1 Chronicles 12-15

New King James Version

The Growth of David’s Army^(A)

12 Now ^(B)these were the men who came to David at ^(C)Ziklag while he was still a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war, ² armed with bows, using both the right hand and ^(D)the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Saul’s brethren.

³ The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of ^[a]Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Berachah, and Jehu the Anathothite; ⁴ Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite; ⁵ Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite; ⁶ Elkanah, Jisshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; ⁷ and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸ Some Gadites ^[b]joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were ^(E)as swift as gazelles on the mountains: ⁹ 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, and Machbanai the eleventh. ¹⁴ These were from the sons of Gad, captains of the army; the least was over a hundred, and the greatest was over a ^(F)thousand. ¹⁵ These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its ^(G)banks; and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. ¹⁷ And David went out ^[c]to meet them, and answered and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no ^[d]wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.” ¹⁸ Then the Spirit ^[e]came upon ^(H)Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said:

So David received them, and made them captains of the troop.

¹⁹ And some from Manasseh defected to David ^(I)when he was going with the Philistines to battle against Saul; but they did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away by agreement, saying, ^(J)“He may defect to his master Saul and endanger our heads.” ²⁰ When he went to Ziklag, those of Manasseh who defected to him were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of the thousands who were from Manasseh. ²¹ And they helped David against ^(K)the bands of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and they were captains in the army. ²² For at that time they came to David day by day to help him, until it was a great army, ^(L)like the army of God.

David’s Army at Hebron

²³ Now these were the numbers of the ^[f]divisions that were equipped for war, and ^(M)came to David at ^(N)Hebron to ^(O)turn over the kingdom of Saul to him, ^(P)according to the word of the Lord: ²⁴ of the sons of Judah bearing shield and spear, six thousand eight hundred ^[g]armed for war; ²⁵ of the sons of Simeon, mighty men of valor fit for war, seven thousand one hundred; ²⁶ of the sons of Levi four thousand six hundred; ²⁷ Jehoiada, the leader of the Aaronites, and with him three thousand seven hundred; ^28 (Q)Zadok, a young man, a valiant warrior, and from his father’s house twenty-two captains; ²⁹ of the sons of Benjamin, relatives of Saul, three thousand (until then ^(R)the greatest part of them had remained loyal to the house of Saul); ³⁰ of the sons of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of valor, ^[h]famous men throughout their father’s house; ³¹ of the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated by name to come and make David king; ³² of the sons of Issachar ^(S)who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command; ³³ of Zebulun there were fifty thousand who went out to battle, expert in war with all weapons of war, ^(T)stouthearted men who could keep ranks; ³⁴ of Naphtali one thousand captains, and with them thirty-seven thousand with shield and spear; ³⁵ of the Danites who could keep battle formation, twenty-eight thousand six hundred; ³⁶ of Asher, those who could go out to war, able to keep battle formation, forty thousand; ³⁷ of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, from the other side of the Jordan, one hundred and twenty thousand armed for battle with every kind of weapon of war.

³⁸ All these men of war, who could keep ranks, came to Hebron with a loyal heart, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were of ^(U)one mind to make David king. ³⁹ And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their brethren had prepared for them. ⁴⁰ Moreover those who were near to them, from as far away as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, were bringing food on donkeys and camels, on mules and oxen—provisions of flour and cakes of figs and cakes of raisins, wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly, for there was joy in Israel.

The Ark Brought from Kirjath Jearim^(V)

13 Then David consulted with the ^(W)captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. ² And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is of the Lord our God, let us send out to our brethren everywhere who are ^(X)left in all the land of Israel, and with them to the priests and Levites who are in their cities and their common-lands, that they may gather together to us; ³ and let us bring the ark of our God back to us, ^(Y)for we have not inquired at it since the days of Saul.” ⁴ Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

⁵ So ^(Z)David gathered all Israel together, from ^(AA)Shihor in Egypt to as far as the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God ^(AB)from Kirjath Jearim. ⁶ And David and all Israel went up to ^(AC)Baalah,^[i] to Kirjath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, ^(AD)who dwells between the cherubim, where His name is proclaimed. ⁷ So they ^[j]carried the ark of God ^(AE)on a new cart ^(AF)from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. ⁸ Then ^(AG)David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with ^[k]singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.

⁹ And when they came to ^[l]Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen ^[m]stumbled. ¹⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him ^(AH)because he put his hand to the ark; and he ^(AI)died there before God. ¹¹ And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzza; therefore that place is called ^[n]Perez Uzza to this day. ¹² David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring the ark of God to me?”

¹³ So David would not move the ark with him into the City of David, but took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. ^14 (AJ)The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed ^(AK)the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had.

David Established at Jerusalem^(AL)

14 Now ^(AM)Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, with masons and carpenters, to build him a house. ² So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was ^(AN)highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.

³ Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David begot more sons and daughters. ⁴ And ^(AO)these are the names of his children whom he had in Jerusalem: ^[o]Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, ^[p]Elishua, ^[q]Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, ^[r]Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

The Philistines Defeated^(AP)

⁸ Now when the Philistines heard that ^(AQ)David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went out against them. ⁹ Then the Philistines went and made a raid ^(AR)on the Valley of ^[s]Rephaim. ¹⁰ And David ^(AS)inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

The Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.”

¹¹ So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore they called the name of that place ^[t]Baal Perazim. ¹² And when they left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.

^13 (AT)Then the Philistines once again made a raid on the valley. ¹⁴ Therefore David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around them, ^(AU)and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. ¹⁵ And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” ¹⁶ So David did as God commanded him, and they drove back the army of the Philistines from ^[u]Gibeon as far as Gezer. ¹⁷ Then ^(AV)the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord ^(AW)brought the fear of him upon all nations.

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(AX)

15 David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, ^(AY)and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said, “No one may carry the ^(AZ)ark of God but the Levites, for ^(BA)the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” ³ And David ^(BB)gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴ Then David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and one hundred and twenty of his ^[v]brethren; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and one hundred and thirty of his brethren; ⁸ of the sons of ^(BC)Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren; ⁹ of the sons of ^(BD)Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and one hundred and twelve of his brethren.

¹¹ And David called for ^(BE)Zadok and ^(BF)Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; ^[w]sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ For ^(BG)because you did not do it the first time, ^(BH)the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him ^[x]about the proper order.”

¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites ^[y]sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as ^(BI)Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

¹⁶ Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed ^(BJ)Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, ^(BK)Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren, the sons of Merari, ^(BL)Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brethren of the second rank: Zechariah, ^[z]Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers; ¹⁹ the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound the cymbals of bronze; ²⁰ Zechariah, ^[aa]Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with strings according to ^(BM)Alamoth; ²¹ Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the ^(BN)Sheminith; ²² Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was instructor in charge of the music, because he was skillful; ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, ^(BO)were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and ^(BP)Obed-Edom and Jehiah, doorkeepers for the ark.

²⁵ So ^(BQ)David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. ²⁶ And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ David was clothed with a robe of fine ^(BR)linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. ^28 (BS)Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets and with cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps.

²⁹ And it happened, ^(BT)as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David whirling and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.