Beginning

Summary of the Genealogies

9 All of Israel was enumerated by genealogy and recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel^[a] as^[b] Judah was being taken captive into exile to Babylon due to their disobedience.^{[c] 2} The first to settle on their own property in their own towns of Israel were priests, descendants of Levi, and the Temple Servants.^[d]

Jerusalem after the Exile

³ In Jerusalem there lived some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh including^{[e] 4} Ammihud’s son Uthai, who was the grandson of Omri, who was the great-grandson of Imri, who was fathered by Bani from the descendants of Judah’s son Perez. ⁵ From the descendants of Shilon there was^[f] Asaiah the firstborn, along with his descendants. ⁶ From the descendants of Zerah there was Jeuel, along with 690 of their relatives. ⁷ From the descendants of Benjamin there was Meshullam’s son Sallu, who was also the grandson of Hodaviah and great-grandson of Hassenuah, ⁸ Jeroham’s son Ibneiah, Uzzi’s son Elah, who was also Michri’s grandson, and Shephatiah’s son Meshullam, who was the grandson of Reuel and great-grandson of Ibnijah, ⁹ along with 956 of their relatives according to their generations. All of these were leaders of families according to their ancestral households.

Priests in Service

¹⁰ From the priests there were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ and Hilkiah’s son Azariah, who was fathered by Meshullam, who was fathered by Zadok, who was fathered by Meraioth, who was fathered by Ahitub, the Chief Operating Officer^[g] of the Temple of God. ¹² There was^[h] Jeroham’s son Adaiah, who was fathered by Pashhur, who was fathered by Malchijah, and Adiel’s son Maasai, who was fathered by Jahzerah, who was fathered by Meshullam, who was fathered by Meshillemith, who was fathered by Immer, ¹³ along with 1,760 of their relatives, who were leaders of their ancestral households, valiant and qualified to serve in the Temple of God.

Levitical Families

¹⁴ From the descendants of Levi there was Hasshub’s son Shemaiah, who was the grandson of Azrikam, who was fathered by Hashabiah, from the descendants of Merari; ¹⁵ along with Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mica’s son Mattaniah, who was the grandson of Zichri and great-grandson of Asaph, ¹⁶ and Shemaiah’s son Obadiah, who was the grandson of Galal, who was fathered by Jeduthun, and Asa’s son Berechiah, who was the grandson of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

¹⁷ The gatekeepers included^[i] Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and other^[j] relatives. Shallum was the leader. ¹⁸ He used to be stationed in the King’s Gate on the east side as one of^[k] the gatekeepers of the camp belonging to the descendants of Levi. ¹⁹ Kore’s son Shallum, who was the grandson of Ebiasaph and the great-grandson of Korah, and the descendants of Korah (who were relatives of his ancestral house) were over the service responsibilities and served as guardians of the entrances of the Tent, just as their ancestors had been in charge of the camp of the Lord and guardians of the entrance. ²⁰ Eleazar’s son Phinehas used to be Commander-in-Chief^[l] over them—the Lord was with him. ²¹ Meshelemiah’s son Zechariah was gatekeeper at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²² All these, who had been set apart as gatekeepers at the entrances, numbered 212 and had been enrolled by genealogies in their villages.

David and Samuel the seer installed them in their positions of trust, ²³ so they and their descendants were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, that is, the House of the Tent, as guardians. ²⁴ The guardians were stationed on four sides—east, west, north, and south. ²⁵ Their relatives who lived in their villages were required to visit every seven days to be with them in turn, ²⁶ because the four senior gatekeepers (who were descendants of Levi) had been placed in charge of the chambers and the treasury of the Temple of God. ²⁷ They spent the night near the Temple of God, since they had been entrusted to guard it. They were in charge of opening it every morning.

²⁸ Some were responsible for the service utensils, and they were required to take an inventory of them when they were brought in and out. ²⁹ Others were responsible for the furniture and for all of the holy utensils, including the flour, wine, oil, incense, and spices. ³⁰ Other descendants of the priests prepared the mixed spices. ³¹ Mattithiah, a descendant of Levi and firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was in charge of making the offering^[m] cakes. ³² Some of their Kohathite relatives were responsible to prepare the rows of bread for each Sabbath. ³³ These singers, leaders of ancestral households of the descendants of Levi, were living in the chambers of the Temple. Freed from other service responsibilities, they were on duty day and night. ³⁴ These leaders of the descendants of Levi, enrolled according to their genealogies, lived in Jerusalem.

Genealogy of King Saul

³⁵ Jeiel, who fathered Gibeon, lived in the city of^[n] Gibeon. His wife was named Maacah. ³⁶ His firstborn son was Abdon, followed by^[o] Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸ Mikloth fathered Shimeam. They lived across town from^[p] their relatives in Jerusalem. ³⁹ Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal. ⁴⁰ Jonathan fathered Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.

⁴¹ Micah’s descendants included Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz. ⁴² Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza, and ⁴³ Moza fathered Binea, and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son. ⁴⁴ Azel had six descendants with these names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan—these were the descendants of Azel.

The Death of Saul and His Sons^(A)

10 The Philistines were fighting against Israel, and each^[q] soldier^[r] of Israel fled before the Philistines. They fell slain on the mountain of Gilboa. ² The Philistines followed after Saul and after his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. ³ The heaviest fighting was against Saul,^[s] and when the archers who were shooting located Saul, he was gravely wounded by them.^[t]

⁴ Saul ordered his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised people will come and abuse me.”

But his armor bearer did not want to do it^[u] because he was very frightened, so Saul took the sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his^[v] sword and died. ⁶ Therefore Saul, his three sons, and all his entire household died together. ⁷ When that part of the army^[w] of Israel that was in the valley saw that the rest of the^[x] army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them.

The Philistines Desecrate Saul’s Body^(B)

⁸ The Philistines came to strip the dead the next day, and they found Saul dead on Gilboa mountain, along with his sons. ⁹ They stripped him, took his head and armor, and sent messengers throughout the territory of the Philistines to report the news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ Then they put Saul’s^[y] armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his skull to the wall of^[z] the temple of Dagon.

The People of Jabesh-gilead Give Saul a Proper Burial^(C)

¹¹ When all the residents of^[aa] Jabesh-gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² every valiant soldier^[ab] got up, removed the bodies of Saul and his sons, took them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk^[ac] tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted for seven days. ¹³ So Saul died for his transgressions; that is, he acted unfaithfully to the Lord by transgressing the message from the Lord (which he did not keep), by consulting a medium for advice, ¹⁴ and by not seeking counsel^[ad] from the Lord, who therefore put him to death and turned the kingdom over to Jesse’s son David.

David is Anointed King^(D)

11 Later on, all of Israel gathered together at Hebron in order to tell David, “Look, we’re your own flesh and blood!^{[ae] 2} Even back when Saul was ruling as king, you kept on leading the army of Israel out to battle^[af] and bringing them in again.^[ag] The Lord your God told you, ‘You yourself will shepherd my people Israel and will be Commander-in-Chief^[ah] over my people Israel.’” ³ So all the elders of Israel approached the king at Hebron, where David entered into a covenant in^[ai] the presence of the Lord. Then they anointed David to be king over Israel, just as the Lord had sent word through^[aj] Samuel.

David Captures Jerusalem

⁴ Later, David and all of Israel marched to Jerusalem (then known as Jebus, where the Jebusites lived when they inhabited the land). ⁵ The inhabitants of Jebus told David, “You’re not coming in here!” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, now known as the City of David.

⁶ David had announced, “Whoever first attacks the Jebusites will be appointed chief and commander.” When Zeruiah’s son Joab went up first, he became chief. ⁷ David occupied^[ak] the fortress, so it was named the City of David after him. ⁸ He built up the walls surrounding the city in a complete circle from the terrace ramparts,^[al] and Joab repaired the rest of the city. ⁹ David became more and more prestigious because the Lord of the Heavenly Armies was with him.

David’s Elite Soldiers^(E)

¹⁰ These are the leaders of the elite warriors who were strong supporters of David in his kingdom, along with all of Israel, in keeping with the message from the Lord concerning Israel. ¹¹ This record of the warriors who were for David included^[am] Hachmoni’s son Jashobeam,^[an] leader of the platoons,^[ao] who killed 300 with his spear in a single encounter.

¹² Next to him among the Three Warriors^[ap] was Dodo^[aq] the Ahohite’s son Eleazar. ¹³ He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines were there to engage them in battle. There was a field planted with barley, and the army had run away from the Philistines, ¹⁴ but they took a defensive stand in the middle of the field and killed the Philistines while the Lord saved them by means of a great victory.^[ar]

¹⁵ Later, the Three Warriors went down to David’s hideout^[as] at the cave of Adullam when the Philistine army was camping in the valley of giants.^{[at] 16} David was living in that stronghold at the time, while a Philistine garrison was then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David expressed a longing, “Oh, how I wish someone would get me a drink of water from the Bethlehem well that’s by the city gate!” ¹⁸ So the Three Warriors broke through the Philistine ranks, drew some water from the Bethlehem well that was next to the city gate, and brought it back to David. But David refused to drink it, poured it out in the Lord’s presence, and ¹⁹ said in response, “May God forbid me to do this! I won’t drink the blood of these men, will I? After all, they risked their lives to bring it to me.”^[au] That’s why he wouldn’t drink it. The Three Warriors did these things.

David’s Other Valiant Soldiers^(F)

²⁰ Joab’s brother Abishai was the lieutenant^[av] in charge of the platoons. He used his spear to fight and kill 300 men, gaining a reputation distinct from the Three. ²¹ He was more well-known than the Three,^[aw] but he never attained the stature of the Three.

²² Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, who was a valiant man, accomplished great things. He was from Kabzeel. He killed two men named^[ax] Ariel from Moab^[ay] and then he also went down into a pit and struck down a lion during a snow storm one day. ²³ He also killed a soldier^[az] from Egypt of enormous height—five cubits^[ba] tall. The Egyptian carried a spear comparable in size to a weaver’s beam, but Benaiah attacked him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ Benaiah did things like this and gained a reputation comparable to the Three Warriors. ²⁵ He was well known among the platoons, but he didn’t measure up to^[bb] the Three Warriors. David placed him in charge of his security detail.

²⁶ The elite forces included Asahel (Joab’s brother), Dodo’s son Elhanan from Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth from Haror,^[bc] Helez the Pelonite,^{[bd] 28} Ikkesh’s son Ira from Tekoa, Abiezer from Anathoth, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰ Maharai from Netophah, Baanah’s son Heled from Netophah, ³¹ Ribai’s son Ithai from Gibeah, controlled by^[be] the descendants of Benjamin, Benaiah of Pirathon, ³² Hurai from the wadis^[bf] of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth from Baharum, Eliahba from Shaalbon, ³⁴ Hashem the Gizonite, Shagee the Hararite’s son Jonathan, ³⁵ Sachar the Hararite’s son Ahiam, Ur’s son Eliphal, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷ Hezro from Carmel, Ezbai’s son Naarai, ³⁸ Joel (Nathan’s brother), Hagri’s son Mibhar, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai from Beeroth, who was the armor-bearer for Zeruiah’s son Joab, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, Ahlai’s son Zabad, ⁴² Shiza the Reubenite’s son Adina, a leader of the descendants of Reuben, along with thirty others with him, ⁴³ Maacah’s son Hanan, Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, Hotham the Aroerite’s sons Shama and Jeiel, ⁴⁵ Shimri’s son Jediael and his brother Joha the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, Elnaam’s sons Jeribai and Joshaviah, Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.