Through the Bible – Day 144

₁Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, “We are your relatives, ₂and we know that you have led our army into battle, even when Saul was still our king. The LORD God has promised that you would rule our country and take care of us like a shepherd. ₃So we have come to crown you king of Israel.”

David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the LORD to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now king of Israel. This happened just as the LORD's prophet Samuel had said.

₄Jerusalem was called Jebus at the time, and David led Israel's army to attack the town. ₅The Jebusites said, “You won't be able to get in here!” But David captured the fortress of Mount Zion, which is now called the City of David.

₆David had told his troops, “The first soldier to kill a Jebusite will become my army commander.” And since Joab son of Zeruiah attacked first, he became commander.

₇Later, David moved to the fortress—that's why it's called the City of David. ₈He had the city rebuilt, starting at the landfill on the east side. Meanwhile, Joab supervised the repairs to the rest of the city.

₉David became a great and strong ruler, because the LORD All-Powerful was on his side.

₁₀The LORD had promised that David would become king, and so everyone in Israel gave David their support. Certain warriors also helped keep his kingdom strong.

₁₁The first of these warriors was Jashobeam the son of Hachmoni, the leader of the Three Warriors. In one battle he killed three hundred men with his spear.

₁₂Another one of the Three Warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. ₁₃During a battle against the Philistines at Pas-Dammim, all the Israelite soldiers ran away, ₁₄except Eleazar, who stayed with David. They took their positions in a nearby barley field and defeated the Philistines! The LORD gave Israel a great victory that day.

₁₅One time the Three Warriors went to meet David among the rocks at Adullam Cave. The Philistine army had set up camp in Rephaim Valley ₁₆and had taken over Bethlehem. David was in a fortress, ₁₇and he said, “I'm very thirsty. I wish I had a drink of water from the well by the gate to Bethlehem.”

₁₈The Three Warriors sneaked through the Philistine camp and got some water from the well near Bethlehem's gate. They took it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured out the water as a sacrifice to the LORD ₁₉and said, “Drinking this water would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives to get it for me.”

The Three Warriors did these brave deeds.

₂₀Joab's brother Abishai was the leader of the Thirty Warriors, and in one battle he killed three hundred men with his spear. He was just as famous as the Three Warriors ₂₁and was more famous than the rest of the Thirty Warriors. He was their commander, but he never became one of the Three Warriors.

₂₂Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a brave man from Kabzeel who did some amazing things. One time he killed two of Moab's best fighters, and one snowy day he went into a pit and killed a lion. ₂₃Another time he killed an Egyptian who was over two metres tall and was armed with a spear. Benaiah only had a club, so he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian and killed him with it. ₂₄Benaiah did things like that; he was just as brave as the Three Warriors, ₂₅even though he never became one of them. And he was certainly as famous as the rest of the Thirty Warriors. So David made him the leader of his own bodyguard.

_26-47Here is a list of the other famous warriors:

Asahel the brother of Joab; Elhanan the son of Dodo from Bethlehem; Shammoth from Haror; Helez from Pelon; Ira the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa; Abiezer from Anathoth; Sibbecai the Hushathite; Ilai the Ahohite; Maharai from Netophah; Heled the son of Baanah from Netophah; Ithai the son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin; Benaiah from Pirathon; Hurai from near the streams on Mount Gaash; Abiel from Arbah; Azmaveth from Baharum; Eliahba from Shaalbon; Hashem the Gizonite; Jonathan the son of Shagee from Harar; Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite; Eliphal the son of Ur; Hepher from Mecherah; Ahijah from Pelon; Hezro from Carmel; Naarai the son of Ezbai; Joel the brother of Nathan; Mibhar the son of Hagri; Zelek from Ammon; Naharai from Beeroth who carried Joab's weapons; Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite; Uriah the Hittite; Zabad the son of Ahlai; Adina the son of Shiza, a leader in the Reuben tribe, and thirty of his soldiers; Hanan the son of Maacah; Joshaphat from Mithan; Uzzia from Ashterah; Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham from Aroer; Jediael and Joha the sons of Shimri from Tiz; Eliel from Mahavah; Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam; Ithmah from Moab; Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel from Mezobah.

₁Some time earlier, David had gone to live in the town of Ziklag to escape from King Saul. While David was there, several brave warriors joined him to help fight his battles.

₂Several of these warriors were from King Saul's own tribe of Benjamin. They were experts at using a bow and arrows, and they could shoot an arrow or sling a stone with either hand. _3-7Their leaders were Ahiezer and Joash, the sons of Shemaah from Gibeah. Here is a list of those men from Benjamin: Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah and Jehu from Anathoth; Ishmaiah from Gibeon, who was the leader of the Thirty Warriors; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from Gederah; Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah from Haruph; Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam from the Korah clan; Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

₈Men from the tribe of Gad also joined David at his fortress in the desert and served as his warriors. They were also brave soldiers—fierce as lions and quick as gazelles. They were always prepared to fight with shields and spears. _9-13There were eleven of them, ranked in the following order: Ezer the leader, then Obadiah, Eliab, Mishmannah, Jeremiah, Attai, Eliel, Johanan, Elzabad, Jeremiah, and Machbannai.

₁₄All these men were army officers; some were high-ranking officers over a thousand troops, and others were officers over a hundred troops. ₁₅Earlier, they had crossed the River Jordan when it flooded, and they chased out the people who lived in the valleys on each side of the river.

₁₆One time a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went to the fortress where David was staying. ₁₇David met them outside and said, “If you are coming as friends to fight on my side, then stay and join us. But if you try to turn me over to my enemies, the God our ancestors worshipped will punish you, because I have done nothing wrong.”

₁₈Amasai, who later became the leader of the Thirty Warriors, was one of these men who went to David. God's Spirit took control of him, and he said, “We will join you, David son of Jesse! You and your followers will always be successful, because God fights on your side.”

So David agreed to let them stay, and he even put them in charge of his soldiers who raided enemy villages.

₁₉Some of the warriors who joined David were from the tribe of Manasseh. They had earlier gone with David when he agreed to fight on the side of the Philistines against King Saul. But as soon as the Philistine rulers realized that David might turn against them and rejoin Saul, they sent David away to the town of Ziklag. ₂₀That's when the following men from Manasseh joined him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. They had all been commanders in Saul's army ₂₁and brave soldiers, and so David made them officers in his army. They fought on his side when enemy troops attacked.

₂₂Day after day, new men came to join David, and soon he had a large, powerful army.

_23-37The kingdom of Israel had been taken away from Saul, and it now belonged to David. He was ruling from Hebron, and thousands of well-trained soldiers from each tribe went there to crown David king of all Israel, just as the LORD had promised. These soldiers, who were always prepared for battle, included: 6,800 from Judah, who were armed with shields and spears; 7,100 from Simeon; 4,600 from Levi, including Jehoiada, who was a leader from Aaron's descendants, and his 3,700 men, as well as Zadok, who was a brave soldier, and 22 of his relatives, who were also officers; 3,000 from Benjamin, because this was Saul's own tribe and most of the men had remained loyal to him; 20,800 from Ephraim, who were not only brave, but also famous in their clans; 18,000 from West Manasseh, who had been chosen to help make David king; 200 leaders from Issachar, along with troops under their command—these leaders knew the right time to do what needed to be done; 50,000 from Zebulun, who were not only loyal, but also trained to use any weapon; 1,000 officers from Naphtali and 37,000 soldiers armed with shields and spears; 28,600 from Dan; 40,000 from Asher; and 120,000 from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, who were armed with all kinds of weapons.

₃₈All these soldiers voluntarily came to Hebron because they wanted David to become king of Israel. In fact, everyone in Israel wanted the same thing. ₃₉The soldiers stayed in Hebron three days, eating and drinking what their relatives had prepared for them. ₄₀Other Israelites from as far away as the territories of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali brought cattle and sheep to slaughter for food. They also brought donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen that were loaded down with flour, dried figs, wine, and olive oil.

Everyone in Israel was very happy.

₂₁Jesus also told them, “I am going away, and you will look for me. But you cannot go where I am going, and you will die with your sins unforgiven.”

₂₂The Jewish leaders asked, “Does he intend to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying we cannot go where he is going?”

₂₃Jesus answered, “You are from below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don't. ₂₄That is why I said you will die with your sins unforgiven. If you don't have faith in me for who I am, you will die, and your sins will not be forgiven.”

₂₅“Who are you?” they asked Jesus.

Jesus answered, “I am exactly who I told you at the beginning. ₂₆There is a lot more I could say to condemn you. But the one who sent me is truthful, and I tell the people of this world only what I have heard from him.”

₂₇No one understood that Jesus was talking to them about the Father.

₂₈Jesus went on to say, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will know who I am. You will also know that I don't do anything on my own. I say only what my Father taught me. ₂₉The one who sent me is with me. I always do what pleases him, and he will never leave me.”

₃₀After Jesus said this, many of the people put their faith in him.

₃₁Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. ₃₂You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

₃₃They answered, “We are Abraham's children! We have never been anyone's slaves. How can you say we will be set free?”

₃₄Jesus replied:

₃₉The people said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father!”

Jesus replied, “If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did. ₄₀Instead, you want to kill me for telling you the truth that God gave me. Abraham never did anything like that. ₄₁But you are doing exactly what your father does.”

“Don't accuse us of having someone else as our father!” they said. “We just have one father, and he is God.”

₄₂Jesus answered: