Holman Christian Standard Bible (124 page)

22
 The total number of those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds was 212. They were registered by genealogy in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed them to their trusted positions.
23
 So they and their sons were assigned to the gates of the
Lord
's temple, which had been the tent-temple.
24
 The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north, and south.
25
 Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to be with them seven days, 
26
 but the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the rooms and the treasuries of God's temple. 
27
 They spent the night in the vicinity of God's temple, because they had guard duty and were in charge of opening it every morning. 

28
 Some of them were in charge of the utensils used in worship. They would count them when they brought them in and when they took them out.
29
 Others were put in charge of the furnishings and all the utensils of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, incense, and spices.
30
 Some of the priests' sons mixed the spices. 
31
 A Levite called Mattithiah, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with baking the bread. 
32
 Some of the Kohathites' relatives were responsible for preparing the rows of the
•bread
of the Presence every Sabbath.

33
 The singers, the heads of the Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other tasks because they were on duty day and night. 
34
 These were the heads of the Levite families, chiefs according to their genealogies, and lived in Jerusalem.

Saul's Family

1 Chronicles

The Deaths of Saul and His Sons

10
The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel's men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa.
2
 The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.
3
 When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him.
4
 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me! ” But his armor-bearer wouldn't do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.
5
 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died.
6
 So Saul and his three sons died — his whole house died together.

7
 When all the men of Israel in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

8
 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa.
9
 They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news to their idols and their people.
10
 Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his skull in the temple of Dagon. 

11
 When all Jabesh-gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul,
12
 all their brave men set out and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

13
 Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the
Lord
because he did not keep the
Lord
's word. He even consulted a medium for guidance, 
14
 but he did not inquire of the
Lord
. So the
Lord
put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. 

1 Chronicles

David's Anointing as King

11
All Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. 
2
 Even when Saul was king, you led us out to battle and brought us back. The
Lord
your God also said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over My people Israel.' ”

3
 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the
Lord
's presence, and they anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the
Lord
's word through Samuel. 

David's Capture of Jerusalem

4
 David and all Israel marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus ); the Jebusites who inhabited the land were there.
5
 The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.” Yet David did capture the stronghold of
•Zion
, that is, the city of David.

6
 David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

7
 Then David took up residence in the stronghold; therefore, it was called the city of David.
8
 He built up the city all the way around, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding parts, and Joab restored the rest of the city.
9
 David steadily grew more powerful, and the
Lord
of
•Hosts
was with him.

Exploits of David's Warriors

10
 The following were the chiefs of David's warriors who, together with all Israel, strongly supported him in his reign to make him king according to the
Lord
's word about Israel. 
11
 This is the list of David's warriors:

Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the Thirty; he wielded his spear against 300 and killed them at one time.

12
 After him, Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite was one of the three warriors.
13
 He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had gathered there for battle. There was a portion of a field full of barley, where the troops had fled from the Philistines. 
14
 But Eleazar and David took their stand in the middle of the field and defended it. They killed the Philistines, and the
Lord
gave them a great victory.

15
 Three of the 30 chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while the Philistine army was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 
16
 At that time David was in the stronghold, and a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.
17
 David was extremely thirsty and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem! ”
18
 So the Three broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the
Lord
.
19
 David said, “I would never do such a thing in the presence of God! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives? ” For they brought it at the risk of their lives. So he would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.

20
 Abishai, Joab's brother, was the leader of the Three. He raised his spear against 300 men and killed them, gaining a reputation among the Three.
21
 He was more honored than the Three and became their commander even though he did not become one of the Three.

22
 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the son of a brave man from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
23
 He also killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall. Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand like a weaver's beam, Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and then killed him with his own spear.
24
 These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors.
25
 He was the most honored of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

26
 The fighting men were:

1 Chronicles

David's First Supporters

12
The following were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still banned from the presence of Saul son of Kish. They were among the warriors who helped him in battle.
2
 They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow. They were Saul's relatives from Benjamin:

8
 Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were fighting men, trained for battle, expert with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains. 

14
 These Gadites were army commanders; the least of them was a match for a hundred, and the greatest of them for a thousand. 
15
 These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys to the east and to the west.

16
 Other Benjaminites and men from Judah also went to David at the stronghold. 
17
 David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you, but if you have come to betray me to my enemies even though my hands have done no wrong, may the God of our ancestors look on it and judge.”

18
 Then the Spirit took control of Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:

So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

19
 Some Manassites defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. However, they did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers sent David away after a discussion. They said, “It will be our heads if he defects to his master Saul.” 
20
 When David went to Ziklag, some men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.
21
 They helped David against the raiders, for they were all brave warriors and commanders in the army.
22
 At that time, men came day after day to help David until there was a great army, like an army of God.