2 Samuel 23:1-7

Revised Standard Version

² “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me,
    his word is upon my tongue.
³ The God of Israel has spoken,
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
    ruling in the fear of God,
⁴ he dawns on them like the morning light,
    like the sun shining forth upon a cloudless morning,
    like rain^[b] that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
⁵ Yea, does not my house stand so with God?
    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?
⁶ But godless men^[c] are all like thorns that are thrown away;
    for they cannot be taken with the hand;
⁷ but the man who touches them
    arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
    and they are utterly consumed with fire.”^[d]