1 Chronicles 12–14

Warriors Join David

12These were the men who came to David at Ziklag,^p while he was banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; ²they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed;^q they were relatives of Saul^r from the tribe of Benjamin):

³Ahiezer their chief and Joash the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Berakah, Jehu the Anathothite, ⁴and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty warrior among the Thirty, who was a leader of the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite,^{as 5}Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah and Shephatiah the Haruphite; ⁶Elkanah, Ishiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam the Korahites; ⁷and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.^t

⁸Some Gadites^u defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions,^v and they were as swift as gazelles^w in the mountains.

⁹Ezer was the chief,

Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

¹³Jeremiah the tenth and Makbannai the eleventh.

¹⁴These Gadites were army commanders; the least was a match for a hundred,^x and the greatest for a thousand.^{y 15}It was they who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks,^z and they put to flight everyone living in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶Other Benjamites^a and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold. ¹⁷David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, I am ready for you to join me. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free from violence, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge you.”

¹⁸Then the Spirit^b came on Amasai,^c chief of the Thirty, and he said:

“We are yours, David!

We are with you, son of Jesse!

Success,^d success to you,

and success to those who help you,

for your God will help you.”

So David received them and made them leaders of his raiding bands.

¹⁹Some of the tribe of Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (He and his men did not help the Philistines because, after consultation, their rulers sent him away. They said, “It will cost us our heads if he deserts to his master Saul.”)^{e 20}When David went to Ziklag,^f these were the men of Manasseh who defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai, leaders of units of a thousand in Manasseh. ²¹They helped David against raiding bands, for all of them were brave warriors, and they were commanders in his army. ²²Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God.^b

Others Join David at Hebron

²³These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron^g to turn^h Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the Lord had said:ⁱ

²⁴from Judah, carrying shield and spear—6,800 armed for battle;

²⁵from Simeon, warriors ready for battle—7,100;

²⁶from Levi—4,600, ²⁷including Jehoiada, leader of the family of Aaron, with 3,700 men, ²⁸and Zadok,^j a brave young warrior, with 22 officers from his family;

²⁹from Benjamin,^k Saul’s tribe—3,000, most^l of whom had remained loyal to Saul’s house until then;

³⁰from Ephraim, brave warriors, famous in their own clans—20,800;

³¹from half the tribe of Manasseh, designated by name to come and make David king—18,000;

³²from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do^m—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;

³³from Zebulun, experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon, to help David with undivided loyalty—50,000;

³⁴from Naphtali—1,000 officers, together with 37,000 men carrying shields and spears;

³⁵from Dan, ready for battle—28,600;

³⁶from Asher, experienced soldiers prepared for battle—40,000;

³⁷and from east of the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every type of weapon—120,000.

³⁸All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel.ⁿ All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king. ³⁹The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking,^o for their families had supplied provisions for them. ⁴⁰Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies^p of flour, fig cakes, raisin^q cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy^r in Israel.

Bringing Back the Ark

13:1–14pp—2Sa 6:1–11

13David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ²He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. ³Let us bring the ark of our God back to us,^s for we did not inquire^t of^a it^b during the reign of Saul.” ⁴The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.

⁵So David assembled all Israel,^u from the Shihor River^v in Egypt to Lebo Hamath,^w to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim.^{x 6}David and all Israel went to Baalah^y of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim^z—the ark that is called by the Name.

⁷They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s^a house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. ⁸David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.^b

⁹When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰The Lord’s anger^c burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down^d because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

¹¹Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.^ce

¹²David was afraid of God that day and asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?” ¹³He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom^f the Gittite. ¹⁴The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household^g and everything he had.

David’s House and Family

14:1–7pp—2Sa 5:11–16; 1Ch 3:5–8

14Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs,^h stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him. ²And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exaltedⁱ for the sake of his people Israel.

³In Jerusalem David took more wives and became the father of more sons^j and daughters. ⁴These are the names of the children born to him there:^k Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷Elishama, Beeliada^a and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

14:8–17pp—2Sa 5:17–25

⁸When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel,^l they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. ⁹Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley^m of Rephaim; ¹⁰so David inquired of God: “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.”

¹¹So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim,ⁿ and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand.” So that place was called Baal Perazim.^{b 12}The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, and David gave orders to burn^o them in the fire.^p

¹³Once more the Philistines raided the valley;^{q 14}so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. ¹⁵As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” ¹⁶So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army, all the way from Gibeon^r to Gezer.^s

¹⁷So David’s fame^t spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear^u him.