|
| |
2 Samuel
| And there happened to be there a man of Belial,
whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a
trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance
in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. |
| So every man of Israel went up from after David, and
followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their
king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. |
| And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the
king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the
house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So
they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. |
| Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of
Judah within three days, and be thou here present. |
| So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he
tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. |
| And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son
of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's
servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and
escape us. |
| And there went out after him Joab's men, and the
Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went
out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. |
| When they were at the great stone which is in
Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on
was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his
loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out. |
| And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my
brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss
him. |
| But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in
Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out
his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab
and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. |
| And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He
that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab. |
| And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the
highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he
removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon
him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. |
| When he was removed out of the highway, all the
people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. |
| And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto
Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered
together, and went also after him. |
| And they came and besieged him in Abel of
Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in
the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to
throw it down. |
| Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear;
say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with
thee. |
| And when he was come near unto her, the woman said,
Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear
the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. |
| Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in
old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they
ended the matter. |
| I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in
Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt
thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? |
| And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it
from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. |
| The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim,
Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the
king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the
city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to
thee over the wall. |
| Then the woman went unto all the people in her
wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast
it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city,
every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king. |
| Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the
Pelethites: |
| And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the
son of Ahilud was recorder: |
| And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were
the priests: |
| And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about
David. |
| Then there was a famine in the days of David three
years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD
answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the
Gibeonites. |
| And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto
them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the
remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them:
and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and
Judah.) |
| Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall
I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may
bless the inheritance of the LORD? |
| And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no
silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou
kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do
for you. |
| And they answered the king, The man that consumed
us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from
remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, |
| Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and
we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did
choose. And the king said, I will give them. |
| But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of
Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between
them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. |
| But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the
daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and
the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for
Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: |
| And he delivered them into the hands of the
Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they
fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest,
in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. |
| And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and
spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until
water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of
the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. |
| And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of
Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. |
| And David went and took the bones of Saul and the
bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen
them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them,
when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: |
| And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and
the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that
were hanged. |
| And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried
they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his
father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that
God was entreated for the land. |
| Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with
Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought
against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. |
| And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant,
the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in
weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. |
| But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and
smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto
him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou
quench not the light of Israel. |
| And it came to pass after this, that there was again
a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew
Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. |
| And there was again a battle in Gob with the
Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew
the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a
weaver's beam. |
| And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man
of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot
six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. |
| And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of
Shimeah the brother of David slew him. |
| These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell
by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. |
| And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song
in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his
enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: |
| And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress,
and my deliverer; |
| The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my
shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my
saviour; thou savest me from violence. |
| I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be
praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. |
| When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of
ungodly men made me afraid; |
| The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares
of death prevented me; |
| In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to
my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter
into his ears. |
| Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations
of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. |
| There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire
out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. |
| He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and
darkness was under his feet. |
| And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was
seen upon the wings of the wind. |
| And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark
waters, and thick clouds of the skies. |
| Through the brightness before him were coals of fire
kindled. |
| The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High
uttered his voice. |
| And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;
lightning, and discomfited them. |
| And the channels of the sea appeared, the
foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. |
| He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of
many waters; |
| He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them
that hated me: for they were too strong for me. |
| They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the
LORD was my stay. |
| He brought me forth also into a large place: he
delivered me, because he delighted in me. |
| The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:
according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. |
| For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not
wickedly departed from my God. |
| For all his judgments were before me: and as for his
statutes, I did not depart from them. |
| I was also upright before him, and have kept myself
from mine iniquity. |
| Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to
my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. |
| With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful,
and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright. |
| With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with
the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavoury. |
| And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine
eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. |
| For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will
lighten my darkness. |
| For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God
have I leaped over a wall. |
| As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD
is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. |
| For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock,
save our God? |
| God is my strength and power: And he maketh my way
perfect. |
| He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me
upon my high places. |
| He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel
is broken by mine arms. |
| Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:
and thy gentleness hath made me great. |
| Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my
feet did not slip. |
| I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and
turned not again until I had consumed them. |
| And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that
they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. |
| For thou hast girded me with strength to battle:
them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. |
| Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies,
that I might destroy them that hate me. |
| They looked, but there was none to save; even unto
the LORD, but he answered them not. |
| Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the
earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them
abroad. |
| Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my
people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I
knew not shall serve me. |
| Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon
as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. |
| Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid
out of their close places. |
| The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted
be the God of the rock of my salvation. |
| It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down
the people under me, |
| And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou
also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou
hast delivered me from the violent man. |
| Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD,
among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. |
| He is the tower of salvation for his king: and
showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore. |
| Now these be the last words of David. David the son
of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of
the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, |
| The spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was
in my tongue. |
| The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to
me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. |
| And he shall be as the light of the morning, when
the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass
springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. |
| Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure:
for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not
to grow. |
| But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as
thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: |
| But the man that shall touch them must be fenced
with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned
with fire in the same place. |
| These be the names of the mighty men whom David had:
The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same
was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom
he slew at one time. |
| And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the
Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the
Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of
Israel were gone away: |
| He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand
was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a
great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil. |
| And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the
Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where
was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the
Philistines. |
| But he stood in the midst of the ground, and
defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great
victory. |
| And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to
David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the
Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. |
| And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of
the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. |
| And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give
me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! |
| And the three mighty men brake through the host of
the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was
by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would
not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. |
| And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I
should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy
of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these
three mighty men. |
| And Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah,
was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred,
and slew them, and had the name among three. |
| Was he not most honourable of three? therefore he
was their captain: howbeit he attained not unto the first three. |
| And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a
valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike
men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in
time of snow: |
| And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the
Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff,
and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his
own spear. |
| These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
had the name among three mighty men. |
| He was more honourable than the thirty, but he
attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard. |
| Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty;
Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, |
| Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, |
| Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, |
| Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, |
| Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, |
| Heleb the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the
son of Ribai out of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, |
| Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of
Gaash, |
| Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, |
| Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen,
Jonathan, |
| Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the
Hararite, |
| Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the
Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, |
| Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, |
| Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, |
| Zelek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beerothite,
armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah, |
| Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite, |
| Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all. |
| And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against
Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and
Judah. |
| For the king said to Joab the captain of the host,
which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan
even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number
of the people. |
| And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God
add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that
the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king
delight in this thing? |
| Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against
Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of
the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of
Israel. |
| And they passed over Jordan, and pitched in Aroer,
on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the river of
Gad, and toward Jazer: |
| Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of
Tahtimhodshi; and they came to Danjaan, and about to Zidon, |
| And came to the strong hold of Tyre, and to all the
cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites: and they went out to the
south of Judah, even to Beersheba. |
| So when they had gone through all the land, they
came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. |
| And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people
unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant
men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand
men. |
| And David's heart smote him after that he had
numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly
in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the
iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. |
| For when David was up in the morning, the word of
the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, |
| Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer
thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. |
| So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto
him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt
thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or
that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see
what answer I shall return to him that sent me. |
| And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let
us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and
let me not fall into the hand of man. |
| So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the
morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from
Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. |
| And when the angel stretched out his hand upon
Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to
the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand.
And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the
Jebusite. |
| And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel
that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done
wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray
thee, be against me, and against my father's house. |
| And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him,
Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the
Jebusite. |
| And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up
as the LORD commanded. |
| And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his
servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself
before the king on his face upon the ground. |
| And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come
to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to
build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the
people. |
| And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king
take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for
burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the
oxen for wood. |
| All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto
the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee. |
| And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will
surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings
unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought
the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. |
| And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated
for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. |
Next Book
Next Chapter Top Index Prev
Chapter Prev Book
|
Our purpose is to promote and support divine and Christian worship as
taught in
the examples and teachings contained in the Holy scriptures of
the Bible excluding additions and subtractions!
