The Daily Audio Bible

Followers from Manasseh

¹⁹ Some soldiers from the tribe of Manasseh went over to David's side when he was marching out with the Philistines to fight King Saul. Actually he did not help the Philistines, for their kings were afraid that he would betray them to his former master Saul, so they sent him back to Ziklag. ²⁰ These are the soldiers from Manasseh who went over to David's side when he was returning: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. In Manasseh they had all commanded units of a thousand men. ²¹ They served David as officers over his troops,^[a] because they were all outstanding soldiers. Later they were officers in the Israelite army. ²² Almost every day new men joined David's forces, so that his army was soon enormous.

List of David's Forces

^23-37 When David was at Hebron, many trained soldiers joined his army to help make him king in place of Saul, as the Lord had promised. Their numbers were as follows:

Judah: 6,800 well-equipped men, armed with shields and spears;

Simeon: 7,100 well-trained men;

Levi: 4,600 men;

Benjamin (Saul's own tribe): 3,000 men (most of the people of Benjamin had remained loyal to Saul);

Ephraim: 20,800 men famous in their own clans;

West Manasseh: 18,000 men chosen to go and make David king;

Issachar: 200 leaders, together with the men under their command (these leaders knew what Israel should do and the best time to do it);

Zebulun: 50,000 loyal and reliable men ready to fight, trained to use all kinds of weapons;

Naphtali: 1,000 leaders, together with 37,000 men armed with shields and spears;

Dan: 28,600 trained men;

Asher: 40,000 men ready for battle;

Tribes east of the Jordan—Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh: 120,000 men trained to use all kinds of weapons.

³⁸ All these soldiers, ready for battle, went to Hebron, determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the people of Israel were united in the same purpose. ³⁹ They spent three days there with David, feasting on the food and drink which their relatives had prepared for them. ⁴⁰ From as far away as the northern tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, people came bringing donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen loaded with food—flour, figs, raisins, wine, and olive oil. They also brought cattle and sheep to kill and eat. All this was an expression of the joy that was felt throughout the whole country.

The Covenant Box Is Moved from Kiriath Jearim^(A)

13 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men. ² Then he announced to all the people of Israel, “If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us. ³ Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king.” ⁴ The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it.

^5 (B)So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. ^6 (C)David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. ⁷ At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, ⁸ while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments—harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets.

⁹ As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box. ¹⁰ At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence, ¹¹ and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah^[b] ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

^12 (D)Then David was afraid of God and said, “How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?” ¹³ So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath. ^14 (E)It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

David's Activities in Jerusalem^(F)

14 King Hiram of Tyre sent a trade mission to David; he provided him with cedar logs and with stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace. ² And so David realized that the Lord had established him as king of Israel and was making his kingdom prosperous for the sake of his people.

³ There in Jerusalem, David married more wives and had more sons and daughters. ⁴ The following children were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada,^[c] and Eliphelet.

Victory over the Philistines^(G)

⁸ When the Philistines heard that David had now been made king over the whole country of Israel, their army went out to capture him. So David marched out to meet them. ⁹ The Philistines arrived at Rephaim Valley and began plundering. ¹⁰ David asked God, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?”

The Lord answered, “Yes, attack! I will give you the victory!”

¹¹ So David attacked them at Baal Perazim and defeated them. He said, “God has used me to break through the enemy army like a flood.” So that place is called Baal Perazim.^{[d] 12} When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David gave orders for them to be burned.

¹³ Soon the Philistines returned to the valley and started plundering it again. ¹⁴ Once more David consulted God, who answered, “Don't attack them from here, but go around and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees. ¹⁵ When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack, because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” ¹⁶ David did what God had commanded, and so he drove the Philistines back from Gibeon all the way to Gezer. ¹⁷ David's fame spread everywhere, and the Lord made every nation afraid of him.

1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus and an apostle chosen and called by God to preach his Good News.

² The Good News was promised long ago by God through his prophets, as written in the Holy Scriptures. ³ It is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: as to his humanity, he was born a descendant of David; ⁴ as to his divine holiness, he was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death. ⁵ Through him God gave me the privilege of being an apostle for the sake of Christ, in order to lead people of all nations to believe and obey. ⁶ This also includes you who are in Rome, whom God has called to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷ And so I write to all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his own people:

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the whole world is hearing about your faith. ⁹ God is my witness that what I say is true—the God whom I serve with all my heart by preaching the Good News about his Son. God knows that I remember you ¹⁰ every time I pray. I ask that God in his good will may at last make it possible for me to visit you now. ¹¹ For I want very much to see you, in order to share a spiritual blessing with you to make you strong. ¹² What I mean is that both you and I will be helped at the same time, you by my faith and I by yours.

^13 (A)You must remember, my friends, that many times I have planned to visit you, but something has always kept me from doing so. I want to win converts among you also, as I have among other Gentiles. ¹⁴ For I have an obligation to all peoples, to the civilized and to the savage, to the educated and to the ignorant. ¹⁵ So then, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who live in Rome.

The Power of the Gospel

^16 (B)I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles. ^17 (C)For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, “The person who is put right with God through faith shall live.”^[a]

⁴ Rich people are always finding new friends, but the poor cannot keep the few they have.

⁵ If you tell lies in court, you will be punished—there will be no escape.