13 Sha’ul was — years old^[a] when he began his reign, and he had ruled Isra’el for two years, ² when he chose three thousand of Isra’el’s men. Two thousand of them were with Sha’ul in Mikhmas and in the hills of Beit-El, and a thousand were with Y’honatan in Giv‘at-Binyamin. The rest of the people he sent back to their respective tents.

³ Y’honatan assassinated the governor of the P’lishtim in Geva. The P’lishtim heard of it; so Sha’ul had the shofar sounded throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ All Isra’el heard that Sha’ul had assassinated the governor of the P’lishtim and thus made Isra’el a stench in the nostrils of the P’lishtim. So the people rallied behind Sha’ul in Gilgal; ⁵ while the P’lishtim assembled themselves together to make war on Isra’el — 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and an army as large as the number of sand grains on the seashore. They came up and pitched camp at Mikhmas, east of Beit-Aven. ⁶ The men of Isra’el saw that their options were limited and that the people felt so hard pressed that they were hiding themselves in caves, thickets, crevices, watchtowers and cisterns; ⁷ while some of the Hebrews crossed the Yarden to the territory of Gad and Gil‘ad. But Sha’ul was still in Gilgal, where all the people were eager to follow him. ⁸ He waited seven days, as Sh’mu’el had instructed; but Sh’mu’el didn’t come to Gilgal; so the army began to drift away from him. ⁹ Sha’ul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings,” and he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, there was Sh’mu’el — he had come, and Sha’ul went out to meet and greet him.

¹¹ Sh’mu’el said, “What have you done?” Sha’ul answered, “I saw that the army was drifting away from me, that you hadn’t come during the time appointed and that the P’lishtim had assembled at Mikhmas. ¹² I said, ‘Now the P’lishtim will fall on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t asked the favor of Adonai,’ so I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ Sh’mu’el said to Sha’ul, “You did a foolish thing. You didn’t observe the mitzvah of Adonai, which he gave you. If you had, Adonai would have set up your kingship over Isra’el forever. ¹⁴ But as it is, your kingship will not be established. Adonai has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Adonai has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you did not observe what Adonai ordered you to do.” ¹⁵ Then Sh’mu’el left Gilgal and went up to Giv‘at-Binyamin.

Sha’ul counted how many were still there with him, about 600 men. ¹⁶ Sha’ul, Y’honatan his son and the men with him took up quarters at Giv‘at-Binyamin, while the P’lishtim remained in camp at Mikhmas. ¹⁷ Then raiding parties began coming out from the camp of the P’lishtim, three of them: one group turned toward the road leading to ‘Ofrah in the territory of Shu‘al; ¹⁸ another group took the road toward Beit-Horon; and another company took the road toward the desert through the territory overlooking Vadi Tzvo‘im.

¹⁹ Now there was no metalsmith to be found anywhere in all the land of Isra’el, because the P’lishtim had said, “We don’t want the Hebrews making themselves swords or spears.” ²⁰ So whenever any of the people of Isra’el wanted to sharpen his hoe, plowshare, axe or pick, he had to go down to the P’lishtim, ²¹ where the exorbitant prices were two-thirds of a shekel for filing a pick or plowshare and one-third of a shekel for filing an axe or setting an oxgoad in its handle. ²² Thus when the time came to fight, no one in the army of Sha’ul and Y’honatan was equipped with either sword or spear; although Sha’ul and Y’honatan his son did have them.

²³ A garrison of the P’lishtim had gone out to the pass of Mikhmas.

2 These are the sons of Isra’el: Re’uven, Shim‘on, Levi, Y’hudah, Yissakhar, Z’vulun, ² Dan, Yosef, Binyamin, Naftali, Gad and Asher.

³ The sons of Y’hudah: ‘Er, Onan and Shelah; the mother of these three was Bat-Shua the Kena‘anit. ‘Er, Y’hudah’s firstborn, was wicked from Adonai’s perspective, so he killed him. ⁴ Tamar his daughter-in-law bore him Peretz and Zerach; thus Y’hudah had five sons altogether.

⁵ The sons of Peretz: Hetzron and Hamul. ⁶ The sons of Zerach: Zimri, Eitan, Heiman, Kalkol and Dara — five of them altogether. ⁷ The sons of Karmi: ‘Akhar [troubler], who troubled Isra’el by violating the rule concerning things set aside to be destroyed. ⁸ The son of Eitan: ‘Azaryah.

⁹ The sons born to Hetzron: Yerachme’el, Ram and K’luvai. ¹⁰ Ram fathered ‘Amminadav; ‘Amminadav fathered Nachshon prince of the descendants of Y’hudah; ¹¹ Nachshon fathered Salma; Salma fathered Bo‘az; ¹² Bo‘az fathered ‘Oved; ‘Oved fathered Yishai; ¹³ and Yishai fathered Eli’av his firstborn, Avinadav second, Shim‘a third, ¹⁴ N’tan’el fourth, Radai fifth, ¹⁵ Otzem sixth, David seventh, ¹⁶ and their sisters Tz’ruyah and Avigayil. The sons of Tz’ruyah: Avshai, Yo’av and ‘Asah’el, three of them. ¹⁷ Avigayil was the mother of ‘Amasa; the father of ‘Amasa was Yeter the Yishma‘eli.

¹⁸ Kalev the son of Hetzron fathered sons with ‘Azuvah his wife (and with Yeri‘ot); these were her sons: Yesher, Shovav and Ardon. ¹⁹ After ‘Azuvah died, Kalev married Efrat, who bore him Hur. ²⁰ Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered B’tzal’el. ²¹ Afterwards, Hetzron had sexual relations with the daughter of Machir the father of Gil‘ad; he married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore him S’guv. ²² S’guv fathered Ya’ir, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gil‘ad. ²³ (But G’shur and Aram took Havot-Ya’ir away from them, along with K’nat and its villages — sixty cities.) All these were descendants of Machir the father of Gil‘ad.

²⁴ After Hetzron died in Kalev-Efratah, Aviyah Hetzron’s wife bore him Ash’chur the father of T’koa.

²⁵ The sons of Yerachme’el Hetzron’s firstborn: Ram the firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Otzem and Achiyah. ²⁶ Yerachme’el had another wife, whose name was ‘Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. ²⁷ The sons of Ram the firstborn son of Yerachme’el: Ma‘atz, Yamin and ‘Eker. ²⁸ The sons of Onam: Shamai and Yada. The sons of Shamai: Nadav and Avishur. ²⁹ Avishur’s wife was named Avichayil, and she bore him Achban and Molid. ³⁰ The sons of Nadav: Seled and Apayim. Seled died without having any children. ³¹ The son of Apayim: Yish‘i. The son of Yish‘i: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Achlai. ³² The sons of Yada the brother of Shamai: Yeter and Yonatan. Yeter died without having any children. ³³ The sons of Yonatan: Pelet and Zaza. These were the descendants of Yerachme’el.

³⁴ Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Yarcha; ³⁵ Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Yarcha his servant, and she bore him ‘Atai. ³⁶ ‘Atai fathered Natan, Natan fathered Zavad, ³⁷ Zavad fathered Eflal, Eflal fathered ‘Oved, ³⁸ ‘Oved fathered Yehu, Yehu fathered ‘Azaryah, ³⁹ ‘Azaryah fathered Heletz, Heletz fathered El‘asah, ⁴⁰ El‘asah fathered Sismai, Sismai fathered Shalum, ⁴¹ Shalum fathered Y’kamyah and Y’kamyah fathered Elishama.

⁴² The sons of Kalev the brother of Yerachme’el: Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Zif; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hevron. ⁴³ The sons of Hevron: Korach, Tapuach, Rekem and Shema. ⁴⁴ Shema fathered Racham the father of Yorke‘am, and Rekem fathered Shamai. ⁴⁵ The son of Shamai was Ma‘on, and Ma‘on was the father of Beit-Tzur. ⁴⁶ ‘Eifah, Kalev’s concubine, bore Haran, Motza and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez. ⁴⁷ The sons of Yahdai: Regem, Yotam, Geshan, Pelet, ‘Eifah and Sha‘af. ⁴⁸ Ma‘akhah, Kalev’s concubine, bore Shever and Tirchanah. ⁴⁹ [The wife of] Sha‘af the father of Madmanah bore Sh’va the father of Machbenah and the father of Giv‘a. The daughter of Kalev was ‘Akhsah. ⁵⁰ These were the descendants of Kalev.

The sons of Hur the firstborn of Efratah: Shoval the father of Kiryat-Ye‘arim, ⁵¹ Salma the father of Beit-Lechem and Haref the father of Beit-Gader. ⁵² Shoval the father of Kiryat-Ye‘arim had sons: HaRo’eh and half of the [inhabitants of] M’nuchot. ⁵³ The families of Kiryat-Ye‘arim: the Yitri, the Puti, the Shumati and the Mishra‘i; from them came the Tzor‘ati and the Eshta’uli. ⁵⁴ The sons of Salma: Beit-Lechem, the N’tofati, ‘Atrot-Beit-Yo’av, half of the Manachati, the Tzor‘i, ⁵⁵ the families of scribes that lived in Ya‘betz, the Tir‘atim, the Shim‘atim and the Sukhatim. These are the Kinim, who came from Hamat, father of the house of Rekhav.

3 These were the sons born to David in Hevron: the firstborn was Amnon, whose mother was Achino‘am from Yizre‘el; the second, Dani’el, whose mother was Avigayil from Karmel; ² the third, Avshalom, the son of Ma‘akhah the daughter of Talmai king of G’shur; the fourth, Adoniyah the son of Haggit; ³ the fifth, Sh’fatyah, whose mother was Avital; and the sixth, Yitre‘am, whose mother was his wife ‘Eglah. ⁴ Six were born to David in Hevron. He ruled there seven years and six months; then he ruled in Yerushalayim thirty-three years.

⁵ These were born to him in Yerushalayim: Shim‘a, Shovav, Natan, Shlomo, four whose mother was Bat-Shua the daughter of ‘Ammi’el; ⁶ and nine others — Yivchar, Elishama, Elifelet, ⁷ Nogah, Nefeg, Yafia, ⁸ Elishama, Elyada and Elifelet. ⁹ All these were sons of David, apart from the sons of the concubines; Tamar was their sister.

¹⁰ Shlomo’s son was Rechav‘am, his son Aviyah, his son Asa, his son Y’hoshafat, ¹¹ his son Yoram, his son Achazyah, his son Yo’ash, ¹² his son Amatzyah, his son ‘Azaryah, his son Yotam, ¹³ his son Achaz, his son Hizkiyahu, his son M’nasheh, ¹⁴ his son Amon and his son Yoshiyahu. ¹⁵ The sons of Yoshiyahu: Yochanan the firstborn, Y’hoyakim the second, Tzedekyah the third, and Shalum the fourth. ¹⁶ The sons of Y’hoyakim: Y’khonyah his son, and Tzedekyah his son. ¹⁷ The sons of Y’khonyah, also called Asir: Sh’alti’el his son; ¹⁸ also Malkiram, P’dayah, Shen’atzar, Y’kamyah, Hoshama and N’davyah. ¹⁹ The sons of P’dayah: Z’rubavel and Shim‘i. The children of Z’rubavel: Meshulam, Hananyah and Shlomit their sister; ²⁰ also Hashuvah, Ohel, Berekhyah, Hasadyah and Yushav-Hesed — five. ²¹ The sons of Hananyah: P’latyah and Yesha‘yah. His son was Refayah. His son was Arnan. His son was ‘Ovadyah. And his son was Sh’khanyah. ²² The sons of Sh’khanyah: Sh’ma‘yah and the sons of Sh’ma‘yah — Hatush, Yig’al, Bariach, Ne‘aryah and Shafat — six. ²³ The sons of Ne‘aryah: Elyo‘einai, Hizkiyah and ‘Azrikam — three. ²⁴ The sons of Elyo‘einai: Hodavyahu, Elyashiv, P’layah, ‘Akuv, Yochanan, D’layah and ‘Anani — seven.

12 I have to boast. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man in union with the Messiah who fourteen years ago was snatched up to the third heaven; whether he was in the body or outside the body I don’t know, God knows. ³ And I know that such a man — whether in the body or apart from the body I don’t know, God knows — ⁴ was snatched into Gan-‘Eden and heard things that cannot be put into words, things unlawful for a human being to utter. ⁵ About such a man I will boast; but about myself I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. ⁶ If I did want to boast, I would not be foolish; because I would be speaking the truth. But, because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, I refrain, so that no one will think more of me than what my words or deeds may warrant. ⁷ Therefore, to keep me from becoming overly proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from the Adversary to pound away at me, so that I wouldn’t grow conceited. ⁸ Three times I begged the Lord to take this thing away from me; ⁹ but he told me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness.” Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah’s power will rest upon me. ¹⁰ Yes, I am well pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties endured on behalf of the Messiah; for it is when I am weak that I am strong.

¹¹ I have behaved like a fool, but you forced me to do it — you who should have been commending me. For I am in no way inferior to the “super-emissaries,” even if I am nothing. ¹² The things that prove I am an emissary — signs, wonders and miracles — were done in your presence, despite what I had to endure. ¹³ Is there any way in which you have been behind any of the other congregations, other than in my not having been a burden to you? For this unfairness, please forgive me!

¹⁴ Look, I am ready this third time to come and visit you; and I will not be a burden to you; for it is not what you own that I want, but you! Children are not supposed to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. ¹⁵ And as for me, I will most gladly spend everything I have and be spent myself too for your sakes. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

¹⁶ Let it be granted, then, that I was not a burden to you; but, crafty fellow that I am, I took you with trickery! ¹⁷ Was it perhaps through someone I sent you ¹⁸ that I took advantage of you? I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him; Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we live by the same Spirit and show you the same path?

¹⁹ Perhaps you think that all this time we have been defending ourselves before you. No, we have been speaking in the sight of God, as those united with the Messiah should; and, my dear friends, it is all for your upbuilding. ²⁰ For I am afraid of coming and finding you not the way I want you to be, and also of not being found the way you want me to be. I am afraid of finding quarreling and jealousy, anger and rivalry, slander and gossip, arrogance and disorder. ²¹ I am afraid that when I come again, my God may humiliate me in your presence, and that I will be grieved over many of those who sinned in the past and have not repented of the impurity, fornication and debauchery that they have engaged in.