Tanakh & Talmud. Various Authors

mountain before the Lord, and they fell all seven together; and they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.

      ¹⁰And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹²And 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 broad place of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines slew Saul in Gilboa; ¹³and 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. ¹⁴And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father; and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was entreated for the land.

      ¹⁵And the Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines; and David waxed faint. ¹⁶And Ishbi-benob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with new armour, thought to have slain David. ¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore unto him, saying: 'Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.'

      ¹⁸And it came to pass after this, that there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ²⁰And there was again war at Gath, where was a champion, 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. ²¹And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him. ²²These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

      22And David spoke unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul; ²and he said:

      The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;³The God who is my rock, in Him I take refuge;My shield, and my horn of salvation, my high tower, and my refuge;My saviour, Thou savest me from violence.⁴Praised, I cry, is the Lord,And I am saved from mine enemies. ⁵For the waves of Death compassed me.The floods of 8Belial assailed me.⁶The cords of 8Sheol surrounded me;The snares of Death confronted me.⁷In my distress I called upon the Lord,Yea, I called unto my God;And out of His temple He heard my voice,And my cry did enter into His ears.⁸Then the earth did shake and quake,The foundations of heaven did tremble;They were shaken, because He was wroth.⁹Smoke arose up in His nostrils,And fire out of His mouth did devour;Coals flamed forth from Him.¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down;And thick darkness was under His feet.¹¹And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly;Yea, He was seen upon the wings of the wind.¹²And He made darkness pavilions round about Him,Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.¹³At the brightness before HimCoals of fire flamed forth.¹⁴The Lord thundered from heaven,And the Most High gave forth His voice.¹⁵And He sent out arrows, and scattered them;Lightning, and discomfited them.¹⁶And the channels of the sea appeared,The foundations of the world were laid bareBy the rebuke of the Lord,At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. ¹⁷He sent from on high, He took me;He drew me out of many waters;¹⁸He delivered me from mine enemy most strong,From them that hated me, for they were too mighty for me.¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my calamity;But the Lord was a stay unto me.²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place;He delivered me, because He delighted in me.²¹The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;According to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. ²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord,And have not wickedly departed from my God.²³For all His ordinances were before me;And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.²⁴And I was single-hearted toward Him,And I kept myself from mine iniquity.²⁵Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness,According to my cleanness in His eyes. ²⁶With the merciful Thou dost showThyself merciful,With the upright man Thou dost showThyself upright,²⁷With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure;And with the crooked Thou dost showThyself subtle.²⁸And the afflicted people Thou dost save;But Thine eyes are upon the haughty, that Thou mayest humble them. ²⁹For Thou art my lamp, O Lord;And the Lord doth lighten my darkness.³⁰For by Thee I run upon a troop;By my God do I scale a wall.³¹As for God, His way is perfect;The word of the Lord is tried;He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in Him. ³²For who is God, save the Lord?And who is a Rock, save our God?³³The God who is my strong fortress,And who letteth my way go forth straight;³⁴Who maketh my feet like hinds',And setteth me upon my high places;³⁵Who traineth my hands for war,So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.³⁶Thou hast also given me Thy shield of salvation;And Thy condescension hath made me great.³⁷Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,And my feet have not slipped. ³⁸I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them;Neither did I turn back till they were consumed.³⁹And I have consumed them, and smitten them through, that they cannot arise;Yea, they are fallen under my feet.⁴⁰For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle;Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.⁴¹Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me;Yea, them that hate me, that I might cut them off.⁴²They looked, but there was none to save;Even unto the Lord, but He answered them not.⁴³Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth,I did stamp them as the mire of the streets, and did tread them down.⁴⁴Thou also hast delivered me from the contentions of my people;Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations;A people whom I have not known serve me.⁴⁵The sons of the stranger dwindle away before me;As soon as they hear of me, they obey me.⁴⁶The sons of the stranger fade away,And come halting out of their close places. ⁴⁷The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock;And exalted be the God, my Rock of salvation;⁴⁸Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,And bringeth down peoples under me,⁴⁹And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies;Yea, Thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me;Thou deliverest me from the violent man.⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the nations,And will sing praises unto Thy name.⁵¹A tower of salvation is He to His king;And showeth mercy to His anointed,To David and to his seed, for evermore.

      23Now these are the last words of David:

      The saying of David the son of Jesse,And the saying of the man raised on high,The anointed of the God of Jacob,And the sweet singer of Israel:²The spirit of the Lord spoke by me,And His word was upon my tongue. ³The God of Israel said,The Rock of Israel spoke to me:'Ruler over men shall beThe righteous, even he that ruleth in the fear of God,⁴And as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,A morning without clouds;When through clear shining after rain,The tender grass springeth out of the earth.'⁵For is not my house established with God?For an everlasting covenant He hath made with me,Ordered in all things, and sure;For all my salvation, and all my desire,Will he not make it to grow?⁶But the ungodly, they are as thorns thrust away, all of them,For they cannot be taken with the hand;⁷But the man that toucheth themMust be armed with iron and the staff of a spear;And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.

      ⁸These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite; [he lifted up his spear] against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

      ⁹And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with