I Chronicles 12

¹Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, his helpers in war.

²They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow: they were of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin.

³The chief was Ahiezer; 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 mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty, and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, 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 of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David to the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, that could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the roes upon the mountains:

⁹Ezer the 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 of the sons of Gad were captains of the host: he that was least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest to a thousand.

¹⁵These are they that went over the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east and toward the west.

¹⁶And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the stronghold unto David.

¹⁷And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.

¹⁸Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.

¹⁹Of Manasseh also there fell away some to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not; for the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall away to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.

²⁰As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands that were of Manasseh.

²¹And they helped David against the band of rovers: for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the host.

²²For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great host, like the host of God.

²³And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah.

²⁴The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, armed for war.

²⁵Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for the war, seven thousand and one hundred.

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

²⁷And Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron; and with him were three thousand and seven hundred,

²⁸and Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father’s house twenty and two captains.

²⁹And of the children of Benjamin, the brethren of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.

³⁰And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers’ houses.

³¹And of the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were mentioned by name, to come and make David king.

³²And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

³³Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, with all manner of instruments of war, fifty thousand, and that could order the battle array, and were not of double heart.

³⁴And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand.

³⁵And of the Danites that could set the battle in array, twenty and eight thousand and six hundred.

³⁶And of Asher, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, forty thousand.

³⁷And on the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, a hundred and twenty thousand.

³⁸All these, being men of war, that could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

³⁹And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking; for their brethren had made preparation for them.

⁴⁰Moreover they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victuals of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel.

I Chronicles 12

¹Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle;

²they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

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

⁴Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;

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

⁶Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, who were Korahites;

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

⁸Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:

⁹Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

¹³Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbanai the eleventh.

¹⁴These Gadites were army commanders, the least of whom was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.

¹⁵These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold.

¹⁷And David went out to meet them, saying, “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 when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.”

¹⁸Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

¹⁹Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will cost us our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”)

²⁰When David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

²¹They helped David against the raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and commanders in the army.

²²For at that time men came to David day after day to help him, until he had a great army, like the army of God.

²³Now these are the numbers of men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, in accordance with the word of the LORD:

²⁴From Judah: 6,800 armed troops bearing shields and spears.

²⁵From Simeon: 7,100 mighty men of valor, ready for battle.

²⁶From Levi: 4,600,

²⁷including Jehoiada, leader of the house of Aaron, with 3,700 men,

²⁸and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.

²⁹From Benjamin, the kinsmen of Saul: 3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to the house of Saul up to that time.

³⁰From Ephraim: 20,800 mighty men of valor, famous among their own clans.

³¹From the half-tribe of Manasseh: 18,000 designated by name to come and make David king.

³²From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.

³³From Zebulun: 50,000 fit for service, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, who with one purpose were devoted to David.

³⁴From Naphtali: 1,000 commanders, accompanied by 37,000 men with shield and spear.

³⁵From Dan: 28,600 prepared for battle.

³⁶From Asher: 40,000 fit for service, prepared for battle.

³⁷And from east of the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh there: 120,000 armed with every kind of weapon of war.

³⁸All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

³⁹They spent three days there eating and drinking with David, for their relatives had provided for them.

⁴⁰And their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—abundant supplies of flour, fig cakes and raisin cakes, wine and oil, oxen and sheep. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.