1 Chronicles 10–12

10TH CHAPTER

The Death of Saul—1 Samuel 31:1–13

¹When the Philistines fought against Israel, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines caught up to Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ³The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was wounded by them. 

⁴Saul told his armorbearer, “Draw your sword! Stab me, or these godless men will come and make fun of me.” But his armorbearer refused because he was terrified. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. ⁵When the armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on the sword and died. ⁶So Saul, his three sons, and his dynasty died together. 

⁷When all the people of Israel in the valley saw that ⸤their army⸥ had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities. So the Philistines came to live in these cities. 

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons lying on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They stripped him and took his head and his armor. Then they sent men throughout Philistine territory to tell their idols and the people this good news. ¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head to the temple of Dagon. 

¹¹When all the people of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all the fighting men came and took away the dead bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried the bones under the oak tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted seven days. 

¹³So Saul died because of his unfaithfulness to the Lord: He did not obey the Lord’s word. He asked a medium to request information ⸤from a dead person⸥. ¹⁴He didn’t request information from the Lord. So the Lord killed him and turned the kingship over to David, Jesse’s son. 

11TH CHAPTER

David Anointed King of Israel—2 Samuel 5:1–3

¹All Israel gathered around David at Hebron. “We are your own flesh and blood,” they said. ²“Even in the past when Saul ruled, you were the one who led Israel on its campaigns to war. The Lord your God has said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people Israel, the leader of my people Israel.’ ” 

³All the leaders of Israel had come to Hebron. David made an agreement with them at Hebron in front of the Lord. So they anointed David king of Israel, as the Lord had spoken through Samuel. 

David Captures Jerusalem—2 Samuel 5:6–10

⁴David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites were living in that region. ⁵They told David, “You will never get in here.” But David captured the fortress Zion (that is, the City of David). 

⁶Now, David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will be made a general and a prince.” Zeruiah’s son Joab was the first to go ⸤into Jerusalem⸥, so he became the general. 

⁷David lived in the fortress, so it was called the City of David. ⁸He built the city ⸤of Jerusalem⸥ around it, starting from the Millo^aand making a complete circuit. Joab rebuilt the rest of the city. ⁹David continued to grow more powerful because the Lord of Armies was with him. 

David’s Three Fighting Men—2 Samuel 23:8–17

¹⁰Now, these were the commanders of David’s fighting men, who exercised power with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel they made him king according to the Lord’s word to Israel. ¹¹The first of David’s fighting men was Jashobeam, son of Hachmon, the leader of the three.^bHe used his spear to kill 300 men on one occasion. ¹²Next in rank to him was Eleazar, another one of the three fighting men. He was the son of Dodo and grandson of Aho. ¹³Eleazar was with David at Pas Dammim when the Philistines gathered there for battle. There was a field of ripe barley. When the troops fled from the Philistines, ¹⁴they stood in the middle of the field and defended it by killing Philistines. So the Lord saved ⸤them⸥ with an impressive victory. ¹⁵Once three of the thirty leading men went down to David’s rock at the cave of Adullam when the army of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶While David was in the fortified camp, Philistine troops were in Bethlehem. 

¹⁷David was thirsty and said, “I wish I could have a drink of water from the cistern at the city gate of Bethlehem.” ¹⁸So the three burst into the Philistine camp and drew water from the cistern. They brought it to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out ⸤as an offering⸥ to the Lord ¹⁹and said, “It’s unthinkable that I would do this, God. Should I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives? They had to risk their lives to get this water.” So he refused to drink it. 

These are the things which the three fighting men did. 

David’s Thirty Fighting Men—2 Samuel 23:18–39

²⁰Joab’s brother Abishai was the leader of the thirty. He used his spear to kill 300 men, but he was not one of the three, ²¹although he was honored more than they were. So he became their captain but didn’t become a member of the three. 

²²Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was from Kabzeel and was a brave man who did many things. He killed two distinguished soldiers from Moab. He also went into a cistern and killed a lion on the day it snowed. ²³He killed an eight-foot-tall Egyptian. The Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam in his hand. But Benaiah went to him with a club, grabbed the spear away from him, and killed him with it. ²⁴These are the things that Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, did. He was as famous as the three fighting men. ²⁵He was honored more than the thirty, but he was not a member of the three. David put him in charge of his bodyguards. 

²⁶The distinguished fighting men were 

Joab’s brother Asahel, 

Elhanan (son of Dodo) from Bethlehem, 

²⁷Shammoth from Harod, 

Helez the Pelonite, 

²⁸Ira (son of Ikkesh) from Tekoa, 

Abiezer from Anathoth, 

²⁹Sibbecai (son of Hushai), 

Ilai (descendant of Ahohi), 

³⁰Maharai from Netophah, 

Heled (son of Baanah) from Netophah, 

³¹Ithai (son of Ribai) from Gibeah in Benjamin, 

Benaiah from Pirathon, 

³²Hurai from the Gaash ravines, 

Abiel from Beth Arabah, 

³³Azmaveth from Bahurim, 

Eliahba from Shaalbon, 

³⁴Bene Hashem from Gizon, 

Jonathan (son of Shage the Hararite), 

³⁵Ahiam (son of Sachar the Hararite), 

Eliphal (son of Ur), 

³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, 

Ahijah the Pelonite, 

³⁷Hezro from Carmel, 

Naari (son of Ezbai), 

³⁸Joel (son of Nathan), 

Mibhar (son of Hagri), 

³⁹Zelek from Ammon, 

Naharai from Beroth, armorbearer for Zeruiah’s son Joab, 

⁴⁰Ira (descendant of Ithra), 

Gareb (descendant of Ithra), 

⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, 

Zabad (son of Ahlai), 

⁴²Adina (son of Shiza) from the tribe of Reuben (who was leader of the 

tribe of Reuben and had his own group of thirty soldiers), 

⁴³Hanan (son of Maacah), 

and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 

⁴⁴Uzzia from Ashteroth, 

Shama and Jeiel (sons of Hotham from Aroer), 

⁴⁵Jediael (son of Shimri) and 

his brother Joha the Tizite, 

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, 

Jeribai and Joshaviah (sons of Elnaam), 

Ithmah from Moab, 

⁴⁷Eliel, 

Obed, and 

Jaasiel the Mezobaite. 

12TH CHAPTER

The Men Who Helped David Become King

¹These are the men who came to David at Ziklag when he was banished by Saul, son of Kish. They were among the soldiers who went into battle with David. ²They were armed with bows and could sling stones or shoot arrows with either their right or their left hands. They were Saul’s relatives, ⸤from the tribe of⸥ Benjamin. ³Ahiezer was the leader, then Joash (they were the sons of Shemaah from Gibeah), Azmaveth’s sons Jeziel and Pelet, Beracah and Jehu from Anathoth, ⁴Ishmaiah from Gibeon (one of the thirty fighting men and one of their leaders),^aJeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from Gederah, ⁵Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah from Haruph, ⁶Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam (Korah’s descendants), ⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah, Jeroham’s sons from Gedor. 

⁸Some men left Gad to join David at the fortified camp in the desert. They were warriors, trained soldiers, able to fight with shields and spears. They looked like lions and were as fast as gazelles on the hills. ⁹Ezer was the first of these soldiers. The second was Obadiah. The third was Eliab. ¹⁰The fourth was Mishmannah. The fifth was Jeremiah. ¹¹The sixth was Attai. The seventh was Eliel. ¹²The eighth was Johanan. The ninth was Elzabad. ¹³The tenth was Jeremiah. The eleventh was Machbannai. ¹⁴These descendants of Gad were army officers. The least able one was in command of 100 men, and the best one was in command of 1,000. ¹⁵In the first month of the year, these men crossed the Jordan River when it was flooding its banks. They chased away all the people in the valleys to the east and west. 

¹⁶Some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the fortified camp. ¹⁷David went to meet them. He told them, “If you’ve come to help me as friends would, then you may join me. But if you’ve come to betray me to my enemies, even though I haven’t committed a crime, may the God of our ancestors see this and judge you.” 

¹⁸Then the Spirit gave Amasai, the leader of the thirty, the strength ⸤to say⸥, 

“We are yours, David. 

We are with you, son of Jesse. 

Success, success to you! 

Success to those who help you, 

because your God is helping you.” 

So David welcomed them and made them officers over his troops. 

¹⁹Some men from Manasseh had deserted ⸤Saul’s army⸥ to join David when he went with the Philistines to attack Saul. (However, David didn’t help the Philistines because their rulers sent him away after considering the matter. They said, “It will cost us our heads when he deserts and joins his master Saul.”) ²⁰When David went to Ziklag, these men from Manasseh deserted to join him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each one was an officer over 1,000 men in Manasseh. ²¹They helped David fight raiding parties because they were all warriors, commanders in the army. ²²From day to day, men came to help David until he had an army as large as God’s army. 

²³These are the numbers of the…