1 Chronicles 12

These are the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still kept away because of Saul son of Kish. They were among the mighty warriors who helped him in war. They were armed with bows and could use either hand to sling stones and shoot arrows. They were Saul’s relatives from Benjamin. The chief was Ahiezer, followed by Joash, sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu the Anathothite; Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty warrior among the Thirty and over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite; Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite; Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; and Joelah and Zebadiah, sons of Jeroham from Gedor. Some Gadites separated themselves to join David at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were valiant warriors, men trained for battle, skilled with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were swift as gazelles on the mountains. Ezer was the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbannai the eleventh. These descendants of Gad were army commanders; the least was in charge of a hundred, and the greatest of a thousand. They were the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight everyone in the valleys to the east and to the west. Some men from Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. David went out to meet them and said, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies, though there is no violence on my hands, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge.” Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the officers: “We are yours, David, and we are with you, son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to those who help you, for your God helps you.” So David welcomed them and appointed them as commanders of his troops. Some men of Manasseh defected to David when he came with the Philistines to battle against Saul. But David and his men did not help them, because the Philistine rulers, after taking counsel, sent him away, saying, “He will defect to his master Saul at the cost of our heads.” As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, commanders of thousands in Manasseh. They helped David against the raiding band, for they were all valiant warriors, and they became commanders in the army. Day after day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God. These are the numbers of the men armed for military service who came to David at Hebron to transfer Saul’s kingdom to him, according to the word of the LORD: From Judah, 6,800 men carrying shield and spear, armed for military service; from Simeon, 7,100 valiant warriors fit for military service; from Levi, 4,600; Jehoiada, leader of the descendants of Aaron, with 3,700; Zadok, a young valiant warrior, with twenty-two commanders from his ancestral house; from Benjamin, Saul’s relatives, 3,000, for until then most of them had remained loyal to the house of Saul; from Ephraim, 20,800 valiant warriors, men of renown in their ancestral houses; from the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 designated by name to come and make David king; from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do, 200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command; from Zebulun, 50,000 men fit for military service, prepared for battle with every kind of weapon, able to keep ranks with undivided loyalty; from Naphtali, 1,000 commanders, with 37,000 men carrying shield and spear; from Dan, 28,600 men prepared for battle; from Asher, 40,000 men fit for military service, prepared for battle; and from beyond the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 120,000 men with every kind of weapon for war. All these warriors, able to keep battle formation, came to Hebron wholeheartedly to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of Israel were also of one mind to make David king. They stayed there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their relatives had prepared provisions for them. Their neighbors, from as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, also brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen: supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, and oil, with cattle, sheep, and goats in abundance, for there was joy in Israel.

Rights and attribution