1 Chronicles 12

1 And these [are] those coming in unto David to Ziklag, while shut up because of Saul son of Kish, and they [are] among the mighty ones, helping the battle,

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 bow, right and left handed, with stones, and with arrows, with bows, of the brethren of Saul, 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 head [is] Ahiezer, and Joash, sons of Shemaab the Gibeathite, and Jeziel, and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth, and Berachah, and Jehu 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 mighty one among the thirty, and over the thirty, and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Josabad 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 Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam the Korhites,

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

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

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

8 And of the Gadite there have been separated unto David, to the fortress, to the wilderness, mighty of valour, men of the host for battle, setting in array target and buckler, and their faces the face of the lion, and as roes on the mountains for speed:

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 head, 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 [are] of the sons of Gad, heads of the host, one of a hundred [is] the least, and the greatest, of 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 who have passed over the Jordan in the first month, — and it is full over all its banks — and cause all [they of] the valley to flee to the east and to 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 come of the sons of Benjamin and Judah unto 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 goeth out before them, and answereth and saith to them, 'If for peace ye have come in unto me, to help me, I have a heart to unite with you; and if to betray me to mine adversaries — without violence in my hands — the God of our fathers doth see and reprove.'

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 hath clothed Amasai, head of the captains: 'To thee, O David, and with thee, O son of Jesse — peace! peace to thee, and peace to thy helper, for thy God hath helped thee;' and David receiveth them, and putteth them among the heads of the troop.

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 there have fallen unto David in his coming with the Philistines against Israel to battle — and they helped them not, for by counsel the princes of the Philistines sent him away, saying, 'With our heads he doth fall unto his master Saul.' —

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 In his going unto Ziglag there have fallen unto him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillthai, heads of the thousands that [are] 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 have helped with David over the troop, for mighty of valour [are] all of them, and they are 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 at that time, day by day, they come in unto David to help him, till it is a great camp, like a 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 these [are] the numbers of the head, of the armed men of the host; they have come in unto David to Hebron to turn round the kingdom of Saul unto him, according to the mouth 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 sons of Judah, bearing target and spear, [are] six thousand and eight hundred, armed ones of the host.

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

25 Of the sons of Simeon, mighty ones of valour for the host, [are] seven thousand and a hundred.

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

26 Of the sons of Levi [are] four thousand and six hundred;

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

27 and Jehoiada [is] the leader of the Aaronite, and with him [are] three thousand and 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 young man, mighty of valour, and of the house of his father [are] twenty and two heads.

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 sons of Benjamin, brethren of Saul, [are] three thousand, and hitherto their greater part are keeping the charge 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 sons of Ephraim [are] twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty of valour, men of name, according to the house 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 half of the tribe of Manasseh [are] eighteen thousand, who have been defined by name, to come in to cause David to reign.

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 sons of Issachar, having understanding for the times, to know what Israel should do; their heads [are] two hundred, and all their brethren [are] at their command.

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, going forth to the host, arranging battle with all instruments of battle, [are] fifty thousand, and keeping rank without 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 heads, and with them, with target and spear, [are] thirty and seven thousand.

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 Danite, arranging battle, [are] twenty and eight thousand and six hundred.

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

36 And of Asher, going forth to the host, to arrange battle, [are] forty thousand.

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

37 And from beyond the Jordan, of the Reubenite, and of the Gadite, and of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, with all instruments of the host for battle, [are] 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 these [are] men of war, keeping rank — with a perfect heart they have come to Hebron, to cause David to reign over all Israel, and also all the rest of Israel [are] of one heart, to cause David to reign,

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 they are there, with David, three days, eating and drinking, for their brethren have 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 also those near unto them, unto Issachar, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, are bringing in bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen — food of fine flour, fig-cakes and grape-cakes, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep, in abundance, for joy [is] 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.