The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.

And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.

And these were of the father of Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi:

And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.

And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.

And the sons of Helah were, Zereth, and Jezoar, and Ethnan.

And Coz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.

And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.

10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

11 And Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir, which was the father of Eshton.

12 And Eshton begat Bethrapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Irnahash. These are the men of Rechah.

13 And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of Othniel; Hathath.

14 And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the valley of Charashim; for they were craftsmen.

15 And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and Naam: and the sons of Elah, even Kenaz.

16 And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel.

17 And the sons of Ezra were, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon: and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

18 And his wife Jehudijah bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took.

19 And the sons of his wife Hodiah the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite.

20 And the sons of Shimon were, Amnon, and Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were, Zoheth, and Benzoheth.

21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea,

22 And Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubilehem. And these are ancient things.

23 These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.

24 The sons of Simeon were, Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul:

25 Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.

26 And the sons of Mishma; Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son, Shimei his son.

27 And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters: but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah.

28 And they dwelt at Beersheba, and Moladah, and Hazarshual,

29 And at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,

30 And at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag,

31 And at Bethmarcaboth, and Hazarsusim, and at Bethbirei, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David.

32 And their villages were, Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities:

33 And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy.

34 And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah, the son of Amaziah,

35 And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,

36 And Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,

37 And Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;

38 These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly.

39 And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

40 And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old.

41 And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.

42 And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.

43 And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.

Other descendants of Judah

Judah's descendants were: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur and Shobal. Shobal's son Reaiah became the father of Jahath. Jahath became the father of Ahumai and Lahad. Those were the ancestors of the Zorathite clans.

3-4 Caleb's wife Ephrathah gave birth to their firstborn son, Hur. Hur was the ancestor of the people of Bethlehem. His three sons were Etam, Penuel and Ezer.

Etam's sons were: Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash. Their sister was Hazzelelponi. Penuel became the father of Gedor. Ezer became the father of Hushah.

Tekoa's father Ashhur had two wives called Helah and Naarah. The sons of Ashhur and his wife Naarah were: Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni and Haahashtari. The sons of Ashhur and his wife Helah were: Zereth, Izhar, Ethnan and Koz. Koz became the father of Anub, Hazzobebah and the clans of Harum's son, Aharhel.

Another of Judah's descendants was called Jabez. People respected him more than his brothers. His mother called him Jabez, because she said, ‘I had a lot of pain at his birth.’[a] 10 Jabez prayed to Israel's God for help. He said, ‘Please bless me very much and give me more land. Please take care of me so that nothing hurts me and I do not have pain.’ God did what Jabez had prayed for.

11 Kelub, Shuhah's brother, became the father of Mehir. Mehir became the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton became the father of Beth-Rapha, Paseah and Tehinnah. Tehinnah became the father of Ir-Nahash. Those people lived at Recah.

13 The sons of Kenaz were: Othniel and Seraiah.

Othniel's sons were: Hathath and Meonothai. 14 Meonothai became the father of Ophrah.

Seraiah became the father of Joab. Joab was the ancestor of the people who live in Ge-Harashim. Those people had special skills to make things.[b]

15 The sons of Jephunneh's son Caleb 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. Her father was the king of Egypt. The children of Mered and Bithiah were: Miriam, Shammai and Ishbah. Ishbah became the father of Eshtemoa.

Mered had another wife who belonged to Judah's tribe. Her sons were 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. She gave birth to two sons. One of them became the father of Keilah, the ancestor of the Garmites. The other son became the father of Eshtemoa, the ancestor of the Maakathites.

20 Shimon's sons were: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan and Tilon.

Ishi's descendants were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.

21-22 These were the sons of Judah's son, Shelah: Er, Laadah, Jokim, Joash, Saraph and Jashubi-Lehem. Er became the father of Lecah. Laadah became the father of Mareshah. Joash and Saraph both married women from Moab and they returned to live in Lehem. Other clans that were descendants of Shelah worked with linen at Beth-Ashbea, and some lived in Cozeba. (These lists are from old history books.) 23 Those people made pots. They lived in Netaim and Gederah. They lived there and they worked for the king.

The descendants of Simeon

24 Simeon's descendants 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 descendants were his son Hammuel, Hammuel's son Zaccur, and Zaccur's son Shimei.

27 Shimei had 16 sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many children. So their clan did not become as large as the people of Judah's tribe. 28 Shimei's descendants lived in these cities and towns: Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth-Marcaboth, Hazar-Susim, Beth-Biri and Shaaraim. They lived in those places until David became king. 32 They also lived in these five villages: Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token and Ashan. 33 There were also other villages round the same towns, as far as Baalath town. Those were the places where they lived. They wrote down a list of the names of their ancestors.

34 The leaders of their clans were: Meshobab, Jamlech, Amaziah's son Joshah, 35 Joel, Jehu (son of Joshibiah, who was the son of Seraiah and grandson of Asiel), 36 Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah 37 and Ziza. Ziza was the son of Shiphi, who was the son of Allon and grandson of Jedaiah. Jedaiah was the son of Shimri and grandson of Shemaiah.

38 Those men were the leaders of their clans. Their families became very large. 39 They travelled to the east side of the valley to find grass for their sheep to eat. They went as far as Gedor. 40 They found good fields that had plenty of grass. The soil was good and the place was large. There were no troubles in that region. Some descendants of Ham had been living there.[c]

41 When Hezekiah was the king of Judah, those leaders of Simeon's clans attacked the people who lived there. Some of those people were called Meunites. The men of Simeon destroyed their homes and they killed all the people. So even today none of those people still live there. Simeon's people lived there instead, because there was good grass for their sheep.

42 Later, another 500 men of Simeon's tribe went to the hill country of Seir. Their leaders were Ishi's sons: Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah and Uzziel. 43 They killed all the descendants of Amalek who were still alive. They took their land and they still live there now.

Footnotes

  1. 4:9 ‘Jabez’ sounds like a Hebrew word that means ‘pain’.
  2. 4:14 ‘Ge-Harashim’ means ‘The valley of people with special skills’.
  3. 4:40 ‘Ham’ was one of Noah's sons.