1 Chronicles 19-24

I Chronicles 19

¹And it cometh to pass after this, that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon dieth, and his son reigneth in his stead,

²and David saith, ‘I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father did with me kindness;' and David sendeth messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David come in unto the land of the sons of Ammon, unto Hanun, to comfort him,

³and the heads of the sons of Ammon say to Hanun, ‘Is David honouring thy father, in thine eyes, because he hath sent to thee comforters? in order to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out, the land, have not his servants come in unto thee?'

⁴And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth them, and cutteth their long robes in the midst, unto the buttocks, and sendeth them away.

⁵And some go, and declare to David concerning the men, and he sendeth to meet them -- for the men have been greatly ashamed -- and the king saith, ‘Dwell in Jericho till that your beard is grown, then ye have returned.'

⁶And the sons of Ammon see that they have made themselves abhorred by David, and Hanun and the sons of Ammon send a thousand talents of silver, to hire to them, from Aram-Naharaim, and from Aram-Maachah, and from Zobah, chariots and horsemen;

⁷and they hire to them two and thirty thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, and they come in and encamp before Medeba, and the sons of Ammon have been gathered out of their cities, and come in to the battle.

⁸And David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host of the mighty men,

⁹and the sons of Ammon come out and set battle in array at the opening of the city, and the kings who have come are by themselves in the field.

¹⁰And Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him, before and behind, and he chooseth out of all the choice in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram,

¹¹and the remnant of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set in array to meet the sons of Ammon.

¹²And he saith, ‘If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation; and if the sons of Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have saved thee;

¹³be strong, and we strengthen ourselves, for our people, and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah doth that which is good in His eyes.'

¹⁴And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who are with him, before Aram to battle, and they flee from his face;

¹⁵and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee -- they also -- from the face of Abishai his brother, and go in to the city. And Joab cometh in to Jerusalem.

¹⁶And Aram seeth that they have been smitten before Israel, and send messengers, and bring out Aram that is beyond the River, and Shophach head of the host of Hadarezer is before them.

¹⁷And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in unto them, and setteth in array against them; yea, David setteth in array the battle to meet Aram, and they fight with him;

¹⁸and Aram fleeth from the face of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven thousand charioteers, and forty thousand footmen, and Shophach head of the host he hath put to death.

¹⁹And the servants of Hadarezer see that they have been smitten before Israel, and they make peace with David and serve him, and Aram hath not been willing to help the sons of Ammon any more.

I Chronicles 20

¹And it cometh to pass, at the time of the turn of the year -- at the time of the going out of the messengers -- that Joab leadeth out the force of the host, and destroyeth the land of the sons of Ammon, and cometh in and beseigeth Rabbah -- David is abiding in Jerusalem -- and Joab smiteth Rabbah, and breaketh it down.

²And David taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and findeth it in weight a talent of gold, and in it a precious stone, and it is on the head of David: and spoil of the city he hath brought out very much,

³and the people who are in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes; and thus doth David to all cities of the sons of Ammon, and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.

⁴And it cometh to pass, after this, that there remaineth war in Gezer with the Philistines, then hath Sibbechai the Hushathite smitten Sippai, of the children of the giant, and they are humbled.

⁵And there is again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair smiteth Lahmi, brother of Goliath the Gittite, the wood of whose spear is like a beam of weavers.

⁶And there is again war in Gath, and there is a man of measure, and his fingers and his toes are six and six, twenty and four, and also, he hath been born to the giant.

⁷And he reproacheth Israel, and smite him doth Jonathan son of Shimea, brother of David.

⁸These were born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

I Chronicles 21

¹And there standeth up an adversary against Israel, and persuadeth David to number Israel,

²And David saith unto Joab, and unto the heads of the people, ‘Go, number Israel from Beer-Sheba even unto Dan, and bring unto me, and I know their number.'

³And Joab saith, ‘Jehovah doth add to His people as they are a hundred times; are they not, my lord, O king, all of them to my lord for servants? why doth my lord seek this? why is he for a cause of guilt to Israel?'

⁴And the word of the king is severe against Joab, and Joab goeth out, and goeth up and down in all Israel, and cometh in to Jerusalem.

⁵And Joab giveth the account of the numbering of the people unto David, and all Israel is a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand, each drawing sword, and Judah is four hundred and seventy thousand, each drawing sword.

⁶And Levi and Benjamin he hath not numbered in their midst, for the word of the king was abominable with Joab.

⁷And it is evil in the eyes of God concerning this thing, and He smiteth Israel,

⁸and David saith unto God, ‘I have sinned exceedingly, in that I have done this thing; and now, cause to pass away, I pray Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly.'

⁹And Jehovah speaketh unto Gad, seer of David, saying:

¹⁰‘Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Three -- I am stretching out unto thee; choose for thee one of these, and I do it to thee.'

¹¹And Gad cometh in unto David, and saith to him, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Take for thee --

¹²either for three years -- famine, or three months to be consumed from the face of thine adversaries, even the sword of thine enemies to overtake, or three days the sword of Jehovah, even pestilence in the land, and a messenger of Jehovah destroying in all the border of Israel; and now, see; what word do I return to Him who is sending me?'

¹³And David saith unto Gad, ‘I am greatly distressed, let me fall, I pray thee, into the hand of Jehovah, for very many are His mercies, and into the hand of man let me not fall.'

¹⁴And Jehovah giveth a pestilence in Israel, and there fall of Israel seventy thousand men,

¹⁵and God sendeth a messenger to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as he is destroying Jehovah hath seen, and is comforted concerning the evil, and saith to the messenger who is destroying, ‘Enough, now, cease thy hand.' And the messenger of Jehovah is standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite,

¹⁶and David lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the messenger of Jehovah standing between the earth and the heavens, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem, and David falleth, and the elders, covered with sackcloth, on their faces.

¹⁷And David saith unto God, ‘Did not I -- I say to number the people? Yea, I it is who have sinned, and done great evil: and these, the flock, what did they? O Jehovah, my God, let, I pray Thee, Thy hand be on me, and on the house of my father, and not on Thy people -- to be plagued.'

¹⁸And the messenger of Jehovah spake unto Gad, saying for David, ‘Surely David doth go up to raise an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.'

¹⁹And David goeth up by the word of Gad, that he spake in the name of Jehovah.

²⁰And Ornan turneth back, and seeth the messenger, and his four sons are with him, hiding themselves, and Ornan is threshing wheat.

²¹And David cometh in unto Ornan, and Ornan looketh attentively, and seeth David, and goeth out from the threshing-floor, and boweth himself to David -- face to the earth.

²²And David saith unto Ornan, ‘Give to me the place of the threshing-floor, and I build in it an altar to Jehovah; for full silver give it to me, and the plague is restrained from the people.'

²³And Ornan saith unto David, ‘Take to thee -- and my lord the king doth that which is good in his eyes: see, I have given the oxen for burnt-offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for a present; the whole I have given.'

²⁴And king David saith to Ornan, ‘Nay, for I surely buy for full silver; for I do not lift up that which is thine to Jehovah, so as to offer a burnt-offering without cost.'

²⁵And David giveth to Ornan for the place shekels of gold in weight six hundred;

²⁶and David buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and offereth burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and calleth unto Jehovah, and He answereth him with fire from the heavens on the altar of the burnt-offering.

²⁷And Jehovah saith to the messenger, and he turneth back his sword unto its sheath.

²⁸At that time when David seeth that Jehovah hath answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificeth there;

²⁹and the tabernacle of Jehovah that Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt-offering, are at that time in a high place, in Gibeon;

³⁰and David is not able to go before it to seek God, for he hath been afraid because of the sword of the messenger of Jehovah.

I Chronicles 22

¹And David saith, ‘This is the house of Jehovah God, and this the altar for burnt-offering for Israel.'

²And David saith to gather the sojourners who are in the land of Israel, and appointeth hewers to hew hewn-stones to build a house of God.

³And iron in abundance for nails for leaves of the gates, and for couplings, hath David prepared, and brass in abundance -- there is no weighing.

⁴And cedar-trees even without number, for the Zidonians and the Tyrians brought in cedar-trees in abundance to David.

⁵And David saith, ‘Solomon my son is a youth and tender, and the house to be built to Jehovah is to be made exceedingly great, for name and for beauty to all the lands; let me prepare, I pray Thee, for it;' and David prepareth in abundance before his death.

⁶And he calleth for Solomon his son, and chargeth him to build a house to Jehovah, God of Israel,

⁷and David saith to Solomon his son, ‘As for me, it hath been with my heart to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God,

⁸and the word of Jehovah is against me, saying, Blood in abundance thou hast shed, and great wars thou hast made: thou dost not build a house to My name, for much blood thou hast shed to the earth before Me.

⁹‘Lo, a son is born to thee; he is a man of rest, and I have given rest to him from all his enemies round about, for Solomon is his name, and peace and quietness I give unto Israel in his days;

¹⁰he doth build a house to My name, and he is to Me for a son, and I am to him for a father, and I have established the throne of his kingdom over Israel unto the age.

¹¹‘Now, my son, Jehovah is with thee, and thou hast prospered, and hast built the house of Jehovah thy God, as He spake concerning thee.

¹²Only, Jehovah give to thee wisdom and understanding, and charge thee concerning Israel, even to keep the law of Jehovah thy God;

¹³then thou dost prosper, if thou dost observe to do the statutes and the judgments that Jehovah charged Moses with concerning Israel; be strong and courageous; do not fear, nor be cast down.

¹⁴‘And lo, in mine affliction, I have prepared for the house of Jehovah of gold talents a hundred thousand, and of silver a thousand thousand talents; and of brass and of iron there is no weighing, for in abundance it hath been, and wood and stones I have prepared, and to them thou dost add.

¹⁵‘And with thee in abundance are workmen, hewers and artificers of stone and of wood, and every skilful man for every work.

¹⁶To the gold, to the silver, and to the brass, and to the iron, there is no number; arise and do, and Jehovah is with thee.'

¹⁷And David giveth charge to all heads of Israel to give help to Solomon his son,

¹⁸‘Is not Jehovah your God with you? yea, He hath given rest to you round about, for He hath given into my hand the inhabitants of the land, and subdued hath been the land before His people.

¹⁹‘Now, give your heart and your soul to seek to Jehovah your God, and rise and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, to bring in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the holy vessels of God, to the house that is built to the name of Jehovah.'

I Chronicles 23

¹And David is old, and satisfied with days, and causeth his son Solomon to reign over Israel,

²and gathereth all the heads of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites;

³and the Levites are numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, and their number, by their polls, is of mighty men thirty and eight thousand.

⁴Of these to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah are twenty and four thousand, and officers and judges six thousand,

⁵and four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand giving praise to Jehovah, ‘with instruments that I made for praising,' saith David.

⁶And David distributeth them into courses: Of the sons of Levi: of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷Of the Gershonite: Laadan and Shimei.

⁸Sons of Laadan: the head is Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

⁹Sons of Shimei are Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three; these are heads of the fathers of Laadan.

¹⁰And sons of Shimei are Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these are sons of Shimei, four.

¹¹And Jahath is the head, and Zizah the second, and Jeush and Beriah have not multiplied sons, and they become the house of a father by one numbering.

¹²Sons of Kohath are Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

¹³Sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron is separated for his sanctifying the holy of holies, he and his sons -- unto the age, to make perfume before Jehovah, to serve Him, and to bless in His name -- unto the age.

¹⁴As to Moses, the man of God, his sons are called after the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵Sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶Sons of Gershom: Shebuel the head.

¹⁷And sons of Eliezer are Rehabiah the head, and Eliezer had no other sons, and the sons of Rehabiah have multiplied exceedingly.

¹⁸Sons of Izhar: Shelomith the head.

¹⁹Sons of Hebron: Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰Sons of Uzziel: Micah the head, and Ishshiah, the second.

²¹Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

²²And Eleazar dieth, and he had no sons, but daughters, and sons of Kish their brethren take them.

²³Sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.

²⁴These are sons of Levi, by the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, by their appointments, in the number of names, by their polls, doing the work for the service of the house of Jehovah, from a son of twenty years and upward,

²⁵for David said, ‘Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given rest to His people, and He doth tabernacle in Jerusalem unto the age;'

²⁶and also of the Levites, ‘None are to bear the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service;'

²⁷for by the last words of David they took the number of the sons of Levi from a son of twenty years and upward,

²⁸for their station is at the side of the sons of Aaron, for the service of the house of Jehovah, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the cleansing of every holy thing, and the work of the service of the house of God,

²⁹and for the bread of the arrangement, and for fine flour for present, and for the thin unleavened cakes, and for the work of the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all liquid measure and solid measure;

³⁰and to stand, morning by morning, to give thanks, and to give praise to Jehovah, and so at evening;

³¹and for all the burnt-offerings -- burnt-offerings to Jehovah for sabbaths, for new moons, and for appointed seasons, by number, according to the ordinance upon them continually, before Jehovah.

³²And they have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.

I Chronicles 24

¹And to the sons of Aaron are their courses: sons of Aaron are Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar,

²and Nadab dieth, and Abihu, in the presence of their father, and they had no sons, and Eleazar and Ithamar act as priests.

³And David distributeth them, and Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their office in their service;

⁴and there are found of the sons of Eleazar more for heads of the mighty men than of the sons of Ithamar; and they distribute them: Of the sons of Eleazar, heads for a house of fathers, sixteen; and of the sons of Ithamar, for a house of their fathers, eight.

⁵And they distribute them, by lots, one with another, for princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, have been of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.

⁶And Shemaiah son of Nethaneel the scribe, of the Levites, writeth them before the king and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and heads of the fathers, for priests and for Levites: one house of a father being taken possession of for Eleazar, and one being taken possession of for Ithamar.

⁷And the first lot goeth out for Jehoiarib, for Jedaiah the second,

⁸for Harim the third, for Seorim the fourth,

⁹for Malchijah the fifth, for Mijamin the sixth,

¹⁰for Hakkoz the seventh, for Abijah the eighth,

¹¹for Jeshuah the ninth, for Shecaniah the tenth,

¹²for Eliashib the eleventh, for Jakim the twelfth,

¹³for Huppah the thirteenth, for Jeshebeab the fourteenth,

¹⁴for Bilgah the fifteenth, for Immer the sixteenth,

¹⁵for Hezir the seventeenth, for Aphses the eighteenth,

¹⁶for Pethahiah the nineteenth, for Jehezekel the twentieth,

¹⁷for Jachin the one and twentieth, for Gamul the two and twentieth,

¹⁸for Delaiah the three and twentieth, for Maaziah the four and twentieth.

¹⁹These are their appointments for their service, to come in to the house of Jehovah, according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as Jehovah God of Israel, commanded them.

²⁰And for the sons of Levi who are left: for sons of Amram, Shubael; for sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah.

²¹For Rehabiah: for sons of Rehabiah, the head Ishshiah.

²²For the Izharite: Shelomoth; for sons of Shelomoth: Jahath.

²³And sons of Jeriah: Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.

²⁴Sons of Uzziel: Michah; for sons of Michah: Shamir.

²⁵A brother of Michah is Ishshiah; for sons of Ishshiah: Zechariah;

²⁶sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; sons of Jaaziah: Beno;

²⁷sons of Merari: of Jaaziah: Beno, and Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri.

²⁸For Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons;

²⁹for Kish: sons of Kish: Jerahmeel.

³⁰And sons of Mushi are Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth; these are sons of the Levites, for the house of their fathers,

³¹and they cast, they also, lots over-against their brethren the sons of Aaron, before David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and heads of the fathers, for priests and for Levites; the chief father over-against his younger brother.