2 Samuel 23
Open in the reader1These are the last words of Beloved: “The oracle of Beloved son of Man-of-He-Who-Is, the oracle of the man raised on high, the one anointed by the God of Heel-Grabber, and the sweet psalmist of Strives-with-God:
2The Spirit of He-Who-Is spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.
3The God of Strives-with-God spoke; the Rock of Strives-with-God said to me, ‘He who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God,
4is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’
5Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?
6But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand.
7The man who touches them must be armed with iron or with the shaft of a spear. The fire burns them to ashes in the place where they lie.”
8These are the names of Beloved’s mighty men: Sitter-in-the-Seat the Tahchemonite was chief of the Three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed at one time.
9Next in command was My-God-Is-Help son of His-Beloved the Brotherly. As one of the three mighty men, he went with Beloved to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Strives-with-God retreated,
10but My-God-Is-Help stood his ground and struck the Philistines until his hand grew weary and stuck to his sword. He-Who-Is brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops returned to him, but only to plunder the dead.
11And after him was Desolation son of Fugitive the Mountaineer. When the Philistines had banded together near a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them.
12But Desolation took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So He-Who-Is brought about a great victory.
13At harvest time, three of the thirty chief men went down to Beloved at the cave of Retreat, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
14At that time Beloved was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at House-of-Bread.
15Beloved longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of House-of-Bread!”
16So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of House-of-Bread, and brought it back to Beloved. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to He-Who-Is,
17saying, “Far be it from me, O He-Who-Is, to do this! Is this not the blood of the men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.
18Now My-Father-Is-a-Gift, the brother of He-Who-Is-Father and son of Balm, was chief of the Three, and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.
19Was he not more honored than the Three? And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.
20And He-Who-Is-Has-Built son of He-Who-Is-Knows was a man of valor from God-Gathers, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of From-the-Father, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.
21He also struck down an Two-Straits-One, a huge man. Although the Two-Straits-One had a spear in his hand, He-Who-Is-Has-Built went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Two-Straits-One with his own spear.
22These were the exploits of He-Who-Is-Has-Built son of He-Who-Is-Knows, who won a name along with the three mighty men.
23He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And Beloved appointed him over his guard.
24Now these were members of the Thirty: God-Has-Made the brother of He-Who-Is-Father, God-Is-Gracious son of His-Beloved of House-of-Bread,
25Desolation the Trembler, Elika the Trembler,
26Rescued the Paltite, Wakefulness son of Crooked the Of-Trumpet-Blast,
27My-Father-Is-Help the Of-Answers, Mebunnai the Haste-One,
28Shady-One the Brotherly, Swift the Of-Dropping-Place,
29Heled son of In-Affliction the Of-Dropping-Place, With-Me son of My-Contender from The-Hill of the Benjamites,
30He-Who-Is-Has-Built the Chieftaincy-One, Hiddai from the brooks of Quaking,
31My-Father-Is-Strength the Desert-Plain-Folk, Death-Is-Strong the Barhumite,
32God-Hides the Fox-Place-Folk, the sons of Jashen, He-Who-Is-Has-Given
33son of Desolation the Mountaineer, Mother's-Brother son of Sharar the Mountaineer,
34My-God-Is-Deliverance son of Ahasbai the Pressed-Down, My-God-Is-Kinsman son of My-Brother-Is-Folly the Uncovered-One,
35His-Courtyard the Fruitful-Field-One, Paarai the Arbite,
36He-Will-Redeem son of He-Has-Given of Station, Built the Fortune-One,
37Zelek the Kindred-People, Snorter the Wells-clan, the armor-bearer of He-Who-Is-Father son of Balm,
38Wakefulness the Abundance-Clan, Scab the Abundance-Clan,
39and My-Light-Is-He-Who-Is the Son-of-Terror. There were thirty-seven in all.