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.
These were the men who came to David to Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish. They were among the soldiers, his helpers in battle.
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 Benjamites, Saul's fellow tribesmen.
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, both sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite. There were Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth. There were also Berakah, 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 soldier among the thirty (and in command 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;
the Korahites Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam, and
7 Joelah and Zebadiah, who were sons of Jeroham, from Gedor [town].
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.
Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were fighting men, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear; whose faces were as fierce as the faces of lions. They were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.
9 Ezer was their leader. Next in command was Obadiah. Next was Eliab.
There were Ezer the leader, 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, Makbannai 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 sons of Gad were leaders of the army. The least led a hundred, and the greatest led 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.
They crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it overflowed its banks, and chased away all those living 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 men 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 addressed them: “If you have come in peace to me to help me, you may join me. But if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, may the God of our ancestors see and rebuke you, since I have done no wrong.”
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. Amasai said, “We are yours, David. We are on your side, son of Jesse. Peace, may peace be to whoever helps you. May peace be to your helpers, for your God is helping you.” Then David received them and made them commanders over his men.
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 from Manasseh also deserted to David when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle. Yet they did not help the Philistines, because the Philistine lords consulted with each other and sent David away. They said, “He will desert to his master Saul at the risk of our lives.”
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 to Ziklag, the men of Manasseh who joined him were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains over thousands 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 fight against the roving bands, for they were fighting men. Later they became commanders 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).
Day after day, men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army 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.
This is the record of the armed soldiers for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, which carried out Yahweh's word.
24 There were 6,800 men from Judah, who carried shields and spears.
From Judah those who carried shield and spear were 6,800, armed for war.
25 There were 7,100 men from the tribe of Simeon. They were all strong warriors trained to fight battles.
From the Simeonites there were 7,100 fighting men.
26 There were 4,600 men from the tribe of Levi.
From the Levites there were 4,600 fighting men.
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 Aaron's descendants, and with him were 3,700.
28 Zadok, a strong young soldier, was also in that group, and there were 22 other leaders from his clan who came with him.
With Zadok, a young, strong, and courageous man, were twenty-two leaders from his father's family.
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.
From Benjamin, Saul's tribe, were three thousand. Most of them had remained loyal to Saul until this time.
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.
From the Ephraimites there were 20,800 fighting men, men who were famous 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.
From the half tribe of Manasseh there were eighteen thousand famous men who came 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.
From Issachar, there were two hundred leaders who had understanding of the times and knew what Israel ought to do. All their relatives were under 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.
From Zebulun there were fifty thousand fighting men, prepared for battle, with all the weapons of war, and ready to give undivided loyalty.
34 There were 1,000 officers from the tribe of Naphtali. With them were 37,000 soldiers, each carrying shields and spears.
From Naphtali there were one thousand officers, and with them thirty-seven thousand men with shields and spears.
35 There were 28,600 soldiers from the tribe of Dan, all trained to fight battles.
From the Danites there were 28,600 men prepared for battle.
36 There were 47,000 experienced soldiers from the tribe of Asher, all trained to fight battles.
From Asher there were forty thousand men prepared for battle.
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.
From the other side of the Jordan, from the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 men armed with all kinds of weapons for battle.
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 soldiers, equipped for battle, came to Hebron with firm intentions to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of Israel were in agreement to make David king also.
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 relatives had sent them with provisions.
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.
In addition, those who were near to them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen, and cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep, for Israel was celebrating.
