1 Chronicles 12

1 These also are they that came to Dauid to Ziklag, while he was yet kept close, because of Saul the sonne of Kish: and they were among the valiant and helpers of the battel.

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 They were weaponed with bowes, and could vse the right and the left hand with stones and with arrowes and with bowes, and were of Sauls brethren, euen of Beniamin.

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 chiefe were Ahiezer, and Ioash the sonnes of Shemaah a Gibeathite, and Ieziel, and Pelet the sonnes of Asinaueth, Berachah and Iehu the Antothite,

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 Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a valiant man among thirtie, and aboue the thirtie, and Ieremiah, and Iehaziel, and Iohanan, and Ioshabad 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 Ierimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite,

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

6 Elkanah, and Ishiah, and Azariel, and Ioezer, Iashobeam of Hakorehim,

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

7 And Ioelah, and Zebadiah, the sonnes of Ieroham of Gedor,

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

8 And of the Gadites there separated them selues some vnto Dauid into the holde of the wildernesse, valiant men of warre, and men of armes, and apt for battel, which coulde handle speare and shielde, and their faces were like the faces of lyons, and were like the roes in the mountaines in swiftnesse,

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 chiefe, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

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

10 Mishmanah the fourth, Ieremiah the fift,

Next was Mishmannah. Next was Jeremiah.

11 Attai the sixt, Eliel the seuenth,

Next was Attai. Next was Eliel.

12 Iohanan the eight, Elzabad the ninth,

Next was Johanan. Next was Elzabad.

13 Ieremiah the tenth, Macbannai the eleuenth.

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

14 These were the sonnes of Gad, captaines of the hoste: one of the least could resist an hundreth, and the greatest 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 ouer Iorden in the first moneth when he had filled ouer all his bankes, and put to flight all them of the valley, toward the East and 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 Beniamin, and Iudah to the hold vnto Dauid,

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

17 And Dauid went out to meete them, and answered and sayde vnto them, If yee be come peaceably vnto me to helpe me, mine heart shall be knit vnto you, but if you come to betray me to mine aduersaries, seeing there is no wickednes in mine handes, the God of our fathers beholde 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 vpon Amasai, which was the chiefe of thirtie, and he said, Thine are we, Dauid, and with thee, O sonne of Ishai. Peace, peace be vnto thee, and peace be vnto thine helpers: for thy God helpeth thee. Then Dauid receiued them, and made them captaines of the garison.

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 of Manasseh some fell to Dauid, when he came with the Philistims against Saul to battell, but they helped them not: for the Princes of the Philistims by aduisement sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul for 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 to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Iozabad, and Iediael, and Michael, and Iozabad, and Elihu, and Ziltai, heads 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 Dauid against that bad: for they were all valiant men and were captaines in the hoste.

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 at that time day by day there came to Dauid to helpe him, vntill it was a great hoste, like the hoste 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 these are the nombers of the captaines that were armed to battell, and came to Dauid to Hebron to turne the kingdome of Saul to him, according to the worde of the Lord.

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 Iudah that bare shield and speare, were sixe thousand and eight hundreth armed to the warre.

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

25 Of the children of Simeon valiant men of warre, seuen thousand and an hundreth.

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

26 Of the children of Leui foure thousande and sixe hundreth.

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

27 And Iehoiada was the chiefe of them of Aaron: and with him three thousande and seuen hundreth.

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 yong man very valiant, and of his fathers housholde came two and twentie captaines.

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 Beniamin the brethren of Saul three thousande: for a great part of them vnto that time kept the warde of 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 twentie thousande, and eight hundreth valiant men and famous men in the housholde of their fathers.

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 halfe tribe of Manasseh eighteene thousand, which were appointed by name to come and make Dauid 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 which were men that had vnderstanding of the times, to knowe what Israel ought to doe: the heades of them were two hundreth, and all their brethren were at their commandement.

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 that went out to battel, expert in warre, and in all instruments of warre, fiftie thousande which could set the battell in aray: they were not of a 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 captaines, and with them with shielde and speare seuen and thirtie thousande.

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

35 And of Dan expert in battell, eyght and twentie thousande, and sixe hundreth.

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

36 And of Asher that went out to the battell and were trained in the warres, fourtie thousand.

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

37 And of the other side of Iorden of the Reubenites, and of the Gadites, and of the halfe tribe of Manasseh with all instruments of warre to fight with, an hundreth and twentie 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 these men of warre that coulde leade an armie, came with vpright heart to Hebron to make Dauid King ouer all Israel: and all the rest of Israel was of one accorde to make Dauid 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 Dauid three dayes, 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 Moreouer they that were neere them vntill Issachar, and Zebulun, and Naphtali brought bread vpon asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, euen meate, floure, figges, and reisins, and wine and oyle, and beeues and sheepe abundantly: for there was ioy 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.