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2 Samuel 20 - 24

Sheba Goes Up Against David

Now a vile fellow happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet and said,
“We have no portion in David,
Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse;
Every man to his tents, O Israel!”
2 So all the men of Israel went up from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3 Then David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and placed them under guard and provided them with sustenance, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as widows. 4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call out the men of Judah for me within three days, and you yourself stand here.” 5 So Amasa went to call out the men of Judah, but he delayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him. 6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities and deliver himself from our sight.” 7 So Joab’s men pursued him, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 They were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, and Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at his waist; and as he came out, it fell out. 9 Then Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

Joab Strikes Amasa

10 But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand so he struck him in the belly with it and poured out his inward parts on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 Now there stood by him one of Joab’s young men, and said, “Whoever delights in Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12 But Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And the man saw that all the people stood still. So he removed Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

The Beheading of Sheba

13 As soon as he was removed from the highway, all the men passed on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 Now he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they were assembled and also came after him. 15 So they came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to cause the wall to fall. 16 Then a wise woman called from the city, “Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, ‘Draw near that I may speak with you.’” 17 So he drew near to her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” And he answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your maidservant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” 18 Then she spoke, saying, “Formerly they used to speak in this way, saying, ‘They will surely ask advice at Abel,’ and thus they ended the dispute. 19 I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You are seeking to put to death a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of Yahweh?” 20 And Joab answered and said, “Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 Such is not the case. But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give him over alone, and I will go from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman came to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were scattered from the city, each to his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem. 23 Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was also a priest to David.

David Gives Saul’s Sons to the Gibeonites

And there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of Yahweh. And Yahweh said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who planned to eradicate us from standing within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before Yahweh in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Yahweh.” And the king said, “I will give them.” 7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of Yahweh which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before Yahweh, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest. 10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 Then it was told to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 And he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and afterwards God was moved by the entreaty for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 And the Philistines were at war again with Israel, so David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.
16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was among those born to the giants, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to strike down David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and put him to death. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.” 18 Now it happened afterwards that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among those born to the giants. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 Then there was war at Gath again, and there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giants. 21 And he reproached Israel, so Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were born to the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Song of Deliverance

And David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said,
“Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
3
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge;
My savior, You save me from violence.
4
I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
5
For the waves of death encompassed me;
The torrents of vileness terrorized me;
6
The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
7
In my distress I called upon Yahweh,
And I called to my God;
And out of His temple He heard my voice,
And my cry for help came into His ears.
8
Then the earth shook and quaked;
The foundations of heaven were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
9
Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
10
He bowed the heavens and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
11
He rode on a cherub and flew;
And He appeared upon the wings of the wind.
12
And He made darkness canopies around Him,
A mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13
From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.
14
Yahweh thundered from heaven,
And the Most High gave forth His voice.
15
And He sent out arrows, and scattered them,
Lightning, and threw them into confusion.
16
Then the channels of the sea appeared,
The foundations of the world were laid bare
By the rebuke of Yahweh,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17
He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
18
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
19
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But Yahweh was my support.
20
He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
21
Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
22
For I have kept the ways of Yahweh,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
23
For all His judgments were before me,
And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
24
I was also blameless toward Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
25
Therefore Yahweh has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to my cleanness before His eyes.
26
With the kind You show Yourself kind,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
27
With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
28
And You save an afflicted people;
But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You bring down.
29
For You are my lamp, O Yahweh;
And Yahweh illumines my darkness.
30
For by You I can run upon a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
31
As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of Yahweh is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32
For who is God, but Yahweh?
And who is a rock, but our God?
33
God is my strong fortress;
And He sets the blameless in His way.
34
He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me on my high places.
35
He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your answer to me makes me great.
37
You enlarge my steps under me,
And my ankles have not given way.
38
I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
39
And I have consumed them and crushed them, so that they did not rise;
And they fell under my feet.
40
For You have girded me with strength for battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
41
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.
42
They looked, but there was none to save;
Even to Yahweh, but He did not answer them.
43
Then I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;
I pulverized and stamped them as the mire of the streets.
44
You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people;
You have kept me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
45
Foreigners cower before me;
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
46
Foreigners fade away,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.
47
Yahweh lives, and blessed be my rock;
And let God, the rock of my salvation, be lifted high,
48
The God who executes vengeance for me,
And brings down peoples under me,
49
Who also brings me out from my enemies;
You even lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the violent man.
50
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Yahweh, among the nations,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
51
He gives great salvation to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his seed forever.”

David’s Last Words

Now these are the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse declares,
The man who was raised on high declares,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel,
2
“The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3
The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me,
‘He who rules over men as a righteous one,
Who rules in the fear of God,
4
Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
From brightness of the sun after rain.’
With the tender grass springing from the earth,
5
Truly is not my house so with God?
For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,
Ordered in all things, and secured;
For all my salvation and all my desire,
Will He not indeed make it grow?
6
But the vile men, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns,
Because they cannot be taken in hand;
7
But the man who touches them
Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they will be completely burned with fire where they sit.”

David’s Mighty Men

8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time;
9 and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of Ahohi, one of the three mighty men with David when they reproached the Philistines who were gathered together there to battle and the men of Israel had gone up to retreat. 10 He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and Yahweh brought about a great salvation that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain. 11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a portion of the field full of lentils; and the people fled from before the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of that portion and delivered it and struck down the Philistines. So Yahweh brought about a great salvation. 13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. 14 And David was then in the fortress, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 Then David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” 16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he was not willing to drink it, but poured it out to Yahweh; 17 and he said, “Be it far from me, O Yahweh, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did. 18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred who were slain by him; and he had a name as well as the three. 19 Of the thirty he was most honored and became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three. 20 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. 21 He had also struck down an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. 23 He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard. 24 Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 27 Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

David Sins in Taking a Census

And again the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”
2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the military force who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and take a census of the people, that I may know the total count of the people.” 3 But Joab said to the king, “Now may Yahweh your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4 Nevertheless, the king’s word stood strong against Joab and against the commanders of the military force. So Joab and the commanders of the military force went out from the presence of the king to take a census of the people of Israel. 5 And they crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad and toward Jazer. 6 Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon, 7 and came to the fortified city of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and of the Canaanites, and they went out to the south of Judah, to Beersheba. 8 So they had gone about through the whole land, and they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9 And Joab gave the total count of the census of the people to the king; and there were in Israel 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000 men. 10 Then David’s heart struck him after he had counted the people. So David said to Yahweh, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Yahweh, please take away the iniquity of Your slave, for I have acted very foolishly.” 11 Then David arose in the morning, and the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, and I will do that to you.”’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your adversaries while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now, know and see what word I should return to Him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of Yahweh, for His compassions are abundant. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 15 So Yahweh sent a pestilence against Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and 70,000 men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 Then the angel sent forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, and Yahweh relented of the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!” And the angel of Yahweh was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done unrighteousness; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and my father’s house.”

David Erects an Altar

18 So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
19 So David went up according to the word of Gad, just as Yahweh had commanded. 20 And Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to Yahweh, that the plague may be checked from being upon the people.” 22 And Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May Yahweh your God accept you.” 24 However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to Yahweh my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 Then David built there an altar to Yahweh and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus Yahweh was moved by the entreaty for the land, and the plague was checked from being upon Israel.