The First Book of The Chronicles

• Author: Ezra
• Place Written: Jerusalem
• When Written: c. 450 B.C.E.

CHAPTER 1

From Adam to Abraham

1 Adam, Seth, Enosh; ² Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; ³ Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, ⁴ Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

⁵ The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ⁶ The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath,[1] and Togarmah. ⁷ The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish,[2] Kittim, and Rodanim.[3]

⁸ The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. ⁹ The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ¹⁰ Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first to become a mighty one on the earth.

¹¹ Mizraim fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹² Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

¹³ Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, ¹⁴ and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁵ the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁶ the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

¹⁷ The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz,[4] Hul, Gether, and Meshech.[5] ¹⁸ Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. ¹⁹ To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (for in his days the earth was divided), and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁰ Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²¹ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²² Obal,[6] Abimael, Sheba, ²³ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.

²⁴ Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah; ²⁵ Eber, Peleg, Reu; ²⁶ Serug, Nahor, Terah; ²⁷ Abram, that is, Abraham.

From Abraham to Jacob

²⁸ The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. ²⁹ These are their family origins: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ³⁰ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, ³¹ Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. ³² The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. ³³ The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

³⁴ Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. ³⁵ The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. ³⁶ The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho,[7] Gatam, Kenaz, and of Timna, Amalek. ³⁷ The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

³⁸ The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. ³⁹ The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam;[8] and Lotan’s sister was Timna. ⁴⁰ The sons of Shobal: Alvan,[9] Manahath, Ebal, Shepho,[10] and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. ⁴¹ The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan,[11] Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ⁴² The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.[12] The sons of Dishan:[13] Uz and Aran.

⁴³ These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah. ⁴⁴ Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. ⁴⁵ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ⁴⁶ Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city was Avith. ⁴⁷ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ⁴⁸ Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place. ⁴⁹ Shaul died, and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place. ⁵⁰ Baal-hanan died, and Hadad[14] reigned in his place, the name of his city was Pau;[15] and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. ⁵¹ And Hadad died.

The chiefs of Edom were chiefs Timna, Alvah,[16] Jetheth, ⁵² Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁵³ Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁵⁴ Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom.

CHAPTER 2

A Genealogy of David

2 These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, ² Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ³ The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three were born to him from Shua the Canaanite. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and he put him to death. ⁴ And Tamar his daughter-in-law bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

⁵ The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. ⁶ The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara,[17] five in all. ⁷ The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who was unfaithful with regard to the devoted thing; ⁸ and the son of Ethan was Azariah.

⁹ The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. ¹⁰ Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah. ¹¹ And Nahshon fathered Salma,[18] Salma fathered Boaz, ¹² and Boaz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse; ¹³ and Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, then Abinadab, the second, Shimea, the third, ¹⁴ Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, ¹⁵ Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. ¹⁶ And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. ¹⁷ Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

¹⁸ Caleb the son of Hezron fathered sons by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. ¹⁹ And when Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. ²⁰ And Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.

²¹ Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub. ²² And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. ²³ But Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath and its villages, even sixty cities. All these were the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead. ²⁴ After the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

²⁵ And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.[19] ²⁶ Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. ²⁷ The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. ²⁸ And the sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. And the sons of Shammai were Nadab and Abishur. ²⁹ And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bore to him Ahban and Molid. ³⁰ And the sons of Nadab were Seled and Appaim. And Seled died without sons. ³¹ And the sons of Appaim: Ishi. The sons of Ishi: Sheshan. The sons of Sheshan: Ahlai. ³² And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan. And Jether died without sons. ³³ And the sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. ³⁴ Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. ³⁵ So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai. ³⁶ And Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad. ³⁷ And Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed. ³⁸ And Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. ³⁹ And Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. ⁴⁰ And Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. ⁴¹ And Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.

⁴² And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn; he was the father of Ziph. The sons of Mareshah: Hebron. ⁴³ And the sons of Hebron were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. ⁴⁴ And Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai. ⁴⁵ And the son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur. ⁴⁶ And Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez. ⁴⁷ And the sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. ⁴⁸ Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. ⁴⁹ She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. ⁵⁰ These were the descendants of Caleb.

The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, ⁵¹ Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. ⁵² And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. ⁵³ And the kinsmen of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. ⁵⁴ The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. ⁵⁵ The kinsmen also of the scribes who dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

CHAPTER 3

Descendants of David

3 Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second was Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess, ² the third was Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith; ³ the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah. ⁴ Six were born to him in Hebron, and there he reigned seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. ⁵ These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, four, by Bathsheba[20] the daughter of Ammiel;[21] ⁶ and Ibhar, Elishama,[22] Eliphelet, ⁷ Nogah, Nepheg and Japhia, ⁸ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹ All these were the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines. And Tamar was their sister.

¹⁰ The son of Solomon was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, ¹¹ Joram[23] his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash[24] his son, ¹² Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, ¹³ Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, ¹⁴ Amon his son, Josiah his son. ¹⁵ And the sons of Josiah: Johanan[25] the firstborn, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. ¹⁶ And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. ¹⁷ And the sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son, ¹⁸ Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ¹⁹ And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister; ²⁰ and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed, five. ²¹ And the sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah. The sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah. ²² And the sons of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. ²³ And the sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴ And the sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

CHAPTER 4

Descendants of Judah

4 The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ² And Reaiah the son of Shobal fathered Jahath, and Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad. These were the kinsmen of the Zorathites. ³ And these were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. And the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi, ⁴ and Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. ⁵ Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶ And Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷ The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar,[26] and Ethnan. ⁸ And Koz fathered Anub, Zobebah, and the kinsmen of Aharhel, the son of Harum. ⁹ And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰ And Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would surely bless me and enlarge my border. And may your hand be with me, that you would keep me from evil so that it may bring no harm to me!” And God granted what he asked. ¹¹ Chelub,[27] the brother of Shuhah, fathered Mehir, who fathered Eshton. ¹² Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah. ¹³ The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. And the sons of Othniel: Hathath. ¹⁴ Meonothai fathered Ophrah, and Seraiah fathered Joab the father of Ge-harashim, for they were craftsmen. ¹⁵ The sons of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. And the sons of Elah: Kenaz. ¹⁶ The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. ¹⁷ The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And she became pregnant and bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸ And his Judahite wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these were the sons of Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married. ¹⁹ The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. ²⁰ The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. ²¹ The sons of Shelah, the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the linen workers of the house of Ashbea; ²² and Jokim, the men of Cozeba, Joash, Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And the records are ancient. ²³ These were the potters and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah; they dwelt there with the king for his work.

Descendants of Simeon

²⁴ The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; ²⁵ Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. ²⁶ The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. ²⁷ Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their kinsmen multiply like the men of Judah. ²⁸ And they dwelt in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, ²⁹ Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³² And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities, ³³ and all their villages that were around the same cities as far as Baal.[28] These were their settlements, and they have their genealogy.

³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, ³⁶ and Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷ and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah; ³⁸ these mentioned by name were princes among their kinsmen, and their fathers’ houses increased greatly. ³⁹ And they went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰ And they found rich and good pasture, and the land was very spacious,[29] quiet, and undisturbed, for the former inhabitants there were from Ham. ⁴¹ These, registered by name, came during the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and struck down the tents of the Hamites[30] and the Meunites who were found there, and marked them for destruction to this day, and settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. ⁴² And some of the Simeonites, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having as their leaders Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. ⁴³ And they struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they have dwelt there to this day.

CHAPTER 5

Descendants of Reuben

5 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled the bed of his father, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled for the right of the firstborn. ² Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader, the right as firstborn belonged to Joseph. ³ The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ⁴ The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser^[31] king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was leader of the Reubenites. ⁷ And his kinsmen by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was recorded: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, ⁸ and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even to Nebo and Baal-meon. ⁹ To the east he dwelt as far as the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead. ¹⁰ And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand, so that they dwelt in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.

Descendants of Gad

¹¹ The sons of Gad dwelt over against them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah: ¹² Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. ¹³ And their kinsmen according to their fathers’ households: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber, seven. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. ¹⁵ Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ households, ¹⁶ And they dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits. ¹⁷ All of these were enrolled in genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

Hagrites are Conquered

¹⁸ The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, consisting of valiant men, men who carried shield and sword and shot with a bow and were skillful in battle, totaled forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty who went to war. ¹⁹ And they made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰ And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hand, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he responded to their entreaty because they trusted in him. ²¹ And they captured their livestock: fifty thousand of their camels; two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; two thousand donkeys; and one hundred thousand human souls. ²² For many fell, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their place until the exile.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

²³ And the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. ²⁴ These were the heads of the house of their forefathers: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, men of fame,[32] heads of the household of their forefathers. ²⁵ But they acted unfaithfully toward the God of their forefathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser[33] king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.[34]

CHAPTER 6

Descendants of Levi

6 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ³ The sons of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁴ Eleazar fathered Phinehas, Phinehas fathered Abishua, ⁵ Abishua fathered Bukki, Bukki fathered Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, Zerahiah fathered Meraioth, ⁷ Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, ⁸ Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Ahimaaz, ⁹ Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan, ¹⁰ and Johanan fathered Azariah it was he who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem. ¹¹ Azariah fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, ¹² Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Shallum, ¹³ Shallum fathered Hilkiah, Hilkiah fathered Azariah, ¹⁴ Azariah fathered Seraiah, Seraiah fathered Jehozadak; ¹⁵ and Jehozadak went into exile when Jehovah sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁶  The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷ And these are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. And these are the kinsmen of the Levites according to their fathers’ households. ²⁰ Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, ²¹ Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. ²² The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, ²³ Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, ²⁴ Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. ²⁵ The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth, ²⁶ Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, ²⁷ Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. ²⁸ The sons of Samuel: Joel his firstborn, and the second Abijah.[35] ²⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, ³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son.

Temple Singers

³¹ Now these are the ones whom David appointed to direct the singing at the house of Jehovah, after the ark rested there. ³² They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem; and they served in their office according to their order. ³³ These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, son of Samuel, ³⁴ son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, ³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, ³⁶ the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, ³⁷ the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, ³⁸ the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; ³⁹ and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, namely, Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimea, ⁴⁰ the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah,[36] the son of Malchijah, ⁴¹ the son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, ⁴² the son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, ⁴³ the son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi. ⁴⁴ On the left hand were their kinsmen the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, ⁴⁵ the son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, ⁴⁶ the son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, ⁴⁷ the son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi. ⁴⁸ And their kinsmen the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

⁴⁹ But Aaron and his sons made sacrificial smoke on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. ⁵⁰ These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, ⁵¹ Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, ⁵² Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, ⁵³ Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.

Settlements of the Levites

⁵⁴ And these are their dwelling places according to their encampments within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the kinsmen of Kohathites, for theirs was the first lot, ⁵⁵ to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its pastures around it; ⁵⁶ but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ⁵⁷ To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pastures, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pastures, ⁵⁸ Hilen[37] with its pastures, Debir with its pastures, ⁵⁹ Ashan with its pastures,[38] and Beth-shemesh with its pastures; ⁶⁰ and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon, Geba with its pastures, Alemeth with its pastures, and Anathoth with its pastures. All their cities throughout their kinsmen were thirteen.

⁶¹ To the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot out of the kinsman of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities. ⁶² To the sons of Gershom according to their kinsmen thirteen cities were allotted out of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. ⁶³ To the sons of Merari were given by lot, according to their kinsmen, from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. ⁶⁴ So the sons of Israel gave to the Levites the cities with their pastures. ⁶⁵ And they gave by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin these cities that are mentioned by name.

⁶⁶ And some of the kinsmen of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁷ And they gave them the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pastures in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pastures, ⁶⁸ Jokmeam with its pastures, Beth-Horon with its pastures, ⁶⁹ Aijalon with its pastures, and Gath-Rimmon with its pastures. ⁷⁰ and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pastures, and Bileam with its pastures, for the rest of the kinsmen of sons of Kohath.

⁷¹ To sons of Gershom were given out of the kinsman of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pastures and Ashtaroth with its pastures; ⁷² and out of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pastures, Daberath with its pastures, ⁷³ and Ramoth with its pastures, Anem with its pastures; ⁷⁴ out of the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pastures, Abdon with its pastures, ⁷⁵ Hukok with its pastures, and Rehob with its pastures; ⁷⁶ and out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pastures, Hammon with its pastures, and Kiriathaim with its pastures. ⁷⁷ To the rest of the sons of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono[39] with its pastures, Tabor with its pastures, ⁷⁸ and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pastures, Jahzah with its pastures, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth with its pastures, and Mephaath with its pastures; ⁸⁰ and out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pastures, Mahanaim with its pastures, ⁸¹ Heshbon with its pastures, and Jazer with its pastures.

CHAPTER 7

Descendants of Issachar

7 The sons[40] of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. ² The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of the household of their forefathers, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being twenty-two thousand six hundred. ³ The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, all five[41] of them were heads.[42] ⁴ And along with them, by their generations, according to their fathers’ households, were units of the army for war, thirty-six thousand, for they had many wives and sons. ⁵ Their kinsmen belonging to all the kindred of Issachar were in all eighty-seven thousand mighty warriors, enrolled by genealogy.

Descendants of Benjamin

⁶ The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael, three. ⁷ The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five, heads of the household of their forefathers, mighty warriors. And their enrollment by genealogies was twenty-two thousand thirty-four. ⁸ The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. ⁹ And their enrollment by genealogy according to their generations, as heads of the household of their forefathers, mighty warriors, was twenty thousand two hundred. ¹⁰ The son of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. ¹¹ All these were the sons of Jediael according to the heads of their forefathers’ households, mighty warriors, seventeen thousand two hundred, able to go to war. ¹² And Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir; Hushim, the son of Aher.

Descendants of Naphtali

¹³ The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum,[43] the sons of Bilhah.

Descendants of Manasseh

¹⁴ The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead. ¹⁵ And Machir took a wife for Huppim and for Shuppim. The name of his sister was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters. ¹⁶ And Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. ¹⁷ The sons of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh. ¹⁸ And his sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah. ¹⁹ The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

Descendants of Ephraim

²⁰ The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, ²¹ Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. ²² And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. ²³ And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And he called his name[44] Beriah because disaster had been upon his house. ²⁴ His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. ²⁵ And Rephah was his son, and Resheph, and Telah his son, [45] Tahan his son, ²⁶ Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, ²⁷ Nun[46] his son, Joshua his son. ²⁸ And their possessions and dwelling places were Bethel with its towns, and to the east, Naaran, and to the west, Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns, as far as Ayyah with its towns; ²⁹ and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, and Dor with its towns. In these regions dwelt the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.

Descendants of Asher

³⁰ The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. ³¹ The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. ³² And Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua. ³³ The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the sons of Japhlet. ³⁴ The sons of Shemer:[47] Ahi, Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. ³⁵ The sons of Helem his brother: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. ³⁶ The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah. ³⁷ Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. ³⁸ The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara. ³⁹ The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia. ⁴⁰ All of these were the sons of Asher, heads of the house of the forefathers, chosen mighty warriors, heads of the princes. And their number enrolled by genealogy for service in war was twenty-six thousand men.

CHAPTER 8

A Genealogy of Saul

8 Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, ² Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. ³ And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud, ⁴ Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, ⁵ Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. ⁶ And these were the sons of Ehud: these were the heads of the households of forefathers of the inhabitants of Geba, and they took them captive to Manahath: ⁷ and Naaman, and Ahijah, and Gera, he took them captive: and he fathered Uzza and Ahihud. ⁸ And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. ⁹ And he fathered by Hodesh his wife Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, ¹⁰ and Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of the households of forefathers. ¹¹ And by Husham he fathered Abitub and Elpaal. ¹² And the sons of Elpaal: Eber, and Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns; ¹³ and Beriah, and Shema, who were heads of the households of forefathers of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath; ¹⁴ and Ahio,[48] Shashak, and Jeremoth. ¹⁵ Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, ¹⁶ Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah. ¹⁷ Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber. ¹⁸ Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. ¹⁹ And Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, ²⁰ Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, ²¹ Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei. ²² And Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, ²³ Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, ²⁴ Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, ²⁵ Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. ²⁶ Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, ²⁷ Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham. ²⁸ These were the heads of the households of forefathers, according to their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.

²⁹ And in Gibeon there dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jeiel,[49] whose wife’s name was Maacah; ³⁰ and his firstborn son: Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, ³¹ Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, ³² and Mikloth he fathered Shimeah. Now these also dwelt opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. ³³ And Ner fathered Kish; and Kish fathered Saul; and Saul fathered Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ³⁴ And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah. ³⁵ And the sons of Micah: Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz. ³⁶ And Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza. ³⁷ And Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ³⁸ And Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. ³⁹ And the sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. ⁴⁰ And the sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, and they had many sons and grandsons, one hundred and fifty. All these were among the sons of Benjamin.

CHAPTER 9

A Genealogy of the Returned Exiles

9 So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and look, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon[50] for their unfaithfulness. ² Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.[51] ³ And in Jerusalem there dwelt some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin and some of the sons of Ephraim and of Manasseh: ⁴ Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez[52] the son of Judah. ⁵ And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons. ⁶ And of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, six hundred and ninety. ⁷ And of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah, ⁸ And Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah; ⁹ and their kinsmen according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these were heads of the fathers by the household of their forefathers.

¹⁰ And of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God; ¹² and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; ¹³ besides their kinsmen, heads of the household of their forefathers, one thousand seven hundred and sixty, mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God.

¹⁴ And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; ¹⁵ and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; ¹⁶ and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.

¹⁷ The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen Shallum was the head; ¹⁸ and up till then he was in the king’s gate to the east. These were the gatekeepers of the camps of the sons of Levi. ¹⁹ And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his kinsmen of the house of his father, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent; and their fathers had been over the camp of Jehovah, keepers of the entrance. ²⁰ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the leader over them in time past; Jehovah was with him. ²¹ Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²² All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. These were enrolled by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their office of trust. ²³ So they and their sons had oversight of the gates of the house of Jehovah, even the house of the tent, as guards. ²⁴ To the four winds were the gatekeepers, to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south. ²⁵ And their kinsmen, in their settlements, were to come in every seven days from time to time to serve with them, ²⁶ for the four mighty gatekeepers who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God. ²⁷ And they spent the night around the house of God, because the guard service was upon them, and they oversaw the opening morning by morning.

²⁸ Some of them oversaw the utensils of the service; they would count them when they brought them in and count them when they took them out. ²⁹ Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the utensils of the sanctuary and over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the frankincense and the spices. ³⁰ Some of the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the spices. ³¹ And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the office of trust over the things that were baked in pans. ³² Some of their kinsmen of the sons of the Kohathites were over the showbread to prepare it every sabbath.

³³ Now these are the singers, the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free from other service; for they were engaged in their work day and night. ³⁴ These were the heads of the fathers’ household of the Levites according to their generations, headmen, who dwelt in Jerusalem.

Saul’s Genealogy Repeated

³⁵ In Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife was Maacah, ³⁶ and his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth; ³⁸ and Mikloth was the father of Shimeam; and they also dwelt with their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. ³⁹ Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰ And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah. ⁴¹ The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.[53] ⁴² And Ahaz fathered Jarah,[54] and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri fathered Moza. ⁴³ and Moza fathered Binea; and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons and their names were: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

CHAPTER 10

The Death of Saul and His Sons

10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³ And the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and deal abusively with me.” But his armor-bearer would not, he was very much afraid. So, Saul took the sword and fell on it. ⁵ And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died. ⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together. ⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and dwelled in them.

⁸ And it came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ And they put his armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the house of Dagon. ¹¹ And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

¹³ Thus Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against Jehovah because of the word of Jehovah that he did not keep and for asking of a medium to make inquiry. ¹⁴ And he did not inquire of Jehovah. Therefore, he put him to death and turned the kingship over to David the son of Jesse.

CHAPTER 11

David Anointed King

11 Then all Israel gathered themselves to David at Hebron, saying, “Look, we are your bone and your flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And Jehovah your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Jehovah; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of Jehovah through Samuel.

David Takes Jerusalem

⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. ⁵ And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁶ David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be head and commander.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became head. ⁷ And David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore, it was called the city of David. ⁸ And he built the city all around from the Millo to the areas around it, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ And David became greater and greater, for Jehovah of armies was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

¹⁰ Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. ¹¹ And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the head of the thirty;[55] he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.

¹² And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. ¹³ He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, and there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines. ¹⁴ And they stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and struck down the Philistines; and Jehovah saved them by a great victory.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty head men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ And David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David longed, and said, “Oh that one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to Jehovah; ¹⁹ and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their souls they brought it.” Therefore, he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

²⁰ And Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was head of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them and had a name among the three. ²¹ Of the three,[56] he was more honored than the two, and was made their chief: yet he did not attain to the first three.

²² And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab: he went down also and struck down a lion in a pit on a snowy day. ²³ And he struck an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam, but he went down to him with a staff, and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and had a name among the three mighty men. ²⁵ Behold, he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the three; and David set him over his guard.

²⁶ Now the mighty men of the armies were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰ Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, ³² Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷ Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a head of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵ Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

CHAPTER 12

The Mighty Men Join David

12 Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still restricted because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle. ² They were armed with the bow, and they could use both the right hand and the left hand to sling stones or to shoot arrows with the bow. They were of the kinsmen of Saul, from Benjamin. ³ The head was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah and Jehu the Anathothite, ⁴ and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty. Then Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite; ⁵ Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite, ⁶ Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; ⁷ and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸ From the Gadites there came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains. ⁹ Ezer the head, Obadiah second, Eliab third, ¹⁰ Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, ¹¹ Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, ¹² Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth, ¹³ Jeremiah tenth, Machbannai eleventh. ¹⁴ These of the sons of Gad were heads of the army; he who was least was equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand. ¹⁵ These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ And some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁷ And David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers see it and judge.” ¹⁸ Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said,

“We are yours, O David,
    and with you, O son of Jesse!
Peace, peace to you,
    and peace to your helpers!
    For your God helps you.”

Then David received them and made them heads of his troops.

¹⁹ And some of the men of Manasseh fell away[57] to David when he came with the Philistines to the battle against Saul, but they[58] did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away upon counsel, saying, “He will desert to his master Saul at the cost of our heads.” ²⁰ As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh fell away to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, heads of the thousands of Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and were commanders in the army. ²² For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.

²³ And this is the number of the heads of those armed for battle who came to David at Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah. ²⁴ The sons of Judah bearing shield and spear: six thousand eight hundred armed troops. ²⁵ From the sons of Simeon, mighty warriors of strength for war: seven thousand one hundred. ²⁶ From the sons of Levi: four thousand six hundred. ²⁷ Jehoiada the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him, three thousand seven hundred. ²⁸ And Zadok, a young man, a mighty warrior of strength, and the house of his father: twenty-two commanders. ²⁹ From the sons of Benjamin, kinsmen of Saul, three thousand, and even still the majority of them remained loyal to the house of Saul. ³⁰ And from the sons of Ephraim: twenty thousand eight hundred mighty warriors of strength, famous men in the household of their fathers. ³¹ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh: eighteen thousand who were designated by name to come to make David king. ³² And from the sons of Issachar: men who were skilled in understanding the times to know what Israel should do. Their headmen were two hundred, and all their kinsmen were under their command. ³³ From Zebulun, those who went out armed, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war: fifty thousand to help David[59] were not doublehearted. ³⁴ From Naphtali: one thousand commanders; and those with them with shield and spear: thirty-seven thousand. ³⁵ From the Danites, those equipped for battle: twenty-eight thousand six hundred. ³⁶ And from Asher, those who went out armed and prepared for battle: forty thousand. ³⁷ From the other side of the Jordan, from the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all their weapons of war for battle: one hundred and twenty thousand.

³⁸ All these, being men of war who could draw up in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. ³⁹ And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had made preparation for them. ⁴⁰ And also those near them, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

CHAPTER 13

The Ark Brought from Kiriath-Jearim

13 David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. ² And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from Jehovah our God, let us send abroad to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pastures, that they may be gathered to us. ³ And let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” ⁴ All the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

Uzzah and the Ark

⁵ So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. ⁶ And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, Jehovah, who sits enthroned above[60] the cherubs, where his name is called. ⁷ And they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart. ⁸ And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and harps and stringed instruments and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. ¹¹ And David became angry because Jehovah’s wrath had broken through against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza[61] to this day. ¹² And David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” ¹³ So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. ¹⁴ And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months; and Jehovah blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.

CHAPTER 14

David Established as King

14 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and masons and woodworkers to build a house for him. ² And David knew that Jehovah had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.

The Family of David

³ And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters. ⁴ These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

Philistines Defeated

⁸ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David; and David heard of it and went out against them. ⁹ Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁰ And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?” And Jehovah said to him, “Go up, and I will deliver them into your hand.” ¹¹ And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a breach made by waters.” Therefore, the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.[62] ¹² And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned.

¹³ And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. ¹⁴ And David inquired again of God; and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them: go around behind them and come against them in front of the baca-shrubs. ¹⁵ And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baca-shrubs, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” ¹⁶ And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. ¹⁷ And the name of David went out into all lands; and Jehovah brought the fear of him upon all nations.

CHAPTER 15

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem by the Levites

15 And David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for Jehovah[63] chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to him forever.” ³ And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Jehovah to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴ And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief and one hundred and twenty of his brothers; ⁶ of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief and two hundred and twenty of his brothers; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom: Joel the chief and one hundred and thirty of his brothers; ⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief and two hundred of his brothers; ⁹ of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief and eighty of his brothers; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief and one hundred and twelve of his brothers. ¹¹ Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹² and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³ Because you did not carry it the first time, Jehovah our God broke out against us, for we did not search after him according to the proper procedure.” ¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses had commanded according to the word of Jehovah.

¹⁶ Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah,[64] Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. ¹⁹ So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of copper; ²⁰ and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments tuned to Alamoth; ²¹ and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the Sheminith. ²² Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful. ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

²⁵ So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the house of Obed-edom with joy. ²⁶ And it came about that when God helped the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen. ²⁸ Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, and cymbals, and playing loudly on stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹ And as the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

CHAPTER 16

The Ark Placed in a Tent

16 And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah. ³ And he distributed to every man of Israel, both men and women, to each one a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴ Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of Jehovah, to remember, to thank, and to praise Jehovah, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play stringed instruments and harps; and Asaph sounded the cymbals, ⁶ and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God. ⁷ Then on that day David first contributed a song of thanks to Jehovah by Asaph and his brothers.

David’s Song of Thanks

⁸ Oh give thanks to Jehovah; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    speak about all his wondrous works!
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek Jehovah rejoice!
¹¹ Seek Jehovah and his strength;
    seek his face[65] continually!
¹² Remember the wonderful works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments of his mouth,
¹³ O offspring of Israel his servant,
    sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴ He is Jehovah our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
¹⁵ Remember[66] his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
¹⁶ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    and the oath he swore to Isaac,
¹⁷ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸ saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹ When you[67] were few in number,
    very few, and sojourners in it,
²⁰ walking about from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
²¹ he allowed no one to oppress them;
    on their account he reproved kings,
²² saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

²³ Sing to Jehovah, all the earth!
    Tell of his salvation from day to day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,
    his wonderful works among all the peoples!
²⁵ For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised,
    and he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶ All the gods of the peoples are worthless gods,
    but Jehovah made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸ Ascribe to Jehovah, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to Jehovah glory and strength!
²⁹ Ascribe to Jehovah the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come before him!
Bow down to Jehovah in the splendor of holiness;
³⁰ tremble before him, all the earth;
    yes, the world is established; it cannot be moved.
³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
    and let them say among the nations, “Jehovah reigns!”
³² Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the fields and everything in them rejoice!
³³ Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before Jehovah, for he comes to judge the earth.
³⁴ Oh give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good;
    for his loyal love endures forever!

³⁵ Say also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,
    and gather and deliver us from the nations,
to give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.
³⁶ May Jehovah, the God of Israel, be praised,
    from everlasting to everlasting!”

Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised Jehovah.

Worship Before the Ark

³⁷ So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required; ³⁸ and Obed-edom with his[68] sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. ³⁹ And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of Jehovah in the high place that was at Gibeon, ⁴⁰ to offer burnt offerings to Jehovah on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of Jehovah, which he commanded Israel. ⁴¹ With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were mentioned by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, because his loyal love endures forever. ⁴² And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

⁴³ Then all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household.

CHAPTER 17

Jehovah’s Covenant with David – David Will Not Build the Temple

17 And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is under curtains.” ² And Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ And it came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴ “Go and tell David my servant, ‘Thus says Jehovah, “You shall not build a house for me to dwell in. ⁵ For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. ⁶ In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, “Why have you men not built me a house of cedar?”’ 

Covenant with David for a Kingdom

⁷ Now, this is what you will say to my servant David, ‘Thus says Jehovah of armies, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over my people Israel, ⁸ and I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great men of the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And wicked men shall not wear them down anymore as formerly, ¹⁰ from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I tell you that Jehovah will build a house for you.

¹¹ “When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ I will be his father and he shall be my son; and I will not take my loyal love away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ But I will cause him to stand in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’” ¹⁵ According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁶ Then David the king went in and sat before Jehovah and said, “Who am I, O Jehovah God, and what is my house that you have brought me this far? ¹⁷ And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; but you have spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come and you have looked on me as a man who should be further exalted, O Jehovah God. ¹⁸ And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant, when you know your servant? ¹⁹ O Jehovah, for your servant’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰ There is none like you, O Jehovah, there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ And what one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and fear-inspiring things, in driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed out of Egypt? ²² For your people Israel did you make your own people forever; and you, Jehovah, became their God. ²³ And now, O Jehovah, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken, ²⁴ and let your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘Jehovah of armies is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel;’ and the house of David your servant is established before you. ²⁵ For you, O my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build for him a house; therefore, your servant has found courage to pray before you. ²⁶ And now, O Jehovah, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. ²⁷ And now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Jehovah, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

CHAPTER 18

David Defeats His Enemies

18 And after this it came to pass, that David struck down the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns[69] out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he struck down Moab; and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ And David struck down Hadadezer king of Zobah to Hamath, as he went to establish his authority[70] at the river Euphrates. ⁴ And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all but one hundred of the chariot horses. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons[71] in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And Jehovah gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of copper. With it Solomon made the copper sea and the pillars and the vessels of copper.

⁹ And when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had struck down all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet him and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and he struck him down; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and copper. ¹¹ King David also dedicated these to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹² Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ And he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And Jehovah gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel; and he administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ¹⁵ And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech[72] the son of Abiathar were priests; and Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were the chief officials at the side of the king.

CHAPTER 19

The Ammonites Insult David’s Men

19 And it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to comfort him. ³ But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David is honoring your father by sending comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut their garments in half to their buttocks and sent them away. ⁵ Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “Dwell in Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ And when the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent a thousand talents[73] of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-Naharaim,[74] Aram-Maacah, and Zobah. ⁷ So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped opposite Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to the battle. ⁸ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. ⁹ And the sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

Victory over Ammon and Syria

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that the battle[75] was set against him at the front and at the rear, he chose some of the best men in Israel and lined them up against the Syrians. ¹¹ And the rest of the men he gave into the hand of Abishai his brother, and they arrayed themselves against the sons of Ammon. ¹² And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ We must be strong and courageous for our people and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah will do what is good in his eyes.” ¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the sons of Ammon saw that the Syrians fled, they also fled before Abshai his brother and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up in battle formation against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ And Aram fled before Israel. And David killed from Aram the men of seven thousand chariots and forty thousand foot soldiers, and he put to death Shophach the commander of the army. ¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with David and became servants to him. So the Syrians were no longer willing to help the sons of Ammon.

CHAPTER 20

The Capture of Rabbah

20 And it came about at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the sons of Ammon and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it. ² And David took the crown of their king[76] from his head, and he found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. ³ And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work at saws, iron picks, and axes. And David did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Philistine Giants Killed

⁴ And it came about after this that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaim,[77] and they were subdued. ⁵ And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath of Gath,[78] the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ⁶ And there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the Rephaim. ⁷ And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down. ⁸ These were descended from the Rephaim in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

CHAPTER 21

David’s Census Brings Pestilence

21 Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. ² So David said to Joab and to the chiefs of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number.” ³ But Joab said, “May Jehovah add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! But my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?” ⁴ Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore, Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. ⁵ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. And all Israel were one million one hundred thousand men drawing a sword, and in Judah were four hundred and seventy thousand men drawing a sword. ⁶ But Levi and Benjamin were not counted among them, because the king’s word was detestable to Joab

⁷ But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. ⁸ And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the error of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” ⁹ And Jehovah spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, ¹⁰ “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says Jehovah, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹¹ So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says Jehovah, ‘Take what you will: ¹² either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of Jehovah, pestilence on the land, with the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now, therefore, consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” ¹³ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of Jehovah, for his mercies are very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁴ So Jehovah sent a pestilence on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, Jehovah saw, and he felt regret[79] over the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶ And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. ¹⁷ David said to God, “Is it not I who commanded to number the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O Jehovah my God, please let your hand be against me and my father’s household, but not against your people that they should be plagued.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸ Then the angel of Jehovah commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up and erect an altar to Jehovah on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹ So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of Jehovah. ²⁰ Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. And Ornan was threshing wheat. ²¹ As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out from the threshing floor and bowed down to David with his face to the ground. ²² And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to Jehovah; give it to me at its full price, that the plague may be averted from the people.” ²³ And Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” ²⁴ But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will certainly buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for Jehovah, nor offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.” ²⁵ So David gave to Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the site. ²⁶ And David built there an altar to Jehovah and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on Jehovah, and Jehovah answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ Then Jehovah commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

²⁸ At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. ²⁹ For the tabernacle of Jehovah, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. ³⁰ but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of Jehovah.

CHAPTER 22

22 Then David said, “This is the house of Jehovah God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares for Temple Building

² And David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to cut and shape stones for building the house of the true God. ³ And David prepared iron in abundance for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps; and so much copper that it was beyond weighing, ⁴ and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and the Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar timbers to David. ⁵ And David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for Jehovah must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David prepared materials in great quantity before his death.

David Instructs Solomon to Build the Temple

⁶ Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for Jehovah, the God of Israel. ⁷ David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God. ⁸ But the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. ⁹ Look, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest, I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. ¹⁰ He shall build a house for my name, and he shall be my son and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

¹¹ “Now, my son, Jehovah be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of Jehovah your God just as He has spoken concerning you. ¹² Only Jehovah give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of Jehovah your God. ¹³ Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe the regulations and the judgments which Jehovah commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed. ¹⁴ Now look, with great pains I have prepared for the house of Jehovah a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver, and copper and iron beyond measure, for they cannot be weighed; I have also prepared timber and stone, and you may add to them. ¹⁵ Moreover, there are many workmen with you, stonecutters and masons of stone and woodworkers, and all men who are skillful in every kind of work. ¹⁶ Of the gold, the silver and the copper and the iron are beyond measure. Arise and work, and may Jehovah be with you.”

Princes Directed to Assist Solomon

¹⁷ David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸ “Is not Jehovah your God with you? And has he not given you rest on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before Jehovah and before his people. ¹⁹ Now set your heart and your soul to seek Jehovah your God; then arise, and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of Jehovah.”

CHAPTER 23

David Organizes the Levites

23 Now when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

² And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites. ³ And the Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward, and their number by head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. ⁴ Of these, “twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges, ⁵ and four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand were praising Jehovah with the instruments which David made for giving praise.” ⁶ And David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷ Of the Gershonites were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸ The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹ The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan. ¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina,[80] and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹ Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became a fathers’ household with one area of responsibility.

¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before Jehovah, to minister to him and to bless in his name forever. ¹⁴ But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵ The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶ The sons of Gershom: Shebuel[81] the chief. ¹⁷ The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸ The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹ The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. ²² Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only, so their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. ²³ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, the heads of the fathers’ households of those among them who were counted, in the number of names by their head count, doing the work for the service of the house of Jehovah, from twenty years old and upward. ²⁵ For David said, “Jehovah, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶ And also, the Levites do not need to carry the tabernacle and all its utensils for its service.” ²⁷ For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward. ²⁸ For their office is to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of Jehovah, in the courts and in the chambers and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹ even for the showbread and for the flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and for all measures of quantity and size. ³⁰ And they were to stand every morning to thank and to praise Jehovah, and likewise at evening, ³¹ and to offer all burnt offerings to Jehovah, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the festival seasons in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before Jehovah. ³² Thus they are to keep charge of the tent of meeting, and charge of the holy place, and charge of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the house of Jehovah.

CHAPTER 24

David Organizes the Priests Into 24 Divisions

24 The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. ³ And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to the office of their service. ⁴ Since more headmen were found from the sons of Eleazar than the sons of Ithamar, they divided them accordingly: there were sixteen heads of fathers’ households of the sons of Eleazar and eight heads of the sons of Ithamar, according to their[82] fathers’ households. ⁵ Thus they were divided by lot, the one as the other; for they were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God, both from the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ⁶ And Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them in the presence of the king, the leaders, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and the Levites; one father’s household taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.[83]

⁷ Now the first lot came out to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹ the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹ These were their offices for their service to come into the house of Jehovah according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as Jehovah God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ²¹ Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the head. ²² Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ²³ And the sons of Hebron:[84] Jeriah the head,[85] Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴ The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ²⁶ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah:[86] Beno. ²⁷ The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ³⁰ The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ households. ³¹ These also cast lots just as their brothers, the sons of Aaron did in the presence of David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites, the head of fathers’ households as well as those of his younger brother.

CHAPTER 25

David Organizes the Musicians and Singers

25 Moreover, David and the chiefs of the service groups separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals; and the number the official men for their service came to be: ² Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. ³ Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,[87] Hashabiah and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun with the harp, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising Jehovah. ⁴ Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel[88] and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s seer, to raise up his horn[89] according to the words of God. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ All these were under the direction of their father to sing in the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the order of the king. ⁷ And the number of them together with their brothers trained in singing to Jehovah, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight. ⁸ And they cast lots for their duties, all alike, the small as well as the great, the teacher as well as the pupil.

⁹ Now the first lot[90] came out to Asaph for Joseph, the second for Gedaliah, he with his brothers and sons were twelve; ¹⁰ the third for Zaccur, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹¹ the fourth for Izri, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹² the fifth for Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹³ the sixth for Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁴ the seventh for Jesharelah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁵ the eighth for Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁶ the ninth for Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁷ the tenth for Shimei, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁸ the eleventh for Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ¹⁹ the twelfth for Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁰ for the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²¹ for the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²² for the fifteenth, for Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²³ for the sixteenth, for Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁴ for the seventeenth, for Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁵ for the eighteenth, for Hanani, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁶ for the nineteenth, for Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁷ for the twentieth, for Eliathah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁸ for the twenty-first, for Hothir, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ²⁹ for the twenty-second, for Giddalti, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ³⁰ for the twenty-third, for Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; ³¹ for the twenty-fourth, for Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brothers, twelve.

CHAPTER 26

Divisions of the Gatekeepers

26 For the divisions of the gatekeepers there were of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.[91] ² And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³ Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. ⁴ And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, ⁵ Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth, for God blessed him. ⁶ Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who ruled over the house of their father, for they were mighty, capable men. ⁷ The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, whose brothers were capable men, Elihu and Semachiah. ⁸ All these were of the sons of Obed-edom; they and their sons and their brothers were capable men with strength for the service, sixty-two from Obed-edom. ⁹ And Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, capable men, eighteen. ¹⁰ And Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the head, for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him head, ¹¹ Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

¹² Of these divisions of the gatekeepers, the headmen had duties exactly as their brothers did, to minister at the house of Jehovah. ¹³ So they cast lots for the small the same as for the great by their fathers’ households, for the different gates. ¹⁴ Then the lot to the east fell to Shelemiah. Then they cast lots for his son Zechariah, a counselor with insight, and his lot came out to the north. ¹⁵ Obed-edom’s had his to the south, and his sons were assigned the storehouses. ¹⁶ Shuppim and Hosah had theirs to the west close by the Gate Shallecheth by the highway that goes up, guard group corresponding with guard group. ¹⁷ On the east there were six Levites;[92] to the north for a day, four; to the south for a day, four; and for the stores, two by two. ¹⁸ And for the court to the west, four at the highway, two at the court. ¹⁹ These were the divisions of the gatekeepers of the sons of Korah and of the sons of Merari.

Treasurers and Other Officials

²⁰ And of the Levites, Ahijah[93] had charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated gifts. ²¹ The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers’ households belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.

²² The sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel his brother, were in charge of the treasuries of the house of Jehovah. ²³ Of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites, ²⁴ and Shebuel[94] the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was officer over the treasuries. ²⁵ And his brothers: from Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son. ²⁶ This Shelomoth and his brothers were in charge of all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts which King David and the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had dedicated. ²⁷ They dedicated part of the spoils won in battles to repair the house of Jehovah. ²⁸ And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated, all the dedicated gifts were under the hand of Shelomith[95] and his brothers.

²⁹ Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were appointed to outside duties for Israel, as officers and judges. ³⁰ Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, seven hundred capable men, had the oversight of Israel westward of the Jordan for all the work of Jehovah and for the service of the king. ³¹ For the Hebronites: Jeriah the head of the Hebronites by line of descent of their fathers’ households. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought out, and mighty, capable men were found among them at Jazer in Gilead. ³² And his brothers, capable men, numbered two thousand seven hundred, heads of fathers’ households. And King David assigned them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites concerning all the affairs of God and of the king.

CHAPTER 27

Military Divisions

27 Now this is the number of the sons of Israel, the heads of fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all the affairs of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout the months of the year, each division numbering twenty-four thousand:

² Over the first division of the first month was: Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ³ He was of the sons of Perez who was the chief of all the commanders of the armies for the first month. ⁴ And over the division of the second month was Dodai the Ahohite, and his division; and Mikloth the leader;[96] and in his division there were twenty and four thousand. ⁵ The third commander of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the chief priest; and in his division there were twenty-four thousand. ⁶ This is the Benaiah, who was the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty: and of his division was Ammizabad his son. ⁷ The fourth, for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ⁸ The fifth, for the fifth month was the commander Shamhuth the Izrahite; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ⁹ The sixth, for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹⁰ The seventh, for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹¹ The eighth, for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite of the Zerahites; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹² The ninth, for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite of the Benjaminites; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹³ The tenth, for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite of the Zerahites; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹⁴ The eleventh, for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹⁵ The twelfth, for the twelfth month was Heldai the Netophathite of Othniel; and in his division were twenty-four thousand.

Leaders of Tribes

¹⁶ And over the tribes of Israel: chief officer for the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah; ¹⁷ for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok; ¹⁸ for Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; ¹⁹ for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel; ²⁰ for the sons of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; ²¹ for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; ²² for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel. ²³ But David did not take the number of those from twenty years of age and under, because Jehovah had promised to make Israel as many as the stars of the heavens. ²⁴ Joab the son of Zeruiah had started to count them, but did not finish; and because of this, wrath was on Israel, and the number was not included in the account of the history of the times of King David.

²⁵ And over the king’s treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the field, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah; ²⁶ and over those who did the work of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri the son of Chelub; ²⁷ and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite. ²⁸ And over the olive and sycamore trees in the Shephelah[97] was Baal-hanan the Gederite; and over the stores of oil was Joash. ²⁹ And over the herds that grazed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai. ³⁰ And over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite. And over the female donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. And over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. ³¹ All of these were the officials of King David’s property.

³² Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, and a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended the king’s sons. ³³ Ahithophel was the king’s counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend. ³⁴ Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. Joab was commander of the king’s army.

CHAPTER 28

David’s Speech to Israel

28 Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that served the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and every mighty and capable man. ² Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. ³ But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ ⁴ Yet, Jehovah, the God of Israel, chose me from all the household of my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵ And of all my sons (for Jehovah has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel. ⁶ And he said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷ I will establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely observes my commandments and my regulations, as he is today.’ ⁸ Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of Jehovah, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of Jehovah your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

David’s Instructions to Solomon

⁹ “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing soul,[98] for Jehovah searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. ¹⁰ Take heed now, for Jehovah has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong and do it.”

¹¹ Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the porch of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat;[99] ¹² and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of Jehovah, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries of the things dedicated; ¹³ also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites and for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah and for all the utensils of service in the house of Jehovah; ¹⁴ for the gold by weight, the gold for all the utensils for the different services, for all the utensils of silver by weight, for all the utensils for every kind of service; ¹⁵ and the weight for the gold lampstands and their gold lamps, the weight of the different lampstands and their lamps, and the weight of the silver lampstands, and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand, ¹⁶ and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread, for each table; and silver for the silver tables; ¹⁷ and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl; ¹⁸ and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the model of the chariot, even the cherubs that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. ¹⁹ “All this, said David, I have been made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah, even all the details of this pattern.”

²⁰ Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for Jehovah God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah is finished. ²¹ And look the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.”

CHAPTER 29

Offerings for the Temple

29 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the temple[100] will not be for man but for Jehovah God. ² Now according to all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the copper for the things of copper, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in great quantity. ³ Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, there is my personal treasure of gold and silver that I am giving to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple, ⁴ including, three thousand talents of gold, from the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; ⁵ gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to Jehovah?”

⁶ Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king’s work, offered willingly. ⁷ And for the service of the house of God they gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of copper, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. ⁸ Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Jehovah, under the hand[101] of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ The people rejoiced because they had offered these voluntary offerings, for they made the voluntary offerings to Jehovah with a complete heart, and David the king also rejoiced greatly.

David Prays in the Assembly

¹⁰ So David blessed Jehovah before the eyes of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are you, O Jehovah God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹ Yours, O Jehovah, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and you are exalted as head above all. ¹² Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand, it is to make great and to give strength to all. ¹³ Now therefore, our God, we thank you, and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. ¹⁵ For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. ¹⁶ O Jehovah our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build you a house for your holy name, it is from your hand, and all is yours. ¹⁷ I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart, I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, make voluntary offerings to you. ¹⁸ O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our forefathers, keep these inclinations and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and direct their hearts to you. ¹⁹ And give to my son Solomon a complete heart to keep your commandments, your testimonies and your regulations, and to do them all, and to build the temple,[102] for which I have made provision.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless Jehovah your God.” And all the assembly blessed Jehovah, the God of their forefathers, and bowed down and paid homage to Jehovah and the king. ²¹ And they offered sacrifices to Jehovah, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to Jehovah, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²² And they ate and drank before Jehovah on that day with great gladness.

Solomon Anointed King

And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for Jehovah, and Zadok as priest.

²³ Then Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the princes and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. ²⁵ And Jehovah made Solomon exceedingly great before the eyes of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Death of David

²⁶ Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ²⁷ The days that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ²⁸ And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his place. ²⁹ Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the words of Samuel the seer, and in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Gad the seer, ³⁰ with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances that came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the lands.

[1] LXX VG c. 30 Heb. MSS Gen. 10:3 “Riphath” MT “Diphath”

[2] LXX VG Gen. 10:4 “Tarshish” MT “Tarshishah”

[3] MT LXX “Rodanim” SYR VG many Heb. MSS Gen. 10:4 “Dodanim”

[4] MT SYR VG “and Uz” LXX^A Heb. MS^{Kennicott 175}  Gen. 10:23 “and the sons of Aram were Uz”

[5] SYR six Heb. MSS Gen. 10:23 “Mash” MT “Meshech” LXX^A VG “Mosoch”

[6] SYR 19 Heb. MSS Gen. 10:28 “Obal” MT VG “Ebal”

[7] C. 30 Heb. MSS Gen. 36:11 “Zepho” MT “Zephi”

[8] MT SYR VG “Homam” LXX Gen. 36:22 “Hemam”

[9] Many Heb. MSS Gen. 36:23 “Alvan” MT VG “Alian”

[10] Some Heb. MSS Gen. 36:23 “Shepho” MT VG^c “Shephi”

[11] LXX^A many Heb. MSS Gen. 36:26 “Hemdan” MT SYR “Hamran” VG^c “Hamram.”

[12] LXX^A 22 Heb. MSS Gen. 36:27 “and Akan” MT “Jaakan”

[13] Vg^c Gen. 36:28 “Dishan” MT LXX SYR VG “Dishon”

[14] MT LXX SYR VG “Hadad” Gen. 36:39 “Hadar”

[15] AT LXX^L SYR VG^c many Heb. MSS Gen. 36:39 “Pau” MT “Pai”

[16] MT^margin AT VG many Heb. MSS Gen. 36:40 “Alvah” MT “Aliah”

[17] MT “Dara” SYR AT VG many Heb. MSS some LXX MSS “Darda” (cf. 1 Kgs 4:31)

[18] MT “Salma” LXX “Salmon” (cf. Ruth 4:21)

[19] MT “Ozem, Ahijah” LXX “Asom his brother” VG “Asom and Achia”

[20] VG one Heb. MS “Bathsheba” MT “Bathshua”  It is all too clear by 2 Sam 12:24 that Bathsheba was the mother of Solomon. Generally, we are very faithful to the MT Masoretic Text but to not cause confusion here, we opted to put in the main text the person that we know is the mother of Solomon supported by 2 Sam 12:24 and the MT reading in the footnote.

[21] In 2 Sam 11:3 Bathsheba is referred to as the daughter of Eliam (Ammiel, 1Ch 3:5).

[22] MT LXX SYR VG “Elishama” Two Heb. MSS 14:5 and 2 Sam 5:15 “Elishua”

[23] 2Ki 1:17 “Jehoram” MT “Joram.”

[24] 2Ki 11:21 “Jehoash” MT “Joash.”

[25] MT LXX SYR VG “Johanan” LXX^GS “Joahaz”

[26] MT VG “Izhar” MT^margin “and Zohar”

[27] MT “Chelub,” LXX SYR VG^c “Caleb”

[28]  LXX “Baalath” MT “Baal” (cf. Josh 19:8)

[29] Lit was wide on both sides

[30] Emendation “the tents of the Hamites” MT “their tents,” a reference to the Hamites mentioned at the end of vs. 4o.

[31] LXX Tiglath-pileser” MT “Tilgath-pilneser”

[32] Lit men of names

[33] LXX Tiglath-pileser” MT “Tilgath-pilneser”

[34] LXX^Bagster SYR VG end chapter 5 here MT LXX ends chapter 5 at vs 41.

[35] LXX^L SYR vs 33 1 Sam. 8:2 “The firstborn Joel and the second Abijah” MT “the firstborn Vashni, and Abijah”

[36] SYR few Heb. MSS one LXX MSS “Maaseiah”

[37] Most Heb. MSS “Hilez” Josh 21:15 “Holon”

[38] LXX SYR have “Juttah and its pasturelands” before “and Beth-Shemesh” (cf. Josh 21:16)

[39] Some LXX MSS have “Jokneam, Kariah” before “Rimmono” (cf. Josh 21:34)

[40] MT “And to the sons”

[41] MT LXX VG “Five” SYR “four”

[42] The Hebrew (רָאשִׁים rashim) is referring to a leader, chief, that is, a person who is a ruler over a body of people. The Hebrew noun (ראֹשׁ rosh) refers to the upper part of the human body, that is, the “head.”

[43] MT LXX “Shallum” LXX^L seven Heb. MSS Gen 46:24 and Num 26:49 “Shillem”

[44] AT SYR four Heb. MSS “she called his name”

[45] Some LXX MSS “Resheph and Telah his sons” MT “and Resheph, and Telah his son”

[46] VG “Nun” MT “Non”

[47] LXX^B “Shemer” MT “Sha­mer” LXX^A VG “Shomer”

[48] MT “and Ahio” LXX “and his brother”

[49] MT lacks “Jeiel” LXX^GS 9:35 “the father of Gibeon, Jeiel”

[50] LXX VG “Babylon” MT SYR “Babel”

[51] That is (נְּתִינִים), temple servants, literally meaning “the given ones.” These were non-Israelite temple slaves or ministers, who carried out menial tasks in the temple. (1Ch 9:2; Ezra 8:17) Representatives of 35 Nethinim families returned from exile with Zerubbabel in 538 B.C. (Ezra 2:43–54; Neh. 7:46–56).

[52] Four LXX MSS VG “the son of Bani, of the sons of Perez”

[53] LXX^GS VG^c “and Tahrea and Ahaz” MT “and Tahrea”

[54] MT “Jarah” LXX some Heb. MS with “Jadah”

[55] LXX^GS 2 Sam 23:8 “Three” MT LXX SYR VG “thirty”

[56] MT LXX “Three” SYR “thirty” VG “second three”

[57] That is, deserted

[58] LXX^A,GS VG “he” MT LXX^א,B “they”

[59] LXX “to help David” MT lacks “David”

[60] Or between

[61] Meaning breaking out against Uzzah

[62] Meaning master of breakings through

[63] AC Leningrad B 19^A and many MSS “Jehovah”

[64] The Hebrew text has (זְכַרְיָהוּ בֵּן ben Zekaryahu) “Zechariah the son”), the word (בֶּן ben) “son” is lacking in three Hebrew MSS and most LXX MSS. If “son” was in the original, then it might have been that the name of the father of Zechariah was unintentionally left out.

[65] That is, his presence

[66] Some LXX MSS “We shall remember”

[67] LXX VG “When they”

[68] MT “their”

[69] The Hebrew (בַּת bath) means “daughter” and in this sense refers to a settlement or small town that is located near a larger town or city. The Greek (μητρόπολις mētropolis) means mother city. So, here the Hebrew is literally Gath and her daughters.

[70] Lit his hand

[71] LXX VG AT some Heb. MSS 2 Sam 8:6 “garrisons” MT lacks “garrisons”

[72] LXX SYR VG 12 Heb. MSS 2 Sam 8:17 “Ahimelech” MT LXX^א “Abimelech”

[73] A talent equaled 34.2 kg (1,101 oz t).

[74] LXX VG “Mesopotamia” (between the rivers) MT Aram-Naharaim (Aram of the Two Rivers)

[75] Lit the face of the battle

[76] LXX “Molchol (Milcom) their king” VG “Melchom” See 2 Sam 12:30 fn “Malcam” Molech was an idol god of the Ammonites.

[77] MT “the Rephaim” VG “Raph­a­im” LXX “the giants”

[78] Or Goliath the Gittite

[79] The Hebrew word (נִחוּם nichum or נִחֻם nichum) has the sense of feel regret over. It can be translated as “be sorry,” “grieved,” “repent,” “regret,” “be comforted, “compassion,” “comfort,” “reconsider,” and “change one’s mind.” It can pertain to a change of attitude or intention. God is perfect and therefore does not make mistakes in his dealings with his creation. However, he can have a change of attitude or intention regarding how humans react to his warnings. God can go from the Creator of humans to that of a destroyer of them because of their unrepentant wickedness and failure to heed his warnings. On the other hand, if they repent and turn from their wicked ways, the Father can be compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love. He will “reconsider” the calamity that he may have intended. (Genesis 6:6; Exodus 32:14; Joel 2:13) This is not really God changing his mind per se but rather his altering circumstances once persons with free will brought those altered circumstances about so God could carry out his will and purposes. Second, draw comfort in the fact that we can be sure that God will never change his standards of love and justice regardless of what created beings do with their free will. Nevertheless, just as any of us might change our mind about someone who has altered the way they treat us, God does change in the way that he deals with humans to the evolving circumstances, situations, and conditions. There are also times when God has changed his commands, laws, and instructions according to his people’s situation and needs. We should not be astonished by this because God has foreknowledge, and he is well aware of conditions that will come where he will have to change or alter circumstances. The English word “regret” means ‘to feel sorry and sad about something previously done or said that now appears wrong, mistaken, or hurtful to others.’ The Hebrew word (nacham here translated as “regretted” relates to a change of attitude or intention. The Hebrew could not be used to suggest that God felt that he had made a mistake in creating man.

 

[80] MT “Zina” LXX VG one Heb. MS vs 11 “Zizah”

[81] 1 Chron 24:20 “Shubael”

[82] SYR five Heb. MSS “their”

[83] LXX “the paternal house one by one [lit one one] for Eleazar and one by one for Ithamar”

[84] Two Heb. and some LXX MSS have “Hebron” before “Jeriah,” which agree with 1 Chron 23:19. MT and most Heb. MSS lack “Hebron”

[85] LXX^GS 23:19 “the sons of Hebron, Jeriah the head”

[86] MT “Jaaziah” LXX “Uzziah”

[87] LXX one Heb. MS “and Shimei” See vs 17.

[88] LXX 1 Chron 24:20 and 25:20 “Shubael”

[89] That is, to exalt or glorify Heman

[90] LXX has “and of his sons and brothers” after “first lot”

[91] Some LXX MSS have “Abiasaph” instead “the sons of Asaph” to harmonize Ex 6:24. Other LXX MSS have “Abia, Saphar”

[92] LXX “six each day” MT “six Levites”

[93] MT “Ahijah” LXX “their brothers”

[94] LXX VG^c “Shubael” See 23:16 fn.

[95] MT VG^c “Shelomith” LXX “Shelomoth”

[96] LXX does not have “and his division; and Mikloth the leader”

[97] Or the lowland

[98] Or a willing mind

[99] Or propitiatory cover. The cover of the ark of the covenant, where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement by the high priest.

[100] Or citadel, palace

[101] That is, under the control or care

[102] Or citadel, palace