1 Chronicles 12

This edition follows the Hebrew versification; the traditional number is given in brackets.

Warriors Who Joined David at Ziklag

1[—]These are the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish, and they were among the mighty men, helpers in battle. 2[12:1]They were armed with the bow, able to use the right hand and the left in slinging stones and shooting arrows from a bow; they were of Saul’s kinsmen, of Benjamin. 3[12:2]The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth; Berachah; Jehu the Anathothite; 4[12:3]Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty and over the thirty; 5[12:4]Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite; 6[12:5]Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite; 7[12:6]Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; 8[12:7]and Joelah and Zebadiah, sons of Jeroham of Gedor. 9[12:8]And from the Gadites, men separated themselves to David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty warriors, men of the army fit for battle, arrayed with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains: 10[12:9]Ezer the chief, Obadiah second, Eliab third, 11[12:10]Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, 12[12:11]Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, 13[12:12]Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth, 14[12:13]Jeremiah tenth, Machbannai eleventh. 15[12:14]These were of the sons of Gad, heads of the army; the least was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand. 16[12:15]These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all the people of the valleys, to the east and to the west. 17[12:16]And some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. 18[12:17]David went out to meet them, and answered them, “If you have come to me in peace, to help me, my heart will be joined to you. But if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, though there is no violence in my hands, may the God of our fathers see it and rebuke it.” 19[12:18]Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said: “We are yours, David; we are with you, son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to the one who helps you, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them heads of the troop. 20[12:19]Some of Manasseh defected to David when he came with the Philistines to fight against Saul, but they did not help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after taking counsel, saying, “He will defect to his master Saul, at the cost of our heads.” 21[12:20]As he went to Ziklag, these of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, heads of the thousands of Manasseh. 22[12:21]They helped David against the raiding band, for all of them were mighty warriors, and they became commanders in the army.

The Armies That Came to Hebron

23[12:22]For day after day men kept coming to David to help him, until it was a great camp, like the camp of God. 24[12:23]These are the numbers of the heads of those armed for battle who came to David at Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of Yahweh: 25[12:24]The sons of Judah bearing shield and spear: six thousand eight hundred, armed for war. 26[12:25]Of the sons of Simeon, mighty warriors for battle: seven thousand one hundred. 27[12:26]Of the sons of Levi: four thousand six hundred. 28[12:27]Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were three thousand seven hundred; 29[12:28]and Zadok, a young man, a mighty warrior, and from his father’s house, twenty-two commanders. 30[12:29]Of the sons of Benjamin, kinsmen of Saul: three thousand, for up to that time the greater part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. 31[12:30]Of the sons of Ephraim: twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty warriors, men of renown in their fathers’ houses. 32[12:31]Of the half-tribe of Manasseh: eighteen thousand, who were designated by name to come and make David king. 33[12:32]Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, to know what Israel ought to do: their heads were two hundred, and all their kinsmen were under their command. 34[12:33]Of Zebulun, those able to go out to war, arrayed for battle with all weapons of war: fifty thousand, who could keep rank without a divided heart. 35[12:34]Of Naphtali: a thousand commanders, and with them thirty-seven thousand men with shield and spear. 36[12:35]Of the Danites, arrayed for battle: twenty-eight thousand six hundred. 37[12:36]Of Asher, those able to go out to war, arrayed for battle: forty thousand. 38[12:37]And from beyond the Jordan, of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all weapons of war for battle: a hundred twenty thousand. 39[12:38]All these men of war, arrayed in ranks, came to Hebron with a whole heart, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel, too, were of one mind to make David king. 40[12:39]They were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them. 41[12:40]And also those near them, as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, were bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen — provisions of flour, fig cakes and raisin cakes, wine and oil, cattle and sheep in abundance — for there was joy in Israel.