1 Chronicles 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
1 [a]The sons of Judah were: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.(A) 2 Reaiah, the son of Shobal, became the father of Jahath, and Jahath became the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the Zorathites.
3 These were the sons of Hareph, the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; their sister was named Hazzelelponi. 4 Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.
5 Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah.(B) 6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, the Temenites, and the Ahashtarites. These were the sons of Naarah. 7 The sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar, Ethnan, and Koz. 8 Koz became the father of Anub and Zobebah, as well as of the clans of Aharhel, son of Harum. 9 Jabez was the most distinguished of his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I bore him with pain.” 10 Jabez prayed to the God of Israel: “Oh, that you may truly bless me and extend my boundaries! May your hand be with me and make me free of misfortune, without pain!” And God granted his prayer.
11 Chelub, the brother of Shuhah, became the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton became the father of Bethrapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of the city of Nahash. These were the men of Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel were Hathath and Meonothai;(C) 14 Meonothai became the father of Ophrah. Seraiah became the father of Joab, the father of Geharashim, so called because they were artisans. 15 The sons of Caleb, son of Jephunneh, were Ir, Elah, and Naam. The sons of Elah: Kenaz.(D) 16 The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17 The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Jether became the father of Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa.(E) 18 Mered’s Egyptian wife bore Jered, the father of Gedor, Heber, the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel, the father of Zanoah. These were the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married. 19 The sons of his Jewish wife, the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah, were Shimon the Garmite and Ishi the Maacathite. 20 The sons of Shimon were Amnon, Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon. The son of Ishi was Zoheth and the son of Zoheth….
21 The sons of Shelah, son of Judah, were: Er, the father of Lecah; Laadah, the father of Mareshah; the clans of the linen weavers’ guild in Bethashbea;(F) 22 Jokim; the people of Cozeba; and Joash and Saraph, who held property in Moab, but returned to Bethlehem. (These are events of old.) 23 They were potters and inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah, where they lived in the king’s service.
Simeon. 24 The sons of Simeon were Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, Zerah, and Shaul,(G) 25 whose son was Shallum, whose son was Mibsam, whose son was Mishma. 26 The sons of Mishma were his son Hammuel, whose son was Zaccur, whose son was Shimei. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. His brothers, however, did not have many sons, and as a result all their clans did not equal the number of the Judahites.
28 They dwelt in Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Bethbiri, and Shaaraim. Until the reign of David, these were their cities 32 and their villages. Etam, also, and Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities,(H) 33 together with all their outlying villages as far as Baal. Here is where they dwelt, and so it was inscribed of them in their 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 Ziza, son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah— 38 these just named were princes in their clans, and their ancestral houses spread out to such an extent(I) 39 that they went to the approaches of Gedor,[b] east of the valley, seeking pasture for their flocks. 40 They found abundant and good pastures, and the land was spacious, quiet, and peaceful—for the Hamites dwelt there formerly. 41 They who have just been listed by name set out during the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and attacked their tents and also the Meunites who were there. They put them under the ban that is still in force to this day and dwelt in their place because they found pasture there for their flocks.(J)
42 Five hundred of them (the Simeonites) went to Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, sons of Ishi, at their head. 43 They attacked the surviving Amalekites who had escaped, and have lived there to the present day.(K)
1 Chronicles 4
New Century Version
Other Family Groups of Judah
4 Judah’s descendants were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
2 Reaiah was Shobal’s son. Reaiah was the father of Jahath, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. They were the family groups of the Zorathite people.
3-4 Hur was the oldest son of Caleb and his wife Ephrathah. Hur was the leader of Bethlehem. His three sons were Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam’s sons were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. They had a sister named Hazzelelponi. Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.
5 Tekoa’s father was Ashhur. Ashhur had two wives named Helah and Naarah.
6 The sons of Ashhur and Naarah were Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the descendants of Naarah.
7 Helah’s sons were Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, 8 and Koz. Koz was the father of Anub, Hazzobebah, and the Aharhel family group. Aharhel was the son of Harum.
9 There was a man named Jabez, who was respected more than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez[a] because she said, “I was in much pain when I gave birth to him.” 10 Jabez prayed to the God of Israel, “Please do good things for me and give me more land. Stay with me, and don’t let anyone hurt me. Then I won’t have any pain.” And God did what Jabez had asked.
11 Kelub, Shuhah’s brother, was the father of Mehir. Mehir was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. Tehinnah was the father of the people from the town of Nahash. These people were from Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah.
Othniel’s sons were Hathath and Meonothai. 14 Meonothai was the father of Ophrah.
Seraiah was the father of Joab. Joab was the ancestor of the people from Craftsmen’s Valley, named that because the people living there were craftsmen.
15 Caleb was Jephunneh’s son. Caleb’s sons were Iru, Elah, and Naam. Elah’s son was Kenaz.
16 Jehallelel’s sons were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17-18 Ezrah’s sons were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered married Bithiah, the daughter of the king of Egypt. The children of Mered and Bithiah were Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah. Ishbah was the father of Eshtemoa. Mered also had a wife from Judah, who gave birth to Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel. Jered became the father of Gedor. Heber became the father of Soco. And Jekuthiel became the father of Zanoah.
19 Hodiah’s wife was Naham’s sister. The sons of Hodiah’s wife were Eshtemoa and the father of Keilah. Keilah was from the Garmite people, and Eshtemoa was from the Maacathite people.
20 Shimon’s sons were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan, and Tilon.
Ishi’s sons were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.
21-22 Shelah was Judah’s son. Shelah’s sons were Er, Laadah, Jokim, the men from Cozeba, Joash, and Saraph. Er was the father of Lecah. Laadah was the father of Mareshah and the family groups of linen workers at Beth Ashbea. Joash and Saraph ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. The writings about this family are very old. 23 These sons of Shelah were potters. They lived in Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king.
Simeon’s Children
24 Simeon’s sons were Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. 25 Shaul’s son was Shallum. Shallum’s son was Mibsam. Mibsam’s son was Mishma.
26 Mishma’s son was Hammuel. Hammuel’s son was Zaccur. Zaccur’s son was Shimei. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so there were not as many people in their family group as there were in Judah.
28 Shimei’s children lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri, and Shaaraim. They lived in these cities until David became king. 32 The five villages near these cities were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token, and Ashan. 33 There were also other villages as far away as Baalath. This is where they lived. And they wrote the history of their family.
34-38 The men in this list were leaders of their family groups: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah (Joshibiah was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Asiel), Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, and Ziza. (Ziza was the son of Shiphi, who was the son of Allon. Allon was the son of Jedaiah, who was the son of Shimri. And Shimri was the son of Shemaiah.)
These families grew very large. 39 They went outside the city of Gedor to the east side of the valley to look for pasture for their flocks. 40 They found good pastures with plenty of grass, and the land was open country and peaceful and quiet. Ham’s descendants had lived there in the past.
41 These men who were listed came to Gedor while Hezekiah was king of Judah. They fought against the Hamites, destroying their tents, and also against the Meunites who lived there, and completely destroyed them. So there are no Meunites there even today. Then these men began to live there, because there was pasture for their flocks. 42 Ishi’s sons, Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, led five hundred of the Simeonites and attacked the people living in the mountains of Edom. 43 They killed the few Amalekites who were still alive. From that time until now these Simeonites have lived in Edom.
Footnotes
- 4:9 Jabez This name in Hebrew sounds like the word for “pain.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
