¹Now these are the last words of David,

The utterance of David the son of Jesse,

And the utterance of the man raised up high,

The anointed of the God of Jacob,

Which are the pleasantness of the songs of Israel.

²“The spirit of the Lord spoke through me,

And its word was on my tongue.

³The God of Israel said

– The rock of Israel spoke to me –

‘A ruler over men shall be just;

A ruler shall have fear of God.

⁴And he will shine like morning light

When the sun rises,

On a morning without clouds,

At the brilliance after rain

On the grass shooting up out of the ground.’

⁵For is not my house like that with God?

For he has appointed an age-abiding covenant for me,

Ordered in all matters and secure,

For it is all my salvation and all my desire.

For shall he not make it spring up?

⁶But the good-for-nothing is like a thorn bush;

All of them are cast out,

For they are not taken up in a hand.

⁷But if a man touches them,

Let him be furnished with iron

And the shaft of a spear.

And they will be utterly burned up

By the fire on the spot.”

⁸These are the names of David's warriors: Josheb Bashshebeth the Tahchemonite, a head of the third rank – he is Adino the Eznite, famed for the eight hundred who were struck down by him at one time. ⁹And after him came Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite among the three warriors with David when they defied the Philistines who had assembled there for war, when the men of Israel had gone up to battle. ¹⁰He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. And the Lord effected a great salvation on that day, and the people came back after him only to collect spoil. ¹¹And after him came Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines assembled into a battalion, and there was a parcel of land there in a field full of lentils, and the people fled from the presence of the Philistines. ¹²But he took his stand in the middle of the parcel of land, and he saved it, and he struck the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great salvation. ¹³And three of the thirty heads went down and came at harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, while the battalion of the Philistines encamped in the Valley of the Rephaim. ¹⁴And David was then in the stronghold, whereas the garrison of the Philistines was at that time in Bethlehem. ¹⁵And David had a longing, and he said, “Who will give me a drink of water from the cistern in Bethlehem, which is at the gate?” ¹⁶And the three warriors broke through into the Philistines' camp and drew water from the cistern in Bethlehem, which is at the gate, and they carried it and brought it to David, but he was not willing to drink it, and he poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁷And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is this not the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he was not willing to drink it. The three warriors did these things. ¹⁸And Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was the head of the three, and he raised his spear against three hundred who were struck down by him, and he had fame among the three. ¹⁹Was he more honoured than the three? Now he became their commander, but he did not equal the three. ²⁰And there was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of many exploits, from Kabzeel. He struck down two men of Ariel of Moab, and he went down and struck a lion inside a pit on a snowy day. ²¹And he struck down an Egyptian man, who was of fine appearance, and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear, and he went down against him with a staff, and he wrenched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his spear. ²²Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and he had fame among the three warriors. ²³He was more honoured than the thirty, but he was not equal to the three, and David appointed him to his council. ²⁴Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty, as were Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Mahrai the Netophathite, ²⁹Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin, ³⁰Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, ³¹Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Nahrai the Beerothite, arms-bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹Uriah the Hittite – all thirty-seven of them.