2 Samuel 22:35-24:17

English Standard Version

The Last Words of David

23 Now these are the last words of David:

David's Mighty Men

^8 (AB)These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: ^(AC)Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three.^[j] He wielded his spear^[k] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.

⁹ And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of ^(AD)Dodo, son of ^(AE)Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. ¹⁰ He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

¹¹ And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the ^(AF)Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi,^[l] where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

¹³ And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the ^(AG)cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped ^(AH)in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then ^(AI)in the stronghold, and ^(AJ)the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁶ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord ¹⁷ and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink ^(AK)the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

¹⁸ Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty.^[m] And he wielded his spear against three hundred men^[n] and killed them and won a name beside the three. ¹⁹ He was the most renowned of the thirty^[o] and became their commander, but he did not attain to ^(AL)the three.

²⁰ And ^(AM)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man^[p] of ^(AN)Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels^[q] of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. ²¹ And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. ²³ He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

^24 (AO)Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ^25 (AP)Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh ^(AQ)of Tekoa, ²⁷ Abiezer ^(AR)of Anathoth, Mebunnai ^(AS)the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon ^(AT)the Ahohite, Maharai ^(AU)of Netophah, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah ^(AV)of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of ^(AW)Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah ^(AX)of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of ^(AY)Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of ^(AZ)Bahurim, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ^33 (BA)Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai ^(BB)of Maacah, ^(BC)Eliam the son of ^(BD)Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵ Hezro^{[r] (BE)}of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan ^(BF)of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai ^(BG)of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ^38 (BH)Ira the ^(BI)Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ^39 (BJ)Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David's Census

24 ^(BK)(BL)Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ^(BM)“Go, number Israel and Judah.” ² So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,^[s] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, ^(BN)from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” ³ But Joab said to the king, ^(BO)“May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” ⁴ But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. ⁵ They crossed the Jordan and began from ^(BP)Aroer,^[t] and from the city that is in the middle of the ^(BQ)valley, toward Gad and on to ^(BR)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;^[u] and they came to Dan, and from Dan^[v] they went around to ^(BS)Sidon, ⁷ and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(BT)Hivites and ^(BU)Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men ^(BV)who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

The Lord's Judgment of David's Sin

¹⁰ But ^(BW)David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, ^(BX)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done ^(BY)very foolishly.” ¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(BZ)the prophet Gad, David's ^(CA)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer^[w] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(CB)three^[x] years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, 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 hand of the Lord, ^(CC)for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

^15 (CD)So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from ^(CE)Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. ¹⁶ And when ^(CF)the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem ^(CG)to destroy it, ^(CH)the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel ^(CI)who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And ^(CJ)the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^(CK)Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”