In times past, even when Saul was king, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over my people Israel.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Samuel.
And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion; the same is the city of David.
Now these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who shewed themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.
And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them at one time.
He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.
And three of the thirty chief went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD,
and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with {cf15i the jeopardy of} their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.
And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them, and had a name among the three.
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he slew the two {cf15i sons of} Ariel of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.
And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian-s hand was a spear like a weaver-s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian-s hand, and slew him with his own spear.