1 Chronicles 5–6

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 Manasseh to other countries as his prisoners. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan. And that’s where they still are to this very day.

The Family Line of Levi

6The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

²The sons of Kohath were

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

³Aaron, Moses and Miriam

were born in the family line of Amram.

The sons of Aaron 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 served as priest in the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem.

¹¹Azariah was the father of Amariah.

Amariah was the father of Ahitub.

¹²Ahitub was the father of Zadok.

Zadok was the father of Shallum.

¹³Shallum was the father of Hilkiah.

Hilkiah was the father of Azariah.

¹⁴Azariah was the father of Seraiah.

And Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak.

¹⁵Jehozadak was taken away from his own land. The Lord took the people of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylonia. He used Nebuchadnezzar to take them there as prisoners.

¹⁶The sons of Levi were

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

¹⁷The names of the sons of Gershon were

Libni and Shimei.

¹⁸The sons of Kohath were

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

¹⁹The sons of Merari were

Mahli and Mushi.

Here are the members of the family groups of the Levites. They are listed under the names of their fathers.

²⁰Gershon was the father of Libni.

Jahath was Libni’s son.

Zimmah was Jahath’s son.

²¹Joah was Zimmah’s son.

Iddo was Joah’s son.

Zerah was Iddo’s son.

And Jeatherai was Zerah’s son.

²²The family line of Kohath included his son Amminadab.

Korah was Amminadab’s son.

Assir was Korah’s son.

²³Elkanah was Assir’s son.

Ebiasaph was Elkanah’s son.

Assir was Ebiasaph’s son.

²⁴Tahath was Assir’s son.

Uriel was Tahath’s son.

Uzziah was Uriel’s son.

And Shaul was Uzziah’s son.

²⁵The family line of Elkanah included his son Amasai.

Amasai was the father of Ahimoth.

²⁶Elkanah was Ahimoth’s son.

Zophai was Elkanah’s son.

Nahath was Zophai’s son.

²⁷Eliab was Nahath’s son.

Jeroham was Eliab’s son.

Elkanah was Jeroham’s son.

And Samuel was Elkanah’s son.

²⁸The sons of Samuel were

his first son Joel

and his second son Abijah.

²⁹The family line of Merari included his son Mahli.

Libni was Mahli’s son.

Shimei was Libni’s son.

Uzzah was Shimei’s son.

³⁰Shimea was Uzzah’s son.

Haggiah was Shimea’s son.

And Asaiah was Haggiah’s son.

The Levites Who Were in Charge of the Music

³¹Here are the Levites David put in charge of the music in the house of the Lord. He did it after the ark was placed there. ³²The men used their music to serve in front of the holy tent, the Tent of Meeting. They served there until Solomon built the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. They did their work based on the rules they had been given.

³³Here are the men who served. The list also includes their sons.

The family line of Kohath included

Heman. He led the music.

He was the son of Joel.

Joel was the son of Samuel.

³⁴Samuel was the son of Elkanah.

Elkanah was the son of Jeroham.

Jeroham was the son of Eliel.

Eliel was the son of Toah.

³⁵Toah was the son of Zuph.

Zuph was the son of Elkanah.

Elkanah was the son of Mahath.

Mahath was the son of Amasai.

³⁶Amasai was the son of Elkanah.

Elkanah was the son of Joel.

Joel was the son of Azariah.

Azariah was the son of Zephaniah.

³⁷Zephaniah was the son of Tahath.

Tahath was the son of Assir.

Assir was the son of Ebiasaph.

Ebiasaph was the son of Korah.

³⁸Korah was the son of Izhar.

Izhar was the son of Kohath.

Kohath was the son of Levi.

And Levi was the son of Israel.

³⁹Heman had a relative named Asaph. Asaph served as Heman’s helper at his right side.

Asaph was the son of Berekiah.

Berekiah was the son of Shimea.

⁴⁰Shimea was the son of Michael.

Michael was the son of Baaseiah.

Baaseiah was the son of Malkijah.

⁴¹Malkijah was the son of Ethni.

Ethni was the son of Zerah.

Zerah was the son of Adaiah.

⁴²Adaiah was the son of Ethan.

Ethan was the son of Zimmah.

Zimmah was the son of Shimei.

⁴³Shimei was the son of Jahath.

Jahath was the son of Gershon.

And Gershon was the son of Levi.

⁴⁴Here are the Levites in the family line of Merari who served as Heman’s helpers at his left side. They were relatives of the Kohathites.

Ethan was the son of Kishi.

Kishi was the son of Abdi.

Abdi was the son of Malluch.

⁴⁵Malluch was the son of Hashabiah.

Hashabiah was the son of Amaziah.

Amaziah was the son of Hilkiah.

⁴⁶Hilkiah was the son of Amzi.

Amzi was the son of Bani.

Bani was the son of Shemer.

⁴⁷Shemer was the son of Mahli.

Mahli was the son of Mushi.

Mushi was the son of Merari.

And Merari was the son of Levi.

⁴⁸The rest of the Levites were appointed to do all of the other work at the holy tent. It was the house of God.

⁴⁹Aaron and his sons after him brought the offerings. They sacrificed them on the altar of burnt offering. They also burned incense on the altar of incense. That was part of what they did in the Most Holy Room. That’s how they paid for the sin of Israel. They did everything just as Moses, the servant of God, had commanded.

⁵⁰Here are the members of the family line of Aaron.

Eleazar was Aaron’s son.

Phinehas was Eleazar’s son.

Abishua was Phinehas’s son.

⁵¹Bukki was Abishua’s son.

Uzzi was Bukki’s son.

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