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1 Chronicles 12:1-40 — Warriors Join David

1Chr.12.1-40

¹Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still unable to be in the presence of Saul the son of Kish. They were among the mighty men who helped him in battle. ²They were armed with bows, skilled in using both the right and left hands to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow. They were relatives of Saul from Benjamin: ³The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, Jehu the Anathothite, ⁴Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader over the thirty; ⁵Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite, ⁶Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite, ⁷Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites, ⁸and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor. ⁹From the Gadites, mighty men of valor separated themselves to David at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were men of war trained for battle, who could handle the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains: ¹⁰Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, ¹¹Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, ¹²Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, ¹³Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, ¹⁴Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh. ¹⁵These from the sons of Gad were commanders of the army; the least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest to a thousand. ¹⁶These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west. ¹⁷Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁸David went out to meet them, and he answered and said to them, 'If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no violence in my hands, may the God of our fathers see it and judge.' ¹⁹Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the thirty, and he said: 'We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers, for your God helps you.' So David received them and made them commanders of the troops. ²⁰Some from Manasseh defected to David when he came with the Philistines to battle against Saul. But they did not help the Philistines, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, 'At the cost of our heads he will defect to his master Saul.' ²¹As he went to Ziklag, these men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, commanders of thousands belonging to Manasseh. ²²They helped David against the raiding band , for they were all mighty men of valor, and they became commanders in the army. ²³For day by day men came to David to help him, until it became a great camp, like the camp of God. ²⁴Now these are the numbers of the heads of those armed for the army, who came to David at Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of Yahweh: ²⁵The sons of Judah who carried shield and spear were six thousand eight hundred, armed for the army. ²⁶From the sons of Simeon, mighty men of valor for the army, seven thousand one hundred. ²⁷From the sons of Levi, four thousand six hundred. ²⁸Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were three thousand seven hundred; ²⁹and Zadok, a young mighty man of valor, and twenty-two commanders from his father's house. ³⁰From the sons of Benjamin, the relatives of Saul, three thousand; for until then the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. ³¹From the sons of Ephraim, twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers' houses. ³²From the half-tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, who were designated by name to come and make David king. ³³From the sons of Issachar, men who had deep understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their command. ³⁴From Zebulun, fifty thousand able to go out to the army, who could set the battle in array with all kinds of weapons of war, and who could rally to him, not being double-hearted. ³⁵From Naphtali, one thousand commanders, and with them thirty-seven thousand with shield and spear. ³⁶From the Danites, twenty-eight thousand six hundred who could set the battle in array. ³⁷From Asher, forty thousand able to go out to the army to set the battle in array. ³⁸And from the other side of the Jordan, from the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, one hundred and twenty thousand with all kinds of weapons of the army for war. ³⁹All these men of war, who could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel; and also all the rest of Israel were of one heart to make David king. ⁴⁰They were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had prepared for them.

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4/11/2026

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