1 Chronicles 9; 1 Chronicles 10; 1 Chronicles 11

1 The whole community of Israel was listed in their family histories. They were written down in the records of the kings of Israel. The people of Judah were taken away from their own land. They were taken as prisoners to Babylonia. That's because they weren't faithful to the Lord.

2 The first ones who came back from there were some Israelites, priests, Levites and temple servants. They settled down again in their own towns on their own property.

3 Some of them lived in Jerusalem. They included people from Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh.

4 They included Uthai. He was the son of Ammihud. Ammihud was the son of Omri. Omri was the son of Imri. Imri was the son of Bani. Bani belonged to the family line of Perez. Perez was the son of Judah.

5 The family line of Shelah included his oldest son Asaiah. It also included the sons of Asaiah.

6 The family line of Zerah included Jeuel. The total number of the people of Judah was 690.

7 The family line of Benjamin included Sallu. He was the son of Meshullam. Meshullam was the son of Hodaviah. Hodaviah was the son of Hassenuah.

8 Ibneiah was the son of Jeroham. Elah was the son of Uzzi. Uzzi was the son of Micri. Meshullam was the son of Shephatiah. Shephatiah was the son of Reuel. Reuel was the son of Ibnijah.

9 The total number of the people of Benjamin was 956. They were listed in their family history. All of those men were the leaders of their families.

10 The family line of the priests included Jedaiah, Jehoiarib and Jakin.

11 It also included Azariah. He was the son of Hilkiah. Hilkiah was the son of Meshullam. Meshullam was the son of Zadok. Zadok was the son of Meraioth. Meraioth was the son of Ahitub. Azariah was the official who was in charge of the house of God.

12 Adaiah was the son of Jeroham. Jeroham was the son of Pashhur. Pashhur was the son of Malkijah. Maasai was the son of Adiel. Adiel was the son of Jahzerah. Jahzerah was the son of Meshullam. Meshullam was the son of Meshillemith. Meshillemith was the son of Immer.

13 The total number of priests was "1,760. They were the leaders of their families. They were able men. It was their duty to serve in the house of God.

14 The family line of the Levites included Shemaiah. He was the son of Hasshub. Hasshub was the son of Azrikam. Azrikam was the son of Hashabiah. Shemaiah belonged to the family line of Merari.

15 The family line of the Levites also included Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah. Mattaniah was the son of Mica. Mica was the son of Zicri. Zicri was the son of Asaph.

16 Obadiah was the son of Shemaiah. Shemaiah was the son of Galal. Galal was the son of Jeduthun. Berekiah was the son of Asa. Asa was the son of Elkanah. He lived in the villages of the people of Netophah.

17 The men who guarded the gates were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman and other Levites. Shallum was their chief.

18 He was stationed at the King's Gate on the east side of the temple. That duty has continued to this very day. Those guards belonged to the camp of the Levites.

19 Shallum was the son of Kore. Kore was the son of Ebiasaph. Ebiasaph was the son of Korah. Shallum and the other Levites in his family belonged to the family line of Korah. They had the duty of guarding the entrances to the temple. Their fathers had also had the duty of guarding the entrance to the house of the Lord.

20 Long ago Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was in charge of those who guarded the gate. And the LORD was with him.

21 Zechariah guarded the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He was the son of Meshelemiah.

22 The total number of the men who were chosen to guard the entrances was 212. They were listed in their family history in their villages. David and the prophet Samuel had appointed them to their positions. They appointed them because they trusted them.

23 Those Levites and their children after them were in charge of guarding the gates of the house of the Lord. The house of the LORD was also called the temple.

24 The men who guarded the gates were on the four sides of the temple. They were on the east, west, north and south sides.

25 From time to time, their relatives in their villages had to come to the temple. They had to share their duties for a week at a time.

26 The four main men who guarded the gates were Levites. They were trusted with the duty of taking care of the storerooms and the other rooms in the house of God.

27 They spent the night in their positions around the house of God. That's because they had to guard it. They were in charge of the key that opened the temple each morning.

28 Some Levites were in charge of the articles that were used when they served at the temple. They counted the articles when they were brought in. They also counted them when they were taken out.

29 Other Levites were appointed to take care of all of the other articles that belonged to the temple. They also took care of the flour, wine, olive oil, incense and spices.

30 Some of the priests took care of mixing the spices.

31 There was a Levite named Mattithiah. He was the oldest son of Shallum. Shallum belonged to the family line of Korah. Mattithiah was trusted with the duty of baking the offering bread.

32 The bread was placed on the table every Sabbath day. Some Levites in the family line of Kohath were in charge of preparing the bread.

33 Those who led the music lived in rooms in the temple. They were the leaders of their Levite families. Their only duty was to lead the music. They had to do that work day and night.

34 All of them were the leaders of their Levite families. They were listed as chiefs in their family history. They lived in Jerusalem.

35 Jeiel lived in the city of Gibeon. He was the father of Gibeon. Jeiel had a wife named Maacah.

36 His oldest son was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,

37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth.

38 Mikloth was the father of Shimeam. Mikloth and Shimeam lived in Jerusalem. They lived near their relatives.

39 Ner was the father of Kish. Kish was the father of Saul. Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal.

40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal. Merib-Baal was the father of Micah.

41 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea and Ahaz.

42 Ahaz was the father of Jadah. Jadah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. Zimri was the father of Moza.

43 Moza was the father of Binea. Rephaiah was Binea's son. Eleasah was Rephaiah's son. And Azel was Eleasah's son.

44 Azel had six sons. Their names were Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. They were the sons of Azel.

1 The Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from them. But many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa.

2 The Philistines kept chasing Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.

3 The fighting was heavy around Saul. Men who were armed with bows and arrows caught up with him. They shot their arrows at him and wounded him badly.

4 Saul spoke to the man who was carrying his armor. He said, "Pull out your sword. Stick it through me. If you don't, those men who aren't circumcised will come and hurt me badly." But the man was terrified. He wouldn't do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

5 The man saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died.

6 Saul and his three sons died. All of them died together.

7 All of the Israelites who lived in the valley saw that their army had run away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and settled down in them.

8 The day after the Philistines had won the battle, they came to take what they wanted from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa.

9 So they took what they wanted from Saul's body. They took his head and his armor. Then they sent messengers through the whole land of the Philistines. They announced the news to the statues of their gods. They also announced it among their people.

10 They put Saul's armor in the temple of their gods. They hung his head up in the temple of their god Dagon.

11 The people of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul.

12 So all of their brave men went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the great tree that was there. They didn't eat anything for seven days.

13 Saul died because he wasn't faithful to the Lord. He didn't obey the word of the Lord. He even asked for advice from a person who gets messages from those who have died.

14 He didn't ask the LORD for advice. So the LORD put him to death. He turned the kingdom over to David. David was the son of Jesse.

1 The whole community of Israel came together to see David at Hebron. They said, "We are your own flesh and blood.

2 In the past, Saul was our king. But you led the men of Israel in battle. The LORD your God said to you, 'You will be the shepherd over my people Israel. You will become their ruler.' "

3 All of the elders of Israel came to see King David at Hebron. There he made a covenant with them in the sight of the Lord. They anointed David as king over Israel. It happened just as the LORD had promised through Samuel.

4 David and all of the men of Israel marched to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was also called Jebus. The Jebusites who lived there

5 spoke to David. They said, "You won't get in here." But David captured the fort of Zion. It became known as the City of David.

6 David had said, "Anyone who leads the attack against the Jebusites will become the commander of Israel's army." Joab went up first. So he became the commander of the army. He was the son of Zeruiah.

7 David moved into the fort. So it was called the City of David.

8 He built up the city around the fort. He filled in the low places. He built a wall around it. During that time, Joab built up the rest of the city.

9 David became more and more powerful. That's because the LORD who rules over all was with him.

10 The chiefs of David's mighty men and the whole community of Israel helped David greatly. They helped him become king over the entire land. That's exactly what the LORD had promised him.

11 Here is a list of David's mighty men. Jashobeam was chief of the officers. He was a Hacmonite. He used his spear against 300 men. He killed all of them at one time.

12 Next to him was Eleazar. He was one of the three mighty men. He was the son of Dodai, the Ahohite.

13 Jashobeam was with David at Pas Dammim. The Philistines had gathered there for battle. Israel's troops ran away from the Philistines. At the place where that happened, there was a field that was full of barley.

14 The three mighty men took their stand in the middle of the field. They didn't let the Philistines capture it. They struck them down. The LORD helped them win a great battle.

15 David was near the rock at the cave of Adullam. Three of the 30 chiefs came down to him there. A group of Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.

16 At that time David was in his usual place of safety. Some Philistine troops were stationed at Bethlehem.

17 David longed for water. He said, "I wish someone would get me a drink of water from the well that is near the gate of Bethlehem!"

18 So the Three fought their way past the Philistine guards. They got some water from the well that was near the gate of Bethlehem. They took the water back to David. But David refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord.

19 "I would never drink that water!" David said. "It would be like drinking the blood of these men. They put their lives in danger by going to Bethlehem." The men had put their lives in danger by bringing the water back. So David wouldn't drink it. Those were some of the brave things the three mighty men did.

20 Abishai was chief over the Three. He was the brother of Joab. He used his spear against 300 men. He killed all of them. So he became as famous as the Three were.

21 He was honored twice as much as the Three. He became their commander. But he wasn't included among them.

22 Benaiah was a great hero from Kabzeel. He was the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah did many brave things. He struck down two of Moab's best fighting men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day. He killed a lion there.

23 And Benaiah struck down an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall. The Egyptian was holding a spear as big as a weaver's rod. Benaiah went out to fight against him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian's hand. Then he killed him with it.

24 Those were some of the brave things Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, did. He too was as famous as the three mighty men were.

25 He was honored more than any of the Thirty. But he wasn't included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his own personal guards.

26 Here is a list of David's mighty men. Asahel, the brother of Joab Elhanan, the son of Dodo, from Bethlehem

27 Shammoth, the Harorite Helez, the Pelonite

28 Ira, the son of Ikkesh, from Tekoa Abiezer from Anathoth

29 Sibbecai, the Hushathite Ilai, the Ahohite

30 Maharai from Netophah Heled, the son of Baanah, from Netophah

31 Ithai, the son of Ribai, from Gibeah in Benjamin Benaiah from Pirathon

32 Hurai from the valleys of Gaash Abiel, the Arbathite

33 Azmaveth, the Baharumite Eliahba, the Shaalbonite

34 the sons of Hashem, the Gizonite Jonathan, the son of Shagee, the Hararite

35 Ahiam, the son of Sacar, the Hararite Eliphal, the son of Ur

36 Hepher, the Mekerathite Ahijah, the Pelonite

37 Hezro from Carmel Naarai, the son of Ezbai

38 Joel, the brother of Nathan Mibhar, the son of Hagri

39 Zelek from Ammon Naharai, from Beeroth, who carried the armor of Joab, the son of Zeruiah

40 Ira, the Ithrite Gareb, the Ithrite

41 Uriah, the Hittite Zabad, the son of Ahlai

42 Adina, the son of Shiza, the Reubenite, who was chief of the Reubenites and the 30 men with him

43 Hanan, the son of Maacah Joshaphat, the Mithnite

44 Uzzia, the Ashterathite Shama and Jeiel, the sons of Hotham from Aroer

45 Jediael, the son of Shimri his brother Joha, the Tizite

46 Eliel, the Mahavite Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam Ithmah from Moab

47 Eliel Obed Jaasiel, the Mezobaite