Later there was another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gob. On that occasion Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of Rapha.

My God ¹  is my rocky summit where I take shelter, ²  my shield, the horn that saves me, ³  my stronghold, my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence! ⁴ 

But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended ¹  it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people ¹  of Judah. David was told, ²  “The people ³  of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.”

They took Asahel’s body and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. ¹  Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn.

Then Abner sent messengers ¹  to David saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement ²  with me, and I will do whatever I can ³  to cause all Israel to turn to you.”

When the Philistines heard that David had been designated ¹  king over Israel, they all ²  went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress.

David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family ¹  and appointed me as leader over the Lord’s people Israel.

David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” ¹ 

Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest ¹  at David’s table, ²  just as though he were one of the king’s sons.

When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans. ¹ 

Your servant Joab did this so as to change this situation. But my lord has wisdom like that of the angel of God, and knows everything that is happening in the land.” ¹ 

So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.” ¹  So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s ²  portion of the field on fire.

Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.” So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

So the king got up and sat at the city gate. When all the people were informed that the king was sitting at the city gate, they ¹  all came before him.But the Israelite soldiers ²  had all fled to their own homes. ³ 

They crossed at the ford in order to help the king’s household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate. Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king.

They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything ¹  that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers ²  for the land.

Yet another battle occurred in Gath. On that occasion there was a large man ¹  who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha.

Next in command ¹  was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, ²  where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines.

At the time of ¹  the harvest three ²  of the thirty leaders went down to ³  David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim.