These are the last words of David: "This message is from David son of Jesse. This message is from the man God made great. He is the king chosen by the God of Jacob, the sweet singer of Israel.
"God made my family strong and secure. He made an agreement with me forever. God made sure this agreement was good and secure in every way. So surely he will give me every victory. He will give me everything I want!
If someone touches them, it hurts like a spear made of wood and iron. Yes, evil people are like thorns. They will be thrown into the fire, and they will be completely burned."
These are the names of David's special soldiers: Josheb Basshebeth the Tahkemonite was captain of the king's special forces. He used his spear to kill 800 men at one time.
but Eleazar stood and fought the Philistines until his hand became so tired that it cramped around his sword handle. The Lord won a great victory that day. The people of Israel came back, but only to take things from the dead.
Next there was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. The Philistines came together to fight. They fought in a field of lentils. The people ran away from the Philistines.
Once David was at the cave of Adullam and the Philistine army was down in Rephaim Valley. Three of the Thirty Heroes crawled flat on the ground all the way to that cave to join David.
David did not really want this, he was only talking, but the Three Heroes fought their way through the Philistine army and got some water from the well near the city gate in Bethlehem. Then they brought the water to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it on the ground as an offering to the Lord.
David said, "Lord, I cannot drink this water. It would be like drinking the blood of the men who risked their lives for me." This is why David refused to drink the water. The Three Heroes did many brave things like that.
Abishai was the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah. Abishai was the leader of the Three Heroes. Abishai used his spear against 300 enemies and killed them. He became as famous as the Three.
Then there was Benaiah son of Jehoiada, from Kabzeel. He was the son of a powerful man. Benaiah did many brave things. He killed two of the best soldiers in Moab. One day when it was snowing, Benaiah went down into a hole in the ground and killed a lion.
Benaiah also killed a big Egyptian soldier. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, and Benaiah only had a club. He grabbed the spear in the Egyptian's hands and took it away from him. Then Benaiah killed the Egyptian with his own spear.
Benaiah was even more famous than the Thirty Heroes, but he did not become a member of the Three Heroes. David made Benaiah the leader of his bodyguards.