The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Following are the men who joined David at Ziklag while he was still being kept away from Sha'ul the son of Kish; they were among the warriors who helped him fight his battles.
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Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still shut up, because of Saul, the son of Kish; they were among the strong men, his helpers in war.
2 They were archers who could use either hand to sling stones or shoot arrows from a bow; they were Sha'ul's kinsmen from Binyamin.
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They were armed with bows, and were able to send stones, and arrows from the bow, with right hand or left: they were Saul's brothers, of Benjamin.
3 Their leader was Achi'ezer, then Yo'ash, the sons of Sh'ma'ah the Giv'ati, Y'zi'el, Pelet, the sons of 'Azmavet, B'rakhah, Yehu from 'Anatot,
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Ahiezer was their chief, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah and Jehu the Anathothite;
4 Yishma'yah the Giv'oni, one of the strongest of the thirty and commander of the thirty,
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And Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a great man among the thirty, and their chief; and Jeremiah and Jehaziel and Johanan and Jozabad the Gederathite;
5 (4b) Yirmeyah, Yachzi'el, Yochanan, Yozavad from G'derah,5 El'uzai, Yerimot, B'alyah, Sh'maryah, Sh'fatyah the Harufi,
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Eluzai and Jerimoth and Bealiah and Shemariah and Shephatiah the Haruphite;
6 Elkanah, Yishiyahu, 'Azar'el, Yo'ezer, Yashov'am the Korchi,
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Elkanah and Isshiah and Azarel and Joezer and Jashobeam, the Korahites;
7 and Yo'elah and Z'vadyah the sons of Yerocham from G'dor.
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And Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.
8 From the Gadi a number of strong, brave, trained fighting men defected to David at the fortress in the desert. They could handle shield and spear, they were as fierce as lions, and they were as fast as deer on the hills:
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And some of the Gadites, siding with David, went to his strong place in the waste land, great and strong men, trained for war, expert in the use of arms, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were quick-footed like roes on the mountains;
9 'Ezer was the leader, 'Ovadyah was second, Eli'av third,
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Ezer their chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,
10 Mishmanah fourth, Yirmeyah fifth,
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Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,
11 'Atai sixth, Eli'el seventh,
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Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,
12 Yochanan eighth, Elzavad ninth,
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Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,
13 Yirmeyah tenth, and Makhbanai eleventh.
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Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.
14 These descendants of Gad were army commanders; the least of them was worth a hundred, and the greatest worth a thousand.
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These Gadites were captains of the army; the least of them was captain over a hundred men, and the greatest over a thousand.
15 These are the men who crossed the Yarden during the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks, and drove out all those who lived in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.
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It was they who went over Jordan in the first month, when the river was overflowing, and put to flight all the people of the valleys, to the east and to the west.
16 From the descendants of Binyamin and Y'hudah a number came to David at the fortress.
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And some of the children of Benjamin and Judah came to David in his strong place.
17 When David went out to meet them, he said, "If you are coming to me in peace to help me, my heart will be bonded to yours. But if you are coming to betray me to my enemies, then, since I have done nothing wrong, may the God of our fathers see it and judge."
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And David went out to them, and said to them, If you have come in peace to give me help, my heart will be united with yours; but if you have come to give me up to those who would take my life, though my hands are clean from wrongdoing, then may the God of our fathers see it and give you punishment.
18 Then the Spirit covered 'Amasai the chief commander, and he said: "We are yours, David; on your side, son of Yishai! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers; for your God helps you." David welcomed them and made them senior officers.
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Then the spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, We are yours, David, we are on your side, O son of Jesse: may peace be with you and peace be with your helpers; for God is your helper. Then David took them into his army and made them captains of the band.
19 From M'nasheh some defected to David when he was about to go with the P'lishtim to fight against Sha'ul; but they ended up not helping them; because the rulers of the P'lishtim, after consultation, sent David away, saying, "He will defect to his master Sha'ul at the cost of our heads."
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And some of the men of Manasseh came over to David, when he went with the Philistines to the war against Saul, but he gave them no help: for the lords of the Philistines, after discussion, sent him away, saying, He will go back to his master Saul, at the price of our lives.
20 As he was on his way to Ziklag, those who defected to him from M'nasheh included 'Adnach, Yozavad, Y'dia'el, Mikha'el, Yozavad, Elihu and Tziltai, commanders of thousands from M'nasheh.
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Then when he went back to Ziklag, there came over to him, of the men of Manasseh, Adnah and Jozabad and Jediael and Michael and Jozabad and Elihu and Zillethai, captains of thousands from the armies of Manasseh.
21 They helped David against the raiding band, for they were all strong, brave men who were commanders in the army.
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And they gave David help against the armed bands, for they were all great men of war, and captains in the army.
22 Indeed, reinforcements to assist David reached him daily, until there was a great army, like the army of God.
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And from day to day more supporters came to David, till he had a great army like the army of God.
23 Following are the numbers of those who came armed for war to David in Hevron, in order to transfer to him the kingdom of Sha'ul, according to what ADONAI had said.
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These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said.
24 The descendants of Y'hudah bearing shields and spears numbered 6,800, armed for war.
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There were six thousand, eight hundred spearmen of the children of Judah, armed for war;
25 Of the descendants of Shim'on, strong, brave men for war, there were 7,100.
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Seven thousand, one hundred of the children of Simeon, great men of war;
26 Of the descendants of Levi, there were 4,600.
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Of the children of Levi, four thousand, six hundred.
27 Y'hoyada was the leader of the house of Aharon, and with him were 3,700;
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And Jehoiada, chief of the family of Aaron, and with him three thousand, seven hundred men;
28 also Tzadok, a young man, strong and brave, with twenty-two commanders from his father's family.
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And Zadok, a young man, great and strong in war, with twenty-two captains from his father's people.
29 Of the descendants of Binyamin the kinsmen of Sha'ul, there were 3,000; for up until then, the majority of them had remained loyal to the house of Sha'ul.
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And of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand; for up to that time the greater part of them had been true to Saul.
30 Of the descendants of Efrayim, there were 20,800 strong, brave men, well known in their fathers' families.
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And of the children of Ephraim, twenty thousand, eight hundred great men of war, men of great name in their families.
31 Of the half-tribe of M'nasheh, 18,000 were designated by name to come and make David king.
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And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, listed by name, came to make David king.
32 Of the descendants of Yissakhar, men who understood the times and knew what Isra'el ought to do, there were 200 leaders, and all their kinsmen were under their command.
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And of the children of Issachar, there were two hundred chiefs, men who had expert knowledge of the times and what it was best for Israel to do, and all their brothers were under their orders.
33 Of Z'vulun, 50,000 men were fit for military service, experienced in war and able to use all kinds of weapons; they were brave, and none was doubleminded.
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Of Zebulun, there were fifty thousand men, who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight, to give help with all sorts of arms; true-hearted men.
34 Of Naftali, there were 1,000 officers, and with them 37,000 troops having shields and spears.
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And of Naphtali, a thousand captains with thirty-seven thousand spearmen.
35 Of Dan, 28,600 were experienced in war.
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And of the Danites, twenty-eight thousand, six hundred, expert in ordering the fight.
36 Of Asher, 40,000 men were fit for military service and experienced in war.
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And of Asher, forty thousand who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight.
37 On the other side of the Yarden, from the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M'nasheh, there were 120,000 with all kinds of weapons for battle.
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From the other side of Jordan, there were a hundred and twenty thousand of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the men of the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every sort of instrument of war.
38 All these soldiers who were experienced in war came to Hevron wholeheartedly to make David king over all Isra'el, and all the rest from Isra'el were single-hearted in wanting to make David king.
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All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king.
39 They remained there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them.
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For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them.
40 Moreover, those who were near them - and even those as far as Yissakhar, Z'vulun and Naftali - brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen: baked goods, fig cakes, clusters of raisins, wine, oil, and oxen and sheep in abundance; for there was joy in Isra'el.
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And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.