1 Chronicles 27

¹Now David summoned all the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials and mighty men—every mighty man of valor.

¹²He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

¹²Jehoshaphat grew stronger and stronger, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah

¹³and kept vast supplies in the cities of Judah. He also had warriors in Jerusalem who were mighty men of valor.

¹¹Uzziah had an army ready for battle that went out to war by assigned divisions, as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officers.

¹²The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600.

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

²⁷Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

⁸These are the names of David’s mighty men: Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the Three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

¹¹This is the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the officers; he wielded his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

²⁰These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

¹⁴First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command.

⁸Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

²⁹But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

¹²On the first day Nahshon son of Amminadab from the tribe of Judah drew near with his offering.

⁹Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated,

¹²Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men.

⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;

¹⁷Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief officials at the king’s side.

²⁰And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.

²¹He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear.

²²And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.

²³He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear.

²⁰He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

²¹The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.

²⁶Now these were the mighty men: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁴Now these were members of the Thirty: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

¹⁹and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit.

²⁷Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,

²⁵Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

²⁹From the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons had the outside duties as officers and judges over Israel.

²⁸Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

²⁷Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,

²⁶Helez the Paltite, Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

¹⁸Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.

²⁹Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

²⁰These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

²⁸Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

²⁷Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite, Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,

²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

³¹Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

³⁰Benaiah the Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash,

²⁹Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites,

¹³The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai.

⁹But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite, Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,

³⁰From the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 capable men, had charge of the affairs of Israel west of the Jordan for all the work of the Lord and for the service of the king.

⁴Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar.

³¹As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.

²⁷including Jehoiada, leader of the house of Aaron, with 3,700 men,

²⁸and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the Lord is His anointed.”

²⁹“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?”

¹³The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

³⁷So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

²⁷When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

⁵⁰His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Saul’s uncle Ner.

⁵¹Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

¹Now David summoned all the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, along with the court officials and mighty men—every mighty man of valor.

⁵And the Lord took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

¹⁸and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older,

²So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”

³But Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”

¹²And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

¹Again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”

²So the king said to Joab the commander of his army, who was with him, “Go now throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and register the troops, so that I may know their number.”

¹Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

²So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”

⁴⁸During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it.

⁸But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.

¹¹So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

¹⁰Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.

²So Asa withdrew the silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the royal palace, and he sent it with this message to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:

¹⁵Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

²⁷The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.

¹⁵The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.

²⁷The Israelites also mobilized, gathered supplies, and marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped before them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.

⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

¹⁶They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its towns, and throughout the pasturelands of Sharon.

¹⁰Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.

⁶the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

³and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

¹⁰During the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites, who were defeated at their hands, and they occupied the dwellings of the Hagrites throughout the region east of Gilead.

³Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

¹¹This is the list of David’s mighty men: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the officers; he wielded his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

²¹and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.

¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

³⁷So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

³²When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

¹³But it is you, a man like myself, my companion and close friend.

¹⁶And David’s friend Hushai the Archite went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

¹⁷“Is this the loyalty you show your friend?” Absalom replied. “Why did you not go with your friend?”

⁷Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the Lord of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

⁶Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.

⁷So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.

⁵The third army commander, as chief for the third month, was Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest. There were 24,000 men in his division.