1 Chronicles 12

1 Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he kept still close because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in the conflict;

David went to Ziklag [town] to escape from [King] Saul. While he was there, many warriors came and joined him, and they helped him when he fought battles.

2 armed with bows, using both the right hand and the left with stones and with arrows on the bow; [they were] of Saul's brethren of Benjamin:

They carried bows [and arrows]. They were able to shoot arrows and to sling stones. They could use either their right arms or their left arms to do that. They were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.

3 the chief Ahiezer, and Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Berachah, and Jehu the Anathothite,

Their leader was Ahiezer. Next in command was Joash. They were both sons of Shemaah from Gibeah [city]. [These are the names of some of those warriors: ] Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu from Anathoth [town];

4 and Jishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite.

Ishmaiah from the Gibeon [city], who was a leader of the thirty mighty warriors; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from Gederah [town];

5 Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite;

Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah from Haruph [town];

6 Elkanah, and Jishijah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

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

7 and Joelah, and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

Joelah and Zebadiah, who were sons of Jeroham, from Gedor [town].

8 And of the Gadites, there separated themselves to David in the stronghold in the wilderness mighty men of valour, men fit for the service of war, armed with shield and spear; whose faces were [like] the faces of lions, and who were swift as the gazelles upon the mountains:

Some men from the tribe of Gad [east of the Jordan River] joined David when he was at his fortress 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 [SYN] were as fierce as [SIM, MTY] lions, and they could run as fast as [HYP, SIM] deer/gazelles on the hills/mountains.

9 Ezer the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

Ezer was their leader. Next in command was Obadiah. Next was Eliab.

10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

Next was Mishmannah. Next was Jeremiah.

11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

Next was Attai. Next was Eliel.

12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

Next was Johanan. Next was Elzabad.

13 Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.

Next was [another man whose name was] Jeremiah. The last was Macbannai.

14 These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the host: one of the least was over a hundred, and the greatest over a thousand.

Those men from the tribe of Gad were all army officers. Some of them commanded 1,000 soldiers, and some of them commanded 100 soldiers.

15 These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it overflows all its banks, and they put to flight all [them] of the valleys, toward the east and toward the west.

They crossed [to the west side of] the Jordan [River] during March, [at the time of the year] when the river was flooded. They chased from there all the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.

16 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the stronghold to David.

Some other men from the tribe of Benjamin and from Judah also came to David in his fortress.

17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If ye come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers see [it] and rebuke [it].

David 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 [SYN] have not done anything to harm you, I hope/wish that the God whom our ancestors (worshiped/belonged to) will see it and condemn/punish you.”

18 And the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the captains, [and he said, ] Thine [are we], David, And with thee, thou son of Jesse: Peace, peace be to thee! And peace be to thy helpers! For thy God helps thee. And David received them, and made them chiefs of bands.

Then [God’s] Spirit came upon Amasai, who was another leader of the thirty [greatest warriors], and he said, “David, we want to be with you; you who are the son of Jesse, we will join you. We know that things will go very well [DOU] for you and for those who are with you, because your God is helping you.”

19 And there fell some of Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not; for the lords of the Philistines upon deliberation sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul at the peril of our heads.

So David welcomed those men, and he appointed them to be leaders of his soldiers. Some 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 really help the army of Philistia. After the leaders of Philistia talked [about David and his soldiers], they sent David away. They said, “If David joins his master Saul again, we will all be killed {his army will kill all of us}!”

20 As he went away to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh: Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai, captains of the thousands that were of Manasseh.

When 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 1,000 men [in Saul’s army].

21 And they helped David in his expeditions; for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.

They were all brave soldiers, and they helped David to fight against the groups of men who roamed throughout the country, robbing people. So those men became commanders in David’s army.

22 For day by day there came [men] to David to help him, until it was a great camp, like the camp of God.

Every day more men joined David’s men, and his army became large, like [SIM] the army of God (OR, a very huge army).

23 And this is the number of the men equipped for military service, who came to David to Hebron, to transfer the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah.

These are the numbers of soldiers who were ready for battle who joined David at Hebron [city]. They came to help him to become the king of Israel to replace Saul, as Yahweh had promised would happen.

24 The children of Judah that bore shield and spear were six thousand eight hundred, equipped for military service.

There were 6,800 men from Judah, who carried shields and spears.

25 Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for war, seven thousand one hundred.

There were 7,100 men from the tribe of Simeon. They were all strong warriors trained to fight battles.

26 Of the children of Levi four thousand six hundred.

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

27 And Jehoiada the prince of Aaron, and with him were three thousand seven hundred;

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

28 and Zadok, a valiant young man, and his father's house two and twenty chief men.

Zadok, a strong young soldier, was also in that group, and there were 22 other leaders from his clan who came with him.

29 And of the children of Benjamin, the brethren of Saul, three thousand; but hitherto the greater part of them had adhered to the house of Saul.

There were 3,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin who were Saul’s relatives. Most of them had previously wanted one of Saul’s descendants to be the king.

30 And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of valour, men of name in their fathers' houses.

There were 20,800 men from the tribe of Ephraim who were all brave warriors and trained for fighting battles and famous in their own clans.

31 And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were expressed by name, to come and make David king.

There were 18,000 men from the half of the tribe of Manasseh [that lived west of the Jordan River]. They were all chosen to go and help David become the king.

32 And of the children of Issachar, who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their bidding.

There were 200 men who were leaders from the tribe of Issachar, along with their relatives. Those leaders always knew what the Israelis should do, and they knew the right time to do it.

33 Of Zebulun, such as went forth in the host, armed for war with all weapons of war, fifty thousand, keeping rank without double heart.

There were 55,000 men from the tribe of Zebulun. They were all experienced warriors and knew how to use all kinds of weapons well. They were completely loyal to David.

34 And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them thirty-seven thousand with shield and spear.

There were 1,000 officers from the tribe of Naphtali. With them were 37,000 soldiers, each carrying shields and spears.

35 And of the Danites armed for war twenty-eight thousand six hundred.

There were 28,600 soldiers from the tribe of Dan, all trained to fight battles.

36 And of Asher such as went forth in the host, to set themselves in battle array, forty thousand.

There were 47,000 experienced soldiers from the tribe of Asher, all trained to fight battles.

37 And from the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of weapons of war for battle, a hundred and twenty thousand.

There 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.

38 All of them men of war, keeping rank in battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

All those men were soldiers who volunteered to be in David’s army. They came to Hebron wanting very much to enable David to be the king of all of the Israeli people.

39 And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking; for their brethren had prepared for them;

The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking, because their families had given them food to take with them.

40 and those too that were near them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen; provisions of meal, fig-cakes and raisin-cakes, and wine and oil, and oxen and sheep, abundantly; for there was joy in Israel.

Also, their fellow Israelis 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 flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, [olive] oil, cattle and sheep. And throughout Israel, the people were very joyful.