1 Chronicles 11-14

1 Chronicles 11

¹Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

²Even in times past, while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And the LORD your God said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where David made a covenant with them before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD through Samuel.

⁴Then David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus), where the Jebusites inhabited the land.

⁵The people of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

⁶Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.

⁷So David took up residence in the fortress; that is why it was called the City of David.

⁸He built up the city around it, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city.

⁹And David became greater and greater, for the LORD of Hosts was with him.

¹⁰Now these were the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who, together with all Israel, bolstered and strengthened his kingdom, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.

¹¹This is the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the officers; he wielded his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

¹²Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men.

¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines gathered there for battle. At a place with a field full of barley, the troops fled from the Philistines.

¹⁴But Eleazar and David stationed themselves in the middle of the field and defended it. They struck down the Philistines, and the LORD brought about a great victory.

¹⁵Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁶At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem.

¹⁷David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

¹⁸So the Three broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,

¹⁹saying, “Far be it from me, my God, to do this! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” Because they had brought it at the risk of their lives, David refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

²⁰Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Three, and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.

²¹He was doubly honored above the Three, and he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.

²²And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.

²³He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear.

²⁴These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who won a name along with the three mighty men.

²⁵He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁶Now these were the mighty men: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁷Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,

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

²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

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

³¹Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

³²Hurai from the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

³³Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

³⁴the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan son of Shagee the Hararite,

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

³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai son of Ezbai,

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

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, Zabad son of Ahlai,

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

⁴³Hanan son of Maacah, Joshaphat the Mithnite,

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

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

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

⁴⁷Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

1 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 wilderness. 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.

1 Chronicles 13

¹Then David conferred with all his leaders, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds.

²And he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers in all the land of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands, so that they may join us.

³Then let us bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of Him in the days of Saul.”

⁴And because this proposal seemed right to all the people, the whole assembly agreed to it.

⁵So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

⁶David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.

⁷So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

⁸David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

⁹When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark, because the oxen had stumbled.

¹⁰And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

¹¹Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

¹²That day David feared God and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?”

¹³So he did not move the ark with him to the City of David; instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹⁴Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house for three months, and the LORD blessed his household and everything he owned.

1 Chronicles 14

¹Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters, to build a palace for him.

²And David realized that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had highly exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

³And David took more wives in Jerusalem and became the father of more sons and daughters.

⁴These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet,

⁶Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,

⁷Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

⁸When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went out to face them.

⁹Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁰So David inquired of God, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go,” replied the LORD, “for I will deliver them into your hand.”

¹¹So David and his men went up to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, God has burst out against my enemies by my hand.” So they called that place Baal-perazim.

¹²There the Philistines abandoned their gods, and David ordered that they be burned in the fire.

¹³Once again the Philistines raided the valley.

¹⁴So David again inquired of God, who answered him, “Do not march up after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

¹⁵As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move out to battle, because this will mean that God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

¹⁶So David did as God had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

¹⁷And David’s fame went out into every land, and the LORD caused all nations to fear him.