The Living Bible (132 page)

1 Chronicles
10

The Philistines attacked and defeated the Israeli troops, who turned and fled and were slaughtered on the slopes of Mount Gilboa.
*
²
 They caught up with Saul and his three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, and killed them all.
³
 Saul had been hard pressed with heavy fighting all around him, when the Philistine archers shot and wounded him.

    
⁴
 He cried out to his bodyguard, “Quick, kill me with your sword before these uncircumcised heathen capture and torture me.”

    
But the man was afraid to do it, so Saul took his own sword and fell against its point; and it pierced his body.
⁵
 Then his bodyguard, seeing that Saul was dead, killed himself in the same way.
⁶
 So Saul and his three sons died together; the entire family was wiped out in one day.

    
⁷
 When the Israelis in the valley below the mountain heard that their troops had been routed and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
⁸
 When the Philistines went back the next day to strip the bodies of the men killed in action and to gather the booty from the battlefield, they found the bodies of Saul and his sons.
⁹
 So they stripped off Saul’s armor and cut off his head; then they displayed them throughout the nation and celebrated the wonderful news before their idols.
¹⁰
 They fastened his armor to the walls of the Temple of the Gods and nailed his head to the wall of Dagon’s temple.

    
¹¹
 But when the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
¹²
 their heroic warriors went out to the battlefield
*
and brought back his body and the bodies of his three sons. Then they buried them beneath the oak tree at Jabesh and mourned and fasted for seven days.

    
¹³
 Saul died for his disobedience to the Lord and because he had consulted a medium,
*
¹⁴
 and did not ask the Lord for guidance. So the Lord killed him and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

1 Chronicles
11

Then the leaders of Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, “We are your relatives,
*
²
 and even when Saul was king, you were the one who led our armies to battle and brought them safely back again. And the Lord your God has told you, ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel. You shall be their king.’”

    
³
 So David made a contract with them before the Lord, and they anointed him as king of Israel, just as the Lord had told Samuel.
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 Then David and the leaders went to Jerusalem (or Jebus, as it used to be called) where the Jebusites—the original inhabitants of the land—lived.
^5-6
 But the people of Jebus refused to let them enter the city. So David captured the fortress of Zion, later called the City of David, and said to his men, “The first man to kill a Jebusite shall be made commander-in-chief!” Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was the first, so he became the general of David’s army.
⁷
 David lived in the fortress and that is why that area of Jerusalem is called the City of David.
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 He extended the city out around the fortress while Joab rebuilt the rest of Jerusalem.
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 And David became more and more famous and powerful, for the Lord of the heavens was with him.

    
¹⁰
 These are the names of some of the bravest of David’s warriors (who also encouraged the leaders of Israel to make David their king, as the Lord had said would happen):

    
¹¹
 Jashobeam (the son of a man from Hachmon) was the leader of The Top Three—the three greatest heroes among David’s men. He once killed 300 men with his spear.

    
¹²
 The second of The Top Three was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, a member of the subclan of Ahoh.
¹³
 He was with David in the battle against the Philistines at Pasdammim. The Israeli army was in a barley field and had begun to run away,
¹⁴
 but he held his ground in the middle of the field, and recovered it and slaughtered the Philistines; and the Lord saved them with a great victory.

    
¹⁵
 Another time, three of The Thirty
*
went to David while he was hiding in the cave of Adullam. The Philistines were camped in the valley of Rephaim,
¹⁶
 and David was in the stronghold at the time; an outpost of the Philistines had occupied Bethlehem.
¹⁷
 David wanted a drink from the Bethlehem well beside the gate, and when he mentioned this to his men,
^18-19
 these three broke through to the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it! Instead he poured it out as an offering to the Lord and said, “God forbid that I should drink it! It is the very blood of these men who risked their lives to get it.”

    
²⁰
 Abishai, Joab’s brother, was commander of The Thirty. He had gained his place among The Thirty by killing 300 men at one time with his spear.
²¹
 He was the chief and the most famous of The Thirty, but he was not as great as The Three.

    
²²
 Benaiah, whose father was a mighty warrior from Kabzeel, killed the two famous giants
*
from Moab. He also killed a lion in a slippery pit when there was snow on the ground.
²³
 Once he killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall, whose spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam. But Benaiah went up to him with only a club in his hand, and pulled the spear away from him and used it to kill him.
^24-25
 He was nearly as great as The Three, and he was very famous among The Thirty. David made him captain of his bodyguard.

    
^26-47
 Other famous warriors among David’s men were:

    
Asahel (Joab’s brother);

    
Elhanan, the son of Dodo from Bethlehem;

    
Shammoth from Harod;

    
Helez from Pelon;

    
Ira (son of Ikkesh) from Tekoa;

    
Abiezer from Anathoth;

    
Sibbecai from Hushath;

    
Ilai from Ahoh;

    
Maharai from Netophah;

    
Heled (son of Baanah) from Netophah;

    
Ithai (son of Ribai) a Benjaminite from Gibeah;

    
Benaiah from Pirathon;

    
Hurai from near the brooks of Gaash;

    
Abiel from Arbath;

    
Azmaveth from Baharum;

    
Eliahba from Shaalbon;

    
The sons
*
of Hashem from Gizon;

    
Jonathan (son of Shagee) from Harar;

    
Ahiam (son of Sacher) from Harar;

    
Eliphal (son of Ur);

    
Hepher from Mecherath;

    
Ahijah from Pelon;

    
Hezro from Carmel;

    
Naarai (son of Ezbai);

    
Joel (brother of Nathan);

    
Mibhar (son of Hagri);

    
Zelek from Ammon;

    
Naharai from Beeroth—he was General Joab’s armor bearer;

    
Ira from Ithra;

    
Gareb from Ithra;

    
Uriah the Hittite;

    
Zabad (son of Ahlai);

    
Adina (son of Shiza) from the tribe of Reuben—he was among the thirty-one leaders of the tribe of Reuben;

    
Hanan (son of Maacah);

    
Joshaphat from Mithna;

    
Uzzia from Ashterath;

    
Shama and Jeiel (sons of Hotham) from Aroer;

    
Jediael (son of Shimri);

    
Joha (his brother) from Tiza;

    
Eliel from Mahavi;

    
Jeribai and Joshaviah (sons of Elnaam);

    
Ithmah from Moab;

    
Eliel; Obed; Jaasiel from Mezoba.

1 Chronicles
12

These are the names of the famous warriors who joined David at Ziklag while he was hiding from King Saul.
*
²
 All of them were expert archers and slingers, and they could use their left hands as readily as their right! Like King Saul, they were all of the tribe of Benjamin.

    
^3-7
 Their chief was Ahiezer, son of Shemaah from Gibeah. The others were:

    
His brother Joash; Jeziel and Pelet, sons of Azmaveth; Beracah; Jehu from Anathoth; Ishmaiah from Gibeon (a brave warrior rated as high or higher than The Thirty); Jeremiah; Jahaziel; Johanan; Jozabad from Gederah; Eluzai; Jerimoth; Bealiah; Shemariah; Shephatiah from Haruph; Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, Jashobeam—all Korahites; Joelah and Zebadiah (sons of Jeroham from Gedor).

    
^8-13
 Great and brave warriors from the tribe of Gad also went to David in the wilderness. They were experts with both shield and spear and were “lion-faced men, swift as deer upon the mountains.”

    
Ezer was the chief;

    
Obadiah was second in command;

    
Eliab was third in command;

    
Mishmannah was fourth in command;

    
Jeremiah was fifth in command;

    
Attai was sixth in command;

    
Eliel was seventh in command;

    
Johanan was eighth in command;

    
Elzabad was ninth in command;

    
Jeremiah was tenth in command;

    
Machbannai was eleventh in command.

    
¹⁴
 These men were army officers; the weakest was worth a hundred normal troops, and the greatest was worth a thousand!
¹⁵
 They crossed the Jordan River during its seasonal flooding and conquered the lowlands on both the east and west banks.

    
¹⁶
 Others came to David from Benjamin and Judah.
¹⁷
 David went out to meet them and said, “If you have come to help me, we are friends; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when I am innocent, then may the God of our fathers see and judge you.”

    
¹⁸
 Then the Holy Spirit came upon them, and Amasai, a leader of The Thirty, replied,

    
“We are yours, David;

    
We are on your side, son of Jesse.

    
Peace, peace be unto you,

    
And peace to all who aid you;

    
For your God is with you.”

    
So David let them join him, and he made them captains of his army.

    
¹⁹
 Some men from Manasseh deserted the Israeli army and joined David just as he was going into battle with the Philistines against King Saul. But as it turned out, the Philistine generals refused to let David and his men go with them. After much discussion they sent them back, for they were afraid that David and his men would imperil them by deserting to King Saul.

    
²⁰
 Here is a list of the men from Manasseh who deserted to David as he was en route to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, Zillethai.

    
Each was a high-ranking officer of Manasseh’s troops.
²¹
 They were brave and able warriors, and they assisted David when he fought against the Amalek raiders at Ziklag.
*

    
²²
 More men joined David almost every day until he had a tremendous army—the army of God.
²³
 Here is the registry of recruits who joined David at Hebron. They were all anxious to see David become king instead of Saul, just as the Lord had said would happen.

    
^24-37
 From Judah, 6,800 troops armed with shields and spears.

    
From the tribe of Simeon, 7,100 outstanding warriors.

    
From the Levites, 4,600.

    
From the priests—descendants of Aaron—there were 3,700 troops under the command of Zadok, a young man of unusual courage, and Jehoiada. (He and twenty-two members of his family were officers of the fighting priests.)

    
From the tribe of Benjamin, the same tribe Saul was from, there were 3,000. (Most of that tribe retained its allegiance to Saul.)

    
From the tribe of Ephraim, 20,800 mighty warriors, each famous in his respective clan.

    
From the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 were sent for the express purpose of helping David become king.

    
From the tribe of Issachar there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives—all men who understood the temper of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.

    
From the tribe of Zebulun there were 50,000 trained warriors; they were fully armed and totally loyal to David.

    
From Naphtali there were 1,000 officers and 37,000 troops equipped with shields and spears.

    
From the tribe of Dan there were 28,600 troops, all of them prepared for war.

    
From the tribe of Asher, there were 40,000 trained and ready troops.

    
From the other side of the Jordan River—where the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh lived—there were 120,000 troops equipped with every kind of weapon.

    
³⁸
 All these men came in battle array to Hebron with the single purpose of making David the king of Israel. In fact, all of Israel was ready for this change.
³⁹
 They feasted and drank with David for three days, for preparations had been made for their arrival.
⁴⁰
 People from nearby and from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. Vast supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, oil, cattle, and sheep were brought to the celebration, for joy had spread throughout the land.