David’s Song of Praise

22 David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord saved him from all who hated him, and from Saul. ² He said, “The Lord is my rock, my strong place, and the One Who sets me free. ³ He is my God, my rock, where I go to be safe. He is my covering and the horn that saves me, my strong place where I go to be safe. You save me from being hurt. ⁴ I call upon the Lord, Who should be praised. I am saved from those who hate me.

⁵ “For the waves of death were all around me. The storm that destroys made me afraid. ⁶ The cords of the grave were around me. The nets of death came against me. ⁷ In my trouble I called upon the Lord. Yes, I cried to my God. From His house He heard my voice. My cry for help came into His ears.

⁸ “Then the earth shook. The mountains were shaking. They shook because He was angry. ⁹ Smoke went up from His nose. Fire that destroyed came from His mouth. Burnt pieces of wood were set on fire by it. ¹⁰ He tore open the heavens and came down, with darkness under His feet. ¹¹ He sat on a cherub and flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind. ¹² He made darkness around Him his tent, gathering waters, and clouds of the sky. ¹³ From the light before Him, burnt pieces of wood were set on fire. ¹⁴ “The Lord thundered from heaven. The Most High let His voice be heard. ¹⁵ He sent out arrows, and made them run. He sent lightning, and made them troubled and afraid. ¹⁶ Then the bottom of the sea was seen. The bottom of the world lost its covering, at the strong words of the Lord, at the rush of breath from His nose.

¹⁷ “He sent from above. He took me. He pulled me out of many waters. ¹⁸ He saved me from those strong ones who hated me. For they were too strong for me. ¹⁹ They came upon me in the day of my trouble. But the Lord held me up. ²⁰ He brought me into a big place. He saved me, because He was pleased with me. ²¹ “The Lord has paid me for being right with Him. He has paid me for my clean hands. ²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord. I have not acted in sin against my God. ²³ For all His Laws were in front of me, and I did not turn aside from them. ²⁴ I was without blame before Him. I kept myself from guilt. ²⁵ So the Lord has paid me for being right with Him, for being clean in His eyes.

²⁶ “With the faithful You show Yourself faithful. With the one without blame You show Yourself without blame. ²⁷ With the pure You show Yourself pure. But with the sinful, You show Yourself wise. ²⁸ You save a troubled people. But Your eyes are on the proud whom You put to shame.

²⁹ “For You are my lamp, O Lord. The Lord gives light to my darkness. ³⁰ For by You I can run through an army. By my God I can jump over a wall. ³¹ As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is proven true. He is a covering to all who go to Him to be safe.

³² “For who is God, but the Lord? Who is a Rock, except our God? ³³ God is my strong place. He has made my way safe. ³⁴ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He sets me safe on high places. ³⁵ He makes my hands ready for battle, so that my arms can use a bow of brass.

³⁶ “You have given me the covering of Your saving power. Your help makes me strong. ³⁷ You give me a big place for my steps. I have not fallen. ³⁸ I went after those who hated me and destroyed them. I did not return until they were destroyed. ³⁹ I destroyed them and cut them through, so that they did not rise. They fell under my feet. ⁴⁰ For You have dressed me with strength for battle. You have put under me those who came against me. ⁴¹ You made those who fought me turn their backs to me. I destroyed those who hated me. ⁴² They looked, but there was no one to save them. They cried to the Lord, but He did not answer them. ⁴³ Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth. I crushed and stepped on them like the mud of the streets.

⁴⁴ “You have saved me from trouble with my people. You have kept me as head of the nations. People whom I have not known serve me. ⁴⁵ Strangers obey me. As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. ⁴⁶ Strangers lost their strength of heart. They came out of their secret places shaking with fear.

⁴⁷ “The Lord lives. Thanks be to my Rock. May God be honored, the Rock that saves me. ⁴⁸ He is the God Who punishes for me. He puts people under my rule. ⁴⁹ He makes me free from those who hate me. You lift me above those who come against me. You save me from the man who wants to hurt me. ⁵⁰ So I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord. I will sing praises to Your name. ⁵¹ With great power He saves His king. He shows loving-kindness to His chosen one, to David and his children forever.”

David’s Last Words

23 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse, the man who was raised on high, the chosen one of the God of Jacob, the sweet song writer of Israel, says, ² “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me. His Word was on my tongue. ³ The God of Israel has spoken. The Rock of Israel said to me, ‘When one is right and good in ruling over men, ruling in the fear of God, ⁴ he shines on them like the morning light. He is like the sunshine on a morning without clouds. He is like rain that makes the new grass grow out of the earth through sunshine after rain.’ ⁵ In truth, does not my house stand right with God? For He has made an agreement with me that lasts forever. It is planned right in all things, and sure. For will He not make all my help and my desire grow? ⁶ But those of no worth are all like thorns that are thrown away, because they cannot be taken with the hand. ⁷ The man who touches them must be covered with iron and have a spear. All of them will be burned up with fire as they sit.”

David’s Men of War

⁸ These are the names of David’s men of war. There was Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, head of the three. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed 800 men at one time.

⁹ Next to him among the three strong men was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite. He was with David when they spoke against the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had left. ¹⁰ Eleazar got up and killed the Philistines until his hand was tired from holding the sword. The Lord saved many of His people that day. The men returned after him only to take what had belonged to the dead.

¹¹ Next to him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. The Philistines were gathered together at Lehi, where there was a piece of ground full of lentil plants. The people ran from the Philistines. ¹² But Shammah stood in the center of the piece of ground and fought for it. He killed the Philistines. The Lord saved many of His people that day.

¹³ Then three of the thirty leaders went down to David during the gathering time to the cave of Adullam. The Philistine army was staying in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was in the strong place, while the Philistine soldiers were in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David had a desire and said, “If only someone would give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁶ So the three strong men broke through the Philistine army and took water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord, ¹⁷ and said, “O Lord, far be it from me to do this. Should I drink the blood of the men who went and put their lives in danger?” So he would not drink it. The three strong men did these things.

¹⁸ Now Abishai the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, was head of the thirty. He fought with his spear against 300 men and killed them. His name was respected as well as the three. ¹⁹ He was the most honored of the thirty. So he became their captain. But he was not as strong as the three.

²⁰ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a man of Kabzeel with strength of heart. He had done powerful things. He killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. And he went down and killed a lion in a hole while the snow was falling. ²¹ He killed an Egyptian, an important man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand. But Benaiah went down to him with a heavy stick and took the spear from the Egyptian’s hand. Then he killed him with his own spear. ²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things. His name was respected as well as the three strong men. ²³ He was honored among the thirty. But he was not as strong as the three. David made him captain of the soldiers who kept him from danger.

²⁴ Joab’s brother Asahel was among the thirty. Then there was Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵ Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷ Abiezer the Anathothite, and Mebunnai the Hushathite. ²⁸ There was Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, and Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin. ³⁰ There was Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the rivers of Gaash, ³¹ Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, and Jonathan. ³³ There was Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel of Gilo, ³⁵ Hezro the Carmelite, and Paarai the Arbite. ³⁶ There was Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the one who carried the battle clothes of Joab the son of Zeruiah. ³⁸ And there was Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.

David Numbers Israel and Judah

24 Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel. He moved David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab the captain of the army who was with him, “Go through all the families of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. Number the people, so I may know how many there are.” ³ But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are. And may it be while the eyes of my lord the king still see. But why does my lord the king find this thing pleasing?” ⁴ But the king’s word was stronger than Joab and the captains of the army. So Joab and the army leaders went out from the king to number the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and stopped at Aroer, on the south side of the city in the center of the valley of Gad. And they went on to Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi. They came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. ⁷ They came to the strong place of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. And they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba. ⁸ When they had gone through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem. They had traveled nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave the number of the people to the king. There were 800,000 strong men in Israel who used the sword, and 500,000 men of Judah.

David’s Sin

¹⁰ David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So he said to the Lord, “I have sinned. But now I beg you, O Lord. Take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted like a fool.” ¹¹ When David got up in the morning, the word of the Lord came to Gad, the one who spoke for God to David. The Lord said, ¹² “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I give you three things to choose from. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said, “Will you have seven years without food in your land? Or will you run from those who hate you for three months, while they come after you? Or will there be disease in your land for three days? Now think about it. Decide what answer I should return to Him Who sent me.” ¹⁴ David said to Gad, “I am in much trouble. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His loving-kindness is great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a disease upon Israel from the morning until the time given. And 70,000 men died, from Dan to Beersheba. ¹⁶ The angel put out his hand to destroy Jerusalem. But the Lord had pity on them because of their trouble. He said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Do no more!” The angel of the Lord was by the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was killing the people, he said to the Lord, “See, it is I who have sinned. It is I who have done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? I beg You, let Your hand be against me and my father’s family.”

¹⁸ Then Gad came to David and said, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the grain-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up at Gad’s word, just as the Lord had told him. ²⁰ Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him. And he went out and put his face to the ground in front of the king. ²¹ Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David answered, “To buy the grain-floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord. Then the disease may be kept away from the people.” ²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever is good in his eyes, and make a gift of it. Look, there are the bulls for the burnt gift. The tools for cleaning the grain, and the cross-pieces the bulls wear to pull loads, can be used for the wood. ²³ Araunah gives all this to the king.” And Araunah said, “May the Lord your God be pleased with your gift.” ²⁴ But the king said to Araunah, “No, I will buy it from you for a price. I will not give burnt gifts to the Lord my God which I do not pay for.” So David bought the grain-floor and the bulls for fifty pieces of silver. ²⁵ And David built an altar there to the Lord. He gave burnt gifts and peace gifts. So the Lord listened to the prayers for the land, and stopped the disease in Israel.