1 Chronicles 12 (ARST)

1David stayed in the city of Ziklag when he was escaping from King Saul(Kish’ s son) and waiting to ascend the throne. While David was there, many warriors came and joined him, and they helped David when he fought battles. These warriors are listed below.Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle;

2They carried bows. They were able to shoot arrows and to sling stones. They could use either their right arms or their left arms. They were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

3Their leader was Ahiezer. Next in command was Joash. They were both Shemaah’ s sons from the city of Gibeah. Others were: Jeziel and Pelet, Azmaveth’ s sons; Berakah; Jehu from the city of Anathoth;Ahiezer their chief and Joash, who were the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu the Anathothite;

4Ishmaiah from the city of Gibeon, who was the leader of the thirty greatest warriors; Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad from the city of Gederah;Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;

5Eluzai; Jerimoth; Bealiah; Shemariah; Shephatiah from the city of Haruph;Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite;

6Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, who were all descendants of Korah;Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, who were Korahites;

7and Joelah and Zebadiah, Jeroham’ s sons, from the city of Gedor.and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

8Some men from the tribe of Gad east of the Jordan River joined David when he was at his garrison in the caves in the desert. They were brave warriors who were trained for fighting battles and able to use shields and spears well. They were as fierce as lions, and they could run as fast as deer on the hills.Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:

9Ezer was their leader. Next in command was Obadiah. Next was Eliab.Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,

10Next was Mishmannah. Next was Jeremiah.Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

11Next was Attai. Next was Eliel.Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

12Next was Johanan. Next was Elzabad.Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

13Next was another man whose name was Jeremiah. The last was Macbannai.Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbanai the eleventh.

14Those men from the tribe of Gad were commanders in the army. The least warrior could fight 100, and the greatest could fight 1, 000.These Gadites were army commanders, the least of whom was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.

15They crossed to the west side of the Jordan River during a certain month in spring, at the time of the year when the river floods. They chased from there all the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.

16Some other men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David in his garrison.Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold.

17David went out of the cave to meet them and said to them,“If you have come peacefully to help me, I am eager to have you join with me. But if you have come to enable my enemies to capture me, even though I have not done anything to harm you, I hope that the God whom our ancestors worshiped will see it and condemn you.”And David went out to meet them, saying, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.”

18Then God’ s Spirit came on Amasai, who was the leader of the thirty greatest warriors, and Amasai said,“David, we want to be with you; you who are the son of Jesse, we will join you. We do come in peace. We hope you will experience peace and that those helping you will experience peace, because your God is helping you.” So David welcomed those men, and he appointed them to be leaders of his soldiers.Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

19Some men from the tribe of Manasseh also joined David when he went with the soldiers of Philistia to fight against Saul’ s army. But David and his men did not help the army of Philistia because the leaders of Philistia talked about David and his soldiers and sent David and his men away. The leaders of Philistia said,“If David joins his master Saul again, we will all be killed.”Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will cost us our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”)

20When David went to Ziklag, these were the men from the tribe of Manasseh who went with him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, another man whose name was Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each of them had been a commander of one thousand men from the tribe of Manasseh in Saul’ s army.When David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

21They helped David to fight against the groups of men who roamed throughout the country robbing people because these men from the tribe of Manasseh were all brave soldiers and became commanders in David’ s army.They helped David against the raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and commanders in the army.

22Every day more men joined David’ s men to support David, and his army became large, like the army of God.For at that time men came to David day after day to help him, until he had a great army, like the army of God.

23These are the numbers of soldiers who were ready for battle who joined David at the city of Hebron. They came to help him to become the king of Israel instead of Saul, as Yahweh had promised would happen.Now these are the numbers of men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, in accordance with the word of the LORD:

24There were 6, 800 men from Judah ready for battle, carrying shields and spears.From Judah: 6,800 armed troops bearing shields and spears.

25There were 7, 100 men from the tribe of Simeon. They were all strong warriors trained to fight battles.From Simeon: 7,100 mighty men of valor, ready for battle.

26There were 4, 600 men from the tribe of Levi.From Levi: 4,600,

27Jehoiada, a leader descended from Aaron, was in that group of descendants of Levi, and there were 3, 700 men with him.including Jehoiada, leader of the house of Aaron, with 3,700 men,

28Zadok, a strong young soldier, was also in that group, and there were 22 other leaders from his clan who came with him.and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.

29There were 3, 000 men from the tribe of Benjamin who were Saul’ s relatives. Most of them had previously given their allegiance to Saul and his descendants.From Benjamin, the kinsmen of Saul: 3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to the house of Saul up to that time.

30There were 20, 800 men from the tribe of Ephraim who were all brave warriors and famous in their own clans.From Ephraim: 20,800 mighty men of valor, famous among their own clans.

31There were 18, 000 men from the half of the tribe of Manasseh who lived west of the Jordan River. Their half- tribe chose them to go and help David become the king.From the half-tribe of Manasseh: 18,000 designated by name to come and make David king.

32There were 200 men who were leaders from the tribe of Issachar along with their relatives. They always knew what the Israelites should do, and they knew the right time to do it. The leaders commanded their relatives.From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.

33There were 50, 000 men from the tribe of Zebulun. They were experienced warriors and knew how to use all kinds of weapons well. They were completely loyal to David.From Zebulun: 50,000 fit for service, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, who with one purpose were devoted to David.

34There were 1, 000 officers from the tribe of Naphtali with 37, 000 soldiers, each carrying shields and spears.From Naphtali: 1,000 commanders, accompanied by 37,000 men with shield and spear.

35There were 28, 600 soldiers from the tribe of Dan, all trained to fight battles.From Dan: 28,600 prepared for battle.

36There were 40, 000 soldiers from the tribe of Asher, all trained to fight battles.From Asher: 40,000 fit for service, prepared for battle.

37There were also 120, 000 soldiers from the area east of the Jordan River who joined David. They were from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh. They had all kinds of weapons for battle.And from east of the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh there: 120,000 armed with every kind of weapon of war.

38All those men were soldiers who joined the ranks of David’ s army. They came to Hebron wanting very much to enable David to be the king of all of the Israelite people. The remainer of the Israelite people were also united in wanting to make David their king.All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

39The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking, because their families gave them food to take with them.They spent three days there eating and drinking with David, for their relatives had provided for them.

40Also, their fellow Israelites came from as far away as the area where the tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali lived, bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. They brought a lot of various types of food: flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep. They brought so much because the people throughout Israel were very joyful.And their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—abundant supplies of flour, fig cakes and raisin cakes, wine and oil, oxen and sheep. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.

1 Chronicles 12

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1 Chronicles 12

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