1 Chronicles 4–8

JUDAH’S DESCENDANTS

4Judah’s sons:^a Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.

²Reaiah son of Shobal fathered Jahath, and Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad.

These were the families of the Zorathites.

³These were Etam’s sons:^A Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and their sister was named Hazzelelponi.

⁴Penuel fathered Gedor, and Ezer fathered Hushah.

These were the sons of Hur, Ephrathah’s firstborn and the father of Bethlehem:

⁵Ashhur fathered Tekoa and had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

⁶Naarah bore Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari to him. These were Naarah’s sons.

⁷Helah’s sons: Zereth, Zohar,^B and Ethnan. ⁸Koz fathered Anub, Zobebah,^C and the families of Aharhel son of Harum.

⁹Jabez^D was more honored than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez and said, “I gave birth to him in pain.”

¹⁰Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only you would bless me, extend my border, let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not experience pain.”^E And God granted his request.

¹¹Chelub brother of Shuhah fathered Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹²Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Irnahash. These were the men of Recah.

¹³Kenaz’s sons: Othniel and Seraiah.

Othniel’s sons: Hathath and Meonothai.^F

¹⁴Meonothai fathered Ophrah,

and Seraiah fathered Joab, the ancestor of those in the Craftsmen’s Valley,^G for they were craftsmen.

¹⁵The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam.

Elah’s son: Kenaz.

¹⁶Jehallelel’s sons: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.

¹⁷Ezrah’s sons: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered’s wife Bithiah gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸These were the sons of Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah; Mered had married her. His Judean wife gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. ¹⁹The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham: the father of Keilah the Garmite and the father of Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

²⁰Shimon’s sons: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon.

Ishi’s sons: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth.

²¹The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, the families of the guild^H of linen workers at Beth-ashbea, ²²Jokim, the men of Cozeba; and Joash and Saraph, who married Moabites^I and returned to Lehem.^J These names are from ancient records. ²³They were the potters and residents of Netaim and Gederah. They lived there in the service of the king.

SIMEON’S DESCENDANTS

²⁴Simeon’s sons:^a Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul;

²⁵Shaul’s sons: his son Shallum, his son Mibsam, and his son Mishma.

²⁶Mishma’s sons: his son Hammuel, his son Zaccur, and his son Shimei.

²⁷Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their whole family did not become as numerous as the Judeans. ²⁸They lived in Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, ²⁹Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until David became king. ³²Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities, ³³and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record for themselves.

³⁴Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah,

³⁵Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah, son of Seraiah, son of Asiel,

³⁶Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷and Ziza son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah—

³⁸these mentioned by name were leaders in their families. Their ancestral houses increased greatly. ³⁹They went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley to seek pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰They found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, peaceful, and quiet,^b for some Hamites had lived there previously.

⁴¹These^c who were recorded by name came in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, attacked the Hamites’ tents and the Meunites who were found there, and set them apart for destruction,^d as they are today. Then they settled in their place because there was pasture for their flocks. ⁴²Now five hundred men from these sons of Simeon went with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the descendants of Ishi, as their leaders to Mount Seir.^{e 43}They struck down^f the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they still live there today.

REUBEN’S DESCENDANTS

5These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. He was the firstborn,^g but his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph^h son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed.ⁱ He is not listed in the genealogy according to birthright. ²Although Judah became strong among his brothers^j and a ruler came from him,^k the birthright was given to Joseph.

³The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn:^l

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

⁴Joel’s sons: his son Shemaiah,

his son Gog, his son Shimei,

⁵his son Micah, his son Reaiah,

his son Baal, ⁶and his son Beerah.

Beerah was a leader of the Reubenites, and King Tiglath-pileser^A of Assyria took him into exile. ⁷His relatives by their families as they are recorded in their family records:^m

Jeiel the chief, Zechariah,

⁸and Bela son of Azaz,

son of Shema, son of Joel.

They settled in Aroerⁿ as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. ⁹They also settled in the east as far as the edge of the desert that extends to the Euphrates River, because their herds had increased in the land of Gilead.^{o 10}During Saul’s reign they waged war against the Hagrites,^p who were defeated by their power. And they lived in their tents throughout the region east of Gilead.

GAD’S DESCENDANTS

¹¹The sons^q of Gad lived next to them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah:^r

¹²Joel the chief, Shapham the second in command, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan.

¹³Their relatives according to their ancestral houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven.

¹⁴These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri,

son of Jaroah, son of Gilead,

son of Michael, son of Jeshishai,

son of Jahdo, son of Buz.

¹⁵Ahi son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was head of their ancestral family. ¹⁶They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its surrounding villages, and throughout the pasturelands of Sharon.^{a 17}All of them were registered in the genealogies during the reigns of Judah’s King Jotham^b and Israel’s King Jeroboam.^c

¹⁸The descendants of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors who could serve^d in the army—men who carried shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for war. ¹⁹They waged war against the Hagrites,^e Jetur,^f Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰They received help against these enemies because they cried out to God in battle, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them.^g He was receptive to their prayer because they trusted in him.^{h 21}They captured the Hagrites’ livestock—fifty thousand of their camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys—as well as one hundred thousand people. ²²Many of the Hagrites were killed because it was God’s battle.ⁱ And they lived there in the Hagrites’ place^j until the exile.^k

HALF THE TRIBE OF MANASSEH

²³The descendants of half the tribe of Manasseh settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir^l or Mount Hermon); they were numerous. ²⁴These were the heads of their ancestral families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were valiant warriors, famous men, and heads of their ancestral houses. ²⁵But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors. They prostituted themselves^m with the gods of the nations^A God had destroyed before them.^{n 26}So the God of Israel roused the spirit of King Pul^o (that is, Tiglath-pileser^B) of Assyria, and he took the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan’s river, where they are until today.

THE LEVITES

6Levi’s^p sons: Gershom,^C Kohath, and Merari.

²Kohath’s sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

³Amram’s children: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.

Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

⁴Eleazar fathered Phinehas;^q

Phinehas fathered Abishua;

⁵Abishua fathered Bukki;

Bukki fathered Uzzi;

⁶Uzzi fathered Zerahiah;

Zerahiah fathered Meraioth;

⁷Meraioth fathered Amariah;

Amariah fathered Ahitub;

⁸Ahitub fathered Zadok;

Zadok fathered Ahimaaz;

⁹Ahimaaz fathered Azariah;

Azariah fathered Johanan;

¹⁰Johanan fathered Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem;

¹¹Azariah fathered Amariah;

Amariah fathered Ahitub;

¹²Ahitub fathered Zadok;

Zadok fathered Shallum;

¹³Shallum fathered Hilkiah;

Hilkiah fathered Azariah;

¹⁴Azariah fathered Seraiah;

and Seraiah fathered Jehozadak.

¹⁵Jehozadak went into exile when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.^r

¹⁶Levi’s^s sons: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁷These are the names of Gershom’s sons: Libni and Shimei.

¹⁸Kohath’s sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

¹⁹Merari’s sons: Mahli and Mushi.

These are the Levites’ families according to their fathers:

²⁰Of Gershom: his son Libni,

his son Jahath, his son Zimmah,

²¹his son Joah, his son Iddo,

his son Zerah, and his son Jeatherai.

²²Kohath’s sons: his son Amminadab,

his son Korah, his son Assir,

²³his son Elkanah, his son Ebiasaph,

his son Assir, ²⁴his son Tahath,

his son Uriel, his son Uzziah,

and his son Shaul.

²⁵Elkanah’s sons: Amasai and Ahimoth,

²⁶his son Elkanah, his son Zophai,

his son Nahath, ²⁷his son Eliab,

his son Jeroham, and his son Elkanah.

²⁸Samuel’s sons: his firstborn Joel,^a

and his second son Abijah.

²⁹Merari’s sons: Mahli, his son Libni,

his son Shimei, his son Uzzah,

³⁰his son Shimea, his son Haggiah,

and his son Asaiah.

THE MUSICIANS

³¹These are the men David put in charge of the music in the Lord’s temple^b after the ark came to rest there.^{c 32}They ministered with song in front of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, until Solomon built the Lord…