Shimei is pardoned.

Before CHRIST 1023.

n

ch. 16. 5, 6, &c.

• ch. 13. 33.

n

do thou remember " that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come See ch. 16.5. the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be Exod. 22.28. put to death for this, because he a cursed the LORD's anointed?

ch. 16. 10.

1 Sam. 11.13.

* 1 Kings 2. 8, 9, 37, 46.

" ch. 9. 6.

* ch. 16. 17.

7 ch. 16. 3.

* ch. 14. 17,20.

+Heb. men of

death,
1 Sam.26.16.

ch.9.7,10,13.

b 1 Kings 2. 7.

г

q

22 And David said, ' What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? 'shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?

t

23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.

u

24 ¶ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, *Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?

26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.

27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

28 For all of my father's house were butt dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?

29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.

31 ¶ And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.

David's gratitude to Barzillai.

с

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.

Before CHRIST 1023.

c ch. 17. 27.

34 And Barzillai said unto the king, + How long have I to live, that I should+Heb. Howe go up with the king unto Jerusalem?

35 I am this day fourscore years old: 4 and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.

Sheba's revolt.

Before CHRIST 1023.

1 See Judg. 8. 1. & 12, 1.

cir. 1022.

⚫ ch. 19. 43.

b 1 Kings 12. 16.

2 Chron. 10. 16.

ch. 15. 16. & 16. 21, 22.

i

be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

CHAPTER XX.

1 By occasion of the quarrel, Sheba maketh a party in Israel. 3 David's ten concubines are shut up in perpetual prison. 4 Amasa, made captain over Judah, is slain by Joab. 14 Joab pursueth Sheba unto Abel. 16 A wise woman saveth the city by Sheba's head. 23 David's officers.

AND there happened to be there a

man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, "We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.

b

2 So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.

C

3 ¶ And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in tward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were † shut up unto +Heb. bound. the day of their death, † living in widowhood.

+ Heb. an house of ward.

+ Heh. in

widowhood

of life.

4 Then said the king to Amasa, + Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.

5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

е

6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest +Heb. deliver he get him fenced cities, and † escape us. + 7 And there went out after him Joab's men, and the 'Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

himself from

our eyes.

ch. 8. 18. 1 Kings 1.38.

Amasa is slain by Joab.

Before CHRIST cir. 1022.

smote him therewith 'in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and † struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Heb. after Sheba the son of Bichri.

11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab.

12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

17 And when he was come near_unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. 18 Then she spake, saying, || They or, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

19 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

m

20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

plainlyspake in the begin ning, saying, Surely they will ask of Abel, and so make an end:

See Deut.20. 11.

1 Sam.26.19. ch. 21. 3.

name.

21 The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri † by name, hath lifted up his hand + Heb. by his against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

P 1 Kings 4. 6.

9 ch. 8. 16. 1 Kings 4. 3. || Or, remembrancer.

ch. 8. 17.

1 Kings 4. 4.

ch. 23. 38.

|| Or, a prince. Gen. 41. 45. Exod. 2. 16. ch. 8. 18.

cir. 1021.

23 ¶ Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:

1 The three years' famine for the Gibeonites ceaseth, by hanging seven of Saul's sons. 10 Rizpah's kindness unto the dead. 12 David burieth the bones of Saul and Jonathan in his father's sepulchre. 15 Four battles against the Philistines, wherein four valiants of David slay four giants.

THEN there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after +Heb. sought year; and David † enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

the face, &c. See Numb. 27. 21.

4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.

5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that || devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,

6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said,

с

Or,chosen of I will give them.

the LORD.

d

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth,

e

Seven of Saul's sons hanged.

the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

f

8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of || Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she † brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:

9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. 10 And Rizpah the daughter of ¶ Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, 'from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

k

Before CHRIST cir, 1021.

1 Sam. 18. 3. & 20. 8, 15, 42. & 23. 18.

ch. 3. 7.

Or, Michal's + Heb. bare to

sister.

Adriel.

1 Sam. 18.19. 1019.

12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had 1 Sam. 31.10. hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa :

13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.

14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in "Zelah, in the sepulchre of "Josh. 18. 28. Kish his father and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that " God was intreated for the land.

n

15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.

16 And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of || the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

David's psalm of thanksgiving

r

18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew || Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.

19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of || Jaare-oregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

20. 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.

21 And when he || defied Israel, Jonathan the son of "Shimeah the brother of David slew him.

4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

5 When the waves of death com+Heb. Belial passed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

|| Or, cords.

1 Ps. 116. 3.

k Ps. 116. 4. & 120. 1. Jonah 2. 2.

1 Exod. 3. 7. Ps. 34. 6, 15, 17.

Judg. 5. 4. Ps. 77. 18. & 97. 4.

" Job 26. 11.

+ Heb. by. • Ps. 97. 3. Hab. 3. 5. Heb. 12. 20. P Ps. 144. 5.

Isai. 64. 1.

Exod. 20.21.

1 Kings 8.12. P's. 97. 2.

6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; 7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did 'hear my voice out of his temple, and my did enter into his ears.

cry

8 Then "the earth shook and trembled; "the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.

for God's manifold blessings.

11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen 'upon the wings of the wind.

12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, † dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.

13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.

14 The LORD "thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. 15 And he sent out * arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.

16 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. 17 He sent from above, he took me ; he drew me out of || many waters;

a

Before CHRIST 1018.

Ps. 104. 3. . ver. 10. Ps. 97. 2 tHeb.binding of waters.

tver. 9. "Judg. 5. 20.

1 Sam. 2. 10 & 7. 10. Ps. 29. 3. Isai. 30. 30. Deut. 32.23. Ps. 7. 13. & 77. 17. & 144. 6. Hab. 3. 11.

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

19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity but the LORD was my stay.

20 He brought me forth also into a large place he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

с

d

21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

e

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

b Ps. 31. 8. & 118. 5.

ch. 15. 26. Ps. 22. 8. d ver. 23. 1 Sam. 25.2 1 Kings 8.32 Ps. 7. S. • Ps. 24.4.

Gen. 18. 19.
Ps. 119. 3 &
128. 1.
Prov. &. 32

Ps. 119, 30,

23 For all his judgments were before Deut. 7. 12 me and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

h

102

Gen. 6. 9. & 17. 1. Job 1. 1. + Heb. to him. I ver. 21.

24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. 25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness † in his eyesight.+Heb. before 26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.

k

27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.

m

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

29 For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness. 30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.

his eyes. Matt. 5. 7.

Lev. 26. 23,
24, 27, 28

|| Or, wrestle, Ps. 18, 26. Exod. 3.7,8 Ps. 72.12,13. Job 40. 11, 12

Isai. 2,11,12, 17. & 3. 15. Dan. 4. 37.

|| Or, candle. Job 29. 3. Ps. 97. 1. || Or, broken a troop. Deut. 32. 4. Dan. 4. 37. Rev. 15. 3 P Ps. 12. 6 & 119, 140. Prov. 30. & || Or, refined.

David's psalm of thanksgiving.

Before CHRIST 1018.

91 Sam. 2. 2. Isai. 45. 5, 6. Exod. 15. 2. Ps. 27. 1. & 28. 7, 8. & 31. 4.

Isai. 12. 2. +Heb.riddeth, or, looseth.

Hebr. 13. 21.
Deut. 18. 13.
Job 22. 3.
Ps. 101. 2, 6.
& 119. 1.

+ Heb. equal-
leth.

u ch. 2. 18. Hab. 3. 19.

* Deut. 32,13.

Isai. 33. 16.
& 58. 14.

▾ Ps. 144. 1.

q

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

r

33 God is my strength and power: and he t'maketh my way perfect.

34 He + maketh my feet "like hinds' feet: and *setteth me upon my high places. 35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine

arms.

y

37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my † feet did not slip.

38 I have pursued mine enemies, and Heb. for the destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.

war.

+ Heb. multiplied me.

Prov. 4. 12.

39 And I have consumed them, and + Heb. ankles. Wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. 40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou †subdued under me. 41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.

c Ps. 44. 5.

+ Heb. caused

to bow.

d Gen. 49. 8.

Exod. 23.27.

Josh. 10.

David's last words.

CHAPTER XXIII.

1 David, in his last words, professeth his faith in God's promises to be beyond sense or experience. 6 The different state of the wicked. 8 A catalogue of David's mighty men.

NOW these be the last words of Da

a

vid. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, "the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

с

2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

d

3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear "Or, Be thou of God.

е

4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

g

5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to

grow.

6 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:

ruler, &c.
Ps. 110. 2.
Exod. 18.21.

2 Chron. 19.
7,9.

f Judg. 5. 31.
Ps. 89. 36.
Prov. 4. 18.
Hos. 6. 5.

See Ps. 110.

3.

8 ch. 7. 15, 16. Ps. 89. 29. Isai. 55. 3.

7 But the man that shall touch them must be † fenced with iron and the staff + Heb. filled. of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

bassebut the Tachmonite, head of the three.

8 ¶ These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmon-Or, Josheb. ite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hun-See 1 Chron. dred, † whom he slew at one time.

h

9 And after him was 1 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:

10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

11 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.

12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the

Y

11. 11. & 27.

2.

+ Heb. slain.

h1 Chron. 11.

12. & 27. 4.