From the blood of the slain,
From the fat of the mighty

The bow of Jonathan turned not back,
The sword of Saul returned not empty.

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were never parted;
They were swifter than eagles,

They were stronger than lions.

Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you daintily in fine linen,

Who put ornaments of gold on your garments.
How the mighty have fallen in the midst of battle!

O Jonathan, your death has mortally wounded me,
O Jonathan, my brother, for you I am distressed.
You were ever a friend to me most dear,
Your love meant far more than the love of women!

How the mighty have fallen,

And the weapons of war vanished!

90. DAVID'S CALL TO LEADERSHIP

After this David inquired of Jehovah, saying, 'Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?' Jehovah answered, 'Go up.' When David asked, "To which shall I go?' he said, "To Hebron.' So David went up with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David brought the men who were with him, each with his family, and they lived in the towns about Hebron. And the men of Judah came there and anointed David as ruler over the clans of Judah.

When they told David about the men of Jabesh in Gilead who had buried Saul, David sent messengers to

them and said, 'May you be blessed by Jehovah because you have shown this kindness to your master Saul and have buried him. Even so may Jehovah show kindness and fidelity to you; and I also will repay you for this kind deed which you have done. Therefore be brave and valiant; for Saul your master is dead, and the clans of Judah have anointed me to rule over them.'

Now Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Ishbaal the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim and made him ruler over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. But the clans of Judah remained loyal to David.

There was continual warfare between the adherents of Saul and those of David; but David kept growing stronger while the adherents of Saul grew weaker. Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went about midday to the palace of Ishbaal, as he was taking his rest at noon. The doorkeeper of the palace was cleaning wheat, but he grew drowsy and slept. So Rechab and Baanah his brother slipped in and, attacking Ishbaal, they killed him and cut off his head.

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, 'See, we are your kinsmen. In times past when Saul was ruler over us, it was you who led the Israelites, and Jehovah has said to you, "You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall become the leader of Israel." So all the elders of Israel came to David, and he made an agreement with them in Hebron in the presence of Jehovah, and they anointed David ruler over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he began to rule and he ruled forty years. In Hebron he ruled over

Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he ruled thirty-three years over both Israel and Judah.

91. THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE

When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David ruler over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David; but when he heard of this he went down to the fortress.

Three of David's thirty warriors went down to him to the top of the rock, to the fortress of Adullam, while a force of the Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was at that time in the fortress, and a garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem, and David longed and said, ‘O that some one would bring me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!' Then the three mighty warriors broke through the line of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate and brought it to David. He would not drink of it, however, but poured it out as an offering to Jehovah and said, 'Jehovah forbid that I should do it. This is the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives.' Therefore he would not drink it. These deeds were done by the three mighty warriors.

When the Philistines came and overran the Valley of Rephaim, David inquired of Jehovah: 'Shall I go out against the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into my hand?' Jehovah said to David, 'Go; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand.' So David went to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, 'Jehovah has broken down my enemies before me, like the breaking through of waters.'

Then the Philistines came up again and overran the

Valley of Rephaim. When David inquired of Jehovah, he said, 'You shall not make a direct attack. Go around on their rear and attack them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsams, act quickly, for then Jehovah will have gone out before you to attack the army of the Philistines.' David did as Jehovah commanded him and routed the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer.

And David and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land who had said to David, 'You shall not come in here, for the blind and the lame will turn you back,' for they thought, 'David cannot come in here.'

Nevertheless David took the fortress of Zion, and lived in the fortress, and called it the City of David; and he built a wall around it from Millo inwards.

David continued to grow more powerful, for Jehovah of hosts was with him. And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to him and cedar trees and carpenters and masons and they built a palace for him. So David knew that Jehovah had established him as ruler over Israel, and that he had made his realm powerful for the sake of his people Israel.

92.

JERUSALEM MADE THE HOLY CITY

David again assembled all the picked men of Israel, thirty thousand in all, and went with all the people who accompanied him to Baal-Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which bears the name of Jehovah of hosts who sits enthroned upon the cherubim. They placed the ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab on the hill, with Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, guid

ing the cart. Uzzah went with the ark of God, while Ahio went before the ark. And David and all the people of Israel danced before Jehovah with all their might to the music of harps and lyres and drums and castanets and cymbals.

When they came to the threshing-floor of Nachon, Uzzah stretched out his hand to support the ark of God, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of Jehovah was aroused against Uzzah and he struck him down there, because he had stretched out his hand to the ark, so he died there in the presence of God. David was afraid of Jehovah that day, and said, 'How can the ark of Jehovah come to me?' So David was not willing to remove the ark of Jehovah to the City of David, but carried it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, and it remained there three months. And Jehovah blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

When the report came to David, 'Jehovah has blessed Obed-edom and all his household because of the ark of God,' David joyfully brought up the ark from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David. Whenever the bearers of the ark of Jehovah advanced six paces, David sacrificed an ox and a fatling; and he danced before Jehovah with all his might and had about his waist a priestly garment made of linen. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of Jehovah with shouting and the blare of trumpets.

When they had brought in the ark of Jehovah and had set it in its place in the tent that David had erected for it, he offered burnt-offerings and sacrifices to Jehovah. When David had finished offering these sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah of hosts and distributed to the whole assembled multitude of the Israelites, both men and women, a roll