1 Chronicles 11

1Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.

2And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel.footnote afootnote b

3Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.footnote c

4And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.

5And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David.

6And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.footnote d

7And David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city of David.footnote e

8And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about: and Joab repaired the rest of the city.footnote f

9So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.footnote g

10These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.footnote h

11And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.footnote i

12And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties.

13He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.footnote j

14And they set themselves in the midst of that parcel, and delivered it, and slew the Philistines; and the LORD saved them by a great deliverance.footnote kfootnote l

15Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.footnote m

16And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison was then at Beth-lehem.

17And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, that is at the gate!

18And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,

19And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.footnote n

20And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew them, and had a name among the three.

21Of the three, he was more honourable than the two; for he was their captain: howbeit he attained not to the first three.

22Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.footnote o

23And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear.footnote p

24These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among the three mighties.

25Behold, he was honourable among the thirty, but attained not to the first three: and David set him over his guard.

26Also the valiant men of the armies were, Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,

27Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,footnote qfootnote rfootnote s

28Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abi-ezer the Antothite,

29Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,footnote tfootnote u

30Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,footnote v

31Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah, that pertained to the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

32Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,footnote wfootnote x

33Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

34The sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite,footnote y

35Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,footnote zfootnote aafootnote ab

36Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

37Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,footnote acfootnote ad

38Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Haggeri,footnote ae

39Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armourbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,

40Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

41Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,

42Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,

43Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,

44Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite,

45Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite,footnote af

46Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,

47Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel the Mesobaite.

David Anointed King of All Israel

1Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. 2Even in times past,footnote a while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And the LORD your God said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where David made a covenant with them before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD through Samuel.

David Conquers Jerusalem

4Then David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus), where the Jebusites inhabited the land.

5The people of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.”
Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

6Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.”
And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.

7So David took up residence in the fortress; that is why it was called the City of David. 8He built up the city around it, from the supporting terracesfootnote b to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city.

9And David became greater and greater, for the LORD of Hosts was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

10Now these were the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who, together with all Israel, bolstered and strengthened his kingdom, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel. 11This is the list of David’s mighty men:
Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the officers;footnote c he wielded his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

12Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodofootnote d the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men. 13He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines gathered there for battle. At a place with a field full of barley, the troops fled from the Philistines. 14But Eleazar and David stationed themselvesfootnote e in the middle of the field and defended it. They struck down the Philistines, and the LORD brought about a great victory.

15Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 16At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem. 17David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

18So the Three broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD, 19saying, “Far be it from me, my God, to do this! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” Because they had brought it at the risk of their lives, David refused to drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

20Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Three,footnote f and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three. 21He was doubly honored above the Three, and he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.

22And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab,footnote g and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion. 23He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man five cubits tall.footnote h Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear. 24These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who won a name along with the three mighty men. 25He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.

26Now these were the mighty men:
Asahel the brother of Joab,
Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

27Shammoth the Harorite,footnote i
Helez the Pelonite,

28Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
Abiezer the Anathothite,

29Sibbecai the Hushathite,
Ilai the Ahohite,

30Maharai the Netophathite,
Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,

31Ithaifootnote j son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites,
Benaiah the Pirathonite,

32Huraifootnote k from the brooksfootnote l of Gaash,
Abielfootnote m the Arbathite,

33Azmaveth the Baharumite,footnote n
Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

34the sons of Hashemfootnote o the Gizonite,
Jonathan son of Shagee the Hararite,

35Ahiam son of Sacharfootnote p the Hararite,
Eliphal son of Ur,

36Hepher the Mecherathite,
Ahijah the Pelonite,

37Hezro the Carmelite,
Naarai son of Ezbai,

38Joel the brother of Nathan,
Mibhar son of Hagri,

39Zelek the Ammonite,
Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

40Ira the Ithrite,
Gareb the Ithrite,

41Uriah the Hittite,
Zabad son of Ahlai,

42Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, chief of the Reubenites, and the thirty with him,

43Hanan son of Maacah,
Joshaphat the Mithnite,

44Uzzia the Ashterathite,
Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

45Jediael son of Shimri and his brother Joha the Tizite,

46Eliel the Mahavite,
Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam,
Ithmah the Moabite,

47Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.