I Chronicles 10-14

I Chronicles 10

¹Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel went in flight before the Philistines, falling down wounded in Mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines went hard after Saul and his sons, and put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.

³And the fight was going against Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers.

⁴Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, falling on it himself.

⁵And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and came to his death.

⁶So death overtook Saul and his three sons; all his family came to an end together.

⁷And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the men of Israel had gone in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they went in flight away from their towns; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.

⁸Now the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his sons dead in Mount Gilboa.

⁹And they took everything off him, and took his head and his war-dress, and sent word into the land of the Philistines round about to give the news to their gods and to the people.

¹⁰And they put his war-dress in the house of their gods, and put up his head in the house of Dagon.

¹¹And when the news came to Jabesh-gilead of what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²All the fighting-men came up and took away Saul's body and the bodies of his sons, and took them to Jabesh, and put their bones to rest under the oak-tree in Jabesh, and took no food for seven days.

¹³So death came to Saul because of the sin which he did against the Lord, that is, because of the word of the Lord which he kept not; and because he went for directions to one who had an evil spirit,

¹⁴And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

I Chronicles 11

¹Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh.

²In the past, when Saul was king, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in; and the Lord your God said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel, and their ruler.

³So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel, as the Lord had said by Samuel.

⁴Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (which is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the people of the land, were there.

⁵And the people of Jebus said to David, You will not come in here. But still, David took the strong place of Zion, which is the town of David.

⁶And David said, The first to overcome the Jebusites will be chief and captain. And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, went up first, and became chief.

⁷And David took the strong tower for his living-place, so it was named the town of David.

⁸And he took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo; and Joab put the rest of the town in order.

⁹And David became greater and greater in power, because the Lord of armies was with him.

¹⁰Now these are the chief of David's men of war who were his strong supporters in the kingdom, and, with all Israel, made him king, as the Lord had said about Israel.

¹¹This is the list of David's men of war: Ishbaal, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the three: he put to death three hundred at one time with his spear.

¹²And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three great fighters.

¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim, where the Philistines had come together for the fight, near a bit of land full of barley; and the people went in flight before the Philistines.

¹⁴And he took up his position in the middle of the bit of land, and kept back their attack, and overcame the Philistines; and the Lord gave a great salvation.

¹⁵And three of the thirty went down to David, to the rock, into the strong place of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines had taken up their position in the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁶At that time David had taken cover in the strong place, and an armed force of the Philistines was in Beth-lehem.

¹⁷And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of the water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem by the doorway into the town!

¹⁸So the three, forcing a way through the Philistine army, got water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town, and took it back to David; but David would not take it, but made an offering of it, draining it out to the Lord,

¹⁹Saying, By my God, far be it from me to do this! How may I take as drink the life-blood of these men who have put their lives in danger? so he did not take it. These things did the three great men of war.

²⁰And Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the thirty, for he put to death three hundred with his spear, but he had not a name among the three.

²¹Of the thirty, he was the noblest, and was made their captain, but he was not equal to the first three.

²²Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, a fighting-man of Kabzeel, had done great acts; he put to death two young lions going into their secret place; and he went down into a hole and put a lion to death in time of snow.

²³And he made an attack on an Egyptian, a very tall man about five cubits high, armed with a spear like a cloth-worker's rod; he went down to him with a stick, and pulling his spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, put him to death with that same spear.

²⁴These were the acts of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who had a great name among the thirty men of war.

²⁵He was honoured over the thirty, but he was not equal to the first three: and David put him over his servants.

²⁶And these were the great men of war: Asahel, the brother of Joab, Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,

²⁷Shammoth the Harodite, Helez the Pelonite,

²⁸Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite, Heled, the son of Baanah the Netophathite,

³¹Ithai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah, of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

³²Hurai of Nahale-gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

³³Azmaveth of Bahurim, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

³⁴The sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan, the son of Shage the Hararite,

³⁵Ahiam, the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal, the son of Ur,

³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai, the son of Ezbai,

³⁸Joel, the brother of Nathan, Mibhar, the son of Hagri,

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, and Naharai the Berothite, the servant who had the care of the arms of Joab, the son of Zeruiah;

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, Zabad, the son of Ahlai,

⁴²Adina, the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him;

⁴³Hanan, the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,

⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel, the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

⁴⁵Jediael, the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite,

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,

⁴⁷Eliel and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

I Chronicles 12

¹Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still shut up, because of Saul, the son of Kish; they were among the strong men, his helpers in war.

²They were armed with bows, and were able to send stones, and arrows from the bow, with right hand or left: they were Saul's brothers, of Benjamin.

³Ahiezer was their chief, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah and Jehu the Anathothite;

⁴And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a great man among the thirty, and their chief; and Jeremiah and Jehaziel and Johanan and Jozabad the Gederathite;

⁵Eluzai and Jerimoth and Bealiah and Shemariah and Shephatiah the Haruphite;

⁶Elkanah and Isshiah and Azarel and Joezer and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

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

⁸And some of the Gadites, siding with David, went to his strong place in the waste land, great and strong men, trained for war, expert in the use of arms, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were quick-footed like roes on the mountains;

⁹Ezer their chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

¹³Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.

¹⁴These Gadites were captains of the army; the least of them was captain over a hundred men, and the greatest over a thousand.

¹⁵It was they who went over Jordan in the first month, when the river was overflowing, and put to flight all the people of the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶And some of the children of Benjamin and Judah came to David in his strong place.

¹⁷And David went out to them, and said to them, If you have come in peace to give me help, my heart will be united with yours; but if you have come to give me up to those who would take my life, though my hands are clean from wrongdoing, then may the God of our fathers see it and give you punishment.

¹⁸Then the spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, We are yours, David, we are on your side, O son of Jesse: may peace be with you and peace be with your helpers; for God is your helper. Then David took them into his army and made them captains of the band.

¹⁹And some of the men of Manasseh came over to David, when he went with the Philistines to the war against Saul, but he gave them no help: for the lords of the Philistines, after discussion, sent him away, saying, He will go back to his master Saul, at the price of our lives.

²⁰Then when he went back to Ziklag, there came over to him, of the men of Manasseh, Adnah and Jozabad and Jediael and Michael and Jozabad and Elihu and Zillethai, captains of thousands from the armies of Manasseh.

²¹And they gave David help against the armed bands, for they were all great men of war, and captains in the army.

²²And from day to day more supporters came to David, till he had a great army like the army of God.

²³These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said.

²⁴There were six thousand, eight hundred spearmen of the children of Judah, armed for war;

²⁵Seven thousand, one hundred of the children of Simeon, great men of war;

²⁶Of the children of Levi, four thousand, six hundred.

²⁷And Jehoiada, chief of the family of Aaron, and with him three thousand, seven hundred men;

²⁸And Zadok, a young man, great and strong in war, with twenty-two captains from his father's people.

²⁹And of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand; for up to that time the greater part of them had been true to Saul.

³⁰And of the children of Ephraim, twenty thousand, eight hundred great men of war, men of great name in their families.

³¹And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, listed by name, came to make David king.

³²And of the children of Issachar, there were two hundred chiefs, men who had expert knowledge of the times and what it was best for Israel to do, and all their brothers were under their orders.

³³Of Zebulun, there were fifty thousand men, who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight, to give help with all sorts of arms; true-hearted men.

³⁴And of Naphtali, a thousand captains with thirty-seven thousand spearmen.

³⁵And of the Danites, twenty-eight thousand, six hundred, expert in ordering the fight.

³⁶And of Asher, forty thousand who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight.

³⁷From the other side of Jordan, there were a hundred and twenty thousand of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the men of the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every sort of instrument of war.

³⁸All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king.

³⁹For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them.

⁴⁰And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.

I Chronicles 13

¹Then David had discussions with the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds and with every chief.

²And David said to all the men of Israel who had come together there, If it seems good to you and if it is the purpose of the Lord our God, let us send to all the rest of our brothers, everywhere in the land of Israel, and to the priests and the Levites in their towns and the country round them, and get them to come together here to us;

³And let us get back for ourselves the ark of our God: for in the days of Saul we did not go to it for directions.

⁴And all the people said they would do so, for it seemed right to them.

⁵So David sent for all Israel to come together, from Shihor, the river of Egypt, as far as the way into Hamath, to get the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

⁶And David went up, with all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim in Judah, to get up from there the ark of God, over which the holy Name is named, the name of the Lord whose place is between the winged ones.

⁷And they put the ark of God on a new cart, and took it out of the house of Abinadab; and Uzza and Ahio were the drivers of the cart.

⁸Then David and all Israel made melody before God with all their strength, with songs and corded instruments of music, and with brass instruments and horns.

⁹And when they came to the grain-floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to keep the ark in its place, for the oxen were slipping.

¹⁰And the wrath of the Lord, burning against Uzza, sent destruction on him because he had put his hand on the ark, and death came to him there before God.

¹¹And David was angry because of the Lord's outburst of wrath against Uzza, and he gave that place the name Perez-uzza, to this day.

¹²And so great was David's fear of God that day, that he said, How may I let the ark of God come to me?

¹³So David did not let the ark come back to him to the town of David, but had it turned away and put into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹⁴And the ark of God was in the house of Obed-edom for three months; and the Lord sent a blessing on the house of Obed-edom and on all he had.

I Chronicles 14

¹And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David with cedar-trees, and stoneworkers and woodworkers for the building of his house.

²And David saw that the Lord had made his position safe as king over Israel, lifting up his kingdom on high because of his people Israel.

³And while he was living in Jerusalem, David took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters.

⁴These are the names of the children he had in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab, Nathan and Solomon

⁵And Ibhar and Elishua and Elpelet

⁶And Nogah and Nepheg and Japhia

⁷And Elishama and Beeliada and Eliphelet.

⁸And when the Philistines had news that David had been made king over all Israel, they went up in search of David, and David, hearing of it, went out against them.

⁹Now the Philistines had come, and had gone out in every direction in the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁰And David, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go up against the Philistines? and will you give them into my hands? And the Lord said, Go up; for I will give them into your hands.

¹¹So they went up to Baal-perazim, and David overcame them there, and David said, God has let the forces fighting against me be broken by my hand, as a wall is broken down by rushing water; so they gave that place the name of Baal-perazim.

¹²And the Philistines did not take their images with them in their flight; and at David's orders they were burned with fire.

¹³Then the Philistines again went out in every direction in the valley.

¹⁴And David went for directions to God; and God said to him, You are not to go up after them; but, turning away from them, come face to face with them opposite the spice-trees.

¹⁵And at the sound of footsteps in the tops of the trees, go out to the fight, for God has gone out before you to overcome the army of the Philistines.

¹⁶And David did as the Lord had said; and they overcame the army of the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon as far as Gezer.

¹⁷And David's name was honoured in all lands; and the Lord put the fear of him on all nations.