An adversary ¹  opposed ²  Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had. ³ 

The sum total of the descendants of Perez who were settling in Jerusalem was 468 exceptional men.

The Ephraimites ¹  were armed with bows, ²  but they retreated in the day of battle. ³ 

O Lord God, invincible warrior! ¹  How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? ² 

You have brought to an end his splendor, ¹  and have knocked ²  his throne to the ground.

Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, ¹  you servants of his who carry out his desires! ² 

Praise him, all his angels! ¹  Praise him, all his heavenly assembly! ² 

and your poverty will come like a robber, ¹  and your need like an armed man. ² 

The wise person ¹  can scale ²  the city of the mighty and bring down the stronghold ³  in which they trust. ⁴ 

and your poverty will come like a bandit, and your need like an armed robber.” ¹ 

He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions, and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. ¹ 

The young men of On and of Pi-beseth ¹  will die by the sword; and the cities will go ²  into captivity.

Then a powerful king ¹  will arise, exercising great authority and doing as he pleases.

Hear ¹  the sound of those who divide the sheep ²  among the watering places; there they tell of ³  the Lord’s victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors ⁴  in Israel. Then the Lord’s people went down to the city gates –

the Israelites counterattacked. ¹  Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; ²  they struck down ³  about thirty men. They said, “There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”

all their warriors set out and traveled throughout the night. They took Saul’s corpse and the corpses of his sons from the city wall of Beth Shan and went ¹  to Jabesh, where they burned them.

Joab replied to the man who was telling him this, “What! You saw this? Why didn’t you strike him down right on the spot? ¹  I would have given you ten pieces of silver ²  and a commemorative belt!” ³ 

Next in command ¹  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ²  the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors who were with David when they defied the Philistines who were assembled there for battle. When the men of Israel retreated, ³ 

So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ²  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³