Beginning

The Genealogy of Returned Exiles

9 So all Israel was enrolled in genealogy. And behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was taken away to Babylon on account of their sin. ² Now the first inhabitants who were settled on their property in their cities in Israel were the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. ³ And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem: ⁴ Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani,^[a] from the sons of Perez,^[b] the son of Judah. ⁵ And from the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. ⁶ And from the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their brethren, six hundred and ninety. ⁷ And from the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; ⁸ Ibneah the son of Jeroham; Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah; ⁹ and their brethren according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were the heads of the families^[c] in the house of their fathers.

¹⁰ And from the priests: Jedaiah; Jehoiarib; Jakin; ¹¹ Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the commander of the house of God; ¹² Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malkijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; ¹³ and their kinsmen, heads of the house of their fathers, one thousand seven hundred and sixty mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God.

¹⁴ And from the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, from the sons of Merari; ¹⁵ Bakbakkar; Heresh; Galal; Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zicri, son of Asaph; ¹⁶ Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of Netophathite.

¹⁷ And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren (Shallum was the chief); ¹⁸ until then they were gatekeepers at the gate of the king on the east side toward the camps of the Levites. ¹⁹ And Shallum the son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of the house of his fathers, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, the guardians of the entrances to the tent, and their fathers were over the camp of Yahweh, guardians of the entrance. ²⁰ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the leader over them in time past;^[d] Yahweh was with him. ²¹ Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the doorway to the tent of assembly.^{[e] 22} All of them were chosen as gatekeepers at the entrances, two hundred and twelve. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. They were established by David and Samuel the seer on account of their faithfulness. ²³ So they and their sons were over the gates of the house of Yahweh at the house of the tent as guards. ²⁴ The gatekeepers were on four sides: east, west, north, and south. ²⁵ And their brethren in their villages were to come every seven days by turn^[f] to be with these. ²⁶ For the four mighty gatekeepers, they who were Levites, were entrusted^[g] and were over the chambers and over the storerooms of the house of God. ²⁷ And they lodged all around the house of God, for upon them was a responsibility. And they had charge of opening the house of God every morning.^[h]

²⁸ And some of them were over the utensils of the service, for they count them^[i] when they are brought in and they count them^[j] when they are brought out. ²⁹ And some of them were appointed over the objects, over the objects of the sanctuary, and over the wheat flour and the wine, the olive oil, the frankincense, and the spices. ³⁰ And some of the sons of the priests mixed the fragrant ointment for the spices. ³¹ And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite and was entrusted^[k] with the work of the pan breads. ³² And from the sons of the Kohathites, some of their kinsmen were over the showbread^[l] to prepare it every Sabbath.^[m]

³³ Now these were the singers; the heads of the families^[n] of the Levites were in the chambers free from other service, for day and night they were over them on the service. ³⁴ These were the heads of the families^[o] of the Levites according to their genealogies, leaders. These lived in Jerusalem.

Saul’s Genealogy Repeated

³⁵ And these lived in Gibeon: Jeiel the father of Gibeon. And the name of his wife was Maacah. ³⁶ And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸ And Mikloth fathered Shimeam. And they also lived nearby their brothers in Jerusalem with their brothers. ³⁹ And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰ And the son of Jonathan was Meribaal. And Meribaal fathered Micah. ⁴¹ And the sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.^{[p] 42} And Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza, ⁴³ and Moza fathered Binea; and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴ And Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

The Death of Saul and His Sons

10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and every Israelite fled away from before the Philistines. And they fell slain upon Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines overtook^[q] Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. ³ And the battle was heavy against Saul, and the archers^[r] found him, and he was wounded by the archers.^{[s] 4} And Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and deal harshly with me.” But he was very afraid. Then Saul took the sword and fell upon it. ⁵ When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon the sword, and he died. ⁶ So Saul died. And his three sons and all his house died together. ⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they^[t] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and dwelled in them. ⁸ And it happened that on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they stripped him and took his head and his weapons, and they sent them throughout the land of the Philistines to bring news to their idols and the nation. ¹⁰ And they put his weapons in the temple of their gods, and they fastened his skull to the temple of Dagon. ¹¹ When all Jabesh-Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² every strong man arose and took the dead body of Saul and the dead bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days. ¹³ So Saul died on account of his sin which he had sinned against Yahweh concerning the command of Yahweh that he did not keep. He also consulted a medium to seek guidance. ¹⁴ But he did not seek Yahweh. So Yahweh put him to death and turned over the kingship to David, the son of Jesse.

The Anointing of David as King

11 Then all Israel gathered to David in Hebron, saying, “Look—we are your flesh and bones. ² For some time now,^[u] even when Saul was king, you were the one who led the army of Israel in battle.^[v] And Yahweh your God said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel and will be leader over my people Israel.’” ³ Then all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the presence of Yahweh. And they anointed David as king over Israel according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Samuel. ⁴ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is Jebus). And the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there. ⁵ And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not enter here.” But David captured the stronghold of Zion; that is, the city of David. ⁶ Then David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first will be chief and commander.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first and became chief. ⁷ And David lived in the fortress. Therefore they called it the city of David. ⁸ And he built the city all around from the Millo and up to the circuit. And Joab restored the remainder of the city. ⁹ And David became greater and greater.^[w] And Yahweh of hosts was with him.

David’s Mighty Men

¹⁰ Now these are the chiefs of the mighty men who were for David, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel to make him king according to the word of Yahweh concerning Israel. ¹¹ And this is the numbering of the mighty warriors who were for David: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the three. He himself raised his spear against three hundred whom he killed on one occasion.

¹² And after him was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. He was among the three mighty warriors. ¹³ He himself was with David at Pas-Dammim when the Philistines were gathered there for the battle. And there was a plot of the field filled with barley, and the people fled before the Philistines. ¹⁴ But they took their stand in the middle of the plot and defended it. And they killed the Philistines. And Yahweh saved them with a great victory.

¹⁵ And three of the thirty chiefs went down toward the rock to David at the cave of Adullam when the army of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ And David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David had a craving, and he said, “Who could give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” ¹⁸ Then the three broke through into the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and brought it and came to David. But David would not drink it and poured it out before Yahweh. ¹⁹ And he said, “Far be it from me that I would do this before my God. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives^[x] they brought it.” And he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

²⁰ Now Abishai the brother of Joab was himself the head of the three.^[y] And he roused himself with his spear against three hundred whom he killed and made a name for himself^[z] among the three. ²¹ He was twice as renowned^[aa] among the three^[ab] and was their commander. But he did not attain to the three. ²² And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a strong man^[ac] from Kabzeel, one who did great deeds. He himself struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab. And he himself went down and struck down a lion within a pit on a snowy day. ²³ And he himself struck down an Egyptian man, a large man five cubits tall. And in the hand of the Egyptian was a spear like a weaver’s beam. But he went down to him with a club and seized the spear from the hand of the Egyptian and killed him with his own spear. ²⁴ These things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did and had a name among the three mighty warriors. ²⁵ He himself was certainly distinguished among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

²⁶ Now the mighty warriors of the troops were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo from Bethlehem, ²⁷ Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰ Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, ³¹ Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, ³² Hurai of the valleys of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jehonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mekerathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷ Hezro the Carmelite, Naari the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, the bearer of the weapons of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a leader of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Maacah, Jehoshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵ Jediael the son of Shimri and Joha his brother the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.