And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.

These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

This is what he said: LORD, you are my stone stronghold and my fortified place; you are continuously delivering me.

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

I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.

The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.

Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.

And he went through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.

Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.

And he sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.

And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

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

He brought me to a wide open area, rescuing me because he was pleased with me!

The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him.

For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes.

In the company of the gracious you demonstrate your gracious love. In the company of the blamelessly valiant you demonstrate your blamelessness.

He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.

And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

“For You, O Lord, are my lamp;
The Lord illumines and dispels my darkness.

By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in: by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.

For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?

God is my strength in war, and riddeth the way clear before me.

He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your help and gentleness make me great.

Thou wilt enlarge my steps under me, And my joints were not unsteady.

I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.

Thou wilt fasten me together with strength for the war, Thou wilt subdue under me him rising up against me.

By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off.

They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.

Then they were crushed as small as the dust of the earth, stamped down under my feet like the waste of the streets.

You delivered me from civil war among my own people. You preserved me as head of the nations. People whom I had never known served me!

Strangers come cringing unto me: At the hearing of the ear, they obey me.

The sons of the foreigner, were disheartened, and came quaking, out of their fortresses.

“For this I will give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praises to Your name.

Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse saith, And the man who was raised on high saith, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

"The spirit of the LORD spake in me, and his words were on my tongue.

And he shall be as the light or the morning, like the rising of the sun, A morning without clouds; When from the sunshine, after rain, The green grass springeth from the earth.

But the sons of Belial are all of them as thorns thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with hands;

And 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.'

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite, against eight hundred slain at one time.

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:

but Eleazar remained standing right where he was and fought so hard against the Philistines that he became exhausted he couldn't even let go of his sword! The LORD magnificently delivered them that day. After Eleazar had won the battle, the other soldiers returned, but only to strip the weapons and armor from the dead.

And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.

But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

And 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,

And David was then in a hold. And the soldiers of the Philistines were then in Bethlehem.

and 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.

These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors.

He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the [greatness of the] three. David appointed him over his guard.

Among the thirty [were] Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

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

Benaiah from Pirathon, Hiddai from the Gaash creeks area,

Ira an Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite,

Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven in all.

And the king said to Joab and the captains of the army, who were with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, and have all the people numbered, so that I may be certain of the number of the people.

And 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?'

And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

But David’s heart (conscience) troubled him after he had counted the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the sin of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, and I will do it to you.

So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

When the [avenging] angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the disaster and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, “Behold, I [alone] am the one who has sinned and done wrong; but these sheep (people of Israel), what have they done [to deserve this]? Please let Your hand be [only] against me and my father’s house (family).”

Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" David said, "To buy your threshing floor, to build an altar to Yahweh, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people."

And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up that which is good in his sight: see, here are oxen for the burnt-offering, and the threshing-sledges and implements of the oxen for wood.

All of this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God be favorable to you.”

And there David put up an altar to the Lord, making burned offerings and peace-offerings. So the Lord gave ear to his prayer for the land, and the disease came to an end in Israel.

So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be found for my lord the king and let her attend him and become his nurse; let her lie against your chest, so that my lord the king may feel warm.”

Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, lifting himself up in pride, said, I will become king; and he made ready his carriages of war and his horsemen, with fifty runners to go before him.

Now all his life his father had never gone against him or said to him, Why have you done so? and he was a very good-looking man, and younger than Absalom.

And his words are with Joab son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they help after Adonijah;

But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.

But he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty warriors or Solomon his brother.

Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?

Come now, please let me advise you and save your life and the life of your son Solomon.

Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’

Lo, thou are yet speaking there with the king, and I come in after thee, and have completed thy words.'

And Bath-sheba went down on her face on the earth before the king giving him honour. And he said, What is your desire?

She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’

Now look, Adonijah has become king, and your majesty is not aware of it.

He has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army [to a feast], but he did not invite your servant Solomon.

And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

For as things are, it will come about, when my lord the king is sleeping with his fathers, that I and Solomon my son will be made outlaws.

When he had been ushered into the presence of the king, Nathan bowed low in front of the king with his face to the ground and asked, "Your majesty, did you say "Adonijah will be king after me and will sit on my throne'?

For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say, Long live king Adonijah.

But he has not invited me, your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.

If this thing has been done by my lord the king, why have you not shown your servants who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

even as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this very day.”

"King David," Bathsheba said as she bowed low in front of the king with her face to the ground, "your majesty, may you live forever."

"Get me Zadok the priest," King David said, "along with Nathan the prophet, and Jehoiada's son Benaiah." So they were ushered into the king's presence

The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon:

There, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him as king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

You are to come up after him, and he is to come in and sit on my throne. He is the one who is to become king in my place; he is the one I have commanded to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

"Amen!" replied Jehoiada's son Benaiah to the king. "May the LORD God of your majesty make this happen!

As the LORD has been with your majesty the king, so may he be with Solomon. May he make his throne greater than the throne of your majesty, King David."