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 they who came unto David, to Ziklag, he yet being shut up, because of Saul son of Kish, —and, they, were among the heroes, helpers in the 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.

armed with the bow, using right hand or left with stones, and with arrows in the bow, —of the brethren of Saul, out 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, Ahiezer, and Joash, sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite, and Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth, —and Beracah, and 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];

and Ishmaiah, the Gibeonite, a hero among the thirty, and over the thirty, —and Jeremiah and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad, the Gederathite;

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

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

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

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

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

and Joelah and Zebadiah, 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.

And, of the Gadites, there separated themselves unto David, to the stronghold towards the desert, heroes of valour, men of war, for battle, men that could handle shield and spear, —and, faces of lions, were their faces, and, like gazelles upon the mountains, were they, for swiftness:

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.

Mashmannah, 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, 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, were of the sons of Gad, chiefs of the host, —one to a hundred, the least, and, the greatest, to a 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 they who passed over the Jordan, in the first month, when, it, was full, over all its banks, —and they put to flight all them of the vales, to the east and to the west.

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

And there came, of the sons of Benjamin, and Judah, as far as the stronghold, unto 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.”

And David went forth to meet them, and responded, and said to them, If, peaceably, ye are come unto me, to help me, I shall have towards you, a heart for unity, —but, if to betray me to mine adversaries, there being no violence in my hands, may the God of our fathers see and rebuke!

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, clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, Thine, O David, Yea, with, thee, O son of Jesse! Prosperity, prosperity to thee, And prosperity to thy helpers, For thy God, hath helped thee: So David accepted them, and set them among the chiefs 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}!”

And, of Manasseh, there fell away unto David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but they helped them not, —for the lords of the Philistines advisedly sent him away, saying, At the price of our heads, he might fall away to his master, Saul.

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].

When he went into Ziklag, there fell away unto him, of Manasseh, Adnah and Jozabad, and Jediael and Michael and Jozabad, and Elihu and Zillethai, —chiefs of the thousands that pertained to 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.

and, they, helped with David, against the [marauding] band, for, heroes of valour, were they all, —and they became captains in the host;

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, there came unto David, to help him, —until it was a great camp, like a camp of God.

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.

And, these, are the numbers of the chiefs armed for war, they came unto David, to Hebron, —to turn round the kingdom of Saul unto him, according to the bidding of Yahweh:

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

Sons of Judah, bearers of shield and spear, six thousand and 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 sons of Simeon, heroes of valour for the war, seven thousand, and one hundred.

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

Of the sons of Levi, four thousand, and 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.

And Jehoiada, was chief ruler for Aaron, —and, with him, three thousand and 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, a hero of valour, —and the house of his father, captains twenty and two.

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.

And, of the sons of Benjamin, brethren of Saul, three thousand, —and, hitherto, the greater part of them, had been keeping the charge of the house of Saul.

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.

And, of the sons of Ephraim, twenty thousand, and eight hundred, —heroes of valour, men of renown, to their ancestral house.

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.

And, of the half tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, who were distinguished by name, coming in to 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.

And, of the sons of Issachar, such as were of good understanding of the times, to know what Israel, should do, their chiefs, were two hundred, and, all their brethren, were at their bidding.

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 ready to go forth in host, expert for battle with all weapons of war, fifty thousand, —and for setting in array, not of two minds!

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

And, of Naphtali, a 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.

And, of the Danite, expert for war, twenty-eight thousand, and six hundred.

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

And, of Asher, such as were ready to go forth in host to set in array for battle, 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.

And, from over the Jordan, of the Reubenites and Gadites and half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of weapons of war for battle, a hundred and 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, being men of war, expert in setting in battle-array, with a perfect heart, came to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel, —moreover also, all the rest 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.

So they were there, with David, three days, eating and drinking, —for their brethren had made preparation 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 also, they who were near of kin unto them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, were bringing bread, on asses and on camels and on mules and on oxen, meal-food, cakes of figs and cakes of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep—in abundance, —for there was joy Israel.