Beginning
Warriors Join David
12 These were the men who came to David at Ziklag. David was hiding from Saul son of Kish at that time. These were the men who helped David in battle. 2 They came with bows for weapons. They could use either their right or left hands to shoot arrows or to sling rocks. They were Saul’s relatives from the tribe of Benjamin. 3 Ahiezer was their leader. And there was Joash. (Ahiezer and Joash were Shemaah’s sons. He was from the town of Gibeah.) There were also Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth. There were Beracah and Jehu from the town of Anathoth. 4 And there was Ishmaiah from the town of Gibeon. Ishmaiah was one of the Thirty. In fact, he was the leader of the Thirty. There were Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan and Jozabad from Gederah. 5 There were Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah and Shemariah. There was Shephatiah from Haruph. 6 There were Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam. They were from the family group of Korah. 7 And there were Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham. They were from the town of Gedor.
8 Part of the people of Gad joined David at his protected place in the desert. They were brave warriors trained for war. They were skilled with shields and spears. They were as fierce as lions. And they could run as fast as gazelles over the hills.
9 Ezer was the leader of Gad’s army. Obadiah was second in command. Eliab was third. 10 Mishmannah was fourth, and Jeremiah was fifth. 11 Attai was sixth, and Eliel was seventh. 12 Johanan was eighth, and Elzabad was ninth. 13 Jeremiah was tenth, and Macbannai was eleventh in command.
14 They were the commanders of the army from Gad. The weakest of these leaders was in charge of 100 soldiers. The strongest was in charge of 1,000 soldiers. 15 They crossed the Jordan River and chased away the people living in the valleys. They chased them to the east and to the west. This happened in the first month of the year when the Jordan floods the valley.
16 Other people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his protected place. 17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But you might have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong. If you do this, the God of our ancestors will see this and punish you.”
18 Then the Spirit entered Amasai, the leader of the Thirty. Amasai said:
“We belong to you, David.
We are with you, son of Jesse.
Success, success to you.
Success to those who help you,
because your God helps you.”
So David welcomed these men. He made them leaders of his army.
19 Some of the men from Manasseh also joined David. They joined him when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After talking about it, the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, “If David goes back to his master Saul, we will be killed!” 20 The men from Manasseh joined David when he went to Ziklag. These were the men: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. Each of these men was a leader of a thousand men from Manasseh. 21 All these men of Manasseh were brave soldiers. They helped David fight against groups of men who went around the country robbing people. These soldiers became commanders in David’s army. 22 Every day more men joined David. So his army became large. It was like the army of God.
Others Join David at Hebron
23 These are the numbers of the men who joined David at Hebron. They came ready for battle. They came to help turn the kingdom of Saul over to David. The Lord had said this would happen.
24 There were 6,800 men with their weapons from the people of Judah. They carried shields and spears.
25 There were 7,100 men from the people of Simeon. They were warriors ready for war.
26 There were 4,600 men from the people of Levi. 27 Jehoiada, a leader from Aaron’s family, was in that group. There were 3,700 with him. 28 Zadok was also in that group. He was a strong young warrior. He came with 22 leaders from his family.
29 There were 3,000 men from the people of Benjamin. They were Saul’s relatives. And most of them had remained loyal to Saul’s family until then.
30 There were 20,800 men from the people of Ephraim. They were brave warriors. They were famous men in their own family groups.
31 There were 18,000 men from the western half-tribe of Manasseh. Each man was especially chosen to make David king.
32 There were 200 leaders from the family of Issachar. They knew what Israel should do. And they knew the right time to do it. Their relatives were with them and under their command.
33 There were 50,000 men from the people of Zebulun. They were trained soldiers. They were trained to use every kind of weapon of war. They followed David completely.
34 There were 1,000 officers from the people of Naphtali. They had 37,000 men with them who carried shields and spears.
35 There were 28,600 men from the people of Dan. They were ready for war.
36 There were 40,000 trained soldiers from the people of Asher. They were ready for war.
37 There were 120,000 men from the east side of the Jordan River. They were from the people of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. They had every kind of weapon.
38 All these fighting men were ready to go to war. They came to Hebron fully agreed to make David king of all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed to make David king. 39 The men spent three days there with David. They ate and drank, because their relatives had prepared food for them. 40 Also, their neighbors brought food. They came from as far as the areas belonging to Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. They brought much flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cows and sheep. This was because the people of Israel were very happy.
Bringing Back the Ark of the Covenant
13 David talked with all the officers of his army. He talked with the commanders of 100 men and the commanders of 1,000 men. 2 Then David called the people of Israel together. He said, “If you think it is a good idea, and if it is what the Lord our God wants, let’s send a message. Let’s send it to our fellow Israelites in all the areas of Israel. Let’s also send it to the priests and Levites living with them in their towns and pastures. Tell them to come and join us. 3 Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of our God back to us. We did not use it to ask God for help while Saul was king.” 4 So all the people agreed with David. They all thought it was the right thing to do.
5 So David gathered all the Israelites from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath. They were to bring the Ark of the Covenant of God back from the town of Kiriath Jearim. 6 David and all the Israelites with him went to Baalah of Judah. (Baalah is another name for Kiriath Jearim.) They went there to get the Ark of the Covenant of God the Lord. His throne is between the golden creatures with wings on the Ark of the Covenant. It is called by the Lord’s name.
7 The people moved the Ark of the Covenant of God from Abinadab’s house. They put it on a new cart. And Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their strength before God. They were singing and playing harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
9 They came to the threshing floor of Kidon. The oxen pulling the cart stumbled. And Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark of the Covenant. 10 The Lord became very angry with Uzzah. And he killed Uzzah because Uzzah had touched the Ark of the Covenant. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.
11 David became angry because the Lord had punished Uzzah in his anger. So even today that place is called the Punishment of Uzzah.
12 David was afraid of God that day. David asked, “How can I bring the Ark of the Covenant of God home to me?” 13 So David did not take the Ark of the Covenant with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom of Gath. 14 The Ark of the Covenant of God stayed with Obed-Edom’s family in his house for three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom’s family and everything he owned.
David’s Kingdom Grows
14 Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David. He also sent cedar logs, stonecutters and carpenters. He sent them to build a palace for David. 2 Then David knew that the Lord really had made him king of Israel. And he knew the Lord had made his kingdom very important. The Lord did this because he loved his people, the Israelites.
3 David married more women in Jerusalem. And he had more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of David’s children born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.
David Defeats the Philistines
8 The Philistine people heard that David had been appointed king of all Israel. So all the Philistines went to look for him. When David heard about it, he went out to fight them. 9 The Philistines had attacked and robbed the people in the Valley of Rephaim. 10 David asked God, “Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will you let me defeat them?”
The Lord answered him, “Go. I will let you defeat them.”
11 So David and his men went up to the town of Baal Perazim. There he defeated the Philistines. David said, “Like a flood of water, God has broken through my enemies. He has done this through me.” So that place was named Baal Perazim.[a] 12 The Philistines had left their idols there. So David ordered his men to burn them.
13 Soon the Philistines attacked the people in the valley again. 14 So David prayed to God again, and God answered him. God said, “Don’t attack the Philistines from the front. Instead, go around them. Attack them in front of the balsam trees. 15 You will hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees. Then quickly attack the Philistines. I, God, will have gone out before you to defeat the Philistine army.” 16 David did what God commanded him to do. So David and his men defeated the Philistine army. They killed the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
17 So David became famous in all the countries. And the Lord made all nations afraid of David.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.