1 Chronicles 12

1 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.

Now these are those who came to David to Ziklag while he was a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish. They were among the mighty men, his helpers in war.

2 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.

They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow. They were of Saul’s relatives of the tribe of Benjamin.

3 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];

The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu the Anathothite;

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

Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader of the thirty; Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad the Gederathite;

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

Eluzai; Jerimoth; Bealiah; Shemariah; Shephatiah the Haruphite;

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

Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

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

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

8 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.

Some Gadites joined David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains:

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

Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

10 Next was Mishmannah. Next was Jeremiah.

Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

11 Next was Attai. Next was Eliel.

Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

12 Next was Johanan. Next was Elzabad.

Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

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

Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbannai the eleventh.

14 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.

These of the sons of Gad were captains of the army. He who was least was equal to one hundred, and the greatest to one thousand.

15 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.

These are those who went over the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all who lived in the valleys, both toward the east and toward the west.

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

Some of the children of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.

17 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.”

David went out to meet them, and answered them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers see this and rebuke it.”

18 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.”

Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse. Peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you.” Then David received them and made them captains of the band.

19 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}!”

Some of Manasseh also joined David when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but they did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, “He will desert to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.”

20 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].

As he went to Ziklag, some from Manasseh joined him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who were of Manasseh.

21 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.

They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were captains in the army.

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

For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like God’s army.

23 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.

These are the numbers of the heads of those who were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the LORD’s word.

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

The children of Judah who bore shield and spear were six thousand eight hundred, armed for war.

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

Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for the war: seven thousand one hundred.

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

Of the children of Levi: four thousand six hundred.

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

Jehoiada was the leader of the household of Aaron; and with him were three thousand seven hundred,

28 Zadok, 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 young man mighty of valor, and of his father’s house twenty-two captains.

29 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.

Of the children of Benjamin, Saul’s relatives: three thousand, for until then, the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to Saul’s house.

30 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.

Of the children of Ephraim: twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers’ houses.

31 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.

Of the half-tribe of Manasseh: eighteen thousand, who were mentioned by name, to come and make David king.

32 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.

Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their command.

33 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.

Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array with all kinds of instruments of war: fifty thousand who could command and were not of double heart.

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

Of Naphtali: one thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty-seven thousand.

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

Of the Danites who could set the battle in array: twenty-eight thousand six hundred.

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

Of Asher, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array: forty thousand.

37 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.

On the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all kinds of instruments of war for the battle: one hundred twenty thousand.

38 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.

All these were men of war who could order the battle array, and 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.

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

They were there with David three days, eating and drinking; for their brothers had supplied provisions for them.

40 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.

Moreover those who were near to them, as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought bread on donkeys, on camels, on mules, and on oxen: supplies of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, wine, oil, cattle, and sheep in abundance; for there was joy in Israel.