1 Chronicles 12 - Easy To Read Version

¹ This is a list of the men who came to David while he was at Ziklag. This was when David was hiding from Saul son of Kish. These men helped David in battle.

² These men could shoot arrows from their bows with their right or left hand. They could also throw stones from their slings {\cf2\super [128]} with their right or left hand. They were Saul’s relatives from the family group of Benjamin. Their names were:

³ Ahiezer, their leader, and Joash (Ahiezer and Joash were sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite.); Jeziel and Pelet (Jeziel and Pelet were Azmaveth’s sons); Beracah and Jehu from the town of Anathoth.

⁴ Ishmaiah from the town of Gibeon (Ishmaiah was a hero with the Three Heroes and he was also a leader of the Three Heroes); Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad from the Gederathite people;

⁵ Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, and Shemariah; Shephatiah from Haripha;

⁶ Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, all from the family group of Korah;

⁷ Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from the town of Gedor.

⁸ Part of the family group of Gad joined David at his fortress {\cf2\super [129]} in the desert. They were brave soldiers trained for war. They were skilled with the shield and spear. They looked as fierce as lions. And they could run as fast as gazelles {\cf2\super [130]} in the mountains.

⁹ Ezer was the leader of the army from the family group of Gad. Obadiah was the second in command. Eliab was the third in command.

¹⁰ Mishmannah was the fourth in command. Jeremiah was the fifth in command.

¹¹ Attai was the sixth in command. Eliel was the seventh in command.

¹² Johanan was the eighth in command. Elzabad was the ninth in command.

¹³ Jeremiah was the tenth in command. Macbannai was the eleventh in command.

¹⁴ Those men were leaders of the Gadite army. The weakest from that group could fight 100 enemy soldiers. The strongest from that group could fight 1,000 enemy soldiers.

¹⁵ The people from the family group of Gad were the soldiers that went across the Jordan River in the first month of the year. That was a time of year when the Jordan River was flooding. They chased away all the people living in the valleys. They chased those people to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ Other men from the family groups of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at the fortress. {\cf2\super [131]}

¹⁷ David went out to meet them. David said to them, “If you have come in peace to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But if you have come to spy on me when I have done nothing wrong, then may the God of our ancestors see what you did and punish you.”

¹⁸ Amasai was the leader of the Thirty Heroes. {\cf2\super [132]} Then the Spirit came over Amasai \{and he said\},

¹⁹ Some of the men from the family group of Manasseh also joined David. They joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. The Philistine leaders talked about David helping them, but then they decided to send him away. Those rulers said, “If David goes back to his master Saul, then our heads will be cut off!”

²⁰ These were the men from Manasseh that joined David when he went to the town of Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. All of them were generals {\cf2\super [133]} from the family group of Manasseh.

²¹ They helped David fight against bad men. Those bad men were going around the country and stealing things from people. All these men of Manasseh were brave soldiers. They became leaders in David’s army.

²² More and more men came every day to help David. So David had a large and powerful army.

²³ These are the numbers of the men that came to David at the town of Hebron. These men were ready for war. They came to give Saul’s kingdom to David. That is what the Lord said would happen. This is their number:

²⁴ From the family group of Judah there were 6,800 men ready for war. They carried shields and spears.

²⁵ From the family group of Simeon there were 7,100 men. They were brave soldiers ready for war.

²⁶ From the family group of Levi there were 4,600 men.

²⁷ Jehoiada was in that group. He was a leader from Aaron’s family. There were 3,700 men with Jehoiada.

²⁸ Zadok was also in that group. He was a brave young soldier. He came with 22 officers from his family.

²⁹ From the family group of Benjamin there were 3,000 men. They were Saul’s relatives. Most of those men stayed faithful to Saul’s family until that time.

³⁰ From the family group of Ephraim there were 20,800 men. They were brave soldiers. They were famous men in their own families.

³¹ From half of Manasseh’s family group there were 18,000 men. They were called by name to come and make David king.

³² From the family of Issachar there were 200 wise leaders. Those men understood the right thing for Israel to do at the right time. Their relatives were with them and under their command.

³³ From the family group of Zebulun there were 50,000 trained soldiers. They were trained to use all kinds of weapons. They were very loyal to David.

³⁴ From the family group of Naphtali there were 1,000 officers. They had 37,000 men with them. Those men carried shields and spears.

³⁵ From the family group of Dan there were 28,600 men ready for war.

³⁶ From the family group of Asher there were 40,000 trained soldiers ready for war.

³⁷ From the east side of the Jordan River, there were 120,000 men from the family groups of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. Those men had all kinds of weapons.

³⁸ All those men were brave fighters. They came to the town of Hebron fully agreed to make David king of all Israel. All the other people of Israel also agreed that David should be king.

³⁹ The men spent three days at Hebron with David. They ate and drank, because their relatives had prepared food for them.

⁴⁰ Also, their neighbors from the areas where the family groups of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali live brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and cattle. They brought much flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cattle, and sheep. The people in Israel were very happy.