1 Chronicles 4
Common English Bible
Judah’s line
4 Judah’s family: Perez, Hezron, Caleb,[a] Hur, and Shobal.
2 Shobal’s son Reaiah was Jahath’s father, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the Zorathite clans.
3 This was Etam’s family:[b] Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. Their sister’s name was Hazzelelponi. 4 Penuel was Gedor’s father, and Ezer was Hushah’s father.
This was the family of Hur the oldest son of Ephrathah, Bethlehem’s father: 5 Ashhur, Tekoa’s father, had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6 Naarah gave birth to Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari for him. This was Naarah’s family.
7 Helah’s family: Zereth, Zohar,[c] and Ethnan. 8 Koz was the father of Anub, Hazzobebah, and the clans of Aharhel, Harum’s son.
9 Jabez was more honored than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I bore him in pain.”[d] 10 Jabez called on Israel’s God: “If only you would greatly bless me and increase my territory. May your power go with me to keep me from trouble, so as not to cause me pain.” And God granted his request.
11 Chelub, Shuhah’s brother, was the father of Mehir, who was Eshton’s father. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, Ir-nahash’s father. These are the men of Recah.
13 Kenaz’s family: Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel’s family: Hathath and Meonothai.[e] 14 Meonothai was the father of Ophrah. Seraiah was the father of Joab the father of Ge-harashim,[f] so-called because they were skilled workers. 15 The family of Caleb, Jephunneh’s son: Iru, Elah, and Naam. This was Kenaz’s family.[g]
16 Jehallelel’s family: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17 Ezrah’s family:[h] Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Jether was the father of[i] Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, Eshtemoa’s father. 18 His Judean wife gave birth to Jered, Gedor’s father; Heber, Soco’s father; and Jekuthiel, Zanoah’s father.
This is the family of Bithiah, Pharaoh’s daughter, whom Mered married. 19 The family of his Judean wife,[j] the sister of Naham, Keilah’s father the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20 Shimon’s family: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon.
Ishi’s family: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth.
21 The family of Shelah, Judah’s son: Er, Lecah’s father; Laadah, Mareshah’s father; the clans of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea; 22 Jokim; the men of Cozeba; Joash; and Saraph, who married into[k] Moab but returned to Bethlehem[l] (the records are ancient). 23 They were the potters who lived in Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king in his service.
Simeon’s line
24 Simeon’s family: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul, 25 his son Shallum, his son Mibsam, and his son Mishma. 26 Mishma’s family: his son Hammuel, his son Zaccur, and his son Shimei. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn’t have many children, and none of their clans became as numerous as the Judeans.
28 They lived in Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their towns until David became king. 32 Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns— 33 as well as all their villages around these towns as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept their own family records:
34 Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, 35 Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah son of Seraiah son of Asiel, 36 Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, 37 and Ziza son of Shiphi son of Allon son of Jedaiah son of Shimri son of Shemaiah. 38 These mentioned by name were leaders in their clans, and their households increased greatly.
39 They went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to find pasture for their flocks. 40 They found fertile pasture, and the land was spacious, quiet, and peaceful; the people of Ham used to live there. 41 These whose names were recorded, however, came in the days of Judah’s King Hezekiah, attacked their tents and the Meunim[m] found there, and completely destroyed them, as can be seen today. They settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. 42 Some of them, five hundred Simeonites, went to Mount Seir, led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, Ishi’s sons. 43 They struck down those who were left of the Amalekites and have lived there ever since.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 4:1 Cf 1 Chron 2:19; MT Carmi
- 1 Chronicles 4:3 LXX; MT father
- 1 Chronicles 4:7 Qere, LXX; Kethib Izhar
- 1 Chronicles 4:9 Heb sounds like Jabez.
- 1 Chronicles 4:13 LXX, Vulg; MT lacks Meonothai.
- 1 Chronicles 4:14 Or the valley of skilled workers
- 1 Chronicles 4:15 Cf 4:13; MT the family of Elah and Kenaz
- 1 Chronicles 4:17 LXX, Vulg; MT son
- 1 Chronicles 4:17 LXX; MT and she conceived
- 1 Chronicles 4:19 LXX; MT the wife of Hodiah
- 1 Chronicles 4:22 Or ruled over
- 1 Chronicles 4:22 Cf Tg, Vulg; MT Lehem returned
- 1 Chronicles 4:41 Qere; Kethib Meinim
1 Chronicles 4
Contemporary English Version
The Descendants of Judah
4 Judah was the father of five sons: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2 Shobal was the father of Reaiah, the grandfather of Jahath, and the great-grandfather of Ahumai and Lahad. These men all belonged to the Zorathite clan.
3-4 Hur was the oldest son of Caleb and Ephrath. Some of his descendants settled the town of Bethlehem. Hur's other descendants included Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam's sons[a] were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and his daughter was Hazzelelponi. Penuel settled the town of Gedor, and Ezer settled the town of Hushah.
5 Ashhur, who settled the town of Tekoa, had two wives: Helah and Naarah. 6 Ashhur and Naarah were the parents of Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. 7 Ashhur and Helah were the parents of Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
8 Koz, the father of Anub and Zobebah, was also the ancestor of the clans of Aharhel, the son of Harum.
9 Jabez was a man who got his name because of the pain he caused his mother during birth.[b] But he was still the most respected son in his family. 10 One day he prayed to Israel's God, “Please bless me and give me a lot of land. Be with me so I will be safe from harm.”[c] And God did just what Jabez had asked.
11 Chelub was the brother of Shuhah and the father of Mehir. Later, Mehir had a son, Eshton, 12 whose three sons were Bethrapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. It was Tehinnah who settled the town of Nahash.[d] These men and their families lived in the town of Recah.
13 Kenaz was the father of Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel had two sons: Hathath and Meonothai,[e] 14 who was the father of Ophrah. Seraiah was the father of Joab, who settled a place called “Valley of Crafts”[f] because the people who lived there were experts in making things.
15 Caleb son of Jephunneh had three sons: Iru, Elah, and Naam. Elah was the father of Kenaz.
16 Jehallelel was the father of Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17-18 Ezrah was the father of Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered was married to Bithiah the daughter of the king of Egypt. They had a daughter named Miriam and two sons: Shammai and Ishbah. It was Ishbah who settled the town of Eshtemoa. Mered was also married to a woman from the tribe of Judah, and their sons were Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel. Jered settled the town of Gedor; Heber settled the town of Soco; and Jekuthiel settled the town of Zanoah.
19 A man named Hodiah was married to the sister of Naham. Hodiah's descendants included Keilah of the Garmite clan and Eshtemoa of the Maacathite clan.
20 Shimon was the father of Amnon, Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon.
Ishi was the father of Zoheth and Benzoheth.
21-22 Judah also had a son named Shelah, whose descendants included Jokim and the people of the town of Cozeba, as well as Er who settled the town of Lecah and Laadah who settled the town of Mareshah. The people who lived in Beth-Ashbea were also descendants of Shelah, and they were experts in weaving cloth. Shelah was the ancestor of Joash and Saraph, two men who married Moabite women and then settled near Bethlehem[g]—but these family records are very old. 23 The members of these clans were the potters who lived in the towns of Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king.
The Descendants of Simeon
24 Simeon had five sons: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. 25 The descendants of Shaul included his son Shallum, his grandson Mibsam, and his great-grandson Mishma. 26 The descendants of Mishma included his son Hammuel, his grandson Zaccur, and his great-grandson Shimei. 27 Shimei had 16 sons and 6 daughters. But his brothers did not have as many children, so the Simeon tribe was smaller than the Judah tribe.
28-31 (A) Before David became king, the people of the Simeon tribe lived in the following towns: Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-Marcaboth, Hazarsusim, Bethbiri, and Shaaraim. 32 They also lived in the five villages of Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, 33 as well as in the nearby villages as far as the town of Baal. These are the places where Simeon's descendants had settled, according to their own family records.
34-38 As their families and clans became larger, the people of Simeon had the following leaders: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu,[h] Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, and Ziza.[i] 39 When the people needed more pastureland for their flocks and herds, they looked as far as the eastern side of the valley where the town of Gerar[j] is located, 40 and they found a lot of good pastureland that was quiet and undisturbed. This had once belonged to the Hamites, 41 but when Hezekiah was king of Judah, the descendants of Simeon attacked and forced the Hamites and Meunites off the land, then settled there.
42 Some time later, 500 men from the Simeon tribe went into Edom[k] under the command of Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel the sons of Ishi. 43 They killed the last of the Amalekites and lived there from then on.
Footnotes
- 4.3,4 Etam's sons: Some manuscripts of one ancient translation; Hebrew “Etam's ancestors.”
- 4.9 Jabez … pain … birth: In Hebrew “Jabez” sounds like “pain.”
- 4.10 I … harm: Or “keep me from harm, so I won't cause any pain.”
- 4.12 who settled the town of Nahash: Or “who was the father of Irnahash.”
- 4.13 and Meonothai: Two ancient translations; these words are not in the Hebrew text.
- 4.14 Valley of Crafts: Hebrew “Geharashim.”
- 4.21,22 who married Moabite women and then settled near Bethlehem: Or “who ruled in Moab and Jashubi-Lahem” or “who ruled in Moab but then returned to Lehem.”
- 4.34-38 Jehu: Hebrew “Jehu son of Joshibiah son of Seraiah son of Asiel.”
- 4.34-38 Ziza: Hebrew “Ziza son of Shiphi son of Allon son of Jedaiah son of Shimri son of Shemaiah.”
- 4.39 Gerar: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Gedor.”
- 4.42 Edom: The Hebrew text has “Mount Seir,” a common name for the nation of Edom.
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