投奔大衛的人

12 大衛在洗革拉躲避基士的兒子掃羅的時候,有些勇士來投奔他,幫助他作戰。 他們是弓箭手,左右手都能甩石射箭,來自便雅憫支派,與掃羅同族。 他們的首領是亞希以謝,其次是約阿施,都是基比亞人示瑪的兒子,還有亞斯瑪威的兒子耶薛和毗力,以及比拉迦、亞拿突人耶戶, 統領三十位勇士的傑出戰士基遍人以實買雅,另有耶利米、雅哈悉、約哈難、基得拉人約撒拔、 伊利烏賽、耶利摩、比亞利雅、示瑪利雅、哈律弗人示法提雅、 可拉人以利加拿、耶西亞、亞薩列、約以謝、雅朔班、 基多人耶羅罕的兒子猶拉和西巴第雅。

有些迦得支派的人到曠野的堡壘投奔大衛,他們作戰英勇,善用盾和矛,貌似雄獅,快如山鹿。 他們為首的是以薛,其次是俄巴底雅,第三是以利押, 10 第四是彌施瑪拿,第五是耶利米, 11 第六是亞太,第七是以利業, 12 第八是約哈難,第九是以利薩巴, 13 第十是耶利米,第十一是末巴奈。 14 他們都是迦得支派的將領,級別最低的統領一百人,最高的統領一千人。 15 一月,約旦河水漲過兩岸的時候,他們渡到河對岸,把住在平原的人打得東奔西逃。

16 便雅憫支派和猶大支派中也有人到堡壘投奔大衛, 17 大衛出去迎接他們,說:「如果你們是好心來幫助我的,我就與你們結盟,但如果你們把我這無罪之人出賣給敵人,願我們祖先的上帝鑒察、懲罰你們。」 18 當時,上帝的靈感動那三十位勇士的首領亞瑪撒,他就說:

「大衛啊,我們是你的人!
耶西的兒子啊,我們擁護你!
願你無比昌盛!
願幫助你的人也都昌盛!
因為你的上帝幫助你。」

大衛便收留他們,派他們統領他的隊伍。

19 從前,大衛和非利士人一同去攻打掃羅的時候,有些瑪拿西人來投奔大衛。但大衛及其部下沒有幫助非利士人作戰,因為非利士人的首領商議後,害怕大衛拿著非利士人的頭顱去歸順他的主人掃羅,便讓他們走了。 20 大衛回洗革拉的時候,瑪拿西支派的千夫長押拿、約撒拔、耶疊、米迦勒、約撒拔、以利戶、洗勒太都來投奔他。 21 他們都是將領,作戰英勇,幫助大衛抗擊匪徒。 22 那時天天有人來投奔大衛,以致形成一支大軍,好像上帝的軍隊。

23 有些全副武裝的士兵也到希伯崙投奔大衛,要把掃羅的國權交給大衛,正如耶和華的應許。以下是這些人的數目: 24 從猶大支派來了手持盾牌和長矛的六千八百名戰士; 25 從西緬支派來了七千一百名英勇的戰士; 26 從利未支派來了四千六百人; 27 亞倫家族中的首領耶何耶大和他的三千七百個隨從; 28 年輕、英勇的撒督和他家族的二十二個將領; 29 掃羅的親族、便雅憫支派中有三千人,大部分便雅憫人仍然效忠掃羅家; 30 來自以法蓮支派、在本族中有名望的兩萬零八百個英勇的戰士; 31 來自瑪拿西半個支派、被點名選出來擁立大衛做王的一萬八千人; 32 來自以薩迦支派、洞悉時事且深明以色列當行之道、統領族人的二百位族長; 33 來自西布倫支派、能征善戰、擁有各種兵器、訓練有素、忠心耿耿的五萬人; 34 來自拿弗他利支派的一千名將領和三萬七千名手持盾牌和長矛的隨從; 35 來自但支派的兩萬八千六百名訓練有素的人; 36 來自亞設支派的四萬名訓練有素的戰士; 37 來自約旦河東邊的呂便支派、迦得支派和瑪拿西半個支派的十二萬擁有各種兵器的人。

38 以上這些人都是能征善戰的勇士,他們誠心誠意地到希伯崙擁立大衛做以色列王,其餘的以色列人也都萬眾一心地要立大衛做王。 39 他們在那裡與大衛一起吃喝了三天,因為他們的親族為他們預備了食物。 40 他們周圍的人,遠至以薩迦、西布倫和拿弗他利支派的人,都用驢、駱駝、騾子和牛馱來麵餅、無花果餅、葡萄乾、酒和油,又牽來許多牛和羊,以色列境內充滿了歡樂。

12 Voici ceux qui se rendirent auprès de David à Tsiklag, lorsqu'il était encore éloigné de la présence de Saül, fils de Kis. Ils faisaient partie des vaillants hommes qui lui prêtèrent leur secours pendant la guerre.

C'étaient des archers, lançant des pierres de la main droite et de la main gauche, et tirant des flèches avec leur arc: ils étaient de Benjamin, du nombre des frères de Saül.

Le chef Achiézer et Joas, fils de Schemaa, de Guibea; Jeziel, et Péleth, fils d'Azmaveth; Beraca; Jéhu, d'Anathoth;

Jischmaeja, de Gabaon, vaillant parmi les trente et chef des trente; Jérémie; Jachaziel; Jochanan; Jozabad, de Guedéra;

Éluzaï; Jerimoth; Bealia; Schemaria; Schephathia, de Haroph;

Elkana, Jischija, Azareel, Joézer et Jaschobeam, Koréites;

Joéla et Zebadia, fils de Jerocham, de Guedor.

Parmi les Gadites, des hommes vaillants partirent pour se rendre auprès de David dans la forteresse du désert, des soldats exercés à la guerre, armés du bouclier et de la lance, semblables à des lions, et aussi prompts que des gazelles sur les montagnes.

Ézer, le chef; Abdias, le second; Éliab, le troisième;

10 Mischmanna, le quatrième; Jérémie, le cinquième;

11 Attaï, le sixième; Éliel, le septième;

12 Jochanan, le huitième; Elzabad, le neuvième;

13 Jérémie, le dixième; Macbannaï, le onzième.

14 C'étaient des fils de Gad, chefs de l'armée; un seul, le plus petit, pouvait s'attaquer à cent hommes, et le plus grand à mille.

15 Voilà ceux qui passèrent le Jourdain au premier mois, lorsqu'il débordait sur toutes ses rives, et qui mirent en fuite tous les habitants des vallées, à l'orient et à l'occident.

16 Il y eut aussi des fils de Benjamin et de Juda qui se rendirent auprès de David dans la forteresse.

17 David sortit au-devant d'eux, et leur adressa la parole, en disant: Si vous venez à moi dans de bonnes intentions pour me secourir, mon coeur s'unira à vous; mais si c'est pour me tromper au profit de mes ennemis, quand je ne commets aucune violence, que le Dieu de nos pères le voie et qu'il fasse justice!

18 Amasaï, l'un des principaux officiers, fut revêtu de l'esprit, et dit: Nous sommes à toi, David, et avec toi, fils d'Isaï! Paix, paix à toi, et paix à ceux qui te secourent, car ton Dieu t'a secouru! Et David les accueillit, et les plaça parmi les chefs de la troupe.

19 Des hommes de Manassé se joignirent à David, lorsqu'il alla faire la guerre à Saül avec les Philistins. Mais ils ne furent pas en aide aux Philistins; car, après s'être consultés, les princes des Philistins renvoyèrent David, en disant: Il passerait du côté de son maître Saül, au péril de nos têtes.

20 Quand il retourna à Tsiklag, voici ceux de Manassé qui se joignirent à lui: Adnach, Jozabad, Jediaël, Micaël, Jozabad, Élihu et Tsilthaï, chefs des milliers de Manassé.

21 Ils prêtèrent leur secours à David contre la troupe [des pillards Amalécites], car ils étaient tous de vaillants hommes, et ils furent chefs dans l'armée.

22 Et de jour en jour des gens arrivaient auprès de David pour le secourir, jusqu'à ce qu'il eût un grand camp, comme un camp de Dieu.

23 Voici le nombre des hommes armés pour la guerre qui se rendirent auprès de David à Hébron, afin de lui transférer la royauté de Saül, selon l'ordre de l'Éternel.

24 Fils de Juda, portant le bouclier et la lance, six mille huit cents, armés pour la guerre.

25 Des fils de Siméon, hommes vaillants à la guerre, sept mille cent.

26 Des fils de Lévi, quatre mille six cents;

27 et Jehojada, prince d'Aaron, et avec lui trois mille sept cents;

28 et Tsadok, vaillant jeune homme, et la maison de son père, vingt-deux chefs.

29 Des fils de Benjamin, frères de Saül, trois mille; car jusqu'alors la plus grande partie d'entre eux étaient restés fidèles à la maison de Saül.

30 Des fils d'Éphraïm, vingt mille huit cents, hommes vaillants, gens de renom, d'après les maisons de leurs pères.

31 De la demi-tribu de Manassé, dix-huit mille, qui furent nominativement désignés pour aller établir roi David.

32 Des fils d'Issacar, ayant l'intelligence des temps pour savoir ce que devait faire Israël, deux cents chefs, et tous leurs frères sous leurs ordres.

33 De Zabulon, cinquante mille, en état d'aller à l'armée, munis pour le combat de toutes les armes de guerre, et prêts à livrer bataille d'un coeur résolu.

34 De Nephthali, mille chefs, et avec eux trente-sept mille, portant le bouclier et la lance.

35 Des Danites, armés pour la guerre, vingt-huit mille six cents.

36 D'Aser, en état d'aller à l'armée et prêts à combattre: quarante mille.

37 Et de l'autre côté du Jourdain, des Rubénites, des Gadites, et de la demi-tribu de Manassé, avec toutes les armes de guerre, cent vingt mille.

38 Tous ces hommes, gens de guerre, prêts à combattre, arrivèrent à Hébron en sincérité de coeur pour établir David roi sur tout Israël. Et tout le reste d'Israël était également unanime pour faire régner David.

39 Ils furent là trois jours avec David, mangeant et buvant, car leurs frères leur avaient préparé des vivres.

40 Et même ceux qui habitaient près d'eux jusqu'à Issacar, à Zabulon et à Nephthali, apportaient des aliments sur des ânes, sur des chameaux, sur des mulets et sur des boeufs, des mets de farine, des masses de figues sèches et de raisins secs, du vin, de l'huile, des boeufs et des brebis en abondance, car Israël était dans la joie.

12 These are the names of the famous warriors who joined David at Ziklag while he was hiding from King Saul.[a] All of them were expert archers and slingers, and they could use their left hands as readily as their right! Like King Saul, they were all of the tribe of Benjamin.

3-7 Their chief was Ahiezer, son of Shemaah from Gibeah. The others were:

His brother Joash; Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu from Anathoth; Ishmaiah from Gibeon (a brave warrior rated as high or higher than The Thirty); Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad from Gederah; Eluzai; Jerimoth; Bealiah; Shemariah; Shephatiah from Haruph; Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam—all Korahites; Joelah and Zebadiah (sons of Jeroham from Gedor).

8-13 Great and brave warriors from the tribe of Gad also went to David in the wilderness. They were experts with both shield and spear and were “lion-faced men, swift as deer upon the mountains.”

Ezer was the chief;

Obadiah was second in command;

Eliab was third in command;

Mishmannah was fourth in command;

Jeremiah was fifth in command;

Attai was sixth in command;

Eliel was seventh in command;

Johanan was eighth in command;

Elzabad was ninth in command;

Jeremiah was tenth in command;

Machbannai was eleventh in command.

14 These men were army officers; the weakest was worth a hundred normal troops, and the greatest was worth a thousand! 15 They crossed the Jordan River during its seasonal flooding and conquered the lowlands on both the east and west banks.

16 Others came to David from Benjamin and Judah. 17 David went out to meet them and said, “If you have come to help me, we are friends; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when I am innocent, then may the God of our fathers see and judge you.”

18 Then the Holy Spirit came upon them, and Amasai, a leader of The Thirty, replied,

“We are yours, David;

We are on your side, son of Jesse.

Peace, peace be unto you,

And peace to all who aid you;

For your God is with you.”

So David let them join him, and he made them captains of his army.

19 Some men from Manasseh deserted the Israeli army and joined David just as he was going into battle with the Philistines against King Saul. But as it turned out, the Philistine generals refused to let David and his men go with them. After much discussion they sent them back, for they were afraid that David and his men would imperil them by deserting to King Saul.

20 Here is a list of the men from Manasseh who deserted to David as he was en route to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, Zillethai.

Each was a high-ranking officer of Manasseh’s troops. 21 They were brave and able warriors, and they assisted David when he fought against the Amalek raiders at Ziklag.[b]

22 More men joined David almost every day until he had a tremendous army—the army of God. 23 Here is the registry of recruits who joined David at Hebron. They were all anxious to see David become king instead of Saul, just as the Lord had said would happen.

24-37 From Judah, 6,800 troops armed with shields and spears.

From the tribe of Simeon, 7,100 outstanding warriors.

From the Levites, 4,600.

From the priests—descendants of Aaron—there were 3,700 troops under the command of Zadok, a young man of unusual courage, and Jehoiada. (He and twenty-two members of his family were officers of the fighting priests.)

From the tribe of Benjamin, the same tribe Saul was from, there were 3,000. (Most of that tribe retained its allegiance to Saul.)

From the tribe of Ephraim, 20,800 mighty warriors, each famous in his respective clan.

From the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 were sent for the express purpose of helping David become king.

From the tribe of Issachar there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives—all men who understood the temper of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.

From the tribe of Zebulun there were 50,000 trained warriors; they were fully armed and totally loyal to David.

From Naphtali there were 1,000 officers and 37,000 troops equipped with shields and spears.

From the tribe of Dan there were 28,600 troops, all of them prepared for war.

From the tribe of Asher, there were 40,000 trained and ready troops.

From the other side of the Jordan River—where the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh lived—there were 120,000 troops equipped with every kind of weapon.

38 All these men came in battle array to Hebron with the single purpose of making David the king of Israel. In fact, all of Israel was ready for this change. 39 They feasted and drank with David for three days, for preparations had been made for their arrival. 40 People from nearby and from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. Vast supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cattle, and sheep were brought to the celebration, for joy had spread throughout the land.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 12:1 King Saul, literally, “the son of Kish.”
  2. 1 Chronicles 12:21 Ziklag, implied.

12 Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war.

They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul's brethren of Benjamin.

The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Berachah, and Jehu the Antothite.

And Ismaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Josabad the Gederathite,

Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite,

Elkanah, and Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korhites,

And Joelah, and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;

Ezer the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

13 Jeremiah the tenth, Machbanai the eleventh.

14 These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the host: one of the least was over an hundred, and the greatest over a thousand.

15 These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown all his banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.

16 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David.

17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.

18 Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.

19 And there fell some of Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.

20 As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai, captains of the thousands that were of Manasseh.

21 And they helped David against the band of the rovers: for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.

22 For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.

23 And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord.

24 The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war.

25 Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war, seven thousand and one hundred.

26 Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred.

27 And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred;

28 And Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father's house twenty and two captains.

29 And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of Saul.

30 And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valour, famous throughout the house of their fathers.

31 And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, which were expressed by name, to come and make David king.

32 And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

33 Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.

34 And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand.

35 And of the Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred.

36 And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand.

37 And on the other side of Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, an hundred and twenty thousand.

38 All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

39 And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them.

40 Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.