1 Chronicles 12
1 David went to Ziklag [town] to escape from [King] Saul. While he was there, many warriors came and joined him, and they helped him when he fought battles.
The following is a list of the men who joined David when he was at Ziklag, still hiding from Saul, son of Kish. They were some of the leading warriors who fought on David's side.
2 They carried bows [and arrows]. They were able to shoot arrows and to sling stones. They could use either their right arms or their left arms to do that. They were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.
They were all skilled archers, and could shoot arrows or slingshots with their right or their left hands. They were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.
3 Their leader was Ahiezer. Next in command was Joash. They were both sons of Shemaah from Gibeah [city]. [These are the names of some of those warriors: ] Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu from Anathoth [town];
Ahiezer was their leader, then Joash; the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu the Anathothite;
4 Ishmaiah from the Gibeon [city], who was a leader of the thirty mighty warriors; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from Gederah [town];
Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, (a strong warrior among the Thirty, and leader over the Thirty); Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad the Gederathite;
5 Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah from Haruph [town];
Eluzai; Jerimoth; Bealiah; Shemariah; Shephatiah the Haruphite;
6 Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam, who were descendants of Korah;
Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam (they were Korahites);
7 Joelah and Zebadiah, who were sons of Jeroham, from Gedor [town].
and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.
8 Some men from the tribe of Gad [east of the Jordan River] joined David when he was at his fortress in [the caves in] the desert. They were brave warriors who were trained for fighting battles and able to use shields and spears well. They [SYN] were as fierce as [SIM, MTY] lions, and they could run as fast as [HYP, SIM] deer/gazelles on the hills/mountains.
Some warriors from the tribe of Gad went over to David's side when he was at the stronghold in the desert. They were strong and experienced warriors, battle-hardened, experts in the use of shields and spears. Their faces looked as fierce as lions, and they ran as fast as gazelles in the mountains.
9 Ezer was their leader. Next in command was Obadiah. Next was Eliab.
Ezer the was the leader, Obadiah (second), Eliab (third),
10 Next was Mishmannah. Next was Jeremiah.
Mishmannah (fourth), Jeremiah (fifth),
11 Next was Attai. Next was Eliel.
Attai (sixth), Eliel (seventh),
12 Next was Johanan. Next was Elzabad.
Johanan (eighth), Elzabad (ninth),
13 Next was [another man whose name was] Jeremiah. The last was Macbannai.
Jeremiah (tenth), Machbannai (eleventh).
14 Those men from the tribe of Gad were all army officers. Some of them commanded 1,000 soldiers, and some of them commanded 100 soldiers.
These warriors from Gad were army officers. The least able of them was in charge of 100 men; the best was in charge of 1,000.
15 They crossed [to the west side of] the Jordan [River] during March, [at the time of the year] when the river was flooded. They chased from there all the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.
These were ones who crossed the Jordan River in the first month of the year when it overflows its banks. They chased out all the people living in the valley, both to the east and to the west.
16 Some other men from the tribe of Benjamin and from Judah also came to David in his fortress.
Some others from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to join David at the stronghold.
17 David went out [of the cave] to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, I am eager to have you join with me. But if you have come to enable my enemies to capture me, even though I [SYN] have not done anything to harm you, I hope/wish that the God whom our ancestors (worshiped/belonged to) will see it and condemn/punish you.”
David went out to meet them and told them, “If you've come in peace to help me, we can be friends. But if you've come to betray me to my enemies, even though I've done no wrong, then may the God of our fathers see what you're doing and condemn you.”
18 Then [God’s] Spirit came upon Amasai, who was another leader of the thirty [greatest warriors], and he said, “David, we want to be with you; you who are the son of Jesse, we will join you. We know that things will go very well [DOU] for you and for those who are with you, because your God is helping you.”
Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the leader of the Thirty. “We are yours, David, and we are with you, son of Jesse! May peace, prosperity, and success be yours and those who help you, for God is the one who is helping you.” So David allowed them to join him, and put them in charge of his bands of raiders.
19 So David welcomed those men, and he appointed them to be leaders of his soldiers. Some men from the tribe of Manasseh also joined David when he went with the soldiers of Philistia to fight against Saul’s [army]. But David and his men did not really help the army of Philistia. After the leaders of Philistia talked [about David and his soldiers], they sent David away. They said, “If David joins his master Saul again, we will all be killed {his army will kill all of us}!”
Others came over to David's side from the tribe of Manasseh and joined him when he went with Philistines to attack Saul. However, the Philistine rulers eventually decided to send them away, saying to themselves, “It will cost us our heads if he deserts us and goes over to his master Saul.”
20 When David went to Ziklag, these were the men from the tribe of Manasseh who went with him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, [another man whose name was] Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each of them had been a commander of 1,000 men [in Saul’s army].
The following is a list of the men from Manasseh who went over to David's side as he returned to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, leaders of thousands in Manasseh.
21 They were all brave soldiers, and they helped David to fight against the groups of men who roamed throughout the country, robbing people. So those men became commanders in David’s army.
They helped David against raiders for they were all strong and experienced warriors and commanders in the army.
22 Every day more men joined David’s men, and his army became large, like [SIM] the army of God (OR, a very huge army).
Men arrived daily to help David until he had a large army, like the army of God.
23 These are the numbers of soldiers who were ready for battle who joined David at Hebron [city]. They came to help him to become the king of Israel to replace Saul, as Yahweh had promised would happen.
This is a list of the numbers of armed warriors who came and joined David in Hebron to turn over Saul's kingdom to him, as the Lord had said.
24 There were 6,800 men from Judah, who carried shields and spears.
From the tribe of Judah, 6,800 warriors carrying shields and spears.
25 There were 7,100 men from the tribe of Simeon. They were all strong warriors trained to fight battles.
From the tribe of Simeon, 7,100 strong warriors.
26 There were 4,600 men from the tribe of Levi.
From the tribe of Levi, 4,600,
27 Jehoiada, who was a leader descended from Aaron, was in that group of descendants of Levi, and there were 3,700 men with him.
including Jehoiada, leader of the family of Aaron, and with him 3,700,
28 Zadok, a strong young soldier, was also in that group, and there were 22 other leaders from his clan who came with him.
and Zadok, a strong young warrior, with 22 members of his family, all officers.
29 There were 3,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin who were Saul’s relatives. Most of them had previously wanted one of Saul’s descendants to be the king.
From the tribe of Benjamin, from among Saul's relatives, 3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to Saul up until this time.
30 There were 20,800 men from the tribe of Ephraim who were all brave warriors and trained for fighting battles and famous in their own clans.
From the tribe of Ephraim, 20,800 strong warriors, each highly regarded in his own clan.
31 There were 18,000 men from the half of the tribe of Manasseh [that lived west of the Jordan River]. They were all chosen to go and help David become the king.
From the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 men were designated by name to come and make David king.
32 There were 200 men who were leaders from the tribe of Issachar, along with their relatives. Those leaders always knew what the Israelis should do, and they knew the right time to do it.
From the tribe of Issachar came leaders who knew and could understand the signs of the times and what Israel should do—a total of 200 leaders of the tribe together with their relatives.
33 There were 55,000 men from the tribe of Zebulun. They were all experienced warriors and knew how to use all kinds of weapons well. They were completely loyal to David.
From the tribe of Zebulun, 50,000 warriors. They were fully armed and battle-ready, and totally dedicated.
34 There were 1,000 officers from the tribe of Naphtali. With them were 37,000 soldiers, each carrying shields and spears.
From the tribe of Naphtali, 1,000 officers and 37,000 warriors carrying shields and spears.
35 There were 28,600 soldiers from the tribe of Dan, all trained to fight battles.
From the tribe of Dan, 28,600 warriors, all battle-ready.
36 There were 47,000 experienced soldiers from the tribe of Asher, all trained to fight battles.
From the tribe of Asher, 40,000 experienced warriors, all battle-ready.
37 There were also 120,000 soldiers from the area east of the Jordan [River who joined David]. They were from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh. They had all kinds of weapons.
From the east side of the Jordan River, from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 120,000 warriors carrying all kinds of weapons.
38 All those men were soldiers who volunteered to be in David’s army. They came to Hebron wanting very much to enable David to be the king of all of the Israeli people.
All these men came to Hebron dressed for battle, completely committed to making David king. All of Israel agreed that David should become king.
39 The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking, because their families had given them food to take with them.
They stayed three days there, eating and drinking together, for their relatives had provided them with supplies.
40 Also, their fellow Israelis came from as far away as the area where the tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali lived, bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. They brought a lot of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, [olive] oil, cattle and sheep. And throughout Israel, the people were very joyful.
Their neighbors, even as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, arrived bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. They had plenty of flour, fig cakes, bunches of raisins, wine, olive oil, cattle, and sheep, for Israel was so happy.
