Beginning
The men who joined David's army at Ziklag
12 David went to Ziklag town because King Saul, the son of Kish, had chased him away. Many brave men went to David there. They were some of the brave soldiers who helped David to fight in war. 2 They could shoot with bows and arrows. They could use slings to throw stones with either their right hand or their left hand. They were relatives of Saul, from Benjamin's tribe. Their names were:
3 Ahiezer, their leader, and his brother Joash. They were sons of Shemaah, who was from Gibeah town.
Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth.
Beracah.
Jehu, from Anathoth town.
4 Ishmaiah, from Gibeon town. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers.
Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan and Jozabad, who was from Gederah.
5 Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah and Shephatiah, who was from Hariph.
6 Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam. They belonged to Korah's clan.
7 Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor town.
The men of Gad's tribe who joined David's army
8 Many soldiers from Gad's tribe joined David's army at his strong place in the desert. These men were brave soldiers who knew how to fight well. They could use shields and spears. They could fight like lions. They could run as fast as deer on the mountains.
9 Ezer was their leader. After him there were: Obadiah (2), Eliab (3), 10 Mishmannah (4), Jeremiah (5), 11 Attai (6), Eliel (7), 12 Johanan (8), Elzabad (9), 13 Jeremiah (10), and Makbannai (11).[a]
14 These descendants of Gad were leaders in the army. The least important officer among them led 100 soldiers. The greatest officer led 1,000 soldiers. 15 Those men went across to the west side of the Jordan River during the first month of the year.[b] At that time the water in the river was very deep and wide. They chased away the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.
16 Some other men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David in his strong place. 17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, ‘I hope that you have come here as my friends. If you have come to help me, I will make an agreement with you. But I hope that you have not come here to help my enemies and to tell them where I am hiding. I have not done anything wrong. So I pray that the God of our ancestors will see what you do. He will punish you as you deserve!’
18 Then God's Spirit came to Amasai with power. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers. He said,
‘We will serve you, David, Jesse's son.
We have come to help you!
May God bless you!
May God bless those who help you!
Yes, your God will help you.’
So David accepted them as his friends. He made them officers in his army.
The men of Manasseh's tribe who joined David's army
19 Some men from Manasseh's tribe also joined David's army. That was at the time when David joined with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men were not able to help the Philistines like that. That was because the leaders of the Philistines decided to send David and his men away. They said, ‘David may turn against us and go to help his master Saul, instead. If he does that, we will all be dead!’
20 So David returned to Ziklag. These men from Manasseh's tribe joined David's army at that time:
Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. Each of them had been the leader of 1,000 soldiers in Saul's army.
21 All those men were brave soldiers and they became officers in David's army. They helped David to fight against the enemy's soldiers when they attacked.
22 Every day more men came to help David. So his army became very large and powerful, like God's own army.
The men who joined David's army at Hebron
23 This is a list of the soldiers who joined David's army at Hebron. They came with their officers and they were ready to fight. They wanted to help David become king of Israel instead of Saul. The Lord had promised that this would happen.
24 From Judah's tribe, there were 6,800 men who carried shields and spears. They knew how to fight well.
25 From Simeon's tribe, there were 7,100 strong men who knew how to fight well.
26 From Levi's tribe, there were 4,600 men. 27 Jehoiada was the leader of the men who were Aaron's descendants. He brought 3,700 men with him. 28 Zadok was also in that group. He was a brave young soldier. There were also 22 officers who belonged to his clan.
29 From Benjamin's tribe that Saul belonged to, there were 3,000 men. Most of those men had served Saul faithfully until that time.
30 From Ephraim's tribe, there were 20,800 men who were brave soldiers. The people in their clans respected them very much.
31 From the half tribe of Manasseh on the west side of the Jordan River, there were 18,000 men. Their clans had chosen those men to go and help David become their king.
32 From Issachar's tribe, there were 200 officers and their relatives who obeyed their commands. Those officers understood that this was an important time for Israel. They knew what Israel should do.
33 From Zebulun's tribe, there were 50,000 brave men who were ready to fight. They knew how to use many different kinds of weapons. They were completely faithful to David.
34 From Naphtali's tribe, there were 1,000 officers and 37,000 men who carried shields and spears.
35 From Dan's tribe, there were 28,600 men who were ready for war.
36 From Asher's tribe there were 40,000 soldiers who were ready for war.
37 From the east side of the Jordan River, there were 120,000 soldiers who knew how to use many different kinds of weapons. Those men belonged to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the other half tribe of Manasseh.
38 All those men were soldiers who were ready to fight in war. They came to David in Hebron because they wanted to make him king to rule all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed that David should become king. 39 The men stayed there with David for three days. Their relatives had prepared a lot of food for them. So they enjoyed a big feast together. 40 People also came from places as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. So there was plenty of flour to make bread, and lots of figs, raisins, wine, olive oil, cows and sheep. All the Israelites had a very happy party!
David starts to bring the Covenant Box to Jerusalem
13 David spoke with the officers of his army. Some of them were the leaders of 1,000 men. Other officers were the leaders of 100 men. 2 Then David said to all the Israelites who were present, ‘I think that we should send a message to our relatives in all the regions of Israel. That should include the priests and the Levites in the towns where they live. We should ask all those people to meet with us here. We will do it if you agree that it is a good idea, and if the Lord our God wants us to do it. 3 We should bring back the Covenant Box of our God. While Saul was king, we did not use it to ask God about things.’
4 All the people there agreed that this was a good idea. They realized that it was the right thing to do.
5 So David brought together all the Israelites. They came from everywhere in Israel, from the Shihor River in Egypt, and as far as Lebo-Hamath. They came to bring God's Covenant Box back from Kiriath-Jearim.[c] 6 David and all the Israelites went to Baalah, a town in Judah. (Baalah is also called Kiriath-Jearim.) They went to bring the Covenant Box of God from there to Jerusalem. The Israelites called it by the name of the Lord. He sits as King between the two cherubs that are on the top of the Covenant Box.
7 The people put God's Covenant Box on a new cart. They took it out of Abinadab's house. Uzzah and Ahio were leading the cart. 8 David and all the Israelites were singing and dancing with all their strength to praise God. They made music with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
9 They reached the place of Kidon's threshing floor. There the oxen that were pulling the cart almost fell. So Uzzah reached out to hold the Covenant Box to stop it falling. 10 The Lord was very angry with Uzzah because he had touched the Covenant Box. He knocked Uzzah down to the ground. Uzzah died there, beside God's Covenant Box.[d]
11 David was angry because the Lord had punished Uzzah. So he called that place ‘Perez Uzzah’. That is still its name today.[e]
12 So David now became afraid of God. He said, ‘God's Covenant Box is too holy to take with me.’ 13 So he did not take the Covenant Box to the City of David to be with him there. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom, who came from Gath. 14 God's Covenant Box stayed in the home of Obed-Edom's family for three months. During that time, the Lord blessed Obed-Edom's family and everything that he had.
David becomes famous
14 Then Hiram, king of Tyre, sent some of his men to David. They brought wood from Lebanon's cedar trees. Men who could work with stone and with wood also came. They built a palace for David. 2 David realized that the Lord had made him strong as king over Israel. He knew that God had made his kingdom great, to help his people, the Israelites.
3 When David lived in Jerusalem, he married more wives. He became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of David's children who were born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.
David fights the Philistines
8 The Philistines heard the news that David had now become king over all Israel. So their whole army went to look for him to catch him. When David heard about this, he went out to attack them. 9 The Philistine soldiers arrived at Rephaim valley. They attacked the people there. 10 David asked God, ‘Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will you put them under my power?’
The Lord answered him, ‘Yes, go and attack the Philistines. I will help you to win against them.’
11 So David and his men went to Baal Perazim. There they won the fight against the Philistines in that place. David said, ‘God has helped me to sweep away my enemy like a flood of water.’ So they called that place Baal Perazim. 12 The Philistines did not take their idols with them when they ran away. David told his men to destroy the idols in a fire.
13 Once again, the Philistines attacked the people who lived in the valley. 14 So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, ‘Do not march straight towards them. Instead, go round behind them. Then attack them from the other side, where the poplar trees are. 15 When you hear a noise in the tops of the trees like marching men, go out to attack them. Then you will know that God has gone in front of you. He will knock down the Philistine army for you.’ 16 So David did as God had commanded him to do. His men chased the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
17 So David became famous in every country. The Lord caused the people of every nation to be afraid of David.
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