2 Samuel 20-24

II Samuel 20

¹And there hath been called there a man of worthlessness, and his name is Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjamite, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and saith, ‘We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; each to his tents, O Israel.'

²And every man of Israel goeth up from after David, after Sheba son of Bichri, and the men of Judah have cleaved to their king, from the Jordan even unto Jerusalem.

³And David cometh in unto his house at Jerusalem, and the king taketh the ten women-concubines -- whom he had left to keep the house, and putteth them in a house of ward, and sustaineth them, and unto them he hath not gone in, and they are shut up unto the day of their death, in widowhood living.

⁴And the king saith unto Amasa, ‘Call for me the men of Judah in three days, and thou, stand here,'

⁵and Amasa goeth to call Judah, and tarrieth beyond the appointed time that he had appointed him;

⁶and David saith unto Abishai, ‘Now doth Sheba son of Bichri do evil to us more than Absalom; thou, take the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he have found for himself fenced cities, and delivered himself from our eye.'

⁷And the men of Joab go out after him, and the Cherethite, and the Pelethite, and all the mighty men, and they go out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri;

⁸they are near the great stone that is in Gibeon, and Amasa hath gone before them, and Joab is girded; his long robe he hath put on him, and upon it a girdle -- a sword is fastened upon his loins in its sheath; and he hath gone out, and it falleth.

⁹And Joab saith to Amasa, ‘Art thou in peace, my brother?' and the right hand of Joab layeth hold on the beard of Amasa to give a kiss to him;

¹⁰and Amasa hath not been watchful of the sword that is in the hand of Joab, and he smiteth him with it unto the fifth rib, and sheddeth out his bowels to the earth, and he hath not repeated it to him, and he dieth; and Joab and Abishai his brother have pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.

¹¹And a man hath stood by him, of the young men of Joab, and saith, ‘He who hath delight in Joab, and he who is for David -- after Joab!'

¹²And Amasa is rolling himself in blood, in the midst of the highway, and the man seeth that all the people have stood still, and he bringeth round Amasa out of the highway to the field, and casteth over him a garment, when he hath seen that every one who hath come by him -- hath stood still.

¹³When he hath been removed out of the highway, every man hath passed on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁴And he passeth over through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth-Maachah, and to all the Berites, and they are assembled, and go in also after him,

¹⁵and they go in and lay siege against him, in Abel of Beth-Maachah, and cast up a mount against the city, and it standeth in a trench, and all the people who are are with Joab are destroying, to cause the wall to fall.

¹⁶And a wise woman calleth out of the city, ‘Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, and I speak unto thee.'

¹⁷And he cometh near unto her, and the woman saith, ‘Art thou Joab?' and he saith, ‘I am.' And she saith to him, ‘Hear the words of thy handmaid;' and he saith, ‘I am hearing.'

¹⁸and she speaketh, saying, ‘They spake often in former times, saying, Let them diligently ask at Abel, and so they finished.

¹⁹I am of the peaceable -- faithful ones of Israel; thou art seeking to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel; why dost thou swallow up the inheritance of Jehovah?

²⁰And Joab answereth and saith, ‘Far be it -- far be it from me; I do not swallow up nor destroy.

²¹The matter is not so; for a man of the hill-country of Ephraim -- Sheba son of Bichri his name -- hath lifted up his hand against the king, against David; give ye up him by himself, and I go away from the city.' And the woman saith unto Joab, ‘Lo, his head is cast unto thee over the wall.'

²²And the woman cometh unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast it unto Joab, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and they are scattered from the city, each to his tents, and Joab hath turned back to Jerusalem unto the king.

²³And Joab is over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over the Cherethite, and over the Pelethite,

²⁴and Adoram is over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is the remembrancer,

²⁵and Sheva is scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar are priests,

²⁶and also, Ira the Jairite hath been minister to David.

II Samuel 21

¹And there is a famine in the days of David three years, year after year, and David seeketh the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah saith, ‘For Saul and for the bloody house, because that he put to death the Gibeonites.'

²And the king calleth for the Gibeonites, and saith unto them -- as to the Gibeonites, they are not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorite, and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul seeketh to smite them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah --

³yea, David saith unto the Gibeonites, ‘What do I do for you? and with what do I make atonement? and bless ye the inheritance of Jehovah.'

⁴And the Gibeonites say to him, ‘We have no silver and gold by Saul and by his house, and we have no man to put to death in Israel;' and he saith, ‘What ye are saying I do to you.'

⁵And they say unto the king, ‘The man who consumed us, and who devised against us -- we have been destroyed from stationing ourselves in all the border of Israel --

⁶let there be given to us seven men of his sons, and we have hanged them before Jehovah, in the height of Saul, the chosen of Jehovah.' And the king saith, ‘I do give;'

⁷and the king hath pity on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath of Jehovah that is between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul;

⁸and the king taketh the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul whom she bare to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite,

⁹and giveth them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hang them in the hill before Jehovah; and the seven fall together, and they have been put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, the commencement of barley-harvest.

¹⁰And Rizpah daughter of Aiah taketh the sackcloth, and stretcheth it out for herself on the rock, from the commencement of harvest till water hath been poured out upon them from the heavens, and hath not suffered a fowl of the heavens to rest upon them by day, or the beast of the field by night.

¹¹And it is declared to David that which Rizpah daughter of Aiah, concubine of Saul, hath done,

¹²and David goeth and taketh the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the possessors of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the broad place of Beth-Shan, where the Philistines hanged them, in the day of the Philistines smiting Saul in Gilboa;

¹³and he bringeth up thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gather the bones of those hanged,

¹⁴and bury the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the burying-place of Kish his father, and do all that the king commanded, and God is entreated for the land afterwards.

¹⁵And again have the Philistines war with Israel, and David goeth down, and his servants with him, and they fight with the Philistines; and David is weary,

¹⁶and Ishbi-Benob, who is among the children of the giant -- the weight of his spear is three hundred shekels weight of brass, and he is girded with a new one -- speaketh of smiting David,

¹⁷and Abishai son of Zeruiah giveth help to him, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death; then swear the men of David to him, saying, ‘Thou dost not go out again with us to battle, nor quench the lamp of Israel.'

¹⁸And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, then hath Sibbechai the Hushathite smitten Saph, who is among the children of the giant.

¹⁹And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, smiteth a brother of Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear is like a beam of weavers.

²⁰And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands are six, and the toes of his feet are six, twenty and four in number, and he also hath been born to the giant,

²¹and he reproacheth Israel, and smite him doth Jonathan son of Shimeah, brother of David;

²²these four have been born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

II Samuel 22

¹And David speaketh to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah hath delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,

²and he saith: ‘Jehovah is my rock, And my bulwark, and a deliverer to me,

³My God is my rock -- I take refuge in Him; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower, and my refuge! My Saviour, from violence Thou savest me!

⁴The Praised One, I call Jehovah: And from mine enemies I am saved.

⁵When the breakers of death compassed me, The streams of the worthless terrify me,

⁶The cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been the snares of death.

⁷In mine adversity I call Jehovah, And unto my God I call, And He heareth from His temple my voice, And my cry is in His ears,

⁸And shake and tremble doth the earth, Foundations of the heavens are troubled, And are shaken, for He hath wrath!

⁹Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.

¹⁰And He inclineth heaven, and cometh down, And thick darkness is under His feet.

¹¹And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And is seen on the wings of the wind.

¹²And He setteth darkness Round about Him -- tabernacles, Darkness of waters -- thick clouds of the skies.

¹³From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!

¹⁴Thunder from the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice.

¹⁵And He sendeth forth arrows, And scattereth them; Lightning, and troubleth them;

¹⁶And seen are the streams of the sea, Revealed are foundations of the world, By the rebuke of Jehovah, From the breath of the spirit of His anger.

¹⁷He sendeth from above -- He taketh me, He draweth me out of many waters.

¹⁸He delivereth me from my strong enemy, From those hating me, For they were stronger than I.

¹⁹They are before me in a day of my calamity, And Jehovah is my support,

²⁰And He bringeth me out to a large place, He draweth me out for He delighted in me.

²¹Jehovah recompenseth me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He doth return to me.

²²For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not done wickedly against my God.

²³For all His judgments are before me, As to His statutes, I turn not from them.

²⁴And I am perfect before Him, And I keep myself from mine iniquity.

²⁵And Jehovah returneth to me, According to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.

²⁶With the kind Thou shewest Thyself kind, With the perfect man Thou shewest Thyself perfect,

²⁷With the pure Thou shewest Thyself pure, And with the perverse Thou shewest Thyself a wrestler.

²⁸And the poor people Thou dost save, And Thine eyes on the high causest to fall.

²⁹For Thou art my lamp, O Jehovah, And Jehovah doth lighten my darkness.

³⁰For by Thee I run -- a troop, By my God I leap a wall.

³¹God! Perfect is His way, The saying of Jehovah is tried, A shield He is to all those trusting in Him.

³²For who is God save Jehovah? And who a Rock save our God?

³³God -- my bulwark, my strength, And He maketh perfect my way;

³⁴Making my feet like hinds, And on my high places causeth me to stand,

³⁵Teaching my hands for battle, And brought down was a bow of brass by mine arms,

³⁶And Thou givest to me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy lowliness maketh me great.

³⁷Thou enlargest my step under me, And mine ankles have not slidden.

³⁸I pursue mine enemies and destroy them, And I turn not till they are consumed.

³⁹And I consume them, and smite them, And they rise not, and fall under my feet.

⁴⁰And Thou girdest me with strength for battle, Thou causest my withstanders to bow under me.

⁴¹And mine enemies -- Thou givest to me the neck, Those hating me -- and I cut them off.

⁴²They look, and there is no saviour; Unto Jehovah, and He hath not answered them.

⁴³And I beat them as dust of the earth, As mire of the streets I beat them small -- I spread them out!

⁴⁴And -- Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of my people, Thou placest me for a head of nations; A people I have not known do serve me.

⁴⁵Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me, At the hearing of the ear they hearken to me.

⁴⁶Sons of a stranger fade away, And gird themselves by their close places.

⁴⁷Jehovah liveth, and blessed is my Rock, And exalted is my God -- The Rock of my salvation.

⁴⁸God -- who is giving vengeance to me, And bringing down peoples under me,

⁴⁹And bringing me forth from mine enemies, Yea, above my withstanders Thou raisest me up. From a man of violence Thou deliverest me.

⁵⁰Therefore I confess Thee, O Jehovah, among nations. And to Thy name I sing praise.

⁵¹Magnifying the salvations of His king, And doing loving-kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed -- unto the age!'

II Samuel 23

¹And these are the last words of David: -- ‘The affirmation of David son of Jesse -- And the affirmation of the man raised up -- Concerning the Anointed of the God of Jacob, And the Sweetness of the Songs of Israel:

²The Spirit of Jehovah hath spoken by me, And His word is on my tongue.

³He said -- the God of Israel -- to me, He spake -- the Rock of Israel: He who is ruling over man is righteous, He is ruling in the fear of God.

⁴And as the light of morning he riseth, A morning sun -- no clouds! By the shining, by the rain, Tender grass of the earth!

⁵For -- not so is my house with God; For -- a covenant age-during He made with me, Arranged in all things, and kept; For -- all my salvation, and all desire, For -- He hath not caused it to spring up.

⁶As to the worthless -- As a thorn driven away are all of them, For -- not by hand are they taken;

⁷And the man who cometh against them Is filled with iron and the staff of a spear, And with fire they are utterly burnt In the cessation.'

⁸These are the names of the mighty ones whom David hath: sitting in the seat is the Tachmonite, head of the captains -- he is Adino, who hardened himself against eight hundred -- wounded at one time.

⁹And after him is Eleazar son of Dodo, son of Ahohi, of the three mighty men with David; in their exposing themselves among the Philistines -- they have been gathered there to battle, and the men of Israel go up --

¹⁰he hath arisen, and smiteth among the Philistines till that his hand hath been weary, and his hand cleaveth unto the sword, and Jehovah worketh a great salvation on that day, and the people turn back after him only to strip off.

¹¹And after him is Shammah son of Agee the Hararite, and the Philistines are gathered into a company, and there is there a portion of the field full of lentiles, and the people hath fled from the presence of the Philistines,

¹²and he stationeth himself in the midst of the portion, and delivereth it, and smiteth the Philistines, and Jehovah worketh a great salvation.

¹³And three of the thirty heads go down and come unto the harvest, unto David, unto the cave of Adullam, and the company of the Philistines are encamping in the valley of Rephaim,

¹⁴and David is then in a fortress, and the station of the Philistines is then in Beth-Lehem,

¹⁵and David longeth and saith, ‘Who doth give me a drink of the water of the well of Beth-Lehem, which is by the gate?'

¹⁶And the three mighty ones cleave through the camp of the Philistines, and draw water out of the well of Beth-Lehem, which is by the gate, and take it up, and bring in unto David; and he was not willing to drink it, and poureth it out to Jehovah,

¹⁷and saith, ‘Far be it from me, O Jehovah, to do this; is it the blood of the men who are going with their lives?' and he was not willing to drink it; these things did the three mighty ones.

¹⁸And Abishai brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, he is head of three, and he is lifting up his spear against three hundred -- wounded, and he hath a name among three.

¹⁹Of the three is he not the honoured? and he becometh their head; and unto the first three he hath not come.

²⁰And Benaiah son of Jehoiada (son of a man of valour, great in deeds from Kabzeel), he hath smitten two lion-like men of Moab, and he hath gone down and smitten the lion in the midst of the pit in a day of snow.

²¹And he hath smitten the Egyptian man, a man of appearance, and in the hand of the Egyptian is a spear, and he goeth down unto him with a rod, and taketh violently away the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slayeth him with his own spear.

²²These things hath Benaiah son of Jehoiada done, and hath a name among three mighty.

²³Of the thirty he is honoured, and unto the three he came not; and David setteth him over his guard.

²⁴Asahel brother of Joab is of the thirty; Elhanan son of Dodo of Beth-Lehem.

²⁵Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

²⁷Abiezer the Annethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

²⁹Heleb son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai 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, of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

³³Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite,

³⁴Eliphelet son of Ahasbai, son of the Maachathite, Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

³⁵Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

³⁶Igal son of Nathan from Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, bearer of the weapons of Joab son of Zeruiah,

³⁸Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

³⁹Uriah the Hittite; in all thirty and seven.

II Samuel 24

¹And the anger of Jehovah addeth to burn against Israel, and an adversary moveth David about them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.'

²And the king saith unto Joab, head of the host that is with him, ‘Go to and fro, I pray thee, through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, and inspect ye the people -- and I have known the number of the people.'

³And Joab saith unto the king, ‘Yea, Jehovah thy God doth add unto the people, as they are, a hundred times, and the eyes of my lord the king are seeing; and my lord the king, why is he desirous of this thing?'

⁴And the word of the king is severe towards Joab, and against the heads of the force, and Joab goeth out, and the heads of the force, from before the king to inspect the people, even Israel;

⁵and they pass over the Jordan, and encamp in Aroer, on the right of the city that is in the midst of the brook of Gad, and unto Jazer,

⁶and they come in to Gilead, and unto the land of Tahtim-Hodshi, and they come in to Dan-Jaan, and round about unto Zidon,

⁷and they come in to the fortress of Tyre, and all the cities of the Hivite, and of the Canaanite, and go out unto the south of Judah, to Beer-Sheba.

⁸And they go to and fro through all the land, and come in at the end of nine months and twenty days to Jerusalem,

⁹and Joab giveth the account of the inspection of the people unto the king, and Israel is eight hundred thousand men of valour, drawing sword, and the men of Judah five hundred thousand men.

¹⁰And the heart of David smiteth him, after that he hath numbered the people, and David saith unto Jehovah, ‘I have sinned greatly in that which I have done, and now, O Jehovah, cause to pass away, I pray Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly.'

¹¹And David riseth in the morning, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Gad the prophet, seer of David, saying,

¹²‘Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do it to thee.'

¹³And Gad cometh in unto David, and declareth to him, and saith to him, ‘Do seven years of famine come in to thee in thy land? or three months art thou fleeing before thine adversary -- and he pursuing thee? or are three days' pestilence in thy land? now, know and see what word I take back to Him sending me.'

¹⁴And David saith unto Gad, ‘I have great distress, let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for many are His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.'

¹⁵And Jehovah giveth a pestilence on Israel from the morning even unto the time appointed, and there die of the people, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, seventy thousand men,

¹⁶and the messenger putteth forth his hand to Jerusalem to destroy it, and Jehovah repenteth concerning the evil, and saith to the messenger who is destroying among the people, ‘Enough, now, cease thy hand;' and the messenger of Jehovah was near the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷And David speaketh unto Jehovah, when he seeth the messenger who is smiting among the people, and saith, ‘Lo, I have sinned, yea, I have done perversely; and these -- the flock -- what have they done? Let, I pray Thee, Thy hand be on me, and on the house of my father.'

¹⁸And Gad cometh in unto David on that day, and saith to him, ‘Go up, raise to Jehovah an altar in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite;'

¹⁹and David goeth up, according to the word of Gad, as Jehovah commanded.

²⁰And Araunah looketh, and seeth the king and his servants passing over unto him, and Araunah goeth out and boweth himself to the king -- his face to the earth.

²¹And Araunah saith, ‘Wherefore hath my lord the king come unto his servant?' and David saith, ‘To buy from thee the threshing-floor, to build an altar to Jehovah, and the plague is restrained from the people.'

²²And Araunah saith unto David, ‘Let my lord the king take and cause to ascend that which is good in his eyes; see, the oxen for a burnt-offering, and the threshing instruments, and the instruments of the oxen, for wood;'

²³the whole hath Araunah given, as a king to a king; and Araunah saith unto the king, ‘Jehovah thy God doth accept thee.'

²⁴And the king saith unto Araunah, ‘Nay, for I do surely buy from thee for a price, and I do not cause to ascend to Jehovah my God burnt-offerings for nought;' and David buyeth the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver,

²⁵and David buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and causeth to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and Jehovah is entreated for the land, and the plague is restrained from Israel.