1 Chronicles 11:1-25

New American Standard Bible

David Made King over All Israel

11 ^(A)Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron ^[a]and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘^(B)You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be leader over My people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and ^(C)they anointed David king over Israel, ^(D)in accordance with the word of the Lord through Samuel.

Jerusalem Is the Capital City

⁴ Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (^(E)that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not enter here.” Nevertheless David took the mountain stronghold of Zion (that is, the city of David). ⁶ Now David had said, “Whoever is first to ^[b]kill a Jebusite shall be chief and commander.” ^(F)Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief. ⁷ Then David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. ⁸ He ^[c]built the city all around, from the ^[d]Millo to the surrounding area; and Joab ^[e]repaired the rest of the city. ^9 (G)And David became greater and greater, for the Lord of armies was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

^10 (H)Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who remained faithful to him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, ^(I)in accordance with the word of the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹ These constitute the list of David’s mighty men: ^(J)Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, ^(K)the chief of the thirty; he wielded his spear against three hundred ^[f]whom he killed at one time.

¹² After him was Eleazar the son of ^(L)Dodo, the Ahohite, who was ^[g]one of the three mighty men. ¹³ He was with David at ^[h]Pas-dammim ^(M)when the Philistines were gathered together there to battle, and there was a plot of land full of barley; and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But they took their stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and defeated the Philistines; and the Lord saved them with a great ^[i]victory.

¹⁵ Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while ^(N)the army of the Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, while ^(O)the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ 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!” ¹⁸ So the three 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; however, David would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; ¹⁹ and he said, “Far be it from me before my God that I would do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went ^[j]at the risk of their lives? For they brought it at the risk of their lives.” Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

²⁰ As for ^[k]Abshai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the ^[l]thirty, and he wielded his spear against three hundred ^[m]and killed them; and he had a name ^[n]as well as the ^[o]thirty. ²¹ Of the three in the second rank he was the most honored, and he became their commander; however, he did not attain the reputation of the first three.

^22 (P)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a warrior of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck and killed the ^[p]two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and struck and killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day. ²³ And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature ^[q]five cubits tall. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was ^(Q)a spear like a weaver’s beam, 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. ²⁴ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and had a name ^[r]as well as the three mighty men. ²⁵ Behold, he was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the first three; and David appointed him over his bodyguard.