Beginning

9 So the names of all Israel were written down by families. See, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away to Babylon because they were not faithful.

Those Who Returned to Their Land

² The first ones to live again in their land and in their cities were Israel, the religious leaders, the Levites and the servants of the Lord’s house. ³ Some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem. ⁴ They were Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the son of Judah. ⁵ From the Shilonites were Asaiah the first-born and his sons. ⁶ From the sons of Zerah were Jeuel and their brothers, 690 of them. ⁷ From the sons of Benjamin were Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah. ⁸ And there were Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah. ⁹ And there were their brothers by their families, 956 of them. All these were heads of fathers’ houses by their fathers’ houses.

The Religious Leaders for Jerusalem

¹⁰ From the religious leaders were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin. ¹¹ And there was Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub. He was the head leader of the house of God. ¹² And there was Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah. There was Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer. ¹³ And there were 1,760 of their brothers, who were heads of their fathers’ houses. They were very able men for the work of the house of God.

The Levites in Jerusalem

¹⁴ From the Levites were Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari. ¹⁵ There were Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph. ¹⁶ There was Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. And there was Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the towns of the Netophathites.

The Gate-Keepers in Jerusalem

¹⁷ The gate-keepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman and their brothers. (Shallum was the leader ¹⁸ who was at the king’s gate on the east side.) These were the gate-keepers for the family group of the Levites. ¹⁹ Shallum the son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his brothers of his father’s house, were the Korahites. They led the work, and they watched the doors of the meeting tent. Their fathers had taken care of the tents of the Lord, and had watched the doors. ²⁰ Phinehas the son of Eleazar had ruled over them before. And the Lord was with him. ²¹ Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah watched the gate of the meeting tent. ²² There were 212 of those who were chosen to watch the gates. Their names were written down by families in their towns. David and Samuel the man of God chose them for places of trust. ²³ So they and their sons were gate-keepers of the Lord’s house, the holy tent. ²⁴ The gate-keepers were on the four sides, to the east, west, north and south. ²⁵ Those of their family in other towns were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them. ²⁶ For the four head men who were gate-keepers were Levites and were in a place of trust. They watched over the rooms and the riches in the house of God. ²⁷ They stayed during the night around the house of God. For their duty was to watch. And they were to open the house every morning.

The Other Levites

²⁸ Some of them took care of the things used for worship. They numbered them when they were brought in and taken out. ²⁹ Some of them were chosen to take care of the objects of the holy place, the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the special perfume, and the spices. ³⁰ And some of the sons of the religious leaders did the work of mixing the spices. ³¹ Mattithiah was one of the Levites, the first-born of Shallum the Korahite. He took care of the making of bread. ³² And some of their brothers of the Kohathites took care of the making of the holy bread every Day of Rest.

³³ These are the singers. They were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lived in the rooms of the Lord’s house. They were free from other kinds of worship, for they were on duty day and night. ³⁴ These were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites by their families. They were leaders who lived in Jerusalem.

The Family of King Saul

³⁵ Gibeon’s father Jeiel lived in Gibeon. The name of Jeiel’s wife was Maacah. ³⁶ His sons were Abdon the first-born, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth. ³⁸ Mikloth was the father of Shimeam. They lived with their brothers in Jerusalem beside their other brothers. ³⁹ Ner was the father of Kish. Kish was the father of Saul. Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰ The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal. Merib-baal was the father of Micah. ⁴¹ The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea and Ahaz. ⁴² Ahaz was the father of Jarah. Jarah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. Zimri was the father of Moza. ⁴³ Moza was the father of Binea and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons whose names were Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

The Death of King Saul and His Sons

10 Now the many Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from the Philistines, and were killed on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines went after Saul and his sons. And they killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. ³ The battle was hard for Saul. Those who fought with the bow found him, and hurt him with an arrow. ⁴ Then Saul said to the one who carried his battle-clothes, “Take your sword and kill me with it. Or these men who have not gone through our religious act will come and make fun of me.” But the one who carried his battle-clothes would not do it. For he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When the one who carried his battle-clothes saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword and died also. ⁶ So Saul died with his three sons. All those of his house died together.

⁷ All the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in their cities. ⁸ When the Philistines came the next day to take what had belonged to the dead, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they took his clothes, his head, and his battle-clothes. And they sent men around the land of the Philistines to take the good news to their false gods and to the people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s battle-clothes in the house of their gods. And they put his head in the house of Dagon. ¹¹ All the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹² So all the powerful soldiers went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the oak tree there. Then they went without food for seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for his sin against the Lord, because he did not keep the Word of the Lord. He had asked a woman who spoke with spirits what he should do. ¹⁴ He did not ask the Lord. So the Lord killed him, and gave the nation to David the son of Jesse.

David Becomes King of Israel and Judah

11 Then all Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “See, we are your bone and your flesh. ² In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel. The Lord your God said to you, ‘You will be the shepherd of My people Israel. And you will be king over My people Israel.’” ³ So all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. And David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. Then they poured oil on David to be the king of Israel, just as the Lord had said through Samuel. ⁴ David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). And the Jebusites, the people of the land, were there. ⁵ The people of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” But David took the strong-place of Zion (that is, the city of David). ⁶ Now David had said, “Whoever kills a Jebusite first will be captain and leader.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became captain. ⁷ Then David lived in the strong-place. So it was called the city of David. ⁸ He built the city all around, from the Millo and then around. And Joab built the rest of the city up again. ⁹ David became greater and greater, for the Lord of All was with him.

David’s Strong Men

¹⁰ These are the leaders of David’s strong men. They gave him much help in his nation, together with all Israel, to make him king. It was just as the Lord had said would happen with Israel. ¹¹ These are the names of David’s strong men. There was Jashobeam the son of Hachmonite, the head of the thirty. He killed 300 men with his spear at one time. ¹² Then there was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite. He was one of the three powerful soldiers. ¹³ He was with David at Pasdammim when the Philistines were gathered there to battle, where there was a piece of ground full of grain. And the people ran away from the Philistines. ¹⁴ But he and his men stood on the piece of ground and fought for it, and killed the Philistines. The Lord saved them by His great power.

¹⁵ Three of the thirty leaders went down to the rock and into the cave of Adullam where David was staying. The Philistine army was staying in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ David was in a strong-place, while the Philistine soldiers had their place in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David had a strong desire. He said, “O, if only someone would give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ So the three men broke through the Philistine army. They took water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord, ¹⁹ and said, “Far be it from me that I should do this before my God. Should I drink the blood of these men? For they put their lives in danger to bring it.” So he would not drink it. These things are what the three powerful soldiers did.

²⁰ As for Abishai the brother of Joab, he was the head of the thirty. He fought and killed 300 men with his spear. And his name became well-known like the three. ²¹ He was the best known of the thirty. But he was not as important as the three.

²² Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a powerful soldier from Kabzeel, did great things. He killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He went down and killed a lion inside a deep hole on a day when there was snow. ²³ And he killed an Egyptian who was very tall, five cubits tall. The Egyptian held a spear as big as the cross-piece of a cloth-maker. But Benaiah went down to him with a heavy stick and took the spear from the Egyptian’s hand. Then he killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These are the things Benaiah the son of Johoiada did. His name was well-known like the three powerful soldiers. ²⁵ He was respected among the thirty. But he was not as important as the three. David chose him to be the head of his house soldiers.

²⁶ The strong men of the armies were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth the Harorite, and Helez the Pelonite. ²⁸ And there were Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, and Ilai the Ahohite. ³⁰ There were Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, and Benaiah the Pirathonite. ³² There were Hurai of the rivers of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of Hashem the Gizonite. There were Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, and Ahijah the Pelonite. ³⁷ There were Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite. Naharai was the one who carried the battle-clothes of Joab the son of Zeruiah. ⁴⁰ There were Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² and Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite. Adina was a leader of the Reubenites, and had thirty men with him. ⁴³ Then there were Hanan the son of Maacah, Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, and Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite. ⁴⁵ There were Jediael the son of Shimri, his brother Joha the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam. And there were Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.