1 Chronicles 8–10

The Family Tree of King Saul of Benjamin

8Now Benjamin begot ^aBela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, ¹Aharah the third, ²Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. ³The sons of Bela were ²Addar, Gera, Abihud, ⁴Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, ⁵Gera, ³Shephuphan, and Huram.

⁶These are the sons of Ehud, who were the heads of the fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of ^bGeba, and who forced them to move to ^cManahath: ⁷Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera who forced them to move. He begot Uzza and Ahihud.

⁸Also Shaharaim had children in the country of Moab, after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. ⁹By Hodesh his wife he begot Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, ¹⁰Jeuz, Sachiah, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of their fathers’ houses.

¹¹And by Hushim he begot Abitub and Elpaal. ¹²The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns; ¹³and Beriah and ^dShema, who were heads of their fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath. ¹⁴Ahio, Shashak, Jeremoth, ¹⁵Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, ¹⁶Michael, Ispah, and Joha were the sons of Beriah. ¹⁷Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, ¹⁸Ishmerai, Jizliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. ¹⁹Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, ²⁰Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, ²¹Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of ⁴Shimei. ²²Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, ²³Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, ²⁴Hananiah, Elam, Antothijah, ²⁵Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. ²⁶Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, ²⁷Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

²⁸These were heads of the fathers’ houses by their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.

²⁹Now ⁵the father of Gibeon, whose ^ewife’s name was Maacah, dwelt at Gibeon. ³⁰And his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, ³¹Gedor, Ahio, ⁶Zecher, ³²and Mikloth, who begot ⁷Shimeah. They also dwelt ⁸alongside their ⁹relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren. ^33fNer ¹begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, ²Abinadab, and ³Esh-Baal. ³⁴The son of Jonathan was ⁴Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot ^gMicah. ³⁵The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, ⁵Tarea, and Ahaz. ³⁶And Ahaz begot ⁶Jehoaddah; Jehoaddah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begot Moza. ³⁷Moza begot Binea, ⁷Raphah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.

³⁸Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. ³⁹And the sons of Eshek his brother were Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

⁴⁰The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor—archers. They had many sons and grandsons, one hundred and fifty in all. These were all sons of Benjamin.

9So ^aall Israel was ¹recorded by genealogies, and indeed, they were inscribed in the book of the kings of Israel. But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. ^2bAnd the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and ^cthe Nethinim.

Dwellers in Jerusalem

³Now in ^dJerusalem the children of Judah dwelt, and some of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh: ⁴Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the descendants of Perez, the son of Judah. ⁵Of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. ⁶Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brethren—six hundred and ninety. ⁷Of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; ⁸Ibneiah the son of Jeroham; Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; ⁹and their brethren, according to their generations—nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were heads of a father’s house in their fathers’ houses.

The Priests at Jerusalem

^10eOf the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin; ¹¹²Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ^fofficer over the house of God; ¹²Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; ¹³and their brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses—one thousand seven hundred and sixty. They were ³very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

The Levites at Jerusalem

¹⁴Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; ¹⁵Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of ^gZichri, the son of Asaph; ^16hObadiah the son of ⁱShemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

The Levite Gatekeepers

¹⁷And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief. ¹⁸Until then they had been gatekeepers for the camps of the children of Levi at the King’s Gate on the east.

¹⁹Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, from his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, ⁴gatekeepers of the tabernacle. Their fathers had been keepers of the entrance to the camp of the Lord. ²⁰And ^jPhinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him. ^21kZechariah the son of Meshelemiah was ⁵keeper of the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

²²All those chosen as gatekeepers were two hundred and twelve. ^lThey were recorded by their genealogy, in their villages. David and Samuel ^mthe seer had appointed them to their trusted office. ²³So they and their children were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, the house of the tabernacle, by assignment. ²⁴The gatekeepers were assigned to the four directions: the east, west, north, and south. ²⁵And their brethren in their villages had to come with them from time to time ⁿfor seven days. ²⁶For in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God. ²⁷And they lodged all around the house of God because ⁶they had the ^oresponsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning.

Other Levite Responsibilities

²⁸Now some of them were in charge of the serving vessels, for they brought them in and took them out by count. ²⁹Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the ^pfine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices. ³⁰And some of the sons of the priests made ^qthe ointment of the spices.

³¹Mattithiah of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the trusted office ^rover the things that were baked in the pans. ³²And some of their brethren of the sons of the Kohathites ^swere in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath.

³³These are ^tthe singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night. ³⁴These heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites were heads throughout their generations. They dwelt at Jerusalem.

The Family of King Saul

³⁵Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was ^uMaacah, dwelt at Gibeon. ³⁶His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷Gedor, Ahio, ⁷Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸And Mikloth begot ⁸Shimeam. They also dwelt alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren. ^39vNer begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. ⁴⁰The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah. ⁴¹The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, ⁹Tahrea, ^wand ¹Ahaz. ⁴²And Ahaz begot ²Jarah; Jarah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begot Moza; ⁴³Moza begot Binea, ³Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.

⁴⁴And Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

Tragic End of Saul and His Sons

10Now ^athe Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ²Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, ¹Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ³The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. ⁵And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. ⁶So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. ⁷And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to ²strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. ^10bThen they put his armor in the ³temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all the ^cvaliant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to ^dJabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹³So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had ⁴committed against the Lord, ^ebecause he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because ^fhe consulted a medium for guidance. ¹⁴But he did not…