Beginning
Kohanim and Levites in Nehemiah’s Day
9 So all Israel were registered by genealogies—behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. 2 The first to settle on their property in their towns were Israelites, kohanim, Levites and the Temple servants. 3 Those from the children of Judah, the children of Benjamin, and the children of Ephraim and Manasseh who settled in Jerusalem were: 4 Uthai son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, who was a descendant of Perez son of Judah.
5 From the Shilonites:
Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.
6 From the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen—690.
7 From the sons of Benjamin:
Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah; 8 Ibneiah son of Jeroham; and Elah son of Uzzi, son of Michri; and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibneiah, 9 and their kinsmen, according to their genealogies—956. All these men were leaders of their clans.
10 From the kohanim:
Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, 11 Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the ruler of the House of God; 12 Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah and Maasai son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer, 13 and their kinsmen, heads of their clans 1,760 very able men for the work of avodah in the House of God.
14 From the Levites:
Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, from the sons of Merari; 15 Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; 16 Obadiah son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.
17 The gatekeepers:
Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman and their brothers. Shallum was the leader; 18 he serves to this day at the king’s gate to the east. These were the gatekeepers for the camp of the descendants of Levi. 19 Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen from his ancesteral clan, the Korahites, were assigned to guard the gates of the Tent. Their ancestors had been responsible for guarding the entrance to the dwelling of Adonai 20 when Phinehas, son of Eleazar had been ruler over them in time past and Adonai was with him. 21 Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the door of the Tent of Meeting.
22 All these chosen to be gatekeepers at the gates were 212. These were registered in the genealogical records of their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed them to their offices. 23 They and their sons were guards of the gates of the House of Adonai, that is, the Tabernacle. 24 The gatekeepers were posted on the four sides, toward the east, west, north, and south. 25 Their kinsmen in their villages were to come from time to time and serve with them for seven days. 26 For the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted over the chambers and over the treasuries in the House of God. 27 They would spend the night around the House of God, because they were assigned to guard it and were in charge of opening it morning by morning.
28 Now some of them had charge of the utensils for avodah, for by count they brought them in and by count they took them out. 29 Some of them were appointed over the equipment and over all the utensils of the sanctuary, as well as over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the frankincense and the spices. 30 But some of the sons of the kohanim prepared the mixture of spices. 31 Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was in charge of preparing the flat cakes. 32 Some of the relatives of Kohathites were in charge of preparing the rows of bread every Shabbat.
33 Now these were the singers, patriarchal leaders of the Levites, who stayed in the chambers and were exempt from other service, for they were on duty day and night. 34 These were heads of the Levite families, chiefs in their geneaological records. These lived in Jerusalem.
35 Jeiel, the father of Gibeon, lived in Gibeon. His wife’s name was Maacah. 36 His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth. 38 Mikloth fathered Shimeam. They also lived with their kinsmen in Jerusalem, opposite their kinsmen.
39 Ner fathered Kish and Kish fathered Saul. Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal.
40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal and Merib-baal fathered Micah.
41 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Taharea and Ahaz.
42 Ahaz fathered Jarah and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri.
Zimri fathered Moza 43 and Moza fathered Binea; Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son and Azel his son.
44 Azel had six sons:
Azrikam, Bocru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.
Saul Dies on Mount Gilboa
10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons. The Philistines killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua. 3 The battle raged around Saul and the archers spotted him and he was wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, so that these uncircumcised will not come and torture me.”
But his armor-bearer refused to do it, because he was terrified. Therefore Saul took the sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died; his whole household died together. 7 Now when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. The Philistines then came and lived in them.
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the house of their gods, and hung his head in the house of Dagon.
11 Now when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died because of his unfaithful acts that he committed against the word of Adonai, which he did not keep, and he even consulted a medium for guidance 14 rather than inquire of Adonai. So He put him to death and transferred the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
David’s Rise and Capture of Zion
11 Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron, saying: “Behold, we are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, even when Saul was king, you were the one that led out and brought in Israel. Adonai your God also said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel and you shall be ruler over My people Israel.’”
3 When all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Adonai. They anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the word of Adonai by the hand of Samuel.
4 Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem—that is Jebus, where the Jebusite inhabitants of the land lived. 5 Now the residents of Jebus said to David, “You cannot get in here!” Nevertheless David captured the stronghold of Zion, which is now the city of David.
6 David had said, “Whoever strikes down the Jebusites first will be commander-in-chief.” So Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became commander. 7 David lived in the stronghold; for this reason it is called the city of David. 8 He fortified the city all around, from the Millo to the surrounding walls, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. 9 David grew more and more powerful because Adonai-Tzva’ot was with him.
David’s Mighty Men
10 Now these were chiefs of David’s mighty men, who strongly supported him in his kingdom, together with all Israel to make him king, according to the word of Adonai, over Israel. 11 This is the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam the son of Hachmoni, was the chief of the 30; he wielded his spear against 300 and slew them all at one time. 12 After him was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. 13 He was with David at Pas Dammim, when the Philistines assembled there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley where the army retreated from before the Philistines, 14 but they took a stand in the middle of the plot; they defended it and struck down the Philistines. Adonai delivered a great victory.
15 Three of the 30 leaders went down to David at the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a band of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 16 At that time, David was in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. 17 David had a craving and said, “If only someone would give me water to drink from the cistern by the gate in Bethlehem!” 18 So the three broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the cistern by the gate in Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But David refused to drink it. He poured it out to Adonai 19 and said: “Far be it for me that I should do this before my God! Can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?”—for they brought it at the risk of their lives and he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the Three mighty men.
20 Abishai, Joab’s brother, was chief of the Three. He once wielded his spear against 300 and slew them. Thus he won a name among the Three. 21 Of the Three, he was more highly esteemed than the other two and became their commander, even though he was not one of the three.
22 Beniah son of Jehoiada was a valiant man from Kabzeel who had done mighty deeds. He killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab, and went down and killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day. 23 He also killed the giant Egyptian man who was five cubits tall. In his hand the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam, yet Beniah attacked him with a club. He snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 24 These were the exploits of Beniah son of Jehoiada, who gained renown among the three mighty men. 25 Behold, he was more honorable than the 30, yet he was not one of the Three. Nevertheless, David set him over his bodyguard.
26 The mighty men were:
Asael Joab’s brother,
Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem,
27 Shammoth the Harorite,
Helez the Pelonite,
28 Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,
Abiezer the Anathothite,
29 Sibbecai the Hushathite,
Ilai the Ahohite,
30 Mahrai the Netophathite,
Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,
31 Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin,
Benaiah the Pirathonite,
32 Hurai of Nahale-gaash,
Abiel the Arbathite,
33 Azmaveth the Baharumite,
Eliahba the Shaalbonite,
34 the sons of Hashem the Gizonite,
Jonathan son of Shageh the Hararite,
35 Ahiam son of Sacar the Hararite,
Eliphal son of Ur,
36 Hepher the Meherathite,
Ahijah the Pelonite,
37 Hezro the Carmelite,
Naarai the son of Ezbai,
38 Joel the brother of Nathan,
Mibhar son of Hagri,
39 Zelek the Ammonite,
Nahrai the Berothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,
40 Ira the Ithrite,
Gareb the Ithrite,
41 Uriah the Hittite,
Zabad son of Ahlai,
42 Adina son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and 30 with him,
43 Hanan son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,
44 Uzzijah the Ashterathite,
Shama and Jeiel sons of Hotam the Aroerite,
45 Jedaiael son of Shimri and Joha his brother the Tizite,
46 Eliel the Mahavite,
Jeribai and Joshaviah, sons of Elnaam,
and Ithmah the Moabite;
47 Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.