Warriors Join David

12 These were the men who came to David at Ziklag when David was hiding from Saul son of Kish. They were among the warriors who helped David in battle. ² They came with bows for weapons and could use either their right or left hands to shoot arrows or to sling rocks. They were Saul’s relatives from the tribe of Benjamin. ³ Ahiezer was their leader, and there was Joash. (Ahiezer and Joash were sons of Shemaah, who was from the town of Gibeah.) There were also Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth. There were Beracah and Jehu from the town of Anathoth. ⁴ And there was Ishmaiah from the town of Gibeon; he was one of the Thirty. In fact, he was the leader of the Thirty. There were Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from Gederah. ⁵ There were Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, and Shemariah. There was Shephatiah from Haruph. ⁶ There were Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam from the family group of Korah. ⁷ And there were Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham, from the town of Gedor.

⁸ Part of the people of Gad joined David at his stronghold in the desert. They were brave warriors trained for war and skilled with shields and spears. They were as fierce as lions and as fast as gazelles over the hills.

⁹ Ezer was the leader of Gad’s army, and Obadiah was second in command. Eliab was third, ¹⁰ Mishmannah was fourth, Jeremiah was fifth, ¹¹ Attai was sixth, Eliel was seventh, ¹² Johanan was eighth, Elzabad was ninth, ¹³ Jeremiah was tenth, and Macbannai was eleventh in command.

¹⁴ They were the commanders of the army from Gad. The least of these leaders was in charge of a hundred soldiers, and the greatest was in charge of a thousand. ¹⁵ They crossed the Jordan River and chased away the people living in the valleys, to the east and to the west. This happened in the first month of the year when the Jordan floods the valley.

¹⁶ Other people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his stronghold. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But if you have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong, the God of our ancestors will see this and punish you.”

¹⁸ Then the Spirit entered Amasai, the leader of the Thirty, and he said:

So David welcomed these men and made them leaders of his army.

¹⁹ Some of the men from Manasseh also joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After talking about it, the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, “If David goes back to his master Saul, we will be killed.” ²⁰ These are the men from Manasseh who joined David when he went to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each of them was a leader of a thousand men from Manasseh. ²¹ All these men of Manasseh were brave soldiers, and they helped David fight against groups of men who went around the country robbing people. These soldiers became commanders in David’s army. ²² Every day more men joined David, and his army became large, like the army of God.

Others Join David at Hebron

²³ These are the numbers of the soldiers ready for battle who joined David at Hebron. They came to help turn the kingdom of Saul over to David, just as the Lord had said.

²⁴ There were sixty-eight hundred men with their weapons from Judah. They carried shields and spears.

²⁵ There were seventy-one hundred men from Simeon. They were warriors ready for war.

²⁶ There were forty-six hundred men from Levi. ²⁷ Jehoiada, a leader from Aaron’s family, was in that group. There were thirty-seven hundred with him. ²⁸ Zadok was also in that group. He was a strong young warrior, and with him came twenty-two leaders from his family.

²⁹ There were three thousand men from Benjamin, who were Saul’s relatives. Most of them had remained loyal to Saul’s family until then.

³⁰ There were twenty thousand eight hundred men from Ephraim. They were brave warriors and were famous men in their own family groups.

³¹ There were eighteen thousand men from West Manasseh. Each one was especially chosen to make David king.

³² There were two hundred leaders from Issachar. They knew what Israel should do, and they knew the right time to do it. Their relatives were with them and under their command.

³³ There were fifty thousand men from Zebulun. They were trained soldiers and knew how to use every kind of weapon of war. They followed David completely.

³⁴ There were one thousand officers from Naphtali. They had thirty-seven thousand soldiers with them who carried shields and spears.

³⁵ There were twenty-eight thousand six hundred men from Dan, who were ready for war.

³⁶ There were forty thousand trained soldiers from Asher, who were ready for war.

³⁷ There were one hundred twenty thousand soldiers from the east side of the Jordan River from the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. They had every kind of weapon.

³⁸ All these fighting men were ready to go to war. They came to Hebron fully agreed to make David king of all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed to make David king. ³⁹ They spent three days there with David, eating and drinking, because their relatives had prepared food for them. ⁴⁰ Also, their neighbors came from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. They brought much flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cows, and sheep, because the people of Israel were very happy.