1 Chronicles 12

1These were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still hiding from Saul son of Kish. They were among the warriors who helped him in battle.

2They were armed with bows and could shoot arrows or sling stones with either hand. They were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin.

3The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu the Anathothite;

4Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty warrior among the Thirty and a leader over them; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite;

5Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite;

6Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

7And Joelah and Zebadiah, sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

8From the tribe of Gad, some brave and experienced warriors joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were trained for battle and skilled with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as fast as gazelles on the mountains.

9Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,

10Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

11Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

12Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

13Jeremiah the tenth, and Makbannai the eleventh.

14These men of Gad were commanders in the army. The least of them was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.

15These were the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight everyone in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.

16Some men from Benjamin and Judah also came to David at the stronghold.

17David went out to meet them and said: If you have come to me in peace, to help me, my heart will be joined to yours. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies, even though my hands are free from wrongdoing, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge you.

18Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said: We are yours, David! We are with you, son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to those who help you, for your God helps you. So David welcomed them and made them leaders of his troops.

19Some men of Manasseh also joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men did not actually help the Philistines, because after taking counsel, the Philistine rulers sent David away, saying: He might defect to his master Saul, and that would cost us our heads.

20As David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh joined him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zilthai, leaders of the thousands of Manasseh.

21They helped David fight against raiding bands, because they were all brave warriors and became commanders in his army.

22Day after day, men kept coming to help David, until his army became as great as the army of God.

23These are the numbers of the armed troops who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul's kingdom over to him, just as the LORD had said.

24From Judah, carrying shield and spear, ready for battle: six thousand eight hundred.

25From Simeon, brave warriors ready for battle: seven thousand one hundred.

26From Levi: four thousand six hundred.

27Jehoiada, the leader of the family of Aaron, brought three thousand seven hundred with him,

28Along with Zadok, a young man of great courage, and twenty-two officers from his own family.

29From Benjamin, Saul's own tribe: three thousand, though most of them had until then remained loyal to Saul's house.

30From Ephraim: twenty thousand eight hundred brave warriors, famous men in their own families.

31From the half-tribe of Manasseh: eighteen thousand, chosen by name to come and make David king.

32From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: two hundred leaders, with all their relatives under their command.

33From Zebulun, experienced soldiers equipped with every kind of weapon, ready to march in formation with undivided loyalty: fifty thousand.

34From Naphtali: a thousand officers, along with thirty-seven thousand men carrying shield and spear.

35From Dan, ready for battle: twenty-eight thousand six hundred.

36From Asher, experienced soldiers ready for battle: forty thousand.

37And from across the Jordan — from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh — fully equipped for battle: one hundred twenty thousand.

38All these fighting men, ready to march in formation, came to Hebron with wholehearted commitment to make David king over all Israel. The rest of Israel was likewise united in wanting to make David king.

39They stayed there with David for three days, eating and drinking, because their relatives had prepared provisions for them.

40Their neighbors, from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen — flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle, and sheep in abundance, because there was great joy in Israel.