Easy English Bible - 1 Chronicles
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
David, Israel’s Second King
About this book
1 Chronicles is a book about the Israelites. A lot of the book is about the same time as the Book of 2 Samuel. But there are also many lists of people.
1 Chronicles begins with a list of the families of the Israelites. But after that, it tells us about the time when David ruled over all Israel. But it also tells us a lot about how the people worshipped God. And the last part of the book describes David’s ideas for a temple (house of God) in Jerusalem. David gave careful rules to the priests. He wanted everyone in the temple to work properly for God.
The name of the book
In our Bibles, we have 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. They were one book for a long time until there was a translation into Greek. (The name of that translation is the Septuagint.) That was early in the second century BC. They made two books out of the one book because they would fit on two scrolls. The old Hebrew name for the one book was ‘The Book of Events’. The name of the two books in the language called Greek was ‘Things that are not in the other books’. Several events here are not in the other books. That may be the reason for the Hebrew and Greek names. But now we call them the Books of Chronicles. It means that they are a list of events. The other books that are like the Books of Chronicles are the Books of Samuel and Kings.
When the writer wrote the book
David was the King of Israel between about 1010 BC and 970 BC. But we think that someone wrote the book in about 500 BC.
The writer
We do not know who wrote the Chronicles. But many Jewish people believed that Ezra wrote Chronicles. He wrote the Book of Ezra too. Many Christian students also believe that Ezra wrote the Chronicles. But other students think that Ezra was not the writer of the Chronicles. They think that the writer was not Ezra but someone like Ezra. And he lived during the same time as Ezra did.
The purpose of the book
The Books of Chronicles are about events. But the books are not only about events. The writer seems to be a Levite. He writes about things like the temple, prayer and the worship of God. He tries to explain what the events in Israel mean. He explains how God was using those events.
The writer gives lists of names. He starts with Adam, the first man. Then he makes a list of those people who came from Noah’s family. From them came the nations that the Jews knew about. He then tells about Jacob, who was also called Israel. He was the ancestor of all the Jews. From then on, he gives only lists of all the tribes of Israel. But to him the most important people are those who came from Judah. The kings came from the tribe of Judah. After that, the writer gives lists of people who helped in the worship of God, and soldiers in David’s army. He wants to tell people how important those jobs were.
When he wrote the book, the Israelites had just returned to their country after 70 years in exile. So, the writer wants them to know that all Israelites are God’s people. He believes that Israel is the LORD’s kingdom. David and Solomon were kings over the LORD’s kingdom. Those ideas would help the people who had just returned from exile. Israel’s kingdom would be safe because God would keep it safe. After some time, God would make it strong again.
These Israelites needed to know that they did belong to Israel’s people. So, the writer gives lists of the families of Israel. He records the families of the 12 tribes until the exile. He used several books that are now in the Bible. And he also used many other very old books. We do not have any of those other books now.
One very important thing that we read about in these books is the temple in Jerusalem. The writer tells us how David put the workers in the temple into groups. He made lists of the priests and the Levites who would be leaders of the worship in the temple. God did not let David build the temple. But David prepared the materials so that his son would be able to build it. In another book, 2 Chronicles, we can read how Solomon built the temple.
Adam to Noah
1 Adam was the father of Seth and Seth was the father of Enosh. Enosh was the father of Kenan. 2 Kenan was the father of Mahalalel and Mahalalel was the father of Jared. Jared was the father of Enoch. 3 Enoch was the father of Methuselah. Methuselah was the father of Lamech and Lamech was the father of Noah.
Noah’s descendants
4 The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham and Japheth. 5 Japheth’s sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. 6 Gomer’s sons were Ashkenaz, Diphath and Togarmah. 7 Javan’s sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Rodanim.
8 Ham’s sons were Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. 9 Cush’s sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah and Sabteca. Raamah’s sons were Sheba and Dedan. 10 Cush was the father of Nimrod. Nimrod grew up to become the first powerful person on the earth. 11-12 Mizraim was the ancestor of the people called Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim and Caphtorim. The Philistines came from the people called Casluhim.
13-16 Canaan’s first child was the father of Sidon who was born first and of Heth. And Canaan was also the ancestor of many nations. They included the people called Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
17 Shem’s descendants included Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. 18 Arpachshad was the father of Shelah and Shelah was the father of Eber. 19 Eber had two sons. The name of one son was Peleg. He had that name because God made the world’s nations separate during his life. God sent people away from each other. Peleg’s brother’s name was Joktan. 20-23 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All those men were Joktan’s sons.
Shem to Abraham
24-26 Abram’s ancestors included Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor and Terah. 27 God changed Abram’s name to Abraham.
Abraham
28 Abraham had sons who were called Isaac and Ishmael.
29-31 These were the sons of Isaac and Ishmael:
Ishmael’s first son was Nebaioth. His other sons were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. Those men were Ishmael’s sons.
32 Keturah was another woman who also lived with Abraham. He had sex with her too. And her sons were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan’s sons were Sheba and Dedan. 33 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All those men were descendants of Keturah.
34 And Abraham was the father of Isaac. And Isaac’s sons were Esau and Israel.
The descendants of Esau and the rulers of Edom
35 Esau’s sons were Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam and Korah. 36 Eliphaz’s sons were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna and Amalek. 37 Reuel’s sons were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah.
38 Seir’s sons were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. 39 Lotan’s sons were Hori and Homam. And Lotan’s sister was Timna. 40 Shobal’s sons were Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi and Onam. Zibeon’s sons were Aiah and Anah. 41 Anah’s son was Dishon. Dishon’s sons were Hamran, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran. 42 Ezer’s sons were Bilhan, Zaavan and Jaakan. Dishan’s sons were Uz and Aran.
43 These kings ruled in Edom before there were kings in Israel: Bela son of Beor was king of Edom. His city was called Dinhabah. 44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah ruled the people in Edom. He was from Bozrah. 45 When Jobab died, Husham ruled them instead. He was from the country called Teman.
46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad ruled them instead. Hadad won the war against Midian. That happened in the country called Moab. His city was called Avith. 47 When Hadad died, Samlah ruled them instead. He was from Masrekah. 48 When Samlah died, Shaul ruled them instead. He was from Rehoboth. (Rehoboth is by the river.) 49 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Achbor ruled them instead. 50 When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad ruled them instead. His city was called Pai. Hadad’s wife was Mehetabel and she was Matred’s daughter. Matred was the daughter of Me-Zahab. 51-54 Hadad died. The leaders of the clans of Edom were Timna, Aliah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Iram. Those men were the leaders of Edom.
The tribes of Israel
The sons of Israel
1-2 The sons of Israel were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
The tribe of Judah
Judah to Chelubai (Caleb)
3 Judah’s sons were Er, Onan and Shelah. Their mother was Shua’s daughter. She was from Canaan. Judah’s first son was Er. Er did wrong things. The LORD said that those things were wrong. So, the LORD killed him. 4 Judah had sex with Tamar, who had been Er’s wife. Judah and Tamar had two sons, Perez and Zerah. So, Judah was the father of 5 sons. 5 Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul. 6 Zerah had 5 sons. They were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara. 7 Carmi’s son was Achar. Achar caused a lot of trouble for Israel. He did not obey God’s rules because he took things for himself. Those things were God’s. 8 Ethan’s son was Azariah. 9 Hezron’s sons were Jerahmeel, Ram and Chelubai.
The descendants of Ram
10 Ram was Amminadab’s father. And Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the leader of the tribe called Judah. 11 Nahshon was the father of Salma and Salma was the father of Boaz. 12 Boaz was the father of Obed and Obed was the father of Jesse. 13 Jesse’s first son was Eliab and his second son was Abinadab. His third son was Shimea. 14 His 4th son was Nethanel and his 5th son was Raddai. 15 His 6th son was Ozem and his 7th son was David. 16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab and Asahel. 17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa and his father was Jether, a descendant of Ishmael.
The descendants of Caleb
18 Caleb, the son of Hezron, had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. And her sons were Jesher, Shobab and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath. And they had a son called Hur. 20 Hur was the father of Uri and Uri was the father of Bezalel.
21 After some time, when Hezron was 60 years old, he married the daughter of Machir. Machir was Gilead’s father. Hezron had sex with Machir’s daughter. And she had a son called Segub. 22 Segub was the father of Jair. Jair ruled 23 towns in the place called Gilead. 23 But Geshur and Aram won Havvoth-Jair. Also, they won Kenath and the small towns round it. So then they ruled 60 towns. All those people were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead.
24 Hezron died in Caleb-Ephrathah. Then his wife Abijah had his son, called Ashhur. Ashhur was the father of Tekoa.
The descendants of Jerahmeel
25 Hezron’s first son was Jerahmeel and Jerahmeel’s sons were Ram, Bunah, Oren, Ozem and Ahijah. Ram was Jerahmeel’s first son. 26 Jerahmeel had another wife, called Atarah. She was the mother of Onam. 27 Jerahmeel’s first son, Ram, had sons. They were Maaz, Jamin and Eker. 28 Onam’s sons were Shammai and Jada and Shammai’s sons were Nadab and Abishur. 29 Abishur’s wife was called Abihail and their sons were Ahban and Molid. 30 Nadab’s sons were Seled and Appaim. But Seled died and he had no sons. 31 Appaim’s son was Ishi and Ishi’s son was Sheshan. And Sheshan’s son was Ahlai. 32 Jada was Shammai’s brother. Jada’s sons were Jether and Jonathan. And Jether had no sons before he died. 33 Jonathan’s sons were Peleth and Zaza. Those men were Jerahmeel’s descendants. 34 Sheshan did not have any sons but he did have daughters. And he had a servant from Egypt called Jarha. 35 Sheshan gave his daughter to his servant Jarha as his wife. They had a son called Attai. 36 Attai was the father of Nathan and Nathan was the father of Zabad. 37 Zabad was the father of Ephlal and Ephlal was the father of Obed. 38 Obed was the father of Jehu and Jehu was the father of Azariah. 39 Azariah was the father of Helez and Helez was the father of Eleasah. 40 Eleasah was the father of Sismai and Sismai was the father of Shallum. 41 Shallum was the father of Jekamiah and Jekamiah was the father of Elishama.
More descendants of Caleb
42 Caleb was Jerahmeel’s brother. Caleb’s first son was Mesha and Mesha was the father of Ziph. And Ziph’s son Mareshah was the father of Hebron. 43 Hebron’s sons were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. 44 Shema was the father of Raham, who was the father of Jorkeam. Rekem was the father of Shammai. 45 Shammai was the father of Maon and Maon was the father of Beth-Zur. 46 Caleb had another woman called Ephah. And she lived with him too. She was the mother of Haran, Moza and Gazez. And Haran was the father of Gazez. 47 Jahdai’s sons were Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah and Shaaph. 48-49 Maacah was another woman who also lived with Caleb. She was the mother of Sheber, Tirhanah, Shaaph and Sheva. Shaaph was the father of Madmannah. Sheva was the father of Machbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Achsah.
50-51 Those people were Caleb’s descendants. Caleb’s son Hur was the first son of his mother Ephrathah. Hur’s sons were Shobal, Salma and Hareph. Shobal was the father of Kiriath-Jearim. Salma was the father of Bethlehem and Hareph was the father of Beth-Gader. 52 Shobal, the father of Kiriath-Jearim had other sons. Shobal’s descendants were Haroeh and half the people called Manahathites. 53 And Kiriath-Jearim was the ancestor of the people called Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites and Mishraites. And from them came the people called Zorathites and Eshtaolites. 54 These people were Salma’s descendants: Bethlehem, the people called Netophathites, Atroth-Beth-Joab, half the people called Manahathites and the Zorites. 55 Also, he was the ancestor of those people who lived at Jabez. They were writers. Those people were called the Tirathites, Shimeathites and Sucathites. These clans were from the people called Kenites. The ancestor of the Kenites was Hammath. Hammath was the ancestor of the people who came from Rechab.
The sons of David
1 These sons of David were born in Hebron. The first son was Amnon. His mother was Ahinoam. She was from Jezreel. The second son was Daniel. His mother was Abigail. She was from Carmel. 2 The third son was Absalom. His mother was Maacah. She was the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur. The 4th son was Adonijah. His mother was Haggith. 3 The 5th son was Shephatiah. His mother was Abital. The 6th son was Ithream. His mother was David’s wife Eglah. 4 Those 6 sons of David were born to him in Hebron. David ruled in Hebron for 7 years and 6 months. And David ruled in Jerusalem for 33 years. 5 Many sons of David were born in Jerusalem. They included Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, who were the 4 sons of David and Bath-Sheba. Bath-Sheba was Ammiel’s daughter. 6-8 Also born in Jerusalem were 9 other sons. They were Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet. 9 Those were all the sons of David’s wives and Tamar was their sister. But he also had some sons by other women who lived with him.
The kings of Judah
10 Solomon’s son was Rehoboam and Rehoboam’s son was Abijah. Abijah’s son was Asa and Asa’s son was Jehoshaphat. 11 Jehoshaphat’s son was Jehoram. Jehoram’s son was Ahaziah and Ahaziah’s son was Joash. 12 Joash’s son was Amaziah. Amaziah’s son was Azariah and Azariah’s son was Jotham. 13 Jotham’s son was Ahaz. Ahaz’s son was Hezekiah and Hezekiah’s son was Manasseh. 14 Manasseh’s son was Amon and Amon’s son was Josiah. 15 Josiah had 4 sons. His first son was Johanan. His second son was Jehoiakim. His third son was Zedekiah and his 4th son was Shallum. 16 Jehoiakim’s son was Jeconiah and his son was Zedekiah.
The king’s descendants after the exile of Judah’s people
17-18 Jeconiah’s enemies put him in a prison. His sons were Shealtiel, Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah. 19 Pedaiah’s sons were Zerubbabel and Shimei. Zerubbabel’s sons were Meshullam and Hananiah, and their sister was Shelomith. 20 Zerubbabel also had 5 other sons. They were Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah and Jushab-Hesed. 21 The descendants of Hananiah were Pelatiah, Jeshaiah and the sons of Rephaiah. The descendants of Hananiah also included the sons of these men: Arnan, Obadiah and Shecaniah. 22 Shecaniah’s son was Shemaiah. And Shemaiah’s sons were Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah and Shaphat. So there were 6 men. 23 Neariah had three sons. They were Elioenai, Hizkiah and Azrikam. 24 Elioenai had 7 sons. They were Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah and Anani.
Other descendants of Judah
1 Judah’s descendants were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur and Shobal. 2 Reaiah was Shobal’s son and Reaiah was the father of Jahath. Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. Those were the clans of the people called Zorathites. 3 And these are the sons of the leader of Etam: They were Jezreel, Ishma and Idbash. And they had a sister called Hazzelelponi. 4 And Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. Those were the sons of Hur, who was the oldest son of Ephrathah. And Hur was the leader of Bethlehem. 5 Tekoa’s father was Ashhur. And Ashhur had two wives called Helah and Naarah. 6 The sons of Ashhur and Naarah were Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni and Haahashtari. They were the sons of Naarah. 7-8 Helah’s sons were Zereth, Izhar and Ethnan. Koz was the father of Anub, Zobebah and the clans of Aharhel. Aharhel was the son of Harum.
9 There was a man called Jabez. He was a great man and he was better than his brothers. His mother called him Jabez, which means ‘pain’. She said, ‘I had a lot of pain at his birth.’ That is why she chose that name. 10 Jabez prayed to Israel’s God. He said, ‘Please do very good things for me. Make my borders larger and help me. Save me from danger and do not let anything hurt me.’ And God did what Jabez had asked.
11 Chelub, Shuhah’s brother, was the father of Mehir and Mehir was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth-Rapha, Paseah and Tehinnah. Tehinnah was the father of Irnahash. Those people lived at Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel’s sons were Hathath and Meonothai. 14 Meonothai was the father of Ophrah and Seraiah was the father of Joab. Joab was the ancestor of the people from Ge-Harashim. That name means, ‘The valley where people make things.’ The valley had that name because of the jobs of the people there. They made things. 15 Caleb was Jephunneh’s son. Caleb’s sons were Iru, Elah and Naam. And Elah’s son was Kenaz. 16 Jehallelel’s sons were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria and Asarel. 17-18 Ezrah’s sons were Jether, Mered, Epher and Jalon. Mered married Bithiah. Her father was the king of Egypt. The children of Mered and Bithiah were Miriam, Shammai and Ishbah. Ishbah was the father of Eshtemoa. Mered also had a wife who was an Israelite. Her sons were Jered, Heber and Jekuthiel. Jered became the father of Gedor. Heber became the father of Soco. And Jekuthiel became the father of Zanoah. 19 Hodiah’s wife was Naham’s sister. The sons of Hodiah’s wife were the fathers of Keilah and Eshtemoa. Keilah’s descendants were called Garmites and Eshtemoa’s descendants were called Maacathites. 20 Shimon’s sons were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan and Tilon. Ishi’s sons were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth. 21-22 Shelah was the son of Judah. Shelah’s sons were Er, Laadah, Jokim, Joash, Saraph who ruled Moab and Jashubi-Lehem. Er was the father of Lecah and Laadah was the father of Mareshah. Other clans that were descendants of Shelah worked with good cloth at Beth-Ashbea. And other descendants of Shelah lived in Cozeba. (These lists are from old books.) 23 Those people made pots. They lived in Netaim and Gederah. They lived there with the king and they worked for him.
The tribe of Simeon
24 Simeon’s sons were Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah and Shaul. 25 Shaul’s son was Shallum and Shallum’s son was Mibsam. Mibsam’s son was Mishma. 26 Mishma’s son was Hammuel and Hammuel’s son was Zaccur. Zaccur’s son was Shimei. 27 Shimei had 16 sons and 6 daughters. But his brothers did not have many children. So, their clan did not become as large as Judah’s clan did. 28-31 Shimei’s descendants lived in cities called Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-Marcaboth, Hazar-Susim, Beth-Biri and Shaaraim. They lived in them until David became king. 32 The 5 villages near those cities were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen and Ashan. 33 There were also other villages round the same cities all the way to Baal. That is where they lived. And they wrote down the names of their ancestors.
34-38 Each clan had a leader. The leaders were Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah, Joel, Jehu, Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah and Ziza. Joshah was a son of Amaziah and Jehu was a son of Joshibiah. Joshibiah was the son of Seraiah and Seraiah was the son of Asiel. Ziza was the son of Shiphi and Shiphi was the son of Allon. Allon was the son of Jedaiah and Jedaiah was the son of Shimri. Shimri was the son of Shemaiah. And these clans became very large. 39 They travelled to the east side of the valley. They went as far as Gedor. They wanted land so that their sheep would have grass to eat. 40 They found good fields that had plenty of grass. The place was large and there were no troubles in that place. Some people had lived there before these clans came. The people who were living there were descendants of Ham.
41 These clans came to Gedor when Hezekiah was the king of Judah. Then they attacked the people who lived there. Those people were the descendants of the people called Meunites. The men in these clans destroyed their tents and they killed all the people. So now there are none of those people there. Then they lived there instead because there was good grass there for their animals. 42 Then 500 men from Simeon’s clan went to the mountain called Seir. Their leaders were Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah and Uzziel. They were Ishi’s sons. 43 They killed all the descendants of Amalek who were still there. They lived there instead and they still live there now.
The tribe of Reuben
1 Reuben was Israel’s first son. That is, Reuben was born first. But Reuben had sex with a woman who lived with his father like a wife. So, his father did not let him have the benefits of the first son. Instead, his father gave those benefits to Joseph’s sons. Joseph was a son of Israel. So, Reuben does not have the first place in the list of Israel’s sons. 2 Judah became stronger than his brothers. And the ruler was from his tribe. But Joseph’s sons received the benefits that the oldest son should receive. 3 Reuben was Israel’s first son. Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. 4 These were the descendants of Joel: Shemaiah was Joel’s son. Gog was Shemaiah’s son and Shimei was Gog’s son. 5 Micah was Shimei’s son. Reaiah was Micah’s son and Baal was Reaiah’s son. 6 Beerah was Baal’s son. Beerah was a leader of the tribe of Reuben. Tilgath-Pilneser, king of Assyria took him away. So Beerah had to live in a foreign country. 7-8 The books of ancestors show Beerah’s relatives. The books record these people by their clans. Jeiel was the first, then Zechariah and Bela. Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema and Shema was the son of Joel. These people lived in the land between Aroer and Nebo and in the land near Baal-Meon. 9 Their east border was the desert. This is the desert that is next to the Euphrates River. They had too many animals for the place called Gilead. So they had to live in all those other places too.
10 When Saul was king, Bela’s people fought a war. The war was against the people called Hagrites. Bela’s people beat the Hagrites in that war. Then Bela’s people lived in the tents that the Hagrites had used. They lived in all the land that was east of Gilead.
The tribe of Gad
11 The descendants of Gad lived in the place called Bashan. Their border was Salecah. So they lived near Bela’s people. 12 Joel was the most important leader and Shapham was the second leader. Janai and Shaphat were leaders in Bashan. 13 Their relatives in their clans were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber. So there were 7 clans. 14 Abihail was their ancestor. Abihail was Huri’s son and Huri was Jaroah’s son. Jaroah was Gilead’s son and Gilead was Michael’s son. Michael was Jeshishai’s son. Jeshishai was Jahdo’s son and Jahdo was the son of Buz. 15 Ahi was Abdiel’s son and Abdiel was Guni’s son. Ahi was the leader of their clan. 16 The descendants of Gad lived in Gilead and Bashan. And they lived in the small towns near there. They lived in the place called Sharon. Sharon had a lot of fields of grass. And that land was theirs as far as the borders. 17 Gad’s descendants wrote down the list of all those names. They wrote it when Jotham was king of Judah. That was when Jeroboam was king of Israel.
18 The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh had a large army. They had 44 760 brave soldiers. The soldiers carried shields, swords and bows and they were very good fighters. 19 They started a war against the people called Hagrites. They also fought the people in Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. 20 The soldiers of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad believed God. They prayed to God while they fought. So God helped them. So they won the war against the Hagrites and against all the other people who were helping the Hagrites. 21 And they took all their enemies’ animals. They took 50 000 camels, 250 000 sheep and 2000 donkeys. Also they took 100 000 people. 22 Many people died in the fight because it was God’s war. Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh lived in the land of the people called Hagrites. They lived there until the exile of Judah’s people.
The half tribe of Manasseh in the east
23 There were many people in the half tribe of Manasseh. They lived in the place called Bashan. Their borders were Baal-Hermon, Senir and the mountain called Hermon. 24 These men were the leaders of their clans: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave soldiers and famous men. And they were leaders of their clans.
25 But the clans sinned against God. He was their ancestors’ God. But they did not obey him. He had won the war against the people who were living there before them. They had seen that. But they worshipped the gods of those people. 26 So, Israel’s God caused Pul, king of Assyria, to attack their country. And he caused Tilgath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, to attack their country. And he took away the people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. He sent them into exile. Tilgath-Pilneser brought them to Halah, to Habor and to Hara. And he sent them near to the River Gozan. They are still there today.
The tribe of Levi
1 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 2 Kohath’s sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 3 Amram’s children were Aaron, Moses and Miriam. Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 4 Eleazar was the father of Phinehas and Phinehas was the father of Abishua. 5 Abishua was the father of Bukki and Bukki was the father of Uzzi. 6 Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah and Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth. 7 Meraioth was the father of Amariah and Amariah was the father of Ahitub. 8 Ahitub was the father of Zadok and Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz. 9 Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah and Azariah was the father of Johanan. 10 Johanan was the father of Azariah. Azariah worked as a priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem. 11 Azariah was the father of Amariah and Amariah was the father of Ahitub. 12 Ahitub was the father of Zadok and Zadok was the father of Shallum. 13 Shallum was the father of Hilkiah and Hilkiah was the father of Azariah. 14 Azariah was the father of Seraiah and Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak. 15 Jehozadak went into exile. That happened when the LORD sent the people from Judah and from Jerusalem into exile. The LORD used Nebuchadnezzar to do it.
The three clans of Levi
16 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 17 The names of Gershon’s sons were Libni and Shimei. 18 Kohath’s sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 19 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites. And their ancestors are in this list.
20 Gershon’s son was Libni. Libni’s son was Jahath and Jahath’s son was Zimmah. 21 Zimmah’s son was Joah and Joah’s son was Iddo. Iddo’s son was Zerah and Zerah’s son was Jeatherai.
22 Kohath’s son was Amminadab. Amminadab’s son was Korah and Korah’s son was Assir. 23 Assir’s son was Elkanah. Elkanah’s son was Ebiasaph and Ebiasaph’s son was Assir. 24 Assir’s son was Tahath and Tahath’s son was Uriel. Uriel’s son was Uzziah and Uzziah’s son was Shaul. 25 Elkanah’s sons were Amasai and Ahimoth. 26 Ahimoth’s son was Elkanah. Elkanah’s son was Zophai and Zophai’s son was Nahath. 27 Nahath’s son was Eliab. Eliab’s son was Jeroham and Jeroham’s son was Elkanah. 28 Samuel’s first son was Joel and his second son was Abijah.
29 Merari’s son was Mahli and Mahli’s son was Libni. Libni’s son was Shimei and Shimei’s son was Uzzah. 30 Uzzah’s son was Shimea. Shimea’s son was Haggiah and Haggiah’s son was Asaiah.
The men who would make music
31 David brought God’s Covenant Box into the LORD’s house. Then he chose some leaders as the men who would make the music in that house. 32 They worshipped the LORD while they sang at the holy tent. That tent was where the LORD met with the people. They used that tent until Solomon built the LORD’s house in Jerusalem. They obeyed the rules for their work.
33 These are the leaders of the music and their sons: From Kohath’s clan, there was Heman the singer. Heman was Joel’s son and Joel was Samuel’s son. 34 Samuel was Elkanah’s son and Elkanah was Jeroham’s son. Jeroham was Eliel’s son and Eliel was Toah’s son. 35 Toah was Zuph’s son and Zuph was Elkanah’s son. Elkanah was Mahath’s son and Mahath was Amasai’s son. 36 Amasai was Elkanah’s son and Elkanah was Joel’s son. Joel was Azariah’s son and Azariah was Zephaniah’s son. 37 Zephaniah was Tahath’s son and Tahath was Assir’s son. Assir was Ebiasaph’s son and Ebiasaph was Korah’s son. 38 Korah was Izhar’s son and Izhar was Kohath’s son. Kohath was Levi’s son and Levi was Israel’s son.
39 Heman worked with Asaph, who belonged to the same tribe as Heman. Asaph stood at Heman’s right side. Asaph was Berechiah’s son and Berechiah was Shimea’s son. 40 Shimea was Michael’s son. Michael was Baaseiah’s son and Baaseiah was Malchijah’s son. 41 Malchijah was Ethni’s son. Ethni was Zerah’s son and Zerah was Adaiah’s son. 42 Adaiah was Ethan’s son. Ethan was Zimmah’s son and Zimmah was Shimei’s son. 43 Shimei was Jahath’s son. Jahath was Gershon’s son and Gershon was Levi’s son.
44 Other relatives of Heman and Asaph worked with them. These men belonged to Merari’s clan and they stood on the left side. Ethan the son of Kishi belonged to this group. Kishi was Abdi’s son and Abdi was Malluch’s son. 45 Malluch was Hashabiah’s son. Hashabiah was Amaziah’s son and Amaziah was Hilkiah’s son. 46 Hilkiah was Amzi’s son. Amzi was Bani’s son and Bani was Shemer’s son. 47 Shemer was Mahli’s son and Mahli was Mushi’s son. Mushi was Merari’s son and Merari was Levi’s son.
48 And all the other Levites did everything else that was necessary for the holy tent. The holy tent was the house of God.
Aaron’s descendants
49 But Aaron and his descendants gave the gifts to God. They burned the sacrifices on the altar that was for that. And they burned oils with sweet smells on the altar that was for oils with sweet smells. They gave the sacrifices to God so that he would remove the Israelites’ sins. They did all the work in the most holy place. They obeyed all the rules that God’s servant Moses had told them about. 50 These were Aaron’s descendants. Eleazar was Aaron’s son. Phinehas was Eleazar’s son and Abishua was Phinehas’s son. 51 Bukki was Abishua’s son. Uzzi was Bukki’s son and Zerahiah was Uzzi’s son. 52 Meraioth was Zerahiah’s son. Amariah was Meraioth’s son and Ahitub was Amariah’s son. 53 Zadok was Ahitub’s son and Ahimaaz was Zadok’s son.
The cities of the Levites
54 These are the places where the descendants of Levi, Aaron’s son, lived. The Kohath clan were first when the leaders used the lot. So they received the first part of the land. (Aaron was from the Kohath clan.) 55 They had the city in Judah that is called Hebron. And they had the land round Hebron. 56 But Caleb had the fields round the city. Caleb also had the villages near Hebron. (Caleb was the son of Jephunneh.) 57-58 So the people gave safe cities to the descendants of Aaron. Those cities included Hebron, Libnah with the fields round it, Jattir and Eshtemoa with the fields round it. They also included Hilen with the fields round it and Debir with the fields round it. 59 And they had Ashan with its fields and Beth-Shemesh with its fields. 60 Also, the tribe of Benjamin gave towns and fields to them. Those towns were Geba with its fields, Alemeth with its fields and Anathoth with its fields. So there were 13 towns for all their descendants to live in.
61 And the clans of half of Manasseh gave 10 towns to the other people who belonged to Kohath’s clan. They used lots to choose the towns. 62 The tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Manasseh chose 13 towns. (That was the part of Manasseh in Bashan.) They gave those towns to the Gershon clan. 63 The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun chose 12 towns. They used lots to choose the towns. They gave those towns to the Merari clan. 64 So the Israelites gave those towns and their fields to the Levites. 65 The tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin gave certain towns too.
66 And the tribe of Ephraim chose some towns from their land. They gave those towns to some of Kohath’s clan. 67-69 And they gave safe cities to Kohath’s clan. One city was Shechem with its fields. Shechem is in the hills in Ephraim. The other cities included Gezer with its fields, Jokmeam with its fields and Beth-Horon with its fields. They also included Aijalon with its fields and Gath-Rimmon with its fields. 70 And the half tribe of Manasseh chose Aner with its fields and Bileam with its fields. They gave those towns to the other families that belonged to Kohath’s clan.
71 The other half of the tribe of Manasseh chose towns and they gave them to the Gershon clan. They gave Golan in Bashan with its fields. And they gave Ashtaroth with its fields. 72-73 The tribe of Issachar gave towns to the Gershon clan. Those towns were Kedesh with its fields, Daberath with its fields, Ramoth with its fields and Anem with its fields. 74-75 The tribe of Asher gave towns to the Gershon clan. Those towns were Mashal with its fields, Abdon with its fields, Hukok with its fields and Rehob with its fields. 76 The tribe of Naphtali also gave towns to the Gershon clan. The towns were Kedesh in Galilee with its fields, Hammon with its fields and Kiriathaim with its fields. 77 The tribe of Zebulun chose some towns. They gave those towns to the other people who belonged to the Merari clan. The towns were Rimmono with its fields and Tabor with its fields. 78-79 The tribe of Reuben also gave towns to the Merari clan. Those towns included Bezer in the desert with its fields. They also included Jahzah with its fields, Kedemoth with its fields and Mephaath with its fields. The tribe of Reuben lived east of the River Jordan, that is, across from Jericho. 80-81 The tribe of Gad also gave towns to the Merari clan. Those towns included Ramoth in Gilead with its fields and Mahanaim with its fields. They also included Heshbon with its fields and Jazer with its fields.
The tribe of Issachar
1 Issachar had 4 sons. They were Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron. 2 Tola’s sons were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam and Samuel. They were leaders of their clans. Among Tola’s descendants there were 22 600 brave soldiers when David was king. 3 Uzzi’s son was Izrahiah. Izrahiah’s sons were Michael, Obadiah, Joel and Isshiah. All those five men in Uzzi’s family were leaders. 4 The books of their clans show that they had many wives and sons. So, they had 36 000 men who were ready to fight in the army. 5 The books of the clans of Issachar show that they had 87 000 brave soldiers.
The tribe of Benjamin
6 Benjamin had three sons. They were Bela, Becher and Jediael. 7 Bela had 5 sons. They were Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth and Iri. They were leaders of their clans. The books of their ancestors show that they had 22 034 brave soldiers. 8 Becher’s sons were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth and Alemeth. All those men were sons of Becher. 9 The books of their ancestors include a list of those clan leaders. Also the books show that they had 22 200 brave soldiers. 10 Jediael’s son was Bilhan. Bilhan’s sons were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish and Ahishahar. 11 All those sons of Jediael were leaders of their clans. They had 17 200 brave soldiers who were ready to fight in the army. 12 Shuppim and Huppim were descendants of Ir. The people called the Hushim were descendants of Aher.
The tribe of Naphtali
13 Naphtali’s sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum. They were Bilhah’s grandsons.
The half tribe of Manasseh in the west
14 These are Manasseh’s descendants. Manasseh had a woman that he lived with. She was from the country called Syria. She was the mother of Asriel and Machir and Machir was Gilead’s father. 15 Machir’s wife was from a sister of Huppim and Shuppim. His wife’s name was Maacah. Zelophehad was another descendant of Machir. Zelophehad had only daughters. 16 Machir’s wife Maacah had a son and she called him Peresh. Peresh’s brother was Sheresh and Sheresh’s sons were Ulam and Rekem. 17 Ulam’s son was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Machir and Machir was Manasseh’s son. 18 Hammolecheth was Gilead’s sister. And she had sons called Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah. 19 The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi and Aniam.
The tribe of Ephraim
20 These are the names of Ephraim’s descendants. Ephraim’s son was Shuthelah. Shuthelah’s son was Bered and Bered’s son was Tahath. Tahath’s son was Eleadah and Eleadah’s son was Tahath. 21 Tahath’s son was Zabad and Zabad’s son was Shuthelah.
Ezer and Elead were also sons of Ephraim. They went to Gath and they tried to take some cows and sheep from there. So some men who were born in that city killed them. 22 Their father Ephraim cried for them and he was sad for many days. And his family came to help him. 23 Then Ephraim had sex with his wife and they had another son. Ephraim called him Beriah. That name means ‘trouble’. Ephraim chose that name because of his family’s troubles. 24 Beriah’s daughter was Sheerah. She built Lower and Higher Beth-Horon. And she built Uzzen-Sheerah.
25 And Beriah’s son was Rephah. And Rephah’s son was Resheph. Resheph’s son was Telah and Telah’s son was Tahan. 26 Tahan’s son was Ladan. Ladan’s son was Ammihud and Ammihud’s son was Elishama. 27 Elishama’s son was Nun and Joshua was the son of Nun.
28 Ephraim’s descendants lived in Bethel and in the villages near it. And they had land there. Also they lived in Naaran in the east. And they lived in Gezer and in the villages near it. Those places were in the west. Also, they lived in Shechem and in the villages near it. And they lived in Ayyah and in the villages near it. 29 Along the borders of Manasseh’s descendants’ land were other towns. They included Beth-Shean and the villages near it and Taanach and its villages. They also included Megiddo and its villages and Dor and its villages. The descendants of Joseph (son of Israel) lived in those towns and villages.
The tribe of Asher
30 Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah and their sister was Serah. 31 Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel and Malchiel was Birzaith’s father. 32 Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham and their sister Shua. 33 Japhlet’s sons were Pasach, Bimhal and Ashvath. They were Japhlet’s sons. 34 Shemer’s sons were Ahi, Rohgah, Hubbah and Aram. 35 Shemer’s brother was Helem and Helem’s sons were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh and Amal. 36-37 Zophah’s sons were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran and Beera. 38 Jether’s sons were Jephunneh, Pispa and Ara. 39 Ulla’s sons were Arah, Hanniel and Rizia.
40 All those men were descendants of Asher. They were leaders of their clans. They were great and brave soldiers and great leaders. They had 26 000 men ready to fight in the army. There were lists that showed those men’s names with their clans.
The tribe of Benjamin
1 Benjamin was the father of Bela, his first son. Ashbel was his second son and Aharah was his third son. 2 Nohah was his 4th son and Rapha was his 5th son. 3-5 Bela’s sons were Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan and Huram.
6 Here is a list of the descendants of Ehud. They were the leaders of their clans. But they were still in Geba. They had to leave Geba. They had to go to Manahath. 7 Ehud’s descendants were Naaman, Ahijah and Gera. Gera caused them to leave. He was the father of Uzza and Ahihud.
8-11 Shaharaim and his wife Hushim had sons called Abitub and Elpaal. In Moab, Shaharaim sent away his wives Hushim and Baara. After that, Shaharaim and his wife Hodesh had sons who were called Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sachia and Mirmah. They were leaders of their clans.
12-13 Elpaal’s sons were Eber, Misham, Shemed, Beriah and Shema. Shemed built the towns called Ono and Lod. He also built villages round them. Beriah and Shema were leaders of the clans who lived in Aijalon. They caused the people in Gath to leave their city. 14-16 Other sons of Elpaal were Ahio, Shashak and Jeremoth. And Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, Michael, Ishpah and Joha were sons of Beriah. 17-18 Elpaal’s sons were Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, Ishmerai, Izliah and Jobab. 19-21 Shimei’s sons were Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, Adaiah, Beraiah and Shimrath. 22-25 Shashak’s sons were Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, Iphdeiah and Penuel. 26-27 Jeroham’s sons were Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, Jaareshiah, Elijah and Zichri.
28 The books show that all those men were leaders of their clans. They lived in Jerusalem.
Saul
29 The leader of Gibeon lived in the town called Gibeon. And his wife’s name was Maacah. 30-32 His first son was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zecher and Mikloth. Mikloth was the father of Shimeah. They lived with their relatives in Jerusalem, near other relatives. 33 Ner was the father of Kish and Kish was the father of Saul. And Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal. 34 Jonathan’s son was Merib-Baal and Merib-Baal was the father of Micah. 35 Micah’s sons were Pithon, Melech, Tarea and Ahaz. 36 Ahaz was the father of Jehoaddah. Jehoaddah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. And Zimri was the father of Moza. 37 Moza was the father of Binea and Binea’s son was Raphah. Raphah’s son was Eleasah and Eleasah’s son was Azel. 38 Azel had 6 sons. Those sons were called Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. All those were Azel’s sons. 39 Azel’s brother was Eshek. Eshek’s first son was Ulam. His second son was Jeush and Eliphelet was his third son. 40 Ulam’s sons were brave soldiers and they used their bows well. They had many sons and grandsons. There were 150 of them. All those men were descendants of Benjamin.
The people who lived in Jerusalem
1 All the Israelites were in the lists of ancestors. And those lists are in the Book about Israel’s Kings. The people in Judah had to leave it. Their enemies took them away to Babylon. That happened because they did not continue to obey God. 2 The first people who returned after that were Israelites, priests, Levites, and servants in the temple. They lived on their own land, in their own towns.
3-4 And people were living in Jerusalem again. They were from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. This is a list of those people. There was Uthai son of Ammihud. Ammihud was Omri’s son. Omri was Imri’s son and Imri was Bani’s son. Bani was a descendant of Perez and Perez was Judah’s son. 5 From Shelah’s clan, there were Asaiah and his sons. Asaiah was the oldest son in his family. 6 From Zerah’s clan, there was Jeuel. There were 690 people from Judah’s tribe.
7 From the tribe of Benjamin, there was Sallu. Sallu was the son of Meshullam. Meshullam was Hodaviah’s son and Hodaviah was Hassenuah’s son. 8 There was also Ibneiah son of Jeroham. And there was Elah son of Uzzi. Uzzi was Michri’s son. And there was Meshullam son of Shephatiah. Shephatiah was Reuel’s son and Reuel was Ibnijah’s son. 9 There were 956 people from Benjamin’s tribe. There are lists in their books of ancestors. All those men were leaders of their clans.
The priests’ clans
10-11 From the priests, there were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin and Azariah. Azariah was a son of Hilkiah and Hilkiah was Meshullam’s son. Meshullam was Zadok’s son and Zadok was Meraioth’s son. Meraioth was Ahitub’s son and Ahitub was the most important officer in God’s house. 12 Also there was Adaiah son of Jeroham. Jeroham was Pashhur’s son and Pashhur was Malchijah’s son. And there was Maasai son of Adiel. Adiel was Jahzerah’s son and Jahzerah was Meshullam’s son. Meshullam was Meshillemith’s son and Meshillemith was Immer’s son. 13 There were 1760 priests. They were leaders of their clans. They were men who could work very well. And they worked in the house of God.
The Levites’ clans
14 From the Levites, there was Shemaiah. Shemaiah was the son of Hasshub and Hasshub was Azrikam’s son. Azrikam was Hashabiah’s son and Hashabiah was from Merari’s clan. 15 There were also Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah. Mattaniah was a son of Mica. Mica was Zichri’s son and Zichri was Asaph’s son. 16 Also there was Obadiah, son of Shemaiah. Shemaiah was Galal’s son and Galal was Jeduthun’s son. And there was Berechiah, son of Asa. Asa was the son of Elkanah. Elkanah lived in the villages of the people called Netophathites.
Some Levites were guards
17 Some men were guards of the temple’s gates. Among them, there were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon and Ahiman. Their relatives were with them and Shallum was their leader. 18 All those guards were from Levi’s tribe. And they stood next to the King’s Gate. That gate is on the east side. 19 Shallum was Kore’s son and Kore was Ebiasaph’s son. Ebiasaph was Korah’s son. Other men from Korah’s clan helped Shallum. They were guards at the gates of the tent. That was their work. Their ancestors were also guards at the door of the LORD’s tent. 20 Their ancestors included Phinehas. Phinehas was the leader of the guards. He was Eleazar’s son. The LORD was with Phinehas. 21 Zechariah, son of Meshelemiah worked outside the LORD’s tent. He was the guard. And the LORD met the people there.
22 There were 212 guards for the gates. The books include a list of their names. And the books show their villages. David and the prophet Samuel chose those men to be guards. They were men that they could trust. And that is why they chose them. 23 Those men and their descendants had to work at the gates. They were the guards of the LORD’s house. The LORD’s house was called the holy tent. 24 The guards were on the 4 sides of the LORD’s house. They were on the east, west, south and north sides. 25 Their relatives still lived in their villages. They had to come and help the guards. Each time they came, they worked for seven days. 26 But there were four guards who were more important than the other guards. That was because the leaders trusted them. They kept safe the rooms and the valuable things in God’s house. All those men were Levites. 27 They stayed round God’s house during the night because they had to keep it safe. And they had to open it each morning.
28 The priests used valuable tools in the temple. And some guards kept those things safe. The priests brought those things in and then the guards counted them. And the guards counted them again when the priests took them out. 29 There were many valuable things in the holy place. Also some guards kept the flour, wine, oil, oils with sweet smells and the spices safe. 30 But some of the priests mixed the spices. 31 Mattithiah was a Levite. He was the first son of Shallum. Shallum was from Korah’s clan. Mattithiah was the baker who made the flat bread. 32 Other men who belonged to the Kohath clan prepared the special bread. The priests put this bread on the holy table. They did that each Sabbath day.
Other Levites made music
33 There were clans of Levites who made music in the temple. The leaders of those clans lived in the temple and they had their own rooms there. They had duties during the day. Also, they had duties at night. So they did not do other work in the temple. 34 Those men were the leaders of those Levite clans. Their names were in their clans’ books. And they lived in Jerusalem.
Saul
35 The leader of Gibeon lived in the town called Gibeon. He was called Jeiel and his wife’s name was Maacah. 36-37 His first son was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth. 38 Mikloth was the father of Shimeam. They lived with their relatives in Jerusalem, near other relatives. 39 Ner was the father of Kish and Kish was the father of Saul. And Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal. 40 Jonathan’s son was Merib-Baal and Merib-Baal was the father of Micah. 41 Micah’s sons were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea and Ahaz. 42 Ahaz was the father of Jarah. Jarah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. Zimri was the father of Moza. 43 Moza was the father of Binea and Binea’s son was Rephaiah. Rephaiah’s son was Eleasah and Eleasah’s son was Azel. 44 Azel had 6 sons. Those sons were called Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. That is the list of Azel’s sons.
Saul fights the Philistines
1 The Philistines fought against Israel. But the Israelites ran from the Philistines. The Philistines killed many Israelites on the mountain called Gilboa. 2 The Philistines fought well against Saul and his sons. They killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua. 3 The fight was difficult round Saul. The soldiers with bows shot Saul and they hurt him badly.
Saul kills himself and his sons die
4 Then Saul said to the soldier who carried his shield, ‘Kill me with your sword. If you do not kill me, these Philistines will be cruel to me. Then they will kill me. They are not like us because nobody has circumcised them.’ But the soldier would not do it because he was very afraid. So, Saul got his own sword and he fell on it. 5 The soldier saw that Saul was dead. So, the soldier fell on his own sword and he died too. 6 So, Saul died with his three sons. Saul and his whole family died together.
Philistines come to live in Israel
7 All the Israelites in the valley saw that their army had run away. And they saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So, they left their towns and they ran away. Then the Philistines came to live in those towns.
The Philistines put Saul’s head in their temple
8 On the next day, the Philistines came to take clothes and things from the dead soldiers. They found the dead bodies of Saul and his sons on the mountain called Gilboa. 9 The Philistines stripped Saul’s dead body. They took his head and his armour. Then they sent men through all their country. They went to tell the news about Saul’s death. They told the news in front of their false gods. And then those men told the news to all the people. 10 The Philistines had a temple for their false gods. They put Saul’s armour there. And they had another temple for their false god called Dagon. They hung Saul’s head there.
The men from Jabesh-Gilead bury the dead bodies of Saul and his sons
11 Someone told all the people in Jabesh-Gilead about what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 So, all the brave men from Jabesh went. They took the dead bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought the bodies to Jabesh and they buried the bones under the large tree there. Then the people in Jabesh refused food. They did not eat for 7 days.
Why Saul died
13 Saul died because of his sin against the LORD. He did not obey the LORD. Saul wanted to speak to a dead person. He even visited a woman who used bad spirits. He wanted to know what he should do. 14 He should have asked the LORD but he did not ask the LORD. So, the LORD caused his death and the LORD gave the kingdom to Jesse’s son, David.
All the Israelites agree that David must be their king
1 Then all the Israelites came to David in the town called Hebron. They said to him, ‘We are like your own family. 2 And you are our leader. Even while Saul was still our king, you were the captain of Israel’s army. And the LORD your God said to you, “You will be the ruler of my people, that is, Israel. You will lead them like a man who leads sheep.” ’
3 So, all the leaders of Israel came to King David. They met him at Hebron. There in Hebron, they promised David that he would be king of Israel. The LORD saw what they did. Then they poured oil on David to show that he was king over all Israel. The LORD had promised by Samuel that this would happen.
David and his men win the fight at Jerusalem
4 David and all the Israelites went to the city called Jerusalem. At that time, the name of Jerusalem was Jebus. And the people who lived there were called the Jebusites. They had lived in the country before the Israelites came. 5 The people who were living in Jebus said to David, ‘You cannot come into our city.’ But David fought them. He won the very strong building in Zion. And Jerusalem became David’s city.
6 David had said to his soldiers, ‘The man who attacks the Jebusites first will become the leader and captain of my army.’ Joab, the son of Zeruiah, went first. So, he became the captain of the army.
7 Then David made his home in the strong building. That is why the city was called David’s city. 8 David built the city round the strong building. He built it from the small hill called the Millo. He started from there and he built the walls all round the city. Joab built the other buildings in the city again. 9 The LORD, who is most powerful, was with him. And so David became stronger and stronger.
David’s bravest soldiers
10 Here is a list of the leaders of David’s greatest soldiers. They helped to make David’s kingdom strong. And with all the Israelites, they made him king. He ruled the whole country. And that is what the LORD had promised. 11 This is the list. These men were David’s greatest soldiers.
Jashobeam was from Hachmoni’s clan. He was the leader of David’s officers. He fought 300 men on one day. He used his spear against them and he killed all those men.
12 Then there was Eleazar. He was among the three greatest soldiers. Eleazar was Dodo’s son. He was from Ahoah’s clan. 13 Eleazar was at Pas-Dammim. He was with David there. Then many Philistines came there to fight them. There was a field there with a lot of barley. The Israelites ran from the Philistines. 14 But David and Eleazar did not run away. They stood in the middle of that field and they fought to keep that field. They killed the Philistines. The LORD saved them. Because he helped them, they won the fight in a great way.
Three brave soldiers fetch water for David from the well at Bethlehem
15 There were 30 captains among David’s soldiers. David was living in Adullam’s hole in the rock. So three captains went to the rock there. The Philistine army were living there in tents. They were in the Rephaim Valley. 16 David was in his safe place. A lot of the Philistine soldiers were living in Bethlehem. 17 David wanted some water very much. He said, ‘Oh, I want water! There is a well in Bethlehem. It is near the gate. I would be very happy if someone would fetch me a drink from that well!’ 18 The three famous captains attacked the Philistines and so the three captains passed their tents. Those three captains went into Bethlehem. They found the well that is near the gate. They took water from there and they brought it to David. But David refused to drink that water. He poured it out as a gift to the LORD. 19 He said. ‘God knows that I cannot drink this water. This water is like the blood of these men. They might have died when they fetched this water. I would not accept the gift of their blood. And so I will not drink this water.’ So, David refused to drink the water. Those three brave men did other things like that too.
David’s soldiers do many brave things
20 Abishai was Joab’s brother. Abishai was the leader of the soldiers that were called the three brave soldiers. Abishai fought 300 soldiers with his spear and he killed them. He became as famous as those three soldiers were. 21 The other two soldiers honoured him and he became their leader. But he was not as important as the first three great soldiers.
22 Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah was a brave soldier from Kabzeel. He did great things. He killed two great soldiers from Moab. Also, he went down into a hole and he killed a lion. There was snow on that day. 23 Benaiah also killed a man from Egypt who was 2.3 metres (7.5 feet) tall. The man had a very large spear. It was as large as the piece of wood that people use to make cloth. Benaiah only had a heavy stick. But Benaiah took the spear from the man’s hand. And Benaiah killed the man with the man’s own spear. 24 Those were the things that Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did. He was as famous as the three brave soldiers. 25 He was more famous than the 30 bravest soldiers. But he did not belong to the three brave soldiers. David made him the leader of his own guards.
26-47 These men were also great soldiers:
Asahel. He was the brother of Joab.
Elhanan. He was the son of Dodo from Bethlehem.
Shammoth. He was from the town called Harod.
Helez. He was from the people called Pelonites.
Ira. He was the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa.
Abiezer. He was from the town called Anathoth.
Sibbecai. He was from the place called Hushah.
Ilai. He was a descendant of Ahoah.
Maharai. He was from the town called Netophah.
Heled. He was the son of Baanah. Baanah was also from the town called Netophah.
Ithai. He was the son of Ribai. Ribai was from Gibeah. Gibeah is in Benjamin.
Benaiah. He was from the town called Pirathon.
Hurai. He was from the valleys near Gaash.
Abiel. He was from the place called the Arabah.
Azmaveth. He was from the town called Bahurum.
Eliahba. He was from the town called Shaalbon.
Also there were the sons of Hashem. They belonged to the people called Gizonites.
Jonathan. He was the son of Shagee, who was from among the hills in Judah.
Ahiam. He was the son of Sachar, who was also from among the hills in Judah.
Eliphal. He was the son of Ur.
Hepher. He was from the town called Mecherath.
Ahijah. He was from the people called Pelonites.
Hezro. He was from the town called Carmel.
Naarai. He was the son of Ezbai.
Joel. He was the brother of Nathan.
Mibhar. He was the son of Hagri.
Zelek. He was from the country called Ammon.
Naharai. He was from the city called Beeroth. Naharai carried Joab’s sword and shield. (Joab was the son of Zeruiah.)
Ira. He was from the clan called the Ithrites.
Gareb. He was also from the clan called the Ithrites.
Uriah. He was from the people called Hittites.
Zabad. He was the son of Ahlai.
Adina. He was the son of Shiza. Adina belonged to Reuben’s tribe. He was the leader of the men from that tribe of Reuben. And he was the leader of 30 brave soldiers.
Hanan. He was the son of Maacah.
Joshaphat. He belonged to the people called Mithnites.
Uzzia. He was from the town called Ashtaroth.
Shama and Jeiel. They were the sons of Hotham. Hotham was from the town called Aroer.
Jediael. He was the son of Shimri.
Joha. He was Jediael’s brother. Joha belonged to the people called Tizites.
Eliel. He belonged to the people called Mahavites.
Jeribai and Joshaviah. They were Elnaam’s sons.
Ithmah. He was from the country called Moab.
Eliel, Obed and Jaasiel. Jaasiel was from the people called Mezobaites.
The soldiers who joined David’s army at Ziklag
1 David went to the town called Ziklag. He could not move about much because of Saul, the son of Kish. Many men came to David there. They were among the brave soldiers who helped David to fight in war. 2 They came with their bows. They could shoot arrows. And they could use a weapon that throws stones. They could use either their right hand or their left hand to do those things. They were from Benjamin’s tribe. (Saul was also from Benjamin’s tribe.)
3 Ahiezer was their leader and Joash was his brother. Ahiezer and Joash were sons of Shemaah. (Shemaah was from the town called Gibeah.) There were also Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth. And there were Beracah and Jehu. They were from the town called Anathoth. 4 And there was Ishmaiah. He was from the town called Gibeon. He belonged to the special group of 30 brave soldiers. He was a leader of that group. There were Jeremiah, Jahaziel and Johanan. There was Jozabad, who was from Gederah. 5 There were Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah and Shemariah. There was Shephatiah, who was from Hariph. 6 There were Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam. They were from Korah’s clan. 7 And there were Joelah and Zebadiah. They were the sons of Jeroham. He was from the town called Gedor.
The soldiers who joined David’s army while he was living in the desert
8 Many soldiers from Gad’s tribe joined David’s army in the desert, where David had found a safe place. These men were very brave soldiers in his army and they were ready to fight. They could use shields and spears. They were brave like lions. And they were fast, like the wild animals that run across the mountains. 9 Ezer was the most important officer. The second leader among these soldiers was Obadiah and the third was Eliab. 10 Mishmannah was 4th and Jeremiah was 5th. 11 Attai was 6th and Eliel was 7th. 12 Johanan was 8th and Elzabad was 9th. 13 Jeremiah was 10th and Machbannai was 11th.
14 These descendants of Gad were the leaders of the army. The least important leader among these men had 100 soldiers. And the greatest leader had 1000 soldiers. 15 These were the men who crossed the River Jordan during the first month of the year. The river was a lot wider than it is at other times. And the water was a lot deeper. But they crossed it. And then they fought the people in the valleys and those people had to run away. They ran to the east and to the west.
16 Some other men came to David in his safe place. They were from the tribes called Benjamin and Judah. 17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, ‘Perhaps you have come here to be my friends. And you want to help me. If you have come to help me, we can be friends. But perhaps you are here to help the people who want to kill me. Perhaps you want to tell them where I am. But I have not done anything wrong. So I pray that God will be your judge. He is the God of our ancestors. And he will know what you are doing.’
18 Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was the leader of the 30 bravest soldiers. And he said, ‘We are yours, David and we are with you, Jesse’s son. Do well! Do well, David! We want you to have peace. And we want everyone who helps you to have peace. Your God will help you.’ So, David accepted them. And he caused them to be officers in his army.
Soldiers from Manasseh join David’s army at Ziklag
19 Some men from the tribe called Manasseh joined David’s army. The Philistines were fighting Saul and David was with the Philistines. But David and his men did not help the Philistines. That was because the leaders of the Philistines decided to send David away. They would not let him fight against Saul. They said, ‘David may return to Saul, because Saul is his master. And if David returns to Saul, they might kill us.’ 20 So David returned to Ziklag. And these men from Manasseh joined David’s army then. These men were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. Each man was the leader of 1000 soldiers. Those soldiers belonged to the tribe called Manasseh. 21 All those men were brave soldiers. So they helped David to fight against other armies. And they became officers in David’s army. 22 Day after day, more men came to help David. And his army became large. It became a large and powerful army like an army of God.
The soldiers who joined David’s army at Hebron
23 These are the numbers of the soldiers who joined David’s army. They came to him at Hebron. These soldiers were ready to fight. They came to give Saul’s kingdom to David. The LORD had promised that this would happen. 24 There were 6800 men from Judah who carried shields and spears. And they were ready to fight. 25 There were 7100 men from Simeon’s descendants. They were brave soldiers and they were ready for war. 26 There were 4600 men from Levi’s descendants. 27 Jehoiada was in that group. He was a leader from Aaron’s descendants. And there were 3700 men with him. 28 Zadok was also in that group. He was a brave young soldier. And 22 leaders came with him. They were from his clan. 29 There were 3000 men who were from the same tribe as Saul. They were Benjamin’s descendants. Lots of them had been in Saul’s army and they had obeyed him well. 30 And there were 20 800 men who were descendants of Ephraim. They were brave soldiers and they were famous men in their own clans. 31 And there were 18 000 men who came from the half tribe of Manasseh. Their clans chose those men. And they sent those men to make David king. 32 And there were 200 leaders who were descendants of Issachar. They knew what Israel should do. And they knew the right time to do it. Their relatives were with them and they obeyed those men. 33 There were 50 000 men who came from Zebulun. They were good soldiers in the army. They were ready to fight. And they knew how to use every kind of weapon of war. They would obey David completely. 34 And there were 1000 officers who came from Naphtali. They had 37 000 soldiers with them who carried shields and spears. 35 And there were 28 600 men who came from the tribe of Dan. They were ready for war. 36 And there were 40 000 good soldiers who came from Asher. They were ready to fight. 37 And there were 120 000 soldiers who crossed the River Jordan. They were from the east side of the river. They came from Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. They had every kind of weapon for war.
38 All those men were soldiers. And their leaders had taught them to fight together. So they were ready to go to war. They came to Hebron because they really wanted to make David king over all Israel. All the other Israelites also wanted to make David king. They agreed about that. 39 The men stayed there with David for three days. Their relatives had supplied food for them. So they ate and they drank with him. 40 The Israelites were very happy. So, people also came from as far as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. So David and his soldiers had plenty of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cows and sheep.
David starts to bring the Covenant Box to Jerusalem
1 David talked with all his officers. They were the leaders of his army. Some officers were the leaders of 1000 men. Other officers were the leaders of 100 men. 2 Then David spoke to all the Israelites who were present. ‘I want to suggest something. Perhaps you will agree. And perhaps the LORD our God wants us to do this. I think that we should send a message to all the other Israelites. That should include the priests and the Levites who live in their towns and on their land. We should send the message across the whole country. We should ask all those people to come here to meet us. 3 Then we should bring back the Covenant Box of our God. We did not use it to ask God about things while Saul was king.’ 4 They all thought that it was the right thing to do. So all the people agreed that they should do that.
5 So, David told all the Israelites that they should come. They came from the River Shihor in Egypt. They came from Lebo-Hamath. And they came from everywhere between those two places. They came to bring God’s Covenant Box. It was in the town called Kiriath-Jearim. 6 David and all the Israelites with him went there. They went to Baalah in Judah. (Baalah is also called Kiriath-Jearim.) They went to fetch the LORD God’s Covenant Box. The LORD has his throne between the cherubs. They are on the Box, which has his name.
7 The people took God’s Covenant Box from Abinadab’s house. They put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio were leading the cart. 8 David and all the Israelites were very happy in front of God. They danced. They could not have danced any better. They sang songs. And they used lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets to make music.
9 They reached a certain place. That place was Chidon’s threshing-floor. Oxen were pulling the cart. But the oxen had difficulty there, because the yard was not flat. Uzzah thought that the Covenant Box might fall. So he put his hand on it. 10 The LORD was angry with Uzzah because he had touched the Covenant Box. So the LORD hit Uzzah and Uzzah died there in front of God.
11 David was angry because the LORD punished Uzzah. And David called that place Perez-Uzzah. Even today, people still call that place Perez-Uzzah.
12 David was afraid of God that day. He said, ‘I do not know how I can bring God’s Covenant Box to me.’ 13 So, David did not bring the Covenant Box to where he was. He did not bring it into David’s city. Instead, he took it to Obed-Edom’s house. Obed-Edom lived in the town called Gath. 14 God’s Covenant Box stayed there. Obed-Edom’s family had it in their house and it stayed there for three months. During that time, the LORD was kind to Obed-Edom’s family. And the LORD did good things for everything that Obed-Edom had.
David becomes famous
1 Huram was the king of Tyre. He sent men to David. Also, he sent some wood from cedar trees. And he sent some workers who could work with stone and with wood. They came to build a house for David. 2 Now David knew that the LORD had made him safe as king over Israel. The LORD had made David’s kingdom great. The LORD did that to help his people, that is, Israel.
3 In Jerusalem, David married more wives. And he became the father of more sons and daughters. 4-7 These children were born in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.
David fights the Philistines
8 People told the Philistines that the Israelites had anointed David as king of all Israel. They all came to attack him. But people told David about it so he went out to fight them. 9 The Philistines had come. And they had attacked the people in the valley called Rephaim. 10 David asked God, ‘Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help me to beat them?’ The LORD answered him, ‘Yes, attack. I will help you to beat them.’
11 So David and his men went to the town called Baal-Perazim. There they won the fight against the Philistines. David said, ‘God has used me to stop my enemies. He attacked them, like a river that has too much water.’ So, they called that place Baal-Perazim. 12 The Philistines did not take their false gods when they left. David told his men what they should do. And so they burned those things.
13 Again at another time, the Philistines attacked the people in the valley. 14 David prayed to God again. This time God said, ‘Do not go by the straight way to attack them. Instead, go round them. Attack them near the trees called balsams. 15 Wait there until you hear a sound. You will hear that sound from the tops of the trees called balsams. It will be like the sound when soldiers march. Then attack because I will march in front of you. I will win the fight against the Philistine’s army.’ 16 David obeyed God. So he and his men fought the army of the Philistines. And David’s men killed Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
17 So, David became famous in every country. And the LORD made the people in all the countries afraid of David.
Levites bring the Covenant Box to Jerusalem
1 David built houses for himself in David’s city. And he prepared a place for God’s Covenant Box. He put its tent there. 2 Then David said, ‘Only Levites can carry God’s Covenant Box. That is because the LORD chose them to carry God’s Covenant Box. He chose them to work for him for all time.’ 3 David told all the Israelites that they should come to Jerusalem. They should bring the LORD’s Covenant Box to the place that David had prepared for it. 4 Then David told the descendants of Aaron and the Levites that they must come together. 5 There were 120 people from Kohath’s clan. Uriel was their leader. 6 There were 220 people from Merari’s clan. Asaiah was their leader. 7 There were 130 people from Gershon’s clan. Joel was their leader. 8 There were 200 people from Elizaphan’s clan. Shemaiah was their leader. 9 There were 80 people from Hebron’s clan. Eliel was their leader. 10 And there were 112 people from Uzziel’s clan. Amminadab was their leader.
11 Then David asked the priests Zadok and Abiathar to come to him. Also he asked certain Levites to come. They were Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab. 12 David said to them, ‘You are the leaders of the Levites’ clans. You and the other Levites must make yourselves holy. Then bring the Covenant Box of the LORD, Israel’s God, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 You did not carry it the first time. And, because of that, the LORD our God was angry with us. We did not ask him how we should move it. So we did not do it in the way that he has said.’ 14 Then the priests and the Levites made themselves holy so that they could carry the LORD’s Covenant Box. The LORD is Israel’s God. 15 The Levites carried God’s Covenant Box on their shoulders. And they used the long sticks, as Moses had told the Levites. The LORD had said that this was how to carry it.
Leaders choose some Levites to sing and to make music
16 David told the leaders of the Levites that they must choose some Levites. The men that they chose would sing. And they would make music. They would use lyres, harps and cymbals. And their songs would make people happy.
17 The Levites chose Joel’s son Heman. They also chose Asaph and Ethan. Those men were also Levites. Asaph was Berechiah’s son. Ethan was from the Merari clan and he was Kushaiah’s son. 18 With them, there was a second group of Levites. These were Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. All those men were guards at the gates.
19 The singers Heman, Asaph and Ethan had cymbals of bronze that they could use. 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah had harps. They made the music called Alamoth.
21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah had lyres. They were leaders for the music called Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah was the leader of the singers. He taught singers how to sing. He did that because he was very good at it. He was the leader of the Levites.
Priests walk in front of the Covenant Box and they make sounds with trumpets
23 Berechiah and Elkanah were guards for the Covenant Box. 24 The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer used trumpets in front of God’s Covenant Box. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also guards for the Covenant Box.
The Levites carry the Covenant Box to Jerusalem
25 So David, the leaders of Israel and the captains over 1000 soldiers went to fetch the Covenant Box. They all went to bring the LORD’s Covenant Box from Obed-Edom’s house. And they were very happy. 26 And God helped the Levites who were carrying the LORD’s Covenant Box. So, they sacrificed 7 male cows and 7 male sheep. 27 David wore clothes of good linen. All the Levites who were carrying the Covenant Box wore clothes of good linen. The singers and Chenaniah, their leader, also wore clothes of good linen. David also wore a special linen shirt. 28 So, all the Israelites brought the Covenant Box of the LORD. They shouted. They used different kinds of trumpets. And they made loud music with cymbals, lyres and harps.
Michal is angry with David
29 The Box of the LORD’s special covenant reached David’s city. While it was coming into the city, Saul’s daughter Michal was watching. She was at a window and she saw King David. He was dancing and he was very happy. She thought that he should not do that. So, in her mind, she thought that he was silly.
The people worship the LORD
1 The Levites brought God’s Covenant Box and they put it in the tent. So it was in the tent that David had prepared for it. Then they gave sacrifices to God. They gave sacrifices by fire and they gave friendship-offerings. 2 When David had finished the sacrifices by fire and the friendship-offerings, he prayed. He prayed that the LORD would be kind to the people. 3 And he gave food to every Israelite man and woman. He gave a loaf of bread, a piece of meat and a cake of raisins to each person.
David chooses Levites to worship the LORD
4 Then David chose some Levites. Those men would work in front of the LORD’s Covenant Box. They would pray and they would thank God. And they would praise the LORD, the God of Israel. 5 Asaph was the leader and Zechariah was the second leader. Then there were Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. Those men made music with harps and lyres. And Asaph used the cymbals. 6 Regularly, the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel would use trumpets in front of God’s Covenant Box.
7 On that day, David first told Asaph and the other Levites that they should thank the LORD with this song.
A song to praise God
8 Give thanks to the LORD. Shout to him.
Tell the people among the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him. Praise him with songs.
Tell about all the great things that he has done.
10 Praise his holy name.
All the people who want to know the LORD should be happy.
11 Look towards the LORD! Because he is strong, ask him to help you.
Always try to find him.
12 Remember the great things that he has done.
He has done things that we cannot understand.
Remember them too.
He has spoken about things that are right.
Remember what he has said about those things.
13 You are the descendants of his servant, Israel.
He has chosen Jacob’s descendants to be his people.
14 He is the LORD our God.
He rules the whole earth.
15 Always remember his covenant.
He said that after more than 30 000 years from now, his people should still remember it.
16 He made that covenant with Abraham.
He will do everything that was in his special promise to Isaac.
17 He gave that special promise for a rule for Jacob’s people.
It is a covenant with Israel that will always continue.
18 He said, ‘I will give the country called Canaan to you.
It will be for you and for your descendants.’
19 At one time, God’s people were only a few people.
They were a few people and they were strangers in that country.
20 They left one country and they went to another country.
They left one kingdom and they went to another nation.
21 But he did not let anyone hurt them.
He spoke angrily to kings on their behalf.
22 He said, ‘Do not even touch my people that I have anointed as mine.
And do not hurt my prophets.’
23 Sing to the LORD. All the people on earth must sing to him.
Say that the LORD saves us, day after day.
24 Speak about his glory. Tell the people in other countries.
Tell everyone about the great things that he has done.
25 The LORD is great. Everyone should praise him very much.
All people should be afraid to make him angry. He is greater than all other gods.
26 All the gods of other countries are false gods.
But the LORD made the skies.
27 His glory shines all round him. And anyone can see that he is very great.
Those in his temple are happy and powerful.
28 Praise the LORD you nations on earth.
Praise him for his glory and because he is very strong.
29 Always remember that he and his name are both very great.
Come to him with an offering.
Put on holy clothes and then worship him.
30 Be afraid in front of him, everyone who lives on earth.
The world is very safe. Nobody can move it.
31 The stars in the sky should be happy and the earth should be happy.
All the people in the world should say, ‘The LORD rules as king!’
32 The sea and all the things in it should make a loud noise.
The fields will be happy and everything in them will be happy too.
33 Then all the trees in the forest will sing.
They will sing to the LORD because they are happy.
They will be happy because he has come to be the judge of all the people on the earth.
34 Thank the LORD because he is good.
Thank him because his kind love will always continue.
35 Say to him, ‘Our God, you always save us!
Save us now and bring us to our own country out of all the nations.’
We want to thank you for your holy name.
We want to be happy and we want to praise you.
36 Praise the LORD, the God of Israel
from the beginning to the end of time.
Then all the people said, ‘Amen!’ and they praised the LORD.
How the people should worship the LORD
37 King David said, ‘Asaph and his relatives should always be leaders of the worship there in front of the LORD’s Covenant Box. They must do that each day as the rules describe.’ 38 He told Obed-Edom and 68 men from his clan that they must help them. Jeduthun’s son, Obed-Edom and Hosah were guards at the doors.
39 Zadok the priest and the other priests stayed with the LORD’s tent. That was at Gibeon, at the high place there. 40 Their job was to burn sacrifices to the LORD on the altar for sacrifices by fire. They did that every morning and every evening as Moses had written in the LORD’s Law. The LORD had given the Law to Israel’s people and they had to obey it. 41 Heman and Jeduthun were with them. David had chosen some other men’s names and they were there too. They had to give thanks to the LORD for his kind love that would have no end. 42 Heman and Jeduthun also kept the trumpets, cymbals and other things to make music. They made music with them when they were singing to praise God. And Jeduthun’s sons stood at the gate.
43 Then all the people left and they all went to their houses. And David went to his house to pray for everyone who lived in his house.
David wants to build a house for the LORD
1 David’s king’s house was now his home. Then he spoke to Nathan the prophet. ‘Now I am living in a house that men have made from the wood of cedar trees. But the LORD’s Covenant Box is in a tent’, he said.
2 Nathan replied to David, ‘The LORD is with you. So do anything that you want to do about that.’
God speaks to Nathan
3 But God spoke to Nathan that night. He said, 4 ‘Go and speak to my servant David. This is what I say. “You are not the right man to build a house for me to live in. 5 I have not lived in a house since I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt. I have moved from one place to another and I have lived in different tents. 6 I told the Israelites’ leaders that they must be like shepherds to my people. But I did not say in any of those places, ‘You should have built a house of cedar for me.’ ”
7 Now tell David my servant that the most powerful LORD is saying to him, “I took you when you were in the fields with your father’s sheep. And I made you the ruler over my people Israel. 8 I have been with you in all the places that you have gone. And I have killed all your enemies before they reached you. Now I will make your name great. It will be as great as the names of earth’s greatest men. 9 And I will give to my people Israel a place to stay and to grow. Then they can have their own land and other people will not be able to send them away. Wicked people have attacked them and they have hurt them. But they will not continue to do that. 10 They have done that all the time. They have done it since I chose leaders over my people Israel. But I will cause your enemies to be quiet. I am telling you that the LORD will build a house for you. 11 When it is the right time, you will die. And people will bury you where they buried your ancestors. Then I will cause a man from among your sons to be king instead. I will make his kingdom strong and safe and I will keep it strong and safe. 12 He will build a house for me. And I will make his kingdom strong and safe for all time. 13 I will be like a father to him and he will be like my son. I will not take my kind love away from him as I took it away from the king before you. 14 He will rule my people and my kingdom for all time. His kingdom will be safe for all time.” ’
15 Nathan told David all the words that the LORD had said to him. He told him everything that God had shown to him.
David prays to the LORD
16 Then King David went in and he sat down in front of the LORD. Then he said, ‘I am not great or important and my clan is not great or important. But you have already done very many good things for me, LORD God. 17 But you are my God and you have decided to do many more things for me. You have promised things to me about my future descendants. You, LORD God, have caused me to seem like a very great man. 18 You know your servant. You have promised to make me very great. And I cannot say any more about that.
19 You have decided to promise these great things to me, LORD. And you are telling me that I will become very great. 20 There is nobody like you, LORD. And you are the only God. Our ancestors have always told us that. 21 Israel is a very special nation. There is no other nation on earth like it. We were slaves in Egypt and you chose to save us for yourself. You did great things and you pushed out our enemies. So the people in all the nations knew that you are very great. And it made them all afraid of you. 22 You chose Israel to be your own people for all time. And you, LORD have become the God of Israel.
23 Now, LORD please do the things that you have promised to me, your servant, about my descendants. Please do not let anyone change those things. 24 Do that so that your name will always be great. So then people will say, “The great and powerful LORD is Israel’s God.” And David’s descendants will always be your servants.
25 You have told me, your servant, that you will build a house for me. So I was not afraid to pray to you. 26 You LORD really are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. 27 Now it has given you pleasure to bless your servant. You have said that I will continue to have descendants for all time. You have blessed my descendants, LORD and so you certainly will do good things for them for all time.’
David wins all his fights with his enemies
1 After some time, David had won all his fights with the Philistines. They became quiet and they did not fight him after that. He won Gath and the villages round it from the Philistines.
2 David also fought the Moabites and he beat them. He ruled them and they had to bring gifts to him.
3 David also beat Hadadezer, king of Zobah. He won land as far as Hamath and he ruled the land up to the River Euphrates. 4 David took from Hadadezer 1000 chariots, 7000 men who drove them and 20 000 walking soldiers. David kept 100 horses for his chariots. But he hurt the other horses so that they could not walk well.
5 Men from Damascus in Syria came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. And David killed 22 000 men from Syria. 6 David put some of his soldiers in Damascus in Syria to keep it for him. Then he ruled over the people in Syria and they had to bring gifts to him. The LORD helped David to win his fights everywhere that he went.
7 David took the gold shields that Hadadezer’s soldiers carried. And he brought them to Jerusalem. 8 David also took a lot of bronze from Tibhath and Cun. Those towns had been Hadadezer’s towns. Solomon used that bronze to make the big bowl in the temple. It seemed like a small sea. He also used that bronze to make pillars that held up the temple’s roof. And he made the smaller bronze bowls out of that bronze too.
9 People told Tou, king of Hamath, that David had beaten the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah. 10 Hadadezer had often fought against Tou. So Tou sent his son Hadoram to ask King David if he was well. And he wanted Hadoram to tell David that he had done well against Hadadezer. He also sent many kinds of things of gold, silver and bronze to David.
11 King David saved all those things for the LORD. He had done that with all the silver and gold that he had taken from other nations. Those nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek.
12 And Zeruiah’s son Abishai killed 18 000 men from Edom in the Valley of Salt. 13 He put groups of soldiers in Edom. Then David ruled over all Edom. The LORD caused David to win all the fights that he had in every place.
David’s officers
14 David ruled over all Israel. He did only things that were good and fair for all his people. 15 Zeruiah’s son Joab was over the army. And Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat recorded the things that happened. 16 Ahitub’s son Zadok and Abiathar’s son Ahimelech were priests and Shavsha wrote things for the king. 17 Jehoiada’s son Benaiah was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites. And David’s sons were important officers who helped the king.
David sends men to the new king of the Ammonites
1 After that, Nahash, the king of Ammon, died and his son ruled instead. 2 David said, ‘Nahash was kind to me. So I will be kind to his son Hanun.’ So David sent some officers to Hanun. He wanted to say that he was sorry about the death of Hanun’s father. David’s servants came to Ammon to tell Hanun that David was sorry about it. 3 But the leaders of the people in Ammon said to Hanun, ‘David has sent these men to you. So perhaps you think that he really wants to honour your father. But really his men have come to look at our country so that he can beat you. He wants to rule our country. That is what we think.’
Hanun makes David’s men ashamed
4 So Hanun took David’s servants and he cut off all their hair. His men cut off the lower half of their long clothes to the top of their legs. Then they sent them away.
5 Some people came and they told David about the men. So he sent men to meet them because they were very ashamed. The king said, ‘Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown again. Then return.’
The people in Ammon fetch help to fight David
6 Then the people in Ammon knew that they had caused David to be very angry. So Hanun and the people in Ammon sent about 1000 talents of silver to Aram-Naharaim, Aram-Maacah and Zobah. That was to buy chariots and their drivers from them. 7 So they bought 32 000 chariots. They also bought the help of the king of Maacah and his army. These men put their tents near Medeba. At the same time the people from Ammon had come together out of their cities. And they were ready to fight.
8 People told David about it so he sent out Joab with all the Israelite army of good soldiers. 9 So the people from Ammon came out. And they stood ready to fight in front of their city’s gate. The other kings who had come were outside in the fields.
Joab wins the fight with the two armies
10 Joab saw that there were armies in front of him and behind him too. So he took some of Israel’s best soldiers. And he was their leader against the men from Syria. 11 He told his brother Abishai that he must be leader of all the other soldiers against the men from Ammon. 12 Joab said, ‘If the army from Syria is too strong for me, you must come to me. And you must help me. But if the army from Ammon is too strong for you, I will help you. 13 We must be strong and brave. We are fighting for our people and for our God’s cities. The LORD will do what seems good and right to him.’
14 Then Joab and his soldiers went out to fight the men from Syria. And they ran from him. 15 The men from Ammon saw that the men from Syria had run away. And so they ran from his brother Abishai’s men and they went into the city. So Joab returned to Jerusalem.
The men from Syria run away from the Israelites
16 The men from Syria saw that Israel’s men had beaten them. So they sent men with a message to fetch more soldiers. More of their men came across the river, from Syria. Shophach, Hadadezer’s most important officer, was at the front of those men.
17 Someone told David about it. Then he took all Israel’s soldiers and he crossed the River Jordan. They stood in front of the men from Syria, ready to fight. And the men from Syria fought against David. 18 The men from Syria ran away from Israel’s men. And David killed 7000 men who drove chariots and 40 000 other soldiers. And he killed Shophach, the leader of their army.
All the kings who had fought him agree to be David’s servants
19 The other kings saw that Israel had won the fight against Hadadezer. So they made peace with David. They agreed to be his servants. After that, the people from Syria did not want to help the men from Ammon again.
Joab wins the fight for Rabbah
1 Joab and the army went out in the spring. It was the time of the year when kings go out to fight. Joab destroyed the land of the Ammonites and he came to Rabbah. He put his soldiers all round it. But David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab knocked down the buildings in Rabbah and he broke them. 2 David took the crown from the head of Rabbah’s king. It was heavy and its weight was about 34 kilos (75 pounds). It was a crown of gold and there was a valuable stone in it. David’s men put it on his head. He also took very many good things from the city. 3 He took out the people who were there. And they had to work for him with tools to cut wood and with iron tools and with axes. That is what David did to all the cities in Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
The army fights the Philistines
4 Some time after that, they fought the Philistines at Gezer. Sibbecai from Hushah killed a man called Sippai. Sippai was a descendant of the very large people. So Israel beat the Philistines.
5 In another fight with the Philistines, Jair’s son Elhanan killed Lahmi. Lahmi was the brother of Goliath from Gath. And he had a very heavy spear. Its handle was as large as the piece of wood that people use to make cloth.
6 And there was again war at Gath. A very tall man in Gath had 24 fingers and toes. He had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. He too was a descendant of the very large people. 7 He said that Israel’s soldiers were silly. So Jonathan, son of David’s brother, Shimea killed him.
8 David and his men killed all those descendants of the very large people in Gath.
David counts the Israelite men who can fight
1 Then Satan put a bad idea into David’s mind. The idea was to count all the men in Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to all his officers, ‘Go and count the people in Israel from Beersheba to Dan. And then come and tell me. Then I will know how many there are.’
3 But Joab replied, ‘They are all your servants, my lord and my king. I pray that the LORD will make them 100 times more. But it would be better not to do this. You will cause God to be angry with all Israel.’
4 But Joab had to do what the king had said. So Joab left. And he went through all Israel and then he returned to Jerusalem. 5 He told David the number of men who could fight. It was 1 100 000 men in all Israel. All those men knew how to use a sword. And 470 000 men who could use a sword came from Judah.
God is angry with David and God punishes Israel
6 But what the king had said seemed disgusting to Joab. So he did not include the men from Levi’s and Benjamin’s tribes. 7 And God was angry because David had done this thing. So he punished Israel. 8 Then David said to God, ‘I have sinned because I have done this thing. Please forgive me. I have done a very silly thing.’
David chooses how God should punish him
9 Gad was David’s prophet. The LORD said to him, 10 ‘Go and say this to David: “You may choose one out of these three things for me to punish you. That is what the LORD says.” ’
11 So Gad went to David and he said to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You must choose one out of these things: 12 I might cause three years with very little food for your country. Or I might cause you to run from your enemies’ swords for three months while they are killing many people. Or I might cause a very bad illness among your people for three days. The angel of the LORD would kill many people in every part of Israel.” Now tell me an answer to take to him who sent me.’
13 David said to Gad, ‘I am in great trouble. The LORD is kind and he forgives people. So it is best if he punishes me. I do not want men to punish me.’
The LORD kills many Israelites with a bad illness
14 So the LORD caused a very bad illness in Israel. And 70 000 men died in Israel. 15 God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But then he saw the angel start to kill people. And the LORD was sorry. He said to the angel who was killing them, ‘It is enough. Now stop killing them.’ The LORD’S angel was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite at that time.
God stops the angel killing people in Jerusalem
16 David looked up and he saw the LORD’s angel. The angel was standing between the earth and heaven. He had a sword in his hand and it was pointing towards Jerusalem. David and the leaders fell down on their faces. They were wearing clothes that were not comfortable.
17 David said to God, ‘It was I who caused Joab to count the people. I am the man who has done the bad thing. It was I who sinned. These people are like sheep. They have not done anything that was wrong. LORD God, please punish me and my family. But please take away this illness from your people.’
David buys ground from Ornan and David builds an altar there
18 Then the angel of the LORD spoke to Gad. ‘Tell David that he must build an altar to the LORD on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite’, he said. 19 So David obeyed what Gad had spoken on behalf of the LORD.
20 Ornan and his 4 sons were hitting their food plants until the seeds fell out. They turned and they saw the LORD’s angel. So his sons hid themselves. 21 Then David came near to Ornan. He looked and he saw David. He left the threshing-floor and he bent his head to the ground in front of David. 22 David said to Ornan, ‘Let me buy this ground so that I can build an altar to the LORD here. Then God will stop the illness that is killing people. I will pay the whole price for the land.’
23 Ornan replied, ‘Take it. My lord the king may do what he wants to do. Look, I will give the male cows for the sacrifices by fire. And I will give the tools of wood for the fire and the grain for the offering of grain to you. I give everything to you.’
24 But King David said to Ornan, ‘No, I must pay the whole price. I must pay for your things. I cannot sacrifice to the LORD an offering by fire that costs me nothing.’
25 So David paid Ornan 7 kilos of gold (about 15 pounds weight) for the place. 26 David built an altar there to the LORD. On it he gave sacrifices by fire and friendship-offerings. He shouted to the LORD and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven. It burnt David’s offering that was on the altar for sacrifices by fire.
The LORD stops punishing the people
27 Then the LORD spoke to the angel. And the angel put his sword away into its case. 28 David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So he burnt sacrifices to God there. 29 At that time the LORD’s tent was on the high place at Gibeon. That was the tent that Moses had made in the desert. And the altar for sacrifices by fire was also at Gibeon. 30 But David was afraid of the sword of the LORD’s angel. So he could not go to the altar there to meet with God
Before he dies, David prepares everything to build God’s temple
1 And then David said, ‘We will build the house of the LORD God here. Also, the altar for sacrifices by fire for Israel will be here.’ 2 So he told his officers that they must bring together all the foreign men in Israel. From them he chose men to cut the stones so that the people could build the LORD’s house. 3 He supplied a lot of iron. That was for things that would hold together its doors and gates and other things. He also gave them more bronze than they could weigh. 4 The people from Tyre and Sidon had brought a lot of cedar wood to David. So David also supplied more pieces of cedar wood than anyone could count.
5 David said, ‘The house for the LORD must be great and beautiful. The people in every country must know about it. My son Solomon is young and he has not made anything like this before. I must make things ready for him.’ So David prepared a lot of everything for the building before he died.
David tells Solomon why he must build the temple
6 Then David sent someone to fetch Solomon. He told him that he must build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel. 7 He said to Solomon, ‘My son, I really wanted to build a house for the name of the LORD my God. 8 But the LORD spoke to me. He said, “You have caused many men to die and you have fought great fights. I know that you have killed many men. So you must not build a house for my name. 9 But you will have a son who will be a quiet man, a man of peace. I will cause all his enemies round this country to give peace to him. His name will be Solomon. I will cause peace for Israel while he is its king. And there will not be any trouble for the country. 10 He will build a house for my name. He will be my son and I will be his father. I will make it sure that he and his descendants will be kings of Israel for all time.”
11 Now, my son, I pray that the LORD will be with you. And I pray that he will help you to finish this building. And so you will build the house of the LORD your God as he said about you. 12 But I pray that the LORD will make you wise. I want him to give wisdom to you when he causes you to rule over Israel. So you will obey the Law of the LORD, your God. 13 Then everything that you do will go well. But you must be careful to obey the laws and the rules that the LORD gave to Moses for Israel. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. And do not think that this is too difficult for you to do.’
The things that David has saved to build the temple
14 ‘I have been very careful to make many things ready for you to build the LORD’s house. I have for you 100 000 talents of gold and 1 000 000 talents of silver. And I have more bronze and iron than you can weigh. And I have wood and stone and you must prepare even more. 15 You have many men with you who can cut stone. And you have many men who can work with stone. You have many men who can work with wood. And you have many men who can do any kind of difficult work. 16 And nobody knows how much gold, silver, bronze and iron there is. So now stand up and begin to build. And I pray that the LORD will be with you.’
David tells the leaders that they must help Solomon to build the LORD’s house
17 Then David sent messages to all the leaders in Israel. He said that they must help his son Solomon. 18 He said to them, ‘The LORD your God is with you and he has let me win fights with all the nations round Israel. Now the LORD and his people rule over all those nations. So he has given you peace everywhere. 19 So you should do only things that will give the LORD your God pleasure. And you should only think things like that. Stand up. Begin to build the LORD God’s holy place, the temple, so that you can put the LORD’s Covenant Box there. You can also put God’s holy things into the house that you will build for the name of the LORD.’
David gives rules for the Levites to the leaders
1 David was old and his life had nearly finished. Then he caused his son Solomon to rule over Israel.
2 He brought together all Israel’s leaders with the priests and the Levites. 3 His men counted all the Levites who were 30 years old or older. Their number was 38 000 men. 4 David said, ‘Now 24 000 men from among these Levites must be over the work of the LORD’s house. And 6000 will be officers and judges. 5 And 4000 men will keep the gates safe. And 4000 men will praise the LORD with music. They will use the things that I have made to praise him with.’
6 David made the Levites into groups. Each group came from a son of Levi. Those sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
The Gershon clans
7 From the Gershon clan there were Ladan and Shimei.
8 Ladan’s three sons were Jehiel the most important, then Zetham and Joel.
9 The three sons of another Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran. Those were the leaders of Ladan’s clans.
10 And 4 sons of Shimei were Jahath, Zizah, Jeush and Beriah.
11 Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second. But because Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons the officers counted them as one clan.
The Kohath clans
12 The 4 sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
13 Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. The LORD chose Aaron and his descendants for special work for all time. He chose them to make things holy for him and to burn oils with sweet smells to him. He said that they would work for him. And they would bless the people on his behalf. That would be their work for all time. 14 The tribe of Levi included the sons of Moses, God’s servant.
15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.
16 Gershom’s oldest son was Shebuel.
17 From Eliezer’s family, Rehabiah was the leader. Eliezer had no other sons but Rehabiah had very many sons.
18 From Izhar’s sons, Shelomith was the leader.
19 From Hebron’s sons, Jeriah was the leader and Amariah was second. Jahaziel was third and Jekameam was fourth.
20 From Uzziel’s sons, Micah was the leader and Isshiah was second.
The Merari clans
21 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without sons but he had daughters. Their cousins, Kish’s sons, married them.
23 Mushi’s three sons were Mahli, Eder and Jeremoth.
24 Those were the leaders of the Levites’ clans with their descendants. The Israelites recorded the names of all the men who were 20 years old or older. Those men were servants in the LORD’s house. 25 David had said, ‘Now the LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people. And he lives in Jerusalem for all time. 26 So the Levites do not need to carry his tent and the other things to work for him in it.’ 27 David had told them that they should count the Levites. But they should only include the Levites who were 20 years old or older. Those were the last words that he said about the Levites.
The work of the Levites
28 The Levites’ work was to help Aaron’s descendants to be servants in the LORD’s house. They kept the yards and the side rooms and the holy things clean. And they helped in God’s house in other ways. 29 They kept the special bread that the priests put on the table in the holy place. They kept the good flour for the offering of grain and for the bread that they made without yeast. They mixed the bread for the sacrifices and they baked it. They also helped with the offering that the priests mixed with oil. And they weighed everything and they measured everything. 30 They had to stand every morning to thank and to praise the LORD. And they had to do the same in the evening. 31 They also had to sing when the priests gave sacrifices by fire to the LORD on special days. That included the Sabbaths and the New Moon sacrifices. The correct number of Levites must do everything in the proper way. They must always work in a regular way and at the correct times in front of the LORD. 32 So the Levites had special work. They had to keep the place where people met God and its holy place clean. And they had to help their cousins, Aaron’s descendants with their work in the LORD’s house.
The groups of Aaron’s sons
1 This is about the groups of Aaron’s sons. Aaron’s 4 sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father died. And they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar were the priests. 3 Zadok and Ahimelech helped David to put them into groups. Zadok was a descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelech was a descendant of Ithamar. They gave to each group special jobs and regular times to work. 4 They found more leaders among Eleazar’s descendants than among Ithamar’s descendants. They put 16 leaders of clans from Eleazar’s descendants and 8 leaders of clans from Ithamar’s descendants over them. 5 They chose in a way that was fair to every group. The descendants of Eleazar and the descendants of Ithamar included officers for the holy place. And both groups included officers to work for God.
6 Nethanel’s son Shemaiah the Levite was a writer. He recorded their names in front of the king and the other rulers. So Zadok the priest, Abiathar’s son Ahimelech and the leaders of the priests’ clans and of the Levites’ clans were watching. They chose one group from Eleazar’s clan then one group from Ithamar’s clan.
7-18 This is the list of the group leaders as they chose them.
1 Jehoiarib
2 Jedaiah
3 Harim
4 Seorim
5 Malchijah
6 Mijamin
7 Hakkoz
8 Abijah
9 Jeshua
10 Shecaniah
11 Eliashib
12 Jakim
13 Huppah
14 Jeshebeab
15 Bilgah
16 Immer
17 Hezir
18 Happizzez
19 Pethahiah
20 Jehezkel
21 Jachin
22 Gamul
23 Delaiah
24 Maaziah
19 Each group followed the group before it to work in the LORD’s house. That was the rule that their ancestor, Aaron gave to them. The LORD, the God of Israel had told him how they must do it.
The other Levites
20 These are the other Levites: Shubael was a descendant of Amram and Jehdeiah was a descendant of Shubael.
21 There was Rehabiah’s first son Isshiah.
22 From the Izhar clan, there was Shelomoth. And Jahath was a descendant of Shelomoth.
23 There were Hebron’s first son Jeriah and his second son Amariah. Then there were his third son Jahaziel and his fourth son Jekameam.
24 There were Uzziel’s son Micah and his son Shamir.
25 There were Micah’s brother Isshiah and his son Zechariah.
26-27 There were Merari’s sons Mahli and Mushi. And the descendants of Merari by his son, Jaaziah were Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri.
28 Mahli’s son Eleazar had no sons.
29 There was also Kish’s son, Jerahmeel.
30 And there were Mushi’s sons, Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth.
That is the list of all the Levites’ clans.
31 They, like their brothers, Aaron’s descendants, also asked God to choose which jobs each man should do. King David, Zadok and Ahimelech watched them. The leaders of the priests’ clans and the leaders of the Levites’ clans also did that. They did not give the clans of the oldest brother special places.
The singers
1 David, with some of his most important army officers, chose some Levites to prophesy with harps, lyres and cymbals. They were from the families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. Here is a list of these men:
2 From Asaph’s sons were Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. Asaph was over them. He prophesied when the king wanted him to prophesy.
3 From Jeduthun’s sons, there were 6 prophets, who were Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah. Their father, the prophet Jeduthun was over them. He used a harp to thank and to praise the LORD.
4 From Heman’s sons, there were Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani and Eliathah. And there were Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. 5 All those men were sons of Heman, the king’s prophet. God had promised them to him to honour him. God gave Heman 14 sons and three daughters.
6 Their father was over all those men to make music for the LORD’s house. They used cymbals, harps and lyres for worship in God’s house. The king told Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman how they should be leaders in this music. 7 All those men knew how to make music in a very good way. Other Levites also made music. So, there were 288 Levites who made music for the LORD. 8 They included young men and older men, teachers and students. They chose in a fair way the groups in which they must work.
9 The first group that they chose was a group of the relatives of Asaph’s son, Joseph. The second group was 12 men. They were Gedaliah with his brothers and his sons. 10 The third group was 12 men. They were Zaccur with his sons and his brothers. 11 The 4th group was 12 men. They were Izri with his sons and his brothers. 12 The 5th group was 12 men. They were Nethaniah with his sons and his brothers. 13 The 6th group was 12 men. They were Bukkiah with his sons and his brothers. 14 The 7th group was 12 men. They were Jesarelah with his sons and his brothers. 15 The 8th group was 12 men. They were Jeshaiah with his sons and his brothers. 16 The 9th group was 12 men. They were Mattaniah with his sons and his brothers. 17 The 10th group was 12 men. They were Shimei with his sons and his brothers. 18 The 11th group was 12 men. They were Azarel with his sons and his brothers. 19 The 12th group was 12 men. They were Hashabiah with his sons and his brothers. 20 The 13th group was 12 men. They were Shubael with his sons and his brothers. 21 The 14th group was 12 men. They were Mattithiah with his sons and his brothers. 22 The 15th group was 12 men. They were Jeremoth with his sons and his brothers. 23 The 16th group was 12 men. They were Hananiah with his sons and his brothers. 24 The 17th group was 12 men. They were Joshbekashah with his sons and his brothers. 25 The 18th group was 12 men. They were Hanani with his sons and his brothers. 26 The 19th group was 12 men. They were Mallothi with his sons and his brothers. 27 The 20th group was 12 men. They were Eliathah with his sons and his brothers. 28 The 21st group was 12 men. They were Hothir with his sons and his brothers. 29 The 22nd group was 12 men. They were Giddalti with his sons and his brothers. 30 The 23rd group was 12 men. They were Mahazioth with his sons and his brothers. 31 And the 24th group was 12 men. They were Romamti-Ezer with his sons and his brothers.
The men who kept the gates of the temple safe
Korah’s family
1 These are the groups of guards of the temple’s gates. Kore’s son Meshelemiah was a descendant of Asaph, who was from the clan of Korah. 2 And Meshelemiah had 7 sons. These were their names: Zechariah was born first and Jediael was his second son. Zebadiah was his third son and Jathniel was his 4th son. 3 Elam was his 5th son. Jehohanan was his 6th son and Eliehoenai was his 7th son.
4 Obed-Edom was another guard. God had blessed him with 8 sons. These were their names: Shemaiah was born first. Jehozabad was his second son and Joah was his third son. Sachar was his 4th son and Nethanel was his 5th son. 5 Ammiel was his 6th son. Issachar was his 7th son and Peullethai was his 8th son.
6-7 Also, his son, Shemaiah had 4 sons. They were called Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad. They were rulers in their clan. They were very brave and their relatives, Elihu and Semachiah were also strong men.
8 All those men were sons of Obed-Edom. They and their sons and their relatives were men who could work well. All those men could work well because they were strong. There were 62 of these men who belonged to Obed-Edom’s clan.
9 And Meshelemiah had 18 sons and men from among his relatives who could work well.
Merari’s family
10 Also, Merari’s son Hosah had 4 sons. Shimri was the most important son. Shimri was not born first but his father made him the most important son among his sons. 11 Hilkiah was second. Tebaliah was third and Zechariah was the 4th son. There were 13 men from Hosah’s clan who worked as guards.
12 The leaders of the clans agreed how and when each group should work as guards in the LORD’s house. 13 They chose their jobs in the same fair way as they had chosen the work for the other Levites. They did that for each gate. They were fair to the large clans but they were also fair to the small ones.
14 They chose Shelemiah for the East gate. They chose his son Zechariah for the North gate and he gave good advice. 15 They chose Obed-Edom to be a guard at the South gate. They chose his sons to be guards at the place where the Levites kept things for their work. 16 Shuppim and Hosah kept the West gate safe and the Shallecheth Gate on the higher road. They chose the times for a group to work each day. 17 Six Levites kept safe the east, four the north and four the south each day. Two worked together each day to be guards at the place where they kept their things. 18 On the west side, there were 4 guards on the road near the yard. And there were two guards on the west side at the yard.
19 That is how they gave their jobs as guards to each group among the clans of Korah and Merari.
The work of other Levite families
20 From the other Levites, Ahijah kept the valuable things safe. That included the valuable things that the priests used in God’s house. And it included the valuable things that people had given to God.
21 Ladan was a descendant of Gershon and he was the ancestor of several clans. Jehieli was a leader of one clan. 22 The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel, kept safe the valuable things in the LORD’s house.
23 The descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel did other work. 24 Gershom’s descendant, Shebuel was the most important officer over the valuable things. Gershom was a son of Moses. 25 Gershom’s brother, Eliezer was the father of Rehabiah. Jeshaiah was his son and he was the father of Joram. Joram’s son, Zichri, was the father of Shelomoth. 26 Shelomoth and his relatives kept safe all the holy things that King David had given to God. The leaders of clans and army officers had also given things to God. Some officers were over groups of 1000 soldiers and some officers were over groups of 100 soldiers. Shelomoth and his relatives kept those holy things safe too. 27 When the Israelites won a fight, they won things from their enemies. Then they took a part of the good things that they had won. Then they gave them to pay for repairs to the LORD’s house. 28 That included all the things that Samuel the prophet and Saul the son of Kish had given. And it included the things that Ner’s son, Abner had given. And it included the things that Zeruiah’s son Joab had given. Shelomoth and his relatives kept those things safe too.
29 Chenaniah and his sons were descendants of Izhar. They did not work in the temple. They were judges and officers over Israel.
30 Hashabiah, Hebron’s descendant, had 1700 good workers in his clan. They were over the people to the west of the River Jordan. They made it sure that they worked for the LORD and for the king in a proper way. 31 Jerijah was the most important man among Hebron’s descendants. When David had been king for 40 years, people looked in the records of their ancestors and of their descendants. They read there that great soldiers of the Hebron clan were living at Jazer in Gilead. 32 There were 2700 men from Jerijah’s clan who were good leaders. King David told them that they must be leaders of Reuben’s tribe, Gad’s tribe and the half tribe of Manasseh. They were over them for everything that was important to God or to the king.
The Israelite armies
1 Each month, a group of 24 000 men were the king’s servants. They worked for him in everything that was about the army. Among these men were leaders of clans, officers over groups of 1000 or 100 men. Among them, there were also other men who worked for the king. Each group worked for one month each year. This is a list of their names.
2 Zabdiel’s son, Jashobeam was the leader of the first group of 24 000 soldiers in the first month. 3 He was a descendant of Perez. He was over all the army officers for the first month.
4 Dodai was from the town called Ahoah. He was the leader of the group of 24 000 men for the second month. Mikloth was his most important helper.
5 Benaiah, the son of the priest Jehoiada, was the leader of the third group for the third month. He was the most important officer and there were 24 000 men in his group. 6 This Benaiah was a great soldier. He was the leader of the special soldiers who were called ‘The 30’. His son Ammizabad was the leader of his group.
7 Asahel, Joab’s brother, was the leader of the 4th group of 24 000 men for the 4th month. His son Zebadiah was the leader of the group after him.
8 Shamhuth from Izrah’s clan was the leader of the 5th group of 24 000 men for the 5th month.
9 Ira was the leader of the 6th group of 24 000 men for the 6th month. He was the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa.
10 Helez was the leader of the 7th group of 24 000 men for the 7th month. He was from the people called Pelonites in Ephraim
11 Sibbecai from Hushah was the leader of the 8th group of 24 000 men for the 8th month. He was from Zerah’s clan.
12 Abiezer from Anathoth in Benjamin was the leader of the 9th group of 24 000 men for the 9th month.
13 Maharai from Netophah was the leader of the 10th group of 24 000 men for the 10th month. He was from Zerah’s clan.
14 Benaiah from Pirathon in Ephraim was the leader of the 11th group of 24 000 men for the 11th month.
15 Heldai from Netophah was the leader of the 12th group of 24 000 men for the 12th month. He was from Othniel’s clan.
Officers over the tribes of Israel
16 And over the tribes of Israel, the ruler of the tribe of Reuben was Eliezer, the son of Zichri. Over Simeon was Maacah’s son, Shephatiah.
17 Over Levi was Kemuel’s son, Hashabiah. Zadok was over Aaron’s clan.
18 Over Judah was David’s brother, Elihu. Over Issachar was Michael’s son, Omri.
19 Over Zebulun was Obadiah’s son, Ishmaiah. Over Naphtali was Azriel’s son, Jerimoth.
20 Over Ephraim was Hoshea’s son, Azaziah. Over half the tribe of Manasseh was Pedaiah’s son, Joel.
21 Over the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead was Zechariah’s son, Iddo. Over Benjamin was Abner’s son, Jaasiel.
22 Over Dan was Jeroham’s son, Azarel. Those were the officers over the tribes of Israel.
David counts the number of men in Israel
23 The LORD had promised to make Israel a nation with as many people as there are stars in the sky. So David did not count the men who were only 20 years old or less. 24 Zeruiah’s son, Joab had begun to count the men but he did not finish. The LORD was angry with Israel because David had started to count them. So nobody wrote the number in the book about King David’s life.
Men who kept the king’s things safe
25 Adiel’s son, Azmaveth was over all the places where the king stored his valuable things. He stored some valuable things outside the city. Uzziah’s son, Jonathan was over those things. They were in towns, villages and strong buildings where soldiers watched for enemies.
26 Chelub’s son, Ezri was over the men who were digging in the fields.
27 Shimei from Ramah was over the men who worked in the vineyards. Zabdi from Shepham was over the men who stored wine from the vineyards.
28 Baal-Hanan from Geder was over the trees in the lower hills in the west. They were olive and sycamore-fig trees. Joash kept the olive oil.
29 Shitrai from Sharon was over the men who kept the king’s animals in Sharon. Adlai’s son, Shaphat was over the men who kept his animals in the valleys.
30 Obil, a descendant of Ishmael, kept the camels. Jehdeiah from Meronoth kept the donkeys.
31 Jaziz kept the sheep and goats. He belonged to the people called Hagrites. All those men kept King David’s things safe.
32 David’s uncle, Jonathan had a good mind. And he helped David to decide what he should do. And he was a writer. Hachmoni’s son, Jehiel stayed with the king’s sons. 33 Ahithophel helped the king to decide the best things to do. And Hushai, who was born at Archi, was the king’s friend. 34 After Ahithophel died, Abiathar and Benaiah’s son, Jehoiada helped the king. They helped him to decide what he should do. And Joab was the leader of the king’s army.
David brings all his officers together
1 David asked all the leaders of Israel to come to him at Jerusalem. The leaders of the tribes had to come with the officers over the king’s work. That included the officers over the king’s things and his animals or his sons’ things and their animals. It also included the officers over groups of 1000 or 100 men. All the officers in the king’s house and all his brave army officers had to come too.
2 King David stood up and he said, ‘Listen to me, my relatives and my people. I wanted very much to build a house for the LORD’s Covenant Box to stay. And I wanted it to be a place for our God to put his feet. And I prepared the things that I would need to do it. 3 But God said to me, “You are a fighter and you have killed people. So you must not build a house for my name.” ’
God has chosen Solomon to be king after David
4 ‘But the LORD, the God of Israel chose me from all my clan. He chose me to be king over Israel for all time. He chose Judah to rule over the people and he chose my family from the tribe of Judah. And he chose me from my father’s sons to be king over all Israel. 5 The LORD has given me many sons and he has chosen Solomon from among them. He has chosen him to sit on the king’s seat and to rule over the LORD’s kingdom. That kingdom is Israel. 6 He said to me, “Solomon your son will build my house and the buildings round it. That is because I have chosen him to be like my son. And I will be like his father. 7 But he must always do the things that give me pleasure. And he must obey my laws. He must obey me as he is doing now. If he does that, I will make his kingdom strong for all time.”
8 Now I am telling you this in front of all the LORD’s people, Israel. And God can hear what I am saying. You must be careful to obey all the laws of the LORD your God. You must carefully read about all his rules and you must obey them. Then you will have this good country. And after you die it will be for your descendants to keep for all time.’
Solomon will build God’s house
9 ‘And you, Solomon my son, know your father’s God. Be his faithful servant in every way with your whole mind. The LORD knows what you are thinking. And he understands all your thoughts. If you look for him, you will find him. But if you leave him, he will turn away from you for all time. 10 Think now how the LORD has chosen you. He has chosen you to build a house that will be his temple. Be strong and do this work.’
Solomon learns how to build the temple
11 Then David showed to his son Solomon everything that he had prepared for him to do. He showed him how to build the way into the temple. He showed him how its buildings should be. He showed him how to build the rooms to store valuable things. He described the upstairs rooms and the inside rooms. And he described the room where the Covenant Box with its special lid would be. 12 He gave to him pictures of the house of the LORD. And he gave to him pictures of every room that God’s Spirit had shown to him. He included the yards and the rooms where they would keep valuable things safe. And he showed to him the rooms to store all the things that people would give to God.
13 David gave to him lists of all the things that they would need for the work in the LORD’s house. And he gave to him the lists of the groups of priests and Levites. And he gave to him the rules about how each group should work in the LORD’s house. 14 He said how much gold he should use to make those things. He also said how much silver Solomon should use for all the things for the work in the temple. 15 He said how much gold was for the lampstands and for their lamps. He told him the weight of silver for the silver lampstands and for their lamps. And he told him where they would put each lampstand. 16 He told him the weight of gold for each table on which the priests would put the special bread. And he told him the weight of the silver for the silver tables. 17 He told him the weight of gold to use for the forks, dishes and cups. He told him what the weight of each gold dish should be. And he told him the weight of silver for each silver dish. 18 He told him the weight of best gold for the altar to burn oils with sweet smells. And he showed him how they must make the models of cherubs out of gold. They would be like a chariot to stand over the LORD’s Covenant Box. And they would cover it with their wings.
19 David said, ‘I have written this as the LORD told me. And he helped me to understand how to do all the work.’
20 David said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and very brave and do this work. The LORD God, my God is with you. He will not leave you but he will help you. He will stay with you until you have finished all the work. So do not be afraid. And do not think that it will be too difficult for you. Then the LORD’s house will be ready for him. 21 Look! The groups of priests and Levites are ready to start work in God’s house. The men who are good at any kind of work will be happy to help. And the officers and all the people will do everything that you want them to do.’
David and the people give gifts for the work on the temple
1 Then King David spoke to all the people who were there. ‘God has chosen my son Solomon. But he is young and he has never done anything like this great work. This building must be very beautiful because it is not for man, but for the LORD God. 2 I have given a lot of the valuable things that I had stored for my God’s house. They include gold for the gold work. I have given silver for the things that you will make out of silver. I have given bronze for the things that you will make out of bronze. I have given iron for the things that you will make out of iron. I have given wood for the things that you will make out of wood. I have given a large quantity of all kinds of valuable stones. That includes the valuable stones called onyx, antimony, stones of many colours and also a lot of marble. 3 I want very much that we should build this house for my God. So I have also given a lot of my own gold and silver. I am giving that with all the other things that I have prepared for the holy house of my God. 4 I have given 3000 talents of gold from Ophir. And I have given 7000 talents of best silver to put over the walls of the buildings. 5 And good workers can use that gold and silver to make other things out of gold and silver. Now I want to know who else wants to give to the LORD today.’
6 Then the leaders of theclans and the leaders of the tribes of Israel were happy to give gifts. The officers over groups of 1000 men and over groups of 100 men gave their gifts. And the officers who were over the king’s work gave their gifts. 7 They gave 5000 talents and 10 000 darics of gold and 10 000 talents of silver. And they gave 18 000 talents of bronze and 100 000 talents of iron. They gave this for the work on God’s house. 8 People who had valuable stones gave them to the LORD’s house. Jehiel from the Gershon clan stored these in a safe place in the LORD’s house. 9 So the people were very happy because it gave their leaders pleasure to give. They were very happy to give to the LORD. David the king was also very happy.
10 David praised the LORD in front of all the people who were present there. He said,
‘We praise you LORD.
You are the God of our ancestor, Israel (Jacob).
We praise you now and we should praise you for all time.
11 You, LORD, are greater and more beautiful than anyone else is.
You can do anything and you can beat anyone.
You are the king and everything in heaven and on earth is yours, LORD.
You have a great kingdom and you are over everyone and over everything.
12 All valuable things come from you and only you can make someone great or important.
You are the ruler over all things.
You are able to make people strong and to make them powerful.
You can make them great and you can make everybody strong.
13 Now we thank you, our God, and we praise your great name.
14 But I am not a great person and my people are like nothing. But we are able to give all these things to you. You gave to us everything that we have. We have only given back to you some of your own things. 15 We are like strangers and like foreign people to you, as all our ancestors were. We are only here for a short time. We live for a short time and then we go away like shadows. And nobody lives for a very long time. 16 All these things that we have given have come from you, the LORD, our God. Everything that we have given to build a house for your holy name is yours. And it came from you. 17 You are my God. And you can see what we are really like. I know that. And when we do good things it gives pleasure to you. I am happy that I have given these things to you. That is what I really wanted. And now I have seen that your people here have been happy to give to you. And that has made me happy too. 18 You, LORD, are the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Israel. I pray that your people will always want to do things like this. I pray that you will help your people always to think like this. And I pray that they will always want to be your servants. 19 I ask that you will cause my son Solomon to obey all your commandments, rules and laws. Please let him build your great house. I have given to him all the things that he will need for that.’
David and the people praise the LORD
20 Then David spoke to all the people who were there together. ‘Now praise the LORD, your God’, he said. So all the people praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors. They bent down their heads and they worshipped the LORD. And they fell flat in front of the king.
All the people worship the LORD
21 On the next day, they gave sacrifices to the LORD. They burnt 1000 male cows, 1000 male sheep and 1000 young sheep as gifts to the LORD. They also gave the proper offerings of wine with them. And there were many more sacrifices for the Israelites.
The people anoint Solomon as king
22 They were happy on that day. And they ate and they drank there in front of the LORD.
Then, in front of the LORD, they poured oil on the head of David’s son Solomon for the second time. That made him their king. And they poured oil on Zadok’s head as priest. 23 Solomon’s father David had sat on the LORD’s throne as king. But now Solomon sat there instead. Everything went well for him and all the people in Israel obeyed him. 24 All King David’s officers and all his soldiers promised to obey King Solomon. And even David’s other sons promised to obey King Solomon.
25 The LORD caused all the people in Israel to think that Solomon was very great. And they honoured him. The LORD had not made any king of Israel before him so great.
David dies
26 Jesse’s son David had ruled over all Israel. 27 He had ruled over Israel for 40 years. He ruled them from Hebron for 7 years and for 33 years he ruled in Jerusalem. 28 He lived for a long time. And he was a good age when he died. God gave many valuable things to him and God made him very great. And his son Solomon ruled instead.
29 The prophets Samuel, Nathan and Gad wrote books about all the things that King David did. They wrote about everything that he did from the beginning to the end. 30 They tell us about the way that he ruled and about his great power. They tell us everything about his life and about what happened in Israel and in all the kingdoms round it.
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© Wycliffe Associates (UK), 1997-2014
This version published September 2014
The translated Bible text has been through Advanced Checking.