Chronological Plan

¹Then David spoke to the LORD the words of this song, on the day when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

²And he said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

³The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.

⁴I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.

⁵“When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

⁶The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

⁷In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears.

⁸“Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.

⁹Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.

¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.

¹¹He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind.

¹²He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

¹³From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴“The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.

¹⁵He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.

¹⁶Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered, At the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

¹⁷“He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy, 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 also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.

²¹“The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

²²For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God.

²³For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.

²⁴I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

²⁵Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes.

²⁶“With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

²⁷With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

²⁸You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.

²⁹“For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness.

³⁰For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

³²“For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?

³³God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect.

³⁴He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.

³⁵He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great.

³⁷You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip.

³⁸“I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

³⁹And I have destroyed them and wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet.

⁴⁰For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me.

⁴¹You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴²They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

⁴³Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like dirt in the streets, And I spread them out.

⁴⁴“You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁵The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me.

⁴⁶The foreigners fade away, And come frightened from their hideouts.

⁴⁷“The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation!

⁴⁸It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me;

⁴⁹He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.

⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.

⁵¹“He is the tower of salvation to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore.”

¹Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

²“The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

³The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.

⁴And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’

⁵“Although my house is not so with God, Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?

⁶But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with hands.

⁷But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”

⁸These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time.

⁹And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated.

¹⁰He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.

¹¹And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines.

¹²But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.

¹³Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁴David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

¹⁵And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”

¹⁶So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but 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 in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.

¹⁸Now Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three.

¹⁹Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.

²⁰Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.

²¹And he killed an Egyptian, a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.

²²These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men.

²³He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁴Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; 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, Maharai the Netophathite,

²⁹Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,

³⁰Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash,

³¹Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan,

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

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

³⁵Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

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

³⁷Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah),

³⁸Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

³⁹and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.