us from remaining in any territory of Israel,

6 let seven men [chosen] from his sons (descendants) be given to us and we will hang them before the Lord[that is, put them on display, impaled with broken legs and arms] inGibeah of Saul, the chosen one of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’soath that was between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.

8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons ofMerab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the Lord, and the seven died together. They were put to death in the first days of the grain harvest, the beginning of the barley harvest [in the spring].

10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.

11 David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, theconcubine of Saul, had done.

12 Then David went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day when the Philistines had killed Saul in Gilboa.

13 He brought up the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged [with their arms and legs broken].

14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they did all that the king commanded. After that, God was moved by prayer for the land.

15 Now the Philistines were at war again with Israel. David went down with his servants, and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.

16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundredshekels(six pounds) of bronze, was armed with a newsword,and he intended to kill David.

17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”

18 After this, there was war again with the Philistines at Gob (Gezer). At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph (Sippai), 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, a Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam.

20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man ofgreatstature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he also was a descendant of the giants.

21 And when he tauntedanddefied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him.

22 These four [warriors] were descended from the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.

David’s Psalm of Rescue

1 David spoke the words of this song to the Lordwhen the Lordrescued him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

2 He said:

“The Lordis my rock and my fortress [on the mountain] and my rescuer;

3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge,

My Savior—You save me from violence.

4 I call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

5 For the waves of death encompassed me;

The torrents ofdestruction overwhelmedandterrified me.

6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

7 In my distress I called upon the Lord;

I cried out to my God,

And from His temple [in the heavens] He heard my voice;

My cry for helpcameinto His ears.

8 Then the earth shook and quaked,

The foundations of the heavens trembled

And were shaken, because He was angry.

9 Smoke went up out of His nostrils,

And devouring fire from His mouth;

Coals were kindled by it.

10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick darkness under His feet.

11 He rode on a cherub and flew;

He appeared upon the wings of the wind.

12 He made darknesscanopies around Him,

A mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

13 Out of the brightness before Him

Coals of fire were set aflame.

14 The Lordthundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice.

15 He sent out arrows and scattered them;

Lightning, and confused them.

16 The channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were uncovered

At the rebuke of the Lord,

At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

17 He sent from above, He took me;

He drew me out of great waters.

18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity,

But the Lordwas my support.

20 He also brought me out to an open place;

He rescued me because He delighted in me.

21 The Lordhas dealt with me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.

22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not acted wickedly against my God.

23 For all His judgments (legal decisions) were before me,

And from His statutes I did not turn aside.

24 I was also blameless before Him,

And kept myself from wrongdoing.

25 Therefore the Lordhas rewarded me according to my righteousness,

According to my cleanness in His sight.

26 With the lovingandloyal You show Yourself lovingandloyal,

With the blameless You show Yourself blameless.

27 With the pure You show Yourself pure,

With the perverted You show Yourself astute.

28 And You save the afflicted people;

But Your eyes are on the haughtywhomYou abase (humiliate).

29 For You, O Lord, are my lamp;

The Lordilluminesanddispels my darkness.

30 For by You I can run upon a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

31 As for God, His way is blamelessandperfect;

The word of the Lordis tested.

He is a shield to all those who take refugeandtrust in Him.

32 For who is God, besides the Lord?

And who is a rock, besides our God?

33 God is my strong fortress;

He sets the blameless in His way.

34 He makes my feet like the doe’sfeet[firm and swift];

He sets me [secure and confident] on my high places.

35 He trains my hands for war,

So that my arms can bend (pull back) a bow of bronze.

36 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,

And Your helpandgentleness make me great.

37 You enlarge my steps under me,

And my feet have not slipped.

38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed (eliminated).

39 I consumed them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;

They fell under my feet.

40 For You have surrounded me with strength for the battle;

You have subdued under me those who stood against me.

41 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in retreat],

And I destroyed those who hated me.

42 They looked, but there was no saviorfor them—

Evento the Lord[they looked], but He did not answer them.

43 Then I beat them as [small as] the dust of the earth;

I crushed and stamped them as the mire (dirt, mud) of the streets.

44 You also have rescued me from strife with my [own] people;

You have kept me as the head of the nations.

People whom I have not known served me.

45 Foreigners pretend obedience to me;

As soon as they hear [me], they obey me.

46 Foreigners lose heart;

They come trembling out of their strongholds.

47 The Lordlives, and blessed be my rock,

And exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.

48 It is God who executes vengeance for me,

And brings down [and disciplines] the peoples under me,

49 Who also brings me out from my enemies.

You even lift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the violent man.

50 For this I will give thanksandpraise You, O Lord, among the nations;

I will sing praises to Your name.

51 He is a tower of salvationandgreat deliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,

To David and his offspring forever.”

David’s Last Song

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 the Lordspoke by me,

And His word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Israel,

The Rock of Israel spoke to me,

‘He who rules over men righteously,

Who rules in the fear of God,

4 Is like the morning lightwhenthe sun rises,

A morning without clouds,

Whenthe fresh grassspringsout of the earth

Through sunshine after rain.’

5 Truly is not my house so [blessed] with God?

For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,

Ordered in all things, and secured.

For will He not cause to growandprosper

All my salvation and my every wish?

Will He not make it growandprosper?

6 But the wickedandworthless are all to be thrown away like thorns,

Because they cannot be taken with the hand;

7 But the man who touches them

Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,

And they are utterly burnedandconsumed by fire in their place.”

His Mighty Men

8 These are the names of the mighty men (warriors) whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of thecaptains,also calledAdino the Eznite (spear) because of theeight hundred men killed [by him] at one time.

9 Next to him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three mighty men with David when they tauntedanddefied the Philistines assembled there for battle, and the men of Israel had gone.

10 Eleazar stood up and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. The Lordbrought about a great victory that day; the people returned after him only to take the spoil [of the slain].

11 Next to Eleazar was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines were gathered into an army where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people [of Israel] fled from the Philistines.

12 But he took his stand in the center of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines; and the Lordbrought about a great victory.

13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time in the cave of Adullam, while an army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

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

15 And 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 by the gate, and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink it, but poured it out [in worship] to the Lord.

17 And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should drink this. [Is it not the same as] the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things thethree mighty men did.

18 Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was chief of thethirty. He wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and gained a reputation beside the three.

19 He was the most honored of the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three.

20 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many notable acts, killed two [famous] warriors of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

21 And he killed an Egyptian, an impressiveandhandsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed the man with his own spear.

22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and gained a reputation beside the three mighty men.

23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three. David appointed him over his guard.

24 Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty;thenElhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

25 Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod,

26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa,

27 Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah,

29 Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the Benjamites,

30 Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,

31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

32 Eliahba of Shaalbon, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite,

34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel of Giloh,

35 Hezro (Hezrai) of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite,

36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,

38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

39 Uriah the Hittite—thirty-seven in all.

The Census Taken

1 Now again the anger of the Lordburned against Israel, andHe incited David against them to say, “Go,count [the people of] Israel and Judah.”

2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], and conduct a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.”

3 But Joab said to the king, “May the Lordyour God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the kingwant to do this thing?”

4 Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So they went from the king’s presence to take a census of the people of Israel.

5 They crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the south side of the city which is in the middle of the river valley [of the Arnon] toward Gad, and on toward Jazer.

6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon,

7 and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba.

8 So when they had gone about through all the land [taking the census], they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

9 And Joab gave the sum of the census of the people to the king. In Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

10 But David’s heart (conscience) troubled him after he had counted the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lordcame to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am giving you threechoices;select one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.” ’ ”

13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your enemies as they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence (plague) in your land? Now consider this and decide what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.”

14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hands of man.”

Pestilence Sent

15 So the Lordsent a pestilence (plague) [lasting three days] upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.

16 When the [avenging] angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lordrelented from the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lordwas by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he spoke to the Lordand said, “Behold, I [alone] am the one who has sinned and done wrong; but these sheep (people of Israel), what have they done [to deserve this]? Please let Your hand be [only] against me and my father’s house (family).”

David Builds an Altar

18 Then Gad [the prophet] came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, set up an altar to the Lordon the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite [where you saw the angel].”

19 So David went up according to Gad’s word, as the Lordcommanded.

20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and he went out and bowed before the king with his face toward the ground.

21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, so that the plague may be held back from the people.”

22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for the burnt offering, and threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood.

23 All of this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lordyour God be favorable to you.”

24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lordmy God which cost me nothing.” So David purchased thethreshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

25 David built an altar to the Lordthere, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lordwas moved [to compassion] by [David’s] prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.