1 Chronicles 4–8

Other Family Groups of Judah

4The family line of Judah included

Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur and Shobal.

²Reaiah was the son of Shobal and the father of Jahath. Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. Those were the family groups of the people of Zorah.

³The sons of Etam were

Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash. Their sister was named Hazzelelponi. ⁴Penuel was the father of Gedor. Ezer was the father of Hushah.

Those people belonged to the family line of Hur. He was the oldest son of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem.

⁵Ashhur was the father of Tekoa. Ashhur had two wives. Their names were Helah and Naarah.

⁶Naarah had Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni and Haahashtari by Ashhur. They belonged to the family line of Naarah.

⁷The sons of Helah were

Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan ⁸and Koz. Koz was the father of Anub and Hazzobebah. He was also the father of the family groups of Aharhel. Aharhel was the son of Harum.

⁹Jabez was more respected than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez. She had said, “I was in a lot of pain when he was born.”

¹⁰Jabez cried out to the God of Israel. He said, “I wish you would bless me. I wish you would give me more territory. Let your powerful hand be with me. Keep me from harm. Then I won’t have any pain.” God gave him what he asked for.

¹¹Kelub was the brother of Shuhah and 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 Ir Nahash. Those were the men of Recah.

¹³The sons of Kenaz were

Othniel and Seraiah.

The sons of Othniel were

Hathath and Meonothai. ¹⁴Meonothai was the father of Ophrah.

Seraiah was the father of Joab. Joab was

the father of GeHarashim. GeHarashim was called by that name because all of its people were skilled workers.

¹⁵The sons of Caleb were

Iru, Elah and Naam. Caleb was the son of Jephunneh.

The son of Elah was

Kenaz.

¹⁶The sons of Jehallelel were

Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria and Asarel.

¹⁷The sons of Ezrah were

Jether, Mered, Epher and Jalon. One of Mered’s wives had Miriam, Shammai and Ishbah by him. Ishbah was the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸Those were the children of Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah. Mered had gotten married to her. His wife from Judah had Jered, Heber and Jekuthiel by him. Jered was the father of Gedor. Heber was the father of Soco. Jekuthiel was the father of Zanoah.

¹⁹Hodiah’s wife was the sister of Naham. Her sons were

the father of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

²⁰The sons of Shimon were

Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan and Tilon.

The family line of Ishi included

Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.

²¹Shelah was the son of Judah.

The sons of Shelah were Er and Laadah. Er was the father of Lecah. Laadah was the father of Mareshah. He was also the father of the family groups of the linen workers who lived in Beth Ashbea. ²²Other sons of Shelah were Jokim, Joash, Saraph and the men of Cozeba. Moab and Jashubi Lehem were ruled by sons of Shelah. The records of all of those matters are very old. ²³Some of Shelah’s sons were potters who lived in Netaim and Gederah. They stayed there and worked for the king.

The Family Line of Simeon

²⁴The family line of Simeon included

Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah and Shaul.

²⁵Shallum was Shaul’s son. Mibsam was Shallum’s son. Mishma was Mibsam’s son.

²⁶The family line of Mishma included Hammuel. Hammuel was Mishma’s son. Zaccur was Hammuel’s son. Shimei was Zaccur’s son.

²⁷Shimei had 16 sons and six daughters. But his brothers didn’t have many children. So their whole family group didn’t have as many people as Judah had. ²⁸Shimei’s family group lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual, ²⁹Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri and Shaaraim. Those were their towns until David became king. ³²Five of the villages that were around those towns were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token and Ashan. ³³The territory of all of the villages that were around those towns reached all the way to Baalath. Those were their settlements. The tribe of Simeon kept its own family history.

³⁴Simeon’s family line included Meshobab, Jamlech and Joshah. Joshah was the son of Amaziah. ³⁵Simeon’s family line also included Joel and Jehu. Jehu was the son of Joshibiah. Joshibiah was the son of Seraiah. Seraiah was the son of Asiel. ³⁶And the family line included Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah ³⁷and Ziza. Ziza was the son of Shiphi. Shiphi was the son of Allon. Allon was the son of Jedaiah. Jedaiah was the son of Shimri. And Shimri was the son of Shemaiah.

³⁸The men whose names are listed above were leaders of their family groups. Their families greatly increased their numbers.

³⁹They spread out all the way to the edge of Gedor east of the valley. They looked for grasslands for their flocks. ⁴⁰They found grasslands that were rich and good. The land had plenty of room. It was peaceful and quiet. Some of the people of Ham had lived there before.

⁴¹The men whose names are listed lived at the time when Hezekiah was king of Judah. They came and attacked the Hamites in their homes. They also attacked the Meunites who were there. And they completely destroyed them. What happened to them is clear even to this very day. The men of Simeon settled down where the Meunites had lived. They had enough grasslands for their flocks.

⁴²Five hundred of those men came into the hill country of Seir and attacked it. They were led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah and Uzziel. Those four men were the sons of Ishi. ⁴³They killed the rest of the Amalekites who had escaped. And they still live there to this very day.

The Family Line of Reuben

5Here is a list of the sons of Reuben. First, here are a few things about him. Reuben was the oldest son of Israel. But he had sex with his father’s concubine. He made his father’s bed “unclean.” That’s why his rights as the oldest son were given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel. So Reuben isn’t listed in the family history as the one who had the rights of the oldest son. ²Judah was the leader among his brothers. A ruler came from his family line. But the rights of the oldest son belonged to Joseph. ³Reuben was the oldest son of Israel. Reuben’s sons were

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

⁴The family line of Joel includes

his son Shemaiah. Gog was the son of Shemaiah.

Shimei was the son of Gog. ⁵Micah was the son of Shimei.

Reaiah was the son of Micah. Baal was the son of Reaiah.

⁶And Beerah was the son of Baal. Beerah was a leader of the people of Reuben. Tiglath-Pileser took Beerah as a prisoner to another country. Tiglath-Pileser was the king of Assyria.

⁷Here are the relatives of the family groups of Reuben. They are listed in their family history.

They include Chief Jeiel, Zechariah ⁸and Bela. Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema. Shema was the son of Joel. All of them settled in the area from Aroer to Nebo and Baal Meon. ⁹To the east they settled in the land up to the edge of the desert. That desert reaches all the way to the Euphrates River. They settled there because their livestock had increased their numbers in Gilead.

¹⁰While Saul was king, the people of Reuben went to war against the Hagrites. They won the battle over them. Then they settled down in their houses. They settled through the entire area east of Gilead.

The Family Line of Gad

¹¹The people of Gad lived next to the people of Reuben in Bashan. They spread out all the way to Salecah.

¹²Joel was their chief. Shapham was next. Then came Janai and Shaphat in Bashan.

¹³Here are their relatives family by family. They included

Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber. The total number of them was seven.

¹⁴Those were the sons of Abihail. Abihail was the son of Huri. Huri was the son of Jaroah. Jaroah was the son of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Michael. Michael was the son of Jeshishai. Jeshishai was the son of Jahdo. And Jahdo was the son of Buz.

¹⁵Ahi was the leader of some of the families of Gad. Ahi was the son of Abdiel. Abdiel was the son of Guni.

¹⁶The people of Gad lived in the land of Gilead. They lived in the villages of Bashan. They also lived on all of the grasslands of Sharon as far as they reached.

¹⁷All of those names were written down in the family history. They were written during the time when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

¹⁸The tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men who were able to serve in the army. They were able to handle a shield and sword. They were also able to use a bow. They were trained for battle. ¹⁹They went to war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab.

²⁰God helped his people fight against the Hagrites and all who were helping them. He handed all of those enemies over to his people. That’s because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.

²¹They captured the livestock of the Hagrites. They captured 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 people as prisoners. ²²Many others were killed, because God won the battle over them. His people lived in the land until they themselves were taken as prisoners to other countries.

The Family Line of Half of the Tribe of Manasseh

²³The people in half of the tribe of Manasseh greatly increased their numbers. They settled in the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon. Baal Hermon is also called Senir. Another name for it is Mount Hermon.

²⁴Here are the leaders of their families. They included Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave fighting men. They were famous. They were the leaders of their families. ²⁵But they weren’t faithful to the God of their people. They joined themselves to the gods of the nations of the land and worshiped them. God had destroyed those nations to make room for his people.

²⁶So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul. He was king of Assyria. He was also called Tiglath-Pileser. He took the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of…