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These are the last words of David: "Here is the declaration by David, son of Jesse-- the declaration by the man whom God raised up, whom the God of Jacob anointed, the singer of Israel's psalms:
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"The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me. His words were on my tongue.
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The God of Israel spoke to them. The rock of Israel told me, 'The one who rules humans with justice rules with the fear of God.
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He is like the morning light as the sun rises, like a morning without clouds, like the brightness after a rainstorm. The rain makes the grass grow from the earth.'
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"Truly, God considers my house to be that way, because he has made a lasting promise to me, with every detail arranged and assured. [He promised] everything that helps me, everything that pleases me. Truly, he makes these things happen.
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"Worthless people are like thorns. All of them are thrown away, because they cannot be picked by hand.
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A person who touches them uses iron [tools] or the shaft of a spear. Fire will burn them up completely wherever they are."
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These are the names of David's fighting men: Josheb Basshebeth from Tahkemon's family was leader of the three. He used a spear to kill 800 men on one occasion.
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Next in rank to him was Eleazar, another one of the three fighting men. He was the son of Dodo and grandson of Aho. Eleazar was with David at Pas Dammim when the Philistines gathered there for battle. When the soldiers from Israel retreated,
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he attacked and killed Philistines until his hand got tired and stuck to his sword. So the LORD won an impressive victory that day. The army returned to Eleazar, but they only returned to strip the dead.