1 Chronicles 4–8

Other Family Groups of Judah

4Judah’s descendants were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.

²Reaiah was Shobal’s son. Reaiah was the father of Jahath, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. They were the family groups of the Zorathite people.

^3–4Hur was the oldest son of Caleb and his wife Ephrathah. Hur was the leader of Bethlehem. His three sons were Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam’s sons were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. They had a sister named Hazzelelponi. Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah.

⁵Tekoa’s father was Ashhur. Ashhur had two wives named Helah and Naarah.

⁶The sons of Ashhur and Naarah were Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the descendants of Naarah.

⁷Helah’s sons were Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, ⁸and Koz. Koz was the father of Anub, Hazzobebah, and the Aharhel family group. Aharhel was the son of Harum.

⁹There was a man named Jabez, who was respected more than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez ⁿ because she said, “I was in much pain when I gave birth to him.” ¹⁰Jabez prayed to the God of Israel, “Please do good things for me and give me more land. Stay with me, and don’t let anyone hurt me. Then I won’t have any pain.” And God did what Jabez had asked.

¹¹Kelub, Shuhah’s brother, was the father of Mehir. Mehir was the father of Eshton. ¹²Eshton was the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. Tehinnah was the father of the people from the town of Nahash. These people were from Recah.

¹³The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah.

Othniel’s sons were Hathath and Meonothai. ¹⁴Meonothai was the father of Ophrah.

Seraiah was the father of Joab. Joab was the ancestor of the people from Craftsmen’s Valley, named that because the people living there were craftsmen.

¹⁵Caleb was Jephunneh’s son. Caleb’s sons were Iru, Elah, and Naam. Elah’s son was Kenaz.

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

^17–18Ezrah’s sons were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered married Bithiah, the daughter of the king of Egypt. The children of Mered and Bithiah were Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah. Ishbah was the father of Eshtemoa. Mered also had a wife from Judah, who gave birth to Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel. Jered became the father of Gedor. Heber became the father of Soco. And Jekuthiel became the father of Zanoah.

¹⁹Hodiah’s wife was Naham’s sister. The sons of Hodiah’s wife were Eshtemoa and the father of Keilah. Keilah was from the Garmite people, and Eshtemoa was from the Maacathite people.

²⁰Shimon’s sons were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan, and Tilon.

Ishi’s sons were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.

^21–22Shelah was Judah’s son. Shelah’s sons were Er, Laadah, Jokim, the men from Cozeba, Joash, and Saraph. Er was the father of Lecah. Laadah was the father of Mareshah and the family groups of linen workers at Beth Ashbea. Joash and Saraph ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. The writings about this family are very old. ²³These sons of Shelah were potters. They lived in Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king.

Simeon’s Children

²⁴Simeon’s sons were Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. ²⁵Shaul’s son was Shallum. Shallum’s son was Mibsam. Mibsam’s son was Mishma.

²⁶Mishma’s son was Hammuel. Hammuel’s son was Zaccur. Zaccur’s son was Shimei. ²⁷Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so there were not as many people in their family group as there were in Judah.

²⁸Shimei’s children lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual, ²⁹Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri, and Shaaraim. They lived in these cities until David became king. ³²The five villages near these cities were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token, and Ashan. ³³There were also other villages as far away as Baalath. This is where they lived. And they wrote the history of their family.

^34–38The men in this list were leaders of their family groups: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah (Joshibiah was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Asiel), Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, and Ziza. (Ziza was the son of Shiphi, who was the son of Allon. Allon was the son of Jedaiah, who was the son of Shimri. And Shimri was the son of Shemaiah.)

These families grew very large. ³⁹They went outside the city of Gedor to the east side of the valley to look for pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰They found good pastures with plenty of grass, and the land was open country and peaceful and quiet. Ham’s descendants had lived there in the past.

⁴¹These men who were listed came to Gedor while Hezekiah was king of Judah. They fought against the Hamites, destroying their tents, and also against the Meunites who lived there, and completely destroyed them. So there are no Meunites there even today. Then these men began to live there, because there was pasture for their flocks. ⁴²Ishi’s sons, Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, led five hundred of the Simeonites and attacked the people living in the mountains of Edom. ⁴³They killed the few Amalekites who were still alive. From that time until now these Simeonites have lived in Edom.

Reuben’s Children

5Reuben was Israel’s first son. Reuben should have received the special privileges of the oldest son, but he had sexual relations with his father’s slave woman. So those special privileges were given to Joseph’s sons. (Joseph was a son of Israel.) In the family history Reuben’s name is not listed as the first son. ²Judah became stronger than his brothers, and a leader came from his family. But Joseph’s family received the privileges that belonged to the oldest son. ³Reuben was Israel’s first son. Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

⁴These were the children of Joel: Shemaiah was Joel’s son. Gog was Shemaiah’s son. Shimei was Gog’s son. ⁵Micah was Shimei’s son. Reaiah was Micah’s son. Baal was Reaiah’s son. ⁶Beerah was Baal’s son. Beerah was a leader of the tribe of Reuben. Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria captured him and took him away.

⁷Joel’s brothers and all his family groups are listed just as they are written in their family histories: Jeiel was the first, then Zechariah, ⁸and Bela. (Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema, and Shema was the son of Joel.) They lived in the area of Aroer all the way to Nebo and Baal Meon. ⁹Bela’s people lived to the east—as far as the edge of the desert, which is beside the Euphrates River—because they had too many cattle for the land of Gilead.

¹⁰When Saul was king, Bela’s people fought a war against the Hagrite people and defeated them. Then Bela’s people lived in the tents that had belonged to the Hagrites in all the area east of Gilead.

Gad’s Children

¹¹The people from the tribe of Gad lived near the Reubenites. The Gadites lived in the area of Bashan all the way to Salecah. ¹²Joel was the main leader, Shapham was second, and then Janai and Shaphat were leaders in Bashan.

¹³The seven relatives in their families were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber. ¹⁴They were the descendants of Abihail. Abihail was Huri’s son. Huri was Jaroah’s son. Jaroah was Gilead’s son. Gilead was Michael’s son. Michael was Jeshishai’s son. Jeshishai was Jahdo’s son, and Jahdo was the son of Buz. ¹⁵Ahi was Abdiel’s son, and Abdiel was Guni’s son. Ahi was the leader of their family.

¹⁶The Gadites lived in Gilead, Bashan and the small towns around it, and on all the pasturelands in the Plain of Sharon all the way to the borders.

¹⁷All these names were written in the family history of Gad during the time Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

Soldiers Skilled in War

¹⁸There were forty-four thousand seven hundred sixty soldiers from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and East Manasseh who carried shields and swords and bows. They were skilled in war. ¹⁹They started a war against the Hagrites and the people of Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰The men from the tribes of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad prayed to God during the war, asking him to help them. So he helped them because they trusted him. He handed over to them the Hagrites and all those who were with them. ²¹They took the animals that belonged to the Hagrites: fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys. They also captured one hundred thousand people. ²²Many Hagrites were killed because God helped the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. Then they lived there until Babylon captured them and took them away.

East Manasseh

²³There were many people in East Manasseh, and they lived in the area of Bashan all the way to Baal Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon.

²⁴These were the family leaders: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were all strong, brave, and famous men, and leaders in their families. ²⁵But they sinned against the God that their ancestors had worshiped. They began worshiping the gods of the people in that land, and those were the people God was destroying. ²⁶So the God of Israel made Pul king of Assyria want to go to war. (Pul was also called Tiglath-Pileser.) He captured the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, and he took them away to Halah, Habor, Hara, and near the Gozan River. They have lived there from that time until this day.

Levi’s Children

6Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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

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

Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁴Eleazar was the father of Phinehas. Phinehas was the father of Abishua. ⁵Abishua was the father of Bukki. Bukki was the father of Uzzi. ⁶Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah. Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth. ⁷Meraioth was the father of Amariah. Amariah was the father of Ahitub. ⁸Ahitub was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz. ⁹Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah. Azariah was the father of Johanan. ¹⁰Johanan was the father of Azariah. (Azariah was a priest in…