1 Chronicles 12
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 hold in the wilderness, mighty men of valour, 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 an hundred, and the greatest to a thousand. 15These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown 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 hold 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, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries, seeing there is no wrong in mine 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 thine 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 valour, and were captains in the host. 22For from day to day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.
23And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, which came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. 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 valour 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 valour, 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 valour, famous men in their fathers' houses. 31And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, which were expressed 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 Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, an 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, victual 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:
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1 Chronicles 12
12
David's Men at Ziklag
1Some time earlier, David had gone to live in the town of Ziklag to escape from King Saul. While David was there, several brave warriors joined him to help fight his battles.#12.1 David had gone … battles: Ziklag was the Philistine town that King Achish of Gath gave David in return for his loyalty (see 1 Samuel 27.6). This happened during the time that David was living as an outlaw, so the events in this chapter actually took place before chapter 11 when David became king of Israel.
Warriors from the Benjamin tribe
2Several of these warriors were from King Saul's own tribe of Benjamin. They were experts at using a bow and arrows, and they could shoot an arrow or sling a stone with either hand. 3-7Their leaders were Ahiezer and Joash, the sons of Shemaah from Gibeah. Here is a list of those men from Benjamin: Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah and Jehu from Anathoth; Ishmaiah from Gibeon, who was the leader of the Thirty Warriors; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from Gederah; Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah from Haruph; Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam from the Korah clan; Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.
Warriors from the Gad tribe
8Men from the tribe of Gad also joined David at his fortress in the desert and served as his warriors. They were also brave soldiers—fierce as lions and quick as gazelles. They were always prepared to fight with shields and spears. 9-13There were eleven of them, ranked in the following order: Ezer the leader, then Obadiah, Eliab, Mishmannah, Jeremiah, Attai, Eliel, Johanan, Elzabad, Jeremiah, and Machbannai.
14All these men were army officers; some were high-ranking officers over a thousand troops, and others were officers over a hundred troops. 15Earlier, they had crossed the Jordan River when it flooded, and they chased out the people who lived in the valleys on each side of the river.
Warriors from the Benjamin and Judah tribes
16One time a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went to the fortress where David was staying. 17David met them outside and said, “If you are coming as friends to fight on my side, then stay and join us. But if you try to turn me over to my enemies, the God our ancestors worshiped will punish you, because I have done nothing wrong.”
18Amasai, who later became the leader of the Thirty Warriors, was one of these men who went to David. God's Spirit took control of him, and he said, “We will join you, David son of Jesse! You and your followers will always be successful, because God fights on your side.”
So David agreed to let them stay, and he even put them in charge of his soldiers who raided enemy villages.
Warriors from the Manasseh tribe
19Some of the warriors who joined David were from the tribe of Manasseh. They had earlier gone with David when he agreed to fight on the side of the Philistines against King Saul. But as soon as the Philistine rulers realized that David might turn against them and rejoin Saul, they sent David away to the town of Ziklag. 20That's when the following men from Manasseh joined him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. They had all been commanders in Saul's army 21and brave soldiers, and so David made them officers in his army. They fought on his side when enemy troops attacked.
22Day after day, new men came to join David, and soon he had a large, powerful army.
David's Men at Hebron
23-37The kingdom of Israel had been taken away from Saul, and it now belonged to David. He was ruling from Hebron, and thousands of well-trained soldiers from each tribe went there to crown David king of all Israel, just as the Lord had promised. These soldiers, who were always prepared for battle, included: 6,800 from Judah, who were armed with shields and spears; 7,100 from Simeon; 4,600 from Levi, including Jehoiada, who was a leader from Aaron's descendants, and his 3,700 men, as well as Zadok, who was a brave soldier, and 22 of his relatives, who were also officers; 3,000 from Benjamin, because this was Saul's own tribe and most of the men had remained loyal to him; 20,800 from Ephraim, who were not only brave, but also famous in their clans; 18,000 from West Manasseh, who had been chosen to help make David king; 200 leaders from Issachar, along with troops under their command—these leaders knew the right time to do what needed to be done; 50,000 from Zebulun, who were not only loyal, but also trained to use any weapon; 1,000 officers from Naphtali and 37,000 soldiers armed with shields and spears; 28,600 from Dan; 40,000 from Asher; and 120,000 from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, who were armed with all kinds of weapons.
38All of these soldiers voluntarily came to Hebron because they wanted David to become king of Israel. In fact, everyone in Israel wanted the same thing. 39The soldiers stayed in Hebron three days, eating and drinking what their relatives had prepared for them. 40Other Israelites from as far away as the territories of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali brought cattle and sheep to slaughter for food. They also brought donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen that were loaded down with flour, dried figs and raisins, wine, and olive oil.
Everyone in Israel was very happy.
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