1 Chronicles 9-11

Contemporary English Version

The People Who Returned from Babylonia and Settled in Jerusalem

9 Everyone in Israel was listed in the official family records that were included in the history of Israel's kings.

The people of Judah were taken to Babylonia as prisoners because they sinned against the Lord. ^2 (A) And the first people to return to their towns included priests, Levites, temple workers, and other Israelites. ³ People from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh settled in Jerusalem.

^4-6 There were 690 people from the Judah tribe who settled in Jerusalem. They were all descendants of Judah's three sons: Perez, Shelah, and Zerah. Their leaders were Uthai, Asaiah, and Jeuel. Uthai was the son of Ammihud and a descendant of Omri, Imri, Bani, and Perez. Asaiah was a descendant of Shelah; Jeuel was a descendant of Zerah.

^7-9 There were also 956 family leaders from the Benjamin tribe who settled in Jerusalem. They included: Sallu son of Meshullam, grandson of Hodaviah, and great-grandson of Hassenuah; Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of Uzzi and grandson of Michri; Meshullam son of Shephatiah, grandson of Reuel, and great-grandson of Ibnijah.

The Priests Who Settled in Jerusalem

^10-12 Here is a list of priests who settled in Jerusalem: Jedaiah; Jehoiarib; Jachin; Azariah, who was a temple official, and whose ancestors included Hilkiah, Meshullam, Zadok, Meraioth, and Ahitub; Adaiah son of Jeroham, whose ancestors included Pashhur and Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, whose ancestors included Jahzerah, Meshullam, Meshillemith, and Immer.

¹³ There was a total of 1,760 priests, all of them family leaders in their clan and trained in the work at the temple.

The Levites Who Settled in Jerusalem

^14-16 Here is a list of Levites who settled in Jerusalem: Shemaiah from the Merari clan, whose ancestors included Hasshub, Azrikam, and Hashabiah; Bakbakkar; Heresh; Galal; Mattaniah son of Mica, whose ancestors included Zichri and Asaph; Obadiah son of Shemaiah, whose ancestors included Galal and Jeduthun; Berechiah son of Asa and grandson of Elkanah, who had lived in the villages near the town of Netophah.

The Temple Guards Who Settled in Jerusalem

¹⁷ Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives were the guards at the temple gates. Shallum was the leader of this clan, ¹⁸ and for a long time they had been the guards at the King's Gate on the east side of the city. Before that, their ancestors guarded the entrance to the Levite camp.

¹⁹ Shallum son of Kore,^[a] as well as the other men in the Korahite clan, guarded the entrance to the temple, just as their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the sacred tent. ²⁰ Phinehas son of Eleazar had supervised their work because the Lord was with him.

²¹ Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was also one of the guards at the temple.

²² There was a total of 212 guards, all of them listed in the family records in their towns. Their ancestors had been chosen by King David and by Samuel the prophet to be responsible for this work, ²³ and now they guarded the temple gates.

²⁴ There was one full-time guard appointed to each of the four sides of the temple. ²⁵ Their assistants lived in the villages outside the city, and every seven days a group of them would come into the city and take their turn at guard duty. ²⁶ The four full-time guards were Levites, and they supervised the other guards and were responsible for the rooms in the temple and the supplies kept there. ²⁷ They guarded the temple day and night and opened its doors every morning.

The Duties of the Levites

²⁸ Some of the Levites were responsible for the equipment used in worship at the temple, and they had to count everything before and after it was used. ²⁹ Others were responsible for the temple furnishings and its sacred objects, as well as the flour, wine, olive oil, incense, and spices. ³⁰ But only the priests could mix the spices. ³¹ Mattithiah, Shallum's oldest son, was a member of the Levite clan of Korah, and he was in charge of baking the bread used for offerings.^{[b] 32} The Levites from the Kohath clan were in charge of baking the sacred loaves of bread for each Sabbath.^[c]

³³ The Levite family leaders who were the musicians also lived at the temple. They had no other responsibilities, because they were on duty day and night.

³⁴ All of these men were family leaders in the Levi tribe and were listed that way in their family records. They lived in Jerusalem.

King Saul's Family

(1 Chronicles 8.29-38)

³⁵ Jeiel had settled the town of Gibeon, where he and his wife Maacah lived. ³⁶ They had ten sons, who were born in the following order: Abdon, Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth ³⁸ the father of Shimeam. Some of them went to live in Jerusalem near their relatives.

³⁹ Ner was the father of Kish and the grandfather of King Saul.

Saul had four sons: Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.^{[d] 40-41} Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal,^[e] the grandfather of Micah, and the great-grandfather of Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.^{[f] 42-44} The descendants of Ahaz included Jarah, Alemeth, Azmaveth, Zimri, Moza, Binea, Rephaiah, Eleasah, and Azel and his six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan.

King Saul and His Sons Die

(1 Samuel 31.1-13)

10 The Philistines fought against Israel in a battle at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed. ² The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons and killed three of them: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³ The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.

⁴ Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, “Kill me with your sword! I don't want those godless Philistines to torture and make fun of me.”

But the soldier was afraid to kill him. Then Saul stuck himself in the stomach with his own sword and fell on the blade. ⁵ When the soldier realized that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.

⁶ Saul, three of his sons, and all his male relatives were dead. ⁷ The Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley^[g] learned that their army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. They ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites left behind.

⁸ The next day the Philistines came back to the battlefield to carry away the weapons of the dead Israelite soldiers. When they found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa, ⁹ they took Saul's weapons, pulled off his armor, and cut off his head. Then they sent messengers everywhere in Philistia to spread the news among their people and to thank the idols of their gods. ¹⁰ They put Saul's armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon.

¹¹ When the people who lived in Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² some brave men went to get his body and the bodies of his three sons. The men brought the bodies back to Jabesh, where they buried them under an oak tree. Then for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.

^13 (B) Saul died because he was unfaithful and disobeyed the Lord. He even asked advice from a woman who talked to spirits of the dead, ¹⁴ instead of asking the Lord. So the Lord had Saul killed and gave his kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

David Becomes King of Israel

(2 Samuel 5.1-3)

11 Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, “We are your relatives, ² and we know that you have led our army into battle, even when Saul was still our king. The Lord God has promised that you would rule our country and take care of us like a shepherd. ³ So we have come to crown you king of Israel.”

David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now king of Israel. This happened just as the Lord's prophet Samuel had said.

David Captures Jerusalem

(2 Samuel 5.6-10)

^4 (C) Jerusalem was called Jebus at the time, and David led Israel's army to attack the town. ⁵ The Jebusites said, “You won't be able to get in here!” But David captured the fortress of Mount Zion, which is now called the City of David.

⁶ David had told his troops, “The first soldier to kill a Jebusite will become my army commander.” And since Joab son of Zeruiah attacked first, he became commander.

⁷ Later, David moved to the fortress—that's why it's called the City of David. ⁸ He had the city rebuilt, starting at the landfill on the east side.^[h] Meanwhile, Joab supervised the repairs to the rest of the city.

⁹ David became a great and strong ruler, because the Lord All-Powerful was on his side.

The Three Warriors

(2 Samuel 23.8-17)

¹⁰ The Lord had promised that David would become king, and so everyone in Israel gave David their support. Certain warriors also helped keep his kingdom strong.

¹¹ The first of these warriors was Jashobeam the son of Hachmoni, the leader of the Three Warriors.^[i] In one battle he killed 300 men with his spear.

¹² Another one of the Three Warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. ¹³ During a battle against the Philistines at Pas-Dammim, all the Israelite soldiers ran away, ¹⁴ except Eleazar, who stayed with David. They took their positions in a nearby barley field and defeated the Philistines! The Lord gave Israel a great victory that day.

¹⁵ One time the Three Warriors^[j] went to meet David among the rocks at Adullam Cave. The Philistine army had set up camp in Rephaim Valley ¹⁶ and had taken over Bethlehem. David was in a fortress, ¹⁷ and he said, “I'm very thirsty. I wish I had a drink of water from the well by the gate to Bethlehem.”

¹⁸ The Three Warriors sneaked through the Philistine camp and got some water from the well near Bethlehem's gate. They took it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured out the water as a sacrifice to the Lord ¹⁹ and said, “Drinking this water would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives to get it for me.”

The Three Warriors did these brave deeds.

The Thirty Warriors

(2 Samuel 23.18-39)

²⁰ Joab's brother Abishai was the leader of the Thirty Warriors,^[k] and in one battle he killed 300 men with his spear. He was just as famous as the Three Warriors ²¹ and was more famous than the rest of the Thirty Warriors. He was their commander, but he never became one of the Three Warriors.^[l]

²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a brave man from Kabzeel who did some amazing things. One time he killed two of Moab's best fighters, and one snowy day he went into a pit and killed a lion. ²³ Another time he killed an Egyptian who was over two meters tall and was armed with a spear. Benaiah only had a club, so he grabbed the spear from the Egyptian and killed him with it. ²⁴ Benaiah did things like that; he was just as brave as the Three Warriors, ²⁵ even though he never became one of them. And he was certainly as famous as the rest of the Thirty Warriors. So David made him the leader of his own bodyguard.

^26-47 Here is a list of the other famous warriors:

Asahel the brother of Joab; Elhanan the son of Dodo from Bethlehem; Shammoth from Haror; Helez from Pelon; Ira the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa; Abiezer from Anathoth; Sibbecai the Hushathite; Ilai^[m] the Ahohite; Maharai from Netophah; Heled the son of Baanah from Netophah; Ithai the son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin; Benaiah from Pirathon; Hurai^[n] from near the streams on Mount Gaash; Abiel from Arbah; Azmaveth from Baharum; Eliahba from Shaalbon; Hashem^[o] the Gizonite; Jonathan the son of Shagee from Harar; Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite; Eliphal the son of Ur; Hepher from Mecherah; Ahijah from Pelon; Hezro from Carmel; Naarai the son of Ezbai; Joel the brother of Nathan; Mibhar the son of Hagri; Zelek from Ammon; Naharai from Beeroth who carried Joab's weapons; Ira the Ithrite; Gareb the Ithrite; Uriah the Hittite; Zabad the son of Ahlai; Adina the son of Shiza, a leader in the Reuben tribe, and 30 of his soldiers; Hanan the son of Maacah; Joshaphat from Mithan; Uzzia from Ashterah; Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham from Aroer; Jediael and Joha the sons of Shimri from Tiz; Eliel from Mahavah; Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam; Ithmah from Moab; Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel from Mezobah.