1 Chronicles 12

1These are the men who came to David at Ziklag while he still could not move about freely because of Saul son of Kish. They were among the mighty warriors who helped him in battle.

2They were armed with bows and could use either the right hand or the left to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow. They were relatives of Saul from Benjamin:

3Ahiezer the chief, and Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, Jehu the Anathothite,

4Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty warrior among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite,

5Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite,

6Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites,

7and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

8Some Gadites went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were mighty warriors, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:

9Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

10Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

11Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

12Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

13Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.

14These Gadites were officers of the army; the least of them was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.

15These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight everyone in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

16Some of the Benjaminites and men of Judah also came to David at the stronghold.

17David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be joined with yours. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies, though there is no violence in my hands, may the God of our fathers see it and rebuke you.”

18Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the officers, and he said, “We are yours, David, and with you, son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to those who help you, for your God helps you!” So David received them and made them officers over his troops.

19Some men of Manasseh deserted to David when he went with the Philistines to battle against Saul. But David and his men did not help the Philistines, because the rulers of the Philistines took counsel and sent him away, saying, “He will desert to his master Saul at the cost of our heads.”

20As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh deserted to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

21They helped David against the raiding band, for they were all mighty warriors, and they became commanders in the army.

22Day after day men kept coming to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army of God.

23These are the numbers of the leaders of the troops armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of Yahweh.

24The people of Judah who carried shield and spear: 6,800 armed for battle.

25Of the Simeonites, mighty warriors ready for battle: 7,100.

26Of the Levites: 4,600.

27Jehoiada, the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him 3,700;

28and Zadok, a young man and a mighty warrior, with twenty-two commanders from his father’s house.

29Of the Benjaminites, the relatives of Saul: three thousand, for until then most of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.

30Of the Ephraimites: 20,800 mighty warriors, famous men in their ancestral houses.

31Of the half-tribe of Manasseh: eighteen thousand, who were designated by name to come and make David king.

32Of the Issacharites, men who understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do: two hundred chiefs, with all their relatives under their command.

33Of Zebulun: fifty thousand men ready for military service, able to draw up for battle with every kind of weapon, and to help with undivided loyalty.

34Of Naphtali: a thousand commanders, and with them thirty-seven thousand men with shield and spear.

35Of the Danites: 28,600 ready to draw up for battle.

36Of Asher: forty thousand men ready for military service, able to draw up for battle.

37From beyond the Jordan, of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: 120,000 men with every kind of weapon for battle.

38All these men of war, keeping their ranks in battle order, came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of Israel were also of one mind to make David king.

39They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their relatives had prepared provisions for them.

40Their neighbors too, from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen: plenty of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, oil, cattle, and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.