Book Order Plan

¹Now a wicked man, a Benjaminite named Sheba son of Bichri, happened to be there. He blew the ram’s horn and shouted: We have no portion in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Each man to his tent, Israel!

²So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bichri, but the men of Judah from the Jordan all the way to Jerusalem remained loyal to their king.

³When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and placed them under guard. He provided for them, but he was not intimate with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

⁴The king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to me within three days and be here yourself.”

⁵Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him.

⁶So David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bichri will do more harm to us than Absalom. Take your lord’s soldiers and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”

⁷So Joab’s men, the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors marched out under Abishai’s command; they left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

⁸They were at the great stone in Gibeon when Amasa joined them. Joab was wearing his uniform and over it was a belt around his waist with a sword in its sheath. As he approached, the sword fell out.

⁹Joab asked Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” Then with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.

¹⁰Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again, and Amasa died. Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

¹¹One of Joab’s young men had stood over Amasa saying, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

¹²Now Amasa had been writhing in his blood in the middle of the highway, and the man had seen that all the troops stopped. So he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him because he realized that all those who encountered Amasa were stopping.

¹³When he was removed from the highway, all the men passed by and followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah. All the Berites came together and followed him.

¹⁵Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah. They built a siege ramp against the outer wall of the city. While all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to make it collapse,

¹⁶a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here and let me speak with him.”

¹⁷When he had come near her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he replied. “Listen to the words of your servant,” she said to him. He answered, “I’m listening.”

¹⁸She said, “In the past they used to say, ‘Seek counsel in Abel,’ and that’s how they settled disputes.

¹⁹I am one of the peaceful and faithful in Israel, but you’re trying to destroy a city that is like a mother in Israel. Why would you devour the LORD’s inheritance?”

²⁰Joab protested: “Never! I would never devour or demolish!

²¹That is not the case. There is a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, who has rebelled against King David. Deliver this one man, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman replied to Joab, “Watch! His head will be thrown over the wall to you.”

²²The woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn, and they dispersed from the city, each to his own tent. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

²³Joab commanded the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

²⁴Adoram was over forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was court historian;

²⁵Sheva was court secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

²⁶and in addition, Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

¹During David’s reign there was a famine for three successive years, so David inquired of the LORD. The LORD answered, “It is due to Saul and to his bloody family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”

²The Gibeonites were not Israelites but rather a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah. So David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

³He asked the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? How can I make atonement so that you will bring a blessing on the LORD’s inheritance?”

⁴The Gibeonites said to him, “We are not asking for silver and gold from Saul or his family, and we cannot put anyone to death in Israel.” “Whatever you say, I will do for you,” he said.

⁵They replied to the king, “As for the man who annihilated us and plotted to destroy us so we would not exist within the whole territory of Israel,

⁶let seven of his male descendants be handed over to us so we may hang them in the presence of the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the LORD’s chosen.” The king answered, “I will hand them over.”

⁷David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son.

⁸But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, who were the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, and the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite

⁹and handed them over to the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the hill in the presence of the LORD; the seven of them died together. They were executed in the first days of the harvest at the beginning of the barley harvest.

¹⁰Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock from the beginning of the harvest until the rain poured down from heaven on the bodies. She kept the birds of the sky from them by day and the wild animals by night.

¹¹When it was reported to David what Saul’s concubine Rizpah daughter of Aiah had done,

¹²he went and got the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead. They had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies the day the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa.

¹³David had the bones brought from there. They gathered up the bones of Saul’s family who had been hanged

¹⁴and buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in the land of Benjamin in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. They did everything the king commanded. After this, God was receptive to prayer for the land.

¹⁵The Philistines again waged war against Israel. David went down with his soldiers, and they fought the Philistines, but David became exhausted.

¹⁶Then Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giant, whose bronze spear weighed about eight pounds and who wore new armor, intended to kill David.

¹⁷But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him: “You must never again go out with us to battle. You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel.”

¹⁸After this, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giant.

¹⁹Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath of Gath. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰At Gath there was still another battle. A huge man was there with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot — twenty-four in all. He, too, was descended from the giant.

²¹When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him.

²²These four were descended from the giant in Gath and were killed by David and his soldiers.

¹David spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day the LORD rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the grasp of Saul.

²He said: The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

³my God, my rock where I seek refuge. My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, you save me from violence.

⁴I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.

⁵For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.

⁶The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

⁷I called to the LORD in my distress; I called to my God. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry for help reached his ears.

⁸Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they shook because he burned with anger.

⁹Smoke rose from his nostrils, and consuming fire came from his mouth; coals were set ablaze by it.

¹⁰He bent the heavens and came down, total darkness beneath his feet.

¹¹He rode on a cherub and flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.

¹²He made darkness a canopy around him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.

¹³From the radiance of his presence, blazing coals were ignited.

¹⁴The LORD thundered from heaven; the Most High made his voice heard.

¹⁵He shot arrows and scattered them; he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.

¹⁶The depths of the sea became visible, the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he pulled me out of deep water.

¹⁸He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.

²⁰He brought me out to a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; he repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.

²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not turned from my God to wickedness.

²³Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me and have not disregarded his statutes.

²⁴I was blameless before him and kept myself from my iniquity.

²⁵So the LORD repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.

²⁶With the faithful you prove yourself faithful, with the blameless you prove yourself blameless,

²⁷with the pure you prove yourself pure; but with the crooked you prove yourself shrewd.

²⁸You rescue an oppressed people, but your eyes are set against the proud — you humble them.

²⁹LORD, you are my lamp; the LORD illuminates my darkness.

³⁰With you I can attack a barricade, and with my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹God — his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.

³²For who is God besides the LORD? And who is a rock? Only our God.

³³God is my strong refuge; he makes my way perfect.

³⁴He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and sets me securely on the heights.

³⁵He trains my hands for war; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶You have given me the shield of your salvation; your help exalts me.

³⁷You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps, and my ankles do not give way.

³⁸I pursue my enemies and destroy them; I do not turn back until they are wiped out.

³⁹I wipe them out and crush them, and they do not rise; they fall beneath my feet.

⁴⁰You have clothed me with strength for battle; you subdue my adversaries beneath me.

⁴¹You have made my enemies retreat before me; I annihilate those who hate me.

⁴²They look, but there is no one to save them — they look to the LORD, but he does not answer them.

⁴³I pulverize them like dust of the earth; I crush them and trample them like mud in the streets.

⁴⁴You have freed me from the feuds among my people; you have preserved me as head of nations; a people I had not known serve me.

⁴⁵Foreigners submit to me cringing; as soon as they hear, they obey me.

⁴⁶Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their fortifications.

⁴⁷The LORD lives — blessed be my rock! God, the rock of my salvation, is exalted.

⁴⁸God — he grants me vengeance and casts down peoples under me.

⁴⁹He frees me from my enemies. You exalt me above my adversaries; you rescue me from violent men.

⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, LORD; I will sing praises about your name.

⁵¹He is a tower of salvation for his king; he shows loyalty to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.