Chapter 1

1 Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Cainan, MaHalaleEl, Jared, 3 Enoch, MethuselAh, Lamech 4 Noah.

Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham, and JaPheth.

5 Japheth’s sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, EliSa, Tubal, Meshech, and Thiras.

6 Gomer’s sons were AshKenaz, RiPhath, and TogarMah.

7 Javan’s sons were EliSha, Tharsis, KitTim, and Rodanim.

8 Ham’s sons were Cush, MesraIm, Put, and Canaan.

9 Cush’s sons were Saba, Havilah, SaBatha, Regma, and SebethAha.

Regma’s sons were Sheba and Dedan.

10 It was Cush who fathered Nimrod, who became a giant on the earth.

17 Shem’s descendants were Elam, Assur, ArphaxAd 18 - 23 24 ShelAh, 25 Eber, Peleg, Ragav, 26 Seruk, Nahor, and Terah, 27 and Abraham’s sons were 28 Isaac and IshMaEl.

29 These are the genealogies: The firstborn of IshMaEl was NabayOth, then Kedar, NabDeEl, MabSam, 30 MasMa, Idouma, MasSe, Adad, ThaIman, 31 JetTur, Naphes, and Kedma. They were the sons of IshMaEl.

32 The sons of KeTurAh (Abraham’s concubine) were ZemBram, Jexan, Midian, Medan, Sobak, and Soe. The sons of Jexan were Dedan and Sheba. 33 The sons of Midian were GaiPhar, Opher, Enok, Avida, and ElLada. These were the sons of KeTurAh.

34 Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac’s sons were Jacob and Esau. 35 Esau’s sons were EliPhaz, RaguEl, JeuEl, Eglom, and Kore. 36 The sons of EliPhaz were Teman, Omar, Sophar, Gotham, and Kenez; 37 and through Timna he had a son named Amalek. 38 The sons of Seir were Lotan, Sobal, Sebegon, Ana, Dishon, Osar, and Disan. 39 Lotan’s sons were ChorRi and Heman. Lotan also had a sister named Thamna.

40 Sobal’s sons were Golam, ManaHath, GaiBel, Sob, and Onam. Sebegon’s sons were Aia and Ana. 41 Ana’s son was Daison, and Daison’s sons were Emeron, Eseban, JethRan, and CharRan.

42 Osar’s sons were BalaAn, Zoukam, and Jokan.

Daisan’s son was Aran.

43 These are the kings who ruled in Edom before there were any kings in Israel: First there was Balak (the son of Beor), [who ruled from] DenNaba. 44 And then he died, and Jobab (the son of Zara) started reigning from Bozrah. 45 And after Jobab died, Asom (who was from the land of the Temanites) became the king. 46 Then after Asom died, Adad (the son of Barad) started to rule – he’s the one who captured Midian in the plains of Moab – and the name of his city was GetThaim.

47 Then Adad died, and Sebla from MasekKah became the king. 48 And after Sebla died, Saul from RobOth by the River became the king. 49 Then Saul died, and BelaEnNor (the son of Achobor) became the king. 50 And when BelaEnNor died, Adad (the son of Barad) started ruling after him. The name of his city was Phogor.

51 These were the Governors of Edom: Governor Thamna, Governor Golada, Governor Jether, 52 Governor EliBamah, Governor ElAs, Governor Phinon, 53 Governor Kenez, Governor Thaiman, Governor Mabsar, 54 Governor MagediEl, and Governor Zaphoin. These were the Governors of Edom.

Chapter 2

1 These are the names of the sons and Lords of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, IsSachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, BenJamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

3 The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and SelOm. All three were born to him through the daughter of Shua the Canaanite. Er was his firstborn, but he proved to be wicked before Jehovah, so He killed him. 4 Then, through his daughter-in-law Tamar, he fathered Perez and Zerah. So, all five were the sons of Judah.

5 The sons of Perez were Esrom and JemouEl. 6 The sons of Zerah were Zambri, AiThan, Heman, Kalchal, and Darad… five sons. 7 The son of Charmi was Achar, who brought trouble on Israel by breaking the agreement [with God] and was then destroyed. 8 The son of AiThan was AzariJah. 9 The sons of Esrom who were born to him through JeRameEl were Aram and ChelubAi. 10 Then Aram fathered AminAdab, and AminAdab fathered Nahshon, who became the head of the house of Judah.

11 Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, 12 Boaz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse. 13 Jesse’s sons were EliAb (his firstborn), AminAdab (the second), SamaAh (the third), 14 NathanaEl (the fourth), ZadDai (the fifth), 15 Asom (the sixth), and David (the seventh). 16 Their sisters were ZeruJah and Abigail. The three sons of ZeruJah were AbiShai, JoAb, and AsahEl. 17 Abigail gave birth to Amasa (whose father was JoThor the IshMaElite) 18 and Caleb (the son of Esrom). He then took AzoUba (the daughter of JeriOth) as his wife, and these are her sons: JaSar, SoUbab, and Orna. 19 Then AzoUba died and Caleb married Ephrath, who gave birth to Or. 20 Or then fathered Ouri, and Ouri fathered BeseleEl.

21 It was after this that Lord Esron [had sex with] the daughter of Machir (who was the father of Gilead), then he married her when he was sixty-five years old, and she gave birth to Segub. 22 Then Segub fathered JaIr, who [ruled over] twenty-three cities in Gilead. 23 Then Gedsur and Aram took JaIr’s villages (including Kanath – some sixty villages all together), which belonged to the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead.

24 It was after Esron died that Lord Caleb moved to Ephratha.

Esron’s wife was AbiJa, and she gave birth to Aschod, who became the father of Thekoe.

25 These are the sons of JeRameEl (Esron’s firstborn): His firstborn was Ram, then BaAna, and then Aran and his brother Asom. 26 But JeRameEl also had another wife whose name was Atara, and she was the mother of Ozom. 27 These were the sons of Ram: His firstborn was JeRameEl, then MaAs, JaMin, and Akor. 28 Ozom’s sons were SamAi and JaDae. The sons of Samai were Nadab and AbiSur. 29 Then AbiSur married AbiHail, and she gave birth to AchAbar and ModDi.

30 The sons of Nadab were Seled and Aphain. Then Lord Seled died without any children, 31 but [his brother] Aphain fathered IsEmiEl, who fathered Sosan, and Sosan fathered AadAi. 32 The sons AadAi were AchiSamas, JeTher, and JoNathan. Then Lord Jether died without having children. 33 But the sons of JoNathan were Phaled and Ozam. These were all descendants of JeRameEl.

34 Now, no sons were born to Sosan, just daughters. But Sosan was given an Egyptian slave named JochEl, 35 and he gave him his daughter as his wife, then she gave birth to Ethi. 36 Then Ethi fathered Nathan, Nathan fathered Zabed, 37 Zabed fathered AphamEl, AphamEl fathered Obed, 38 Obed fathered JeOu, JeOu fathered AzariJah, 39 AzariJah fathered Helles, Helles fathered EliaAsa, 40 EliaAsa fathered SosomAi, SosomAi fathered SaloUm, 41 SaloUm fathered JechemiJah, JechemiJah fathered EliSama, and EliSama fathered IsMaEl.

42 The firstborn son of Caleb (JeRameEl’s brother) was MariSha, 43 who fathered Ziph and Hebron. 43 Hebron’s sons were Kore, Thaphous, Rekom, and SamaAh. 44 SamaAh fathered RaEm, and he fathered Jeklan. Jeklan then fathered SamAi, 45 and SamAi’s son was MaOn, who founded BethZur.

46 Caleb’s concubine GaiPha gave birth to ArRan, Mosa, and Gezoue. 47 The sons of Caleb’s concubine AdDai were Ragem, JoAtham, Sogar, Phalek, GaiPha, and SagaE. 48 And his sons through his concubine Mocha were Saber, Tharam, 49 and SagaE, who fathered MarMena, MachaMena, and GaiBaAh. Caleb also had a daughter named Ascha. 50 These were the descendants of Caleb.

The sons of Or were: Ephratha (his firstborn), Sobal (who founded Kariath Jiarim), 51 and Arim (who founded BethGedor). 52 These are the sons of Sobal (the founder of Kariath Jiarim, AraAh, AiSi, AmManith, 53 OumaSphae, and the city of JaIr): AiThalim, MiphiThim, EsamaThim, and EmaSaraim. They were the ones who fathered the SaraThaeans and the sons of EsthaAm.

54 Salma founded BethLehem, the Netophathites, AtarOth of the house of JoAb, half of the houses of Malathi and Esari, 55 the families of the scribes who live in JaBis, the TharGathiim, the Samathiim, the Sochathim (the Kinaeans), those who come from Mesema, and he was the father of the house of Rechab.

Chapter 3

1 These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon, whose mother was AchinaAm the JezreElite. The second was DaniEl, the son of AbiGail the Carmelite. 2 The third was AbSalom, the son of Mocha, who was the daughter of Tholmai the king of Gedsour. The fourth was AdoniJah, the son of HagGith. 3 The fifth was SaphatYa. 4 These sons were born to him in Hebron where he reigned for seven years and six months.

Then he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-three years, 5 and four sons were born to him there through BathSheba (the daughter of AmiEl). They were KamaAh, Sobab, Nathan, and Solomon. 6 Also, there were Ebar, EliSa, EliPhaleth, 7 NagAi and Naphek, EAphie, 8 EliSama, EliAda, and EliPhala… nine sons who were born David, 9 in addition to the sons of his concubines and their sister Tamar.

10 The descendants of Solomon were RehoBoam; then his son AbiJah; then his son Asa; then his son JehoShaphat; then his son 11 JehoRam; then his son AhaziJah; then his son JehoAsh; then his son 12 AmaziJah; then his son AzariJah; then his son JoTham; then his son 13 Ahaz; then his son HezekiJah; then his son ManasSeh; then his son 14 Amon; then his son JosiJah.

15 The sons of JosiJah were JoAnan (his firstborn); the second was JehoYakim; the third was ZedekiJah; and the fourth was ShalLum. 16 The sons of JehoYakim were JeconiJah and ZedekiJah. 17 Then the sons of JeconiJah were Asir, SalaphiEl, 18 MelchiRam, PhadiJah, Sanesar, JeKemYa, Osamath, and NabadYas. 19 The sons of SalathiEl were ZerubBabel and Shimei. The sons of ZerubBabel were MosolLam, AnaniJah, and their sister SalomEth. 20 He also had five more sons, AsoUbe, Ool, BarachiJah, AsadiJah, and AsoBed. 21 The descendants of AnaniJah were PhaletTiJah; his son JesiJah; his son Raphal; his son Orna; his son AbdiJah; his son ShecheniJah; 22 and his son ShemaiJah. ShemaiJah had six sons, HatTush, Igal, BeriJah, NeaJah, and Shaphat. 23 NeaJah had three sons, EliOnai, HezekiJah, and EzriKam. 24 EliOnai had seven sons, OdolJa, EliAsEbon, PhadaJa, AkoUb, JoAnan, DalaJa, and Anan.

Chapter 4

1 The sons of Judah were Perez, Esrom, Carmi, Or, Soubal, 2 and his son Rada. Soubal fathered Jeth, and Jeth fathered AchiMai and LaAd.

These are genealogies of SaraThi: 3 The sons of AiTam were JezreEl, Jesman, and IdBash. Their sister’s name was EselebBon. 4 PhanouEl was the father of Gedor, and Azer was the father of Osan. The firstborn son of Or was Ephratha, who was the founder of BethLehem. 5 And AsoUr (whose father was Thekoe) had two wives, Aoda and ThoAda. 6 Aoda gave birth to OchaJa, Ephal, Thaiman, and Aasther (those were all her sons), 7 and the sons of ThoAda were Serek, SaAr, and Ethnan.

8 Kos fathered Enob and Sabatha. They’re related to the brother of Rechab, the son of JaRin.

9 JaBez was the most honorable among all his brothers, and his mother named him JaBez because she said, ‘I have given birth in pain (heb. JaBez).’ 10 For it was JaBez who called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh, please bless me, expand my borders, and may Your hand be with me… teach me Your wisdom so I don’t [make a fool] of myself.’

Well, God gave him everything that he asked for.

11 And Caleb (the father of AsCha) fathered Machir, who became the father of AsSathon. 12 Then AsSathon fathered BathRaiAn, BesSee, and Thana, who was the founder of the city of NaAs and a relative of ESelOm the Kenezite, who lived in Repha. 13 The sons of Kenez were GoThoniEl, and SaraJa. GothoniEl’s sons were Athath 14 and Manathi (who fathered GoPhera). SaraJa fathered JoAb, who was the father of the HaraShim, who were craftsmen.

15 The descendants of Caleb (the son of JePhonne) were Era, ElAh, and NoOm; and the son of ElAh was Kenez.

16 The sons of GeseEl were Ziph, Zepha, ThephJa, and EseraEl.

17 The sons of Esri were JeTher, Morad, Apher, and JaMon. JeTher was the father of MaRon, SemAi, and MaReth… who was the father of EsthaImon. 18 Then his wife AdiJa gave birth to JaRed, who was the father of Gedor and Aber, who was the father of Socho and ChetiEl, who was the father of Samon.

The son of BetThiAh (the daughter of Pharaoh who was married to Mored) 19 was IdouJah. His sons (through the sister of Nachem) were Keila, Garmi, and EsthaImon the Nochathite. 20 The sons of SemiOn were AmNon, Ana (through Phana), ThilOn (through Sei), ZoAth, and the sons through ZoAb.

21 The son of SelOm (Judah’s son) was Er. He became the father of Lechab and LaAda, who was the father of Marisa, all the descendants of the families of EphraDabak, the house of Esoba, 22 JoAkim, the men of ChozEba, JoAs, and Saphat (who lived in Moab, and returned [with Moabite wives named] AbeDerin and AthoUkiIm). 23 This [family] became the potters who live in AtaIm and Gadera, and since they were supporters of the king, they became very powerful in these cities.

24 The sons of Simeon were NamouEl, JaMin, JaRib, Zare, Saoul, 25 and Salem, whose son was MabaSam. His son was Masma; his son was 26 AmouEl; his son was SaboUd; his son was ZakChour; and his son was Shimei. 27 Shimei had sixteen sons and three daughters. And since there were so few daughters, their families didn’t grow as large in Judah as did those of their brothers.

28 The families [of Shimei] lived in BeerSheba, Sama, Molada, EserSouAl, 29 BalaAh, BoAsom, ThoUlad, 30 BathOuEl, Erma, ZikLag, 31 BethMariMoth, EmiSouseOsin, and BethBarouseOrim, where they lived until the reign of King David. 32 They also owned AiTan, En, RemMon, ThokKan, and AiSan (five cities), 33 as well as the land all around these cities all the way to Baal. They owned it all, and it was distributed among the families of 34 MosObab, Amalek, JosiJah, the sons of AmasiJah, 35 JoEl (the son of AsabiJah; the son of SaraJa; the son of AsiEl), 36 EliOnai, JakAba, JasouJah, AsaiJah, JediEl, IsMaEl, BenaiJah, 37 ZoUza (the son of SaphAi; the son of Alon; the son of JediJah; the son of Semri; the son of SamiJah).

38 These were the names of the rulers of their generations and the heads of their families (which grew in great numbers). 39 Their land ran from GeraRa to the east of Gai, because they needed a lot of pasture for all their animals. 40 This land had good pasture, and it was large enough for all their animals. It was also a peaceful, restful land… it was where the sons of Ham had lived previously. 41 But it was during the reign of HezekiJah (the king of Judah) that an edict was passed and they attacked the houses there (as well as the Minaeans who they found there), and they’ve been wiped out until this day. So, [the family of Judah] moved in and claimed the pastures for their animals.

42 Also, five-hundred of the descendants of Simeon moved there, near Mount Seir. They were led by PhalaEttiJah, NoAdiJah, RaphiJah, and OziEl, who were the sons of Jessi. 43 They killed the rest of the Amalechites who lived there, and they live in that land until this day.

Chapter 5

1 These are sons Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Although he was the firstborn, because he climbed onto the marriage-bed of his father, [his father] gave the blessing to his son Joseph (the son of Israel), so the rights of the firstborn aren’t traced through [Reuben’s] family line. 2 Also, since Judah was the most powerful among his brothers, a leader came from him, while the blessing [of the firstborn] went to Joseph.

3 The sons of Reuben (the firstborn of Israel) were Enoch, PalLu, AsRom, and Charmi. 4 The son of JoEl was Shimei, and his son was BenaiJah. Goug was [also] the son of Shimei, 5 and his son was Micha, whose son was Recha, whose son was JoEl, 6 whose son was Beel. Beel was relocated by Tiglath-Pileser (the king of Assyria), and he’s the leader of the Reubenites.

7 These are the genealogies of Beel’s brothers and countrymen who were also resettled [by Tiglath-Pileser]: The first was JoEl, then ZachariJah, 8 Balek, his son AzoUz, his son Sama, his son JoEl (who lived in AroEr, Nebo, and BelMasSon). 9 This family [was relocated] to the east and lived along the edge of the desert near the Euphrates River. But back in the land of Gilead, they had owned many cattle. 10 And during the time of Saul, they were known to attack and kill travelers from their tents that were located to the east of Gilead.

11 The territory of the sons of Gad bordered theirs, which ran from the land of BaShan to Selca. 12 JoEl was his firstborn, then Sapham and JaNin (who was the scribe in BaShan). 13 The seven heads of their family lines were MichaEl, MosolLam, SebeE, JoReE, JoAchan, ZouE, and Heber. 14 They were the sons of AbiChiJah, who was the son of Ouri, who was the son of JaRoAh, who was the son of Gilead, who was the son of MichaEl, who was the son of JeSai, who was the son of JedDai, who was the son of ZabouCham, 15 who was the son of AbdiEl, who was the son of GoUni, the head of the house of those family lines. 16 They lived in the towns all around Gilead in the land of BaShan, and in places all the way to the end of Sharon. 17 However, they were relocated in the days of JoTham, the king of Judah, and JeroBoam, the king of Israel.

18 The sons of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh [had taken their land] with their army of trained swordsmen and bowmen… forty-four-thousand, seven-hundred and sixty men, who were fully prepared for battle. 19 They went to war with the HagaReans, ItouReans, NaphiSeans, and NadaBeans, 20 and beat them. The HagaReans were all given into their hands, along with their tents, because during the battle they called out to God – putting their hope in Him – and He listened to them. 21 So, they captured all their belongings… five-thousand camels, two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand sheep, two-thousand burros, and the lives of a hundred-thousand men. 22 That many were killed, because God was fighting the war. So, they lived in their land until they were relocated.

23 The large half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land that ran from BaShan, to Baal Hermon, to Senir, to Mount Hermon, and into Lebanon.

24 Here are the heads of their family lines: Opher, Sei, EliEl, JeremiJah, OdouJah, and JediEl. They were all great, mighty, and famous men… the heads of their family lines. 25 However, they annulled their allegiance to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land that God had removed from before them. 26 So, the God of Israel caused the spirit of Pul the king of Assyria (who was also known as Tiglath-Pileser) to become enraged with them, and he sent fifty-thousand men and they relocated [the tribes of] Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He moved them to Chalak, Mabor, and along the Gozan River, where they still are today.

Chapter 6

1 The sons of Levi were Gedson, Kohath, and Merari.

2 Kohath’s sons were Ambram, IsSaAr, Hebron, and OziEl.

3 Ambram’s sons were Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.

Aaron’s sons were Nadab, AbiHu, EliEzer, and Ithamar. 4 EliEzer fathered Phinehas, Phinehas fathered AbiSou, 5 AbiSou fathered BokAi; BokAi fathered Ozi; 6 Ozi fathered ZariJah; ZariJah fathered MariOth; 7 MariOth fathered AmariJah; AmariJah fathered AhiTub; 8 AhiTub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered AchimaAs; 9 AchimaAs fathered AzarYan; AzarYan fathered JoAnan; 10 JoAnan fathered AzariJah (who was the Priest in the Temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem); 11 AzariJah fathered AmariJah; AmariJah fathered AhiTub; 12 AhiTub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered SelLum; 13 SelLum fathered HelkiJah; HelkiJah fathered AzariJah; 14 AzariJah fathered SaraiJah; SaraiJah fathered JoSadak; 15 and JoSadak was carried off when Judah and Jerusalem were relocated to Babylon by NebuChadnezzar.

16 The sons of Levi were Gedson, Kohath, and Merari. 17 The names of the sons of Gedson were Lobeni and Shimei.

18 The sons of Kohath were Ambram, IsSaAr, Hebron, and OziEl. 19 And the sons of Merari were MoOli and OmoUsi.

These are the descendants of Levi by their families: 20 Gedson’s son was Lobeni; his son was Jeth; his son was SamMa; his son 21 was JoAb; his son was AdDo; his son was Zara; and his son was Jethri. 22 The sons of Kohath were AminAdab; his son Kor; his son Aser; his son 23 ElKana; his son AbiSaph; his son Aser; his son 24 ThaAth; his son OureEl; and his son OziJa.

25 The sons of ElKana were Amasi, AchimOth, 26 and SoUphi. [SoUphi’s] son was NaAth; his son 27 was EliAb; his son was JereAm; his son was ElKana; and his son was SamuEl.

28 These are the sons of SamuEl: his firstborn was JoEl and his second was AbiJa.

29 The sons of Merari were MoOli and Lobeni. His son was Shimei; his son was OziJah; his son 30 was SamaAh; his son was AgGiJah; and his son was AsaiJah

31 These are the ones who David put in charge of the chorus that sang at the Temple of Jehovah when the [Sacred] Chest was brought there. 32 They were also the ones who officiated at the Tent of Proofs until Solomon built the Temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem… and they each handled their own assigned duties. 33 These are the ones who served there, and their [assistants]: From the sons of Kohath there was Heman, who was the lead singer. He was the son of JoEl, who was the son of SamuEl, 34 who was the son of ElKana, who was the son of JerEbam, who was the son of EliEl, who was the son of Thou, 35 who was the son of Souph, who was the son of ElKana, who was the son of MaAth, who was the son of Amathi, 36 who was the son of ElKana, who was the son of JoEl, who was the son of AzariJa, who was the son of SaphAniJah, 37 who was the son of ThaAth, who was the son of Aser, who was the son of AbiAsaph, who was the son of Kore, 38 who was the son of IsaAr, who was the son of Kohath, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Israel.

39 His assistant was Asaph (who stood on his right). He was the son of BarachiJah, who was the son of SamaAh, 40 the son of MichaEl, the son of BaAsiJah, the son of MelchiJah, 41 the son of Athani, the son of ZarAi, the son of AdAi, 42 the son of Ethan, the son of ZemMa, the son of Shimei, 43 the son of JeEth, the son of Gershon, the son of Levi.

44 The assistant of Merari (the one who stood on his left) was Ethan, who was the son of Kisa, the son of AbDi, the son of MaOch, 45 the son of AsEbi, 46 the son of AmasiJah, the son of HelkiJah, the son of AmasiJah, the son of Bani, the son of Semer, 47 the son of MoOli, the son of MoUsi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

48 And these were their brothers who were assigned responsibilities over the Tent and the Temple of God by Levite family lines: 49 There was Aaron and his sons who offered whole-burnt offerings on the Altar and burned incense on the incense Altar, and worked inside the Holy of Holies to atone for [the sins] of Israel, just as God’s servant Moses instructed them.

50 These are the sons of Aaron: EliEzer, his son Phinehas, his son AbiSou, his son 51 BokKi, his son Ozi, his son ZaraiJah, his son 52 MariOth, his son AmariJah, his son AhiTub, his son 53 Zadok, and his son AchimaAs.

54 These are the places where the sons of Aaron who descended from Kohath lived by towns and borders, which were assigned by a lottery: 55 They were given towns in the land of Judah that surrounded Hebron. 56 However, the city itself and its fields were given to Caleb (the son of JePhonNe). 57 The sons of Aaron were also given the refuge cities of Hebron, Lobna and its outskirts, Selna and its outskirts, EsthaMo and its outskirts, 58 JeThar and its outskirts, Dabir and its outskirts, 59 Asan and its outskirts, and BasaMus and its outskirts. 60 Then in the tribe of Benjamin there was GabaE and its outskirts, GalemEth and its outskirts, and AnathOth and its outskirts. Their families were assigned these thirteen cities.

61 The rest of the family of Kohath were assigned ten cities in the half-tribe of Manasseh by lottery, 62 and the descendants of Gedson were assigned thirteen cities in the tribes of IsSachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (in BaShan). 63 The descendants of Merari were assigned twelve cities (by lottery) in the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. 64 In addition, the sons of Israel gave cities along their borders to the rest of the Levites. 65 They assigned them by lottery in the tribes of the sons of Judah, Simeon, and BenJamin.

66 The descendants of Kohath were given cities and refuge cities along the borders of Ephraim; 67 in and around Shechem; in the hills of Ephraim; in and around Gazer; 68 in and around JekmaAn; in and around BethOron; 69 in and around AiLon; and in and around GethRemMon.

70 The half-tribe of Manasseh gave Anar and its outskirts, and JemblaAn and its outskirts, to the rest of the descendants of Kohath. 71 They also gave Golan in BaShan and its outskirts, and AstarOth and its outskirts, to the rest of the descendants of Gedson.

72 The tribe of IsSachar gave them Kadesh and its outskirts, Dabor and its outskirts, 73 RamOth and its surrounding towns, and AiNan and its outskirts.

74 The tribe of Asher gave them MaAsal and it outskirts, AbDon and its outskirts, 75 Akak and its outskirts, and RoOb and its outskirts.

76 The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kadesh in Galilee and its outskirts, HamOth and its outskirts, and Kariath Jiarim and its outskirts.

77 The tribe of Zebulun gave the remaining descendants of Merari RemMon and its outskirts, and ThalLia and its outskirts.

78 On the other side of the Jordan, from Jericho to the east of the Jordan, the tribe of Reuben gave them Bosor (in the desert) and its outskirts, Jasa and its outskirts, 79 KadMoth and its outskirts, and MaEphla and its outskirts.

80 The tribe of Gad gave them RamOth Gilead and its outskirts, MaAnaim and its outskirts, 81 Heshbon and its outskirts, and JaZer and its outskirts.

Chapter 7

1 The four sons of IsSachar were Thola, Phua, JasoUb, and SomBran. 2 The sons of Thola were Ozi, RaphiJah, JeriEl, JaMai, JeBasam, and SamuEl, who were each rulers of their houses and family lines. Thola’s descendants were renowned for their greatness and strength through their generations. And during the time of David, their [army] was numbered at twenty-two-thousand, six hundred.

3 The five son of Ozi were JezRaiJah, MichaEl, AbdiOu, JoEl, and JesiJah, who were all rulers. 4 Each generation, as well as their houses and families, were renowned warriors. For, [they were once] numbered at thirty-six-thousand, because they had many wives and sons. 5 In fact, there were eighty-seven-thousand mighty men listed in the genealogy of their family line.

6 The three sons of BenJamin were Bale, Bachir, and JaDiEl. 7 Bale’s five sons were AsEbon, Ozi, OziEl, JeriMoth, and Ouri, who were all the rulers of their houses and family lines. They were also mighty warriors, because in their genealogy there are twenty-two-thousand and thirty-four listed.

8 The sons Bachir were ZemirAh, JoAs, EliEzer, EliOEnai, AmariJah, JeriMoth, AbiJah, AnaThoth, and ElMemeth. 9 According to their genealogies, these were the rulers of their houses and family lines, among whom twenty-thousand two-hundred are listed as mighty warriors.

10 The son of JadiEl was BalaAn, and his sons were JaOus, BenJamin, AOth, ChenaAnah, ZaiThan, Tharsi, and AchiSaAr. 11 All these sons of JadiEl were rulers of their families, and seventeen-thousand two-hundred are listed as mighty warriors. 12 They include Saphin, Aphin, and the sons of RaOm… especially his son AEr.

13 The sons of Naphtali through BalaA were JasiEl, Goni, IsSaEr, and SalLour.

14 The sons of Manasseh were AseriEl (who was born through Manasseh’s Syrian concubine) and Machir, who was the father of Gilead. 15 Machir took wives [for Gilead] from among the Amphin and Mamphin, who were sisters. One was named MoOcha, and the second was SalpaAd. Now, SalpaAd only had daughters, 16 but MoOcha provided Machir [a male heir] named Perez, and another who was named Soros. Then his sons were OuLam and Rokom; 17 and OuLam had a son named Badan. These were all the descendants of Gilead (the son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh).

18 [Gilead] also had sisters. The one named MalechEth gave birth to IsAdek, AbiEzer, and MaEla. 19 And the sons of Semira were JaAim, Shechem, Lachim, and AniAn.

20 The sons of Ephraim were SothAla, Barad, ThaAth, EliaAda, NomeE, 21 Zabed, and SothElE. Then he had two sons named Azer and EliaAd, who were killed by the men of Gath (the natives of the land) because they tried to take their cattle. 22 So, Ephraim (their father) mourned for them a very long time, and their brothers came to comfort him. 23 Then he [had sex with] his wife and she got pregnant and gave birth to a son he named BarAga (Son of Trouble), because of the bad things that had happened to his house 24 and to those who were left. Then he built Upper and Lower BethOron, Ozan, and SeEra.

25 [Thereafter, he had a son] named Raphe, who had sons named Saraph and ThaleEs. ThaleEs had a son named ThaEn, who had a son 26 named Ladan. His son was AmiOud; his son was EliSamAi; his son 27 was NoUm; and his son was JesOue. 28 They lived in and owned BethEl and its surrounding villages, the villages east of NoAran and to the west of Gazer, as well as Shechem and its villages, and all the villages up to Mount An.

29 The borders of the sons of Manasseh included BethSaAn and its villages, ThaAnak and its villages, Megiddo and its villages, and Dor and its villages. These are the places where the descendants of Joseph through Manasseh lived.

30 The sons of Asher were JemNa, SouYa, IsoWi, and BeriJah… and Sore was their sister.

31 The sons of BeriJah were Chaber and MelchiEl, who was the father of BerZaith. 32 Chaber was the father of Japhlet, Samer, Chotham, and their sister Sola. 33 Japhlet’s sons were Phasek, BamaEl, and Asith.

34 Samer’s sons were Achir, Rouga, Oba, and Aram.

35 The sons of his brother ([who was also known as] Bane Elam) were Sopha, Yamna, SelLes, and Amal. 36 The sons of Sopha were SoWe, ArnaPhar, Souda, Barin, Imran, 37 Basar, JeOud, SemMa, Salisa, Jethran, and BeEra. 38 The sons of Jethran were Jephina, Phaspha, and Ara. 39 The sons of Oba were Orek, AniEl, and RasJa. 40 These were all descendants of Asher, and they were each rulers of their family lines. They were the best of their kind; strong, mighty men who were leaders and rulers, and whose line of descent can be traced through war records… all twenty-six-thousand of them.

Chapter 8

1 BenJamin fathered Bale (his firstborn), then AsBel (his second), Ara (his third), 2 Noa (his fourth), and Raphe (his fifth). 3 The sons of Bale were Adir, Gera, AbiHud, 4 AbiShua, NoAma, AchiJah, 5 Gera, SephoUfam, and OuRam.

6 These are the sons of Ehud, who were the family heads that lived in GabeE, but were relocated to ManaHath: 7 NaAman, AchiA, Gera, JeglaAm (who fathered Aza and AhiHud), 8 and SaArin, who fathered children in the plains of Moab after he sent his wives Osin and BaAda away. 9 Through his wife Ada he fathered JoBab, SebJa, Misa, MelCham, 10 JoAs, SekiJah, and Marma. These were his sons and the heads of their families. 11 But through Osin he fathered AbiTol and AlphaAl.

12 AlphaAl’s sons were Obed, MisaAl, SemMer (who built Ono, Lod, and their surrounding villages), 13 BeriJah, and Sama. These were the family heads of the people who lived in AiLam and who drove out the people who lived in Gath. 14 They were related to Sosel, JeriMoth, 15 ZabadJa, Ored, Eder, 16 MichaEl, JesPha, and Joda (who were the sons of BeriJah), 17 and to ZabadJa, MosoLam, Azaki, Abar, 18 IsAlmari, JezliAs, and JoBab (the sons of ElPhaAl), 19 and to JaKim, Zachri, Zabdi, 20 EliOnai, Salathi, EliEl, 21 AdaiJah, BaraiJah, and SamarAth (who were the sons of Shimei), 22 and to JesPhan, Obed, EleEl, 23 AbDon, Zechri, Anan, 24 AnaniJah, Ambri, AiLam, AnaThoth, 25 JephadiJah, and PhanouEl (who were the sons of Sosek), 26 and to SamSari, SaAriJah, GotholiJa, 27 JarasiJah, EriJah, and Zechri (who were the sons of JeroHam).

28 These are the heads of their families and their generations… the chiefs who lived in Jerusalem.

29 The wife of JeEl, the founder of [the city of] Gibeon, was MaAcha. 30 His firstborn son was AbaDon, then SoUr, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 31 Gedour, ZakChour, 32 and MakelOth (who was the father of SamaiJah). They all lived near their families in Jerusalem.

33 Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered JoNathan, MelchiShua, AminAdab, and AsaBal.

34 JoNathan’s son was MeriBaal, MeriBaal’s son was Michah, 35 and Michah’s sons were Phithon, MelAk, TharAk, and Ahaz. 36 Ahaz fathered Jada, and Jada fathered SalaiMath, AsMoth, and Zambri. Zambri fathered MaiSa, 37 and MaiSa fathered BaAna and RaphaiJah. His son was ElAsa, and his son was EsEl. 38 EsEl had six sons: EzriKam (his firstborn), IsMaEl, SaraiJah, AbdiA, Anan, and Asa… these were all the sons of EsEl.

39 And the sons of EsEl’s brother EshEck were Ulam (his firstborn), Jas (his second), and EliPhalet (his third). 40 These were the strong and mighty bowmen of AiLam who produced a hundred and fifty sons. And these were all the sons of BenJamin.

Chapter 9

1 Israel can trace its genealogy, because {Look!} it’s all written in the scroll of the kings of Israel. However, [the people of] Judah were among those who were resettled in Babylon, because they sinned by breaking their Sacred Agreement [with God]. 2 But in the land that they owned prior to that (in the cities of Israel), there were the Priests andLevites… and they were in charge of everything.

3 Now, in Jerusalem there were some Judeans, some sons of BenJamin, and some of the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. 4 There was also UthAi, the son of SamMiHud, the son of Omri, the son of Buni, the son of Perez, the son of Judah. 5 Shiloh and his firstborn son AsaiJah and his family were also in Jerusalem, 6 as was JeEl (the son of Zara) and six-hundred and ninety of that family line.

7 Among the descendants of BenJamin there was Salo, who was the son of MosolLam, the son of HoDaviJah, the son of SanaAn and 8 Jebna, who was the son of JeroBoam and Elo.

There were also the sons of Ozi (who was the son of Machir and MosolLam, the son of SaphatJa, the son of RagouEl, the son of JemNai) 9 and several generations of their relatives, numbering nine-hundred and fifty-six in all. All the men were the heads of their family lines and houses.

10 Then there were the Priests, JehoiAda, JoArim, JaChin, 11 and AzariJah (who was the son of HelkiJah, the son of MossolLam, the son of Zadok, the son of MaraiOth, the son of AhiTub), who was the leader in the Temple of God.

12 Then there was AdaJa (the son of JeroAm, the son of Phaschor, the son of MelchiJah and MaAsaJa, who was the son AdiEl, the son of EziRa, the son of MosolLam, the son of MaselMoth, the son of EmMer) 13 and their families. There were a thousand, seven-hundred-and-sixty strong and mighty men who were the heads of their family lines and houses, who worked at and oversaw everything in the Temple of God.

14 Among the Levites there was SamaiJah (the son of Asob, the son of EzriKam, the son of AsabiJah) from the family line of Merari. 15 And there was BakBakar, Ares, GalaAl, MatthaniJah, the sons of Micha, the son of Zechri, the son of Asaph 16 and ObadiJah (the sons of SamiJah, the son of GalaAl, the son of IdiThoun and BarachiJah, the sons of Ossa, and the son of ElKana), who lived in the courtyards of the NetopPhathites.

17 Then there were the gatekeepers: Salom, Akoum, Telmon, and AiMan, and their families. Salom was in charge 18 of everything to the eastern King’s Gate. The gatekeepers for the camps of the sons of Levi were 19 Salom (the son of Kore, the son of AbiAsaph, the son of Sore) and his brothers of the paternal houses of the Korites. They were in charge of the work and administration of the watches for guarding the Sacred Tent. For, their ancestors were once in charge of the entire camp of Jehovah, and served as guards to its entrances. 20 Back then, PhineHas (the son of EliEzer) stood as their leader before Jehovah, 21 and ZachariJah (the son of MasaLami) was in charge of guarding the entrance to the Tent of Proofs. 22 Altogether, those who were chosen as gatekeepers to stand at the entrances were numbered at two-hundred and twelve. The records of their genealogies and properties were all counted and established by the trusted offices of David and the Seer SamuEl.

23 Now, it was their sons who were in charge of the doors and who kept watch at the Temple of Jehovah and the house of the Tent. 24 These gatekeepers were stationed as the four winds… in the east, west, north, and south. 25 And their brothers had to leave their homes in shifts every seven weeks and spend seven days there.

26 There were four mighty men who were in charge of the gatekeepers. They were Levites, and they were over everything, including the treasury of the Temple of God. For this reason, they lived close to the Temple. 27 Their watch responsibility was to use the keys both morning and evening to unlock and lock the Temple doors. 28 They were also responsible for the things that were used in the services. They had to count everything when it was taken out and when it was returned. 29 Also, some of them were over the equipment and holy things, such as the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the frankincense, and the aromatics. 30 For, some of the Priests’ sons were perfumers [who mixed] the fragrant [oils and incense].

31 The Levite MatTathiJah was the firstborn of Salom the Korite. He was entrusted with the work that has to do with the sacrifices of the pan of the High Priest. 32 BenaiJah the Kohathite was selected from among his brothers to be in charge of the loaves of showbread, which had to be prepared for each Sabbath.

33 When it came to the singers, the heads of the Levite families were in charge at the central place of worship. They worked on a daily rotation basis, all day and all-night long, to get everything done. 34 So though the generations, the heads of the families of Levites lived in Jerusalem.

35 Now, the founder of Gibeon (JeEl) lived in the town of Gibeon. His wife’s name was MaAcha. 36 His firstborn son was AbaDon, then SoUr, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 GedoUr, and his brothers, ZakChour and MakelOth. 38 MakelOth fathered SamaAh, and he and his family lived together in Jerusalem. 39 And Ner fathered Kish, then Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered JoNathan, MelchiShua, AminAdab, and AsBal.

40 The son of JoNathan was MeriBaal, and MeriBaal fathered Micah. 41 The sons of Micah were PhiThon, MelchiEl, Tharach, 42 and Ahaz, who fathered JaDa. JaDa then fathered GalEmeth, AzMoth, and Zambri. Zambri fathered Masa, 43 and Masa fathered BaAna and RaphaIh, whose son was ElAsa, and his son was EsEl. 44 EsEl had six sons, EzriKam (his firstborn), then IsMaEl, SaraiJah, AbdJah, Anan, and Asa. These were the sons of EsEl.

Chapter 10

1 Well, the Philistines were fighting a war against Israel, and the army of Israel was being defeated, so they turned and ran from the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines started chasing Saul and his sons, and they caught and killed Saul’s sons JoNathan, AminAdab, and MelchiShua. 3 And thereafter they pressed on in the battle to reach Saul. Well, their archers found him and shot him, leaving him in great pain. 4 So, Saul said to the aid that was carrying his weapons, ‘Unsheathe your broadsword and stab me with it, so these uncircumcised don’t come here and make sport of me!’

But his aid didn’t want to do that, because he was afraid. So, Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 And when the man who was carrying his weapons saw that Saul had killed himself, he too fell upon his sword and died. 6 So, Saul and his three sons all died that day, and that was the end of his house. 7 And when the men of Israel who had run into the valley heard that Saul and his sons had been killed, they all just fled back to their homes. So, the Philistines then came and lived among them.

8 Well, the day after the battle, when the Philistines came to loot the bodies, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 So, they stripped his body and carried his head and weapons with them, back into the land of the Philistines, where it was joyously paraded around before the temples of their idols and their people. 10 Then they put his weapons in the temple of their god, and carried his head and put it into the temple of Dagon.

11 Well, when the men of Jabish Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul and his sons, and to Israel, 12 all their great warriors went and took the body of Saul and his sons, and brought them back to Jabish. Then they took their bones and placed them in a tomb that was located under an oak tree in Jabish, and they fasted for seven days.

13 So, Saul was killed because of the lawless ways in which he had acted against his God. He had gone against the instructions of Jehovah and he didn’t do what he was told. For, Saul had gone to a fortuneteller to speak to the Prophet SamuEl. 14 And because he didn’t ask Jehovah, he was killed and his kingdom was handed over to David, the son of Jesse.

Chapter 11

1 Then all the men of [the army of] Israel came to David in Hebron and said, ‘Look! We’re your flesh and bones. 2 And while Saul used to be our king, you were the one who led the armies of Israel, and your God Jehovah said to you, You will take care of My people Israel and you will be their leader.’

3 Then all the elders of Israel came to him in Hebron and made an agreement with King David before Jehovah, and they anointed him to be the king over Israel, just as Jehovah had said through the Prophet SamuEl. 4 Thereafter, King David and [the whole army of] Israel went to Jerusalem (which was then called Jebus). And the Jebusites who lived there said to David, 5 ‘You won’t come in here.’ But he was the first to capture the citadel on Zion, so it became known as ‘the city of David.’

6 Now, David had said: ‘Whoever is the first to beat the Jebusites will become my commander-in-chief and the general [over my army].’ And the first one to do this was JoAb (the son of ZeruJah), and he was appointed the commander-in-chief.

7 Thereafter, David stayed in the citadel, and he started calling it his city. 8 For, he had built a siege-wall around the entire city and captured it. 9 And from that point on, David kept becoming greater and more famous, for Jehovah the Almighty was with him.

10 These are the leaders and the mighty ones who were with David and who became great along with him when he ruled over all Israel, because they were the ones who made him king over Israel, just as Jehovah had said:

11 Counted among the mighty ones of David was JeseBaal (the son of AchaMani), who was the first of the thirty. This is because there was a time when he used his broadsword to kill three-hundred men all by himself. 12 And with him was EliEzer (the son of DodAi the AchoChite). He was one [of David’s] three greatest men. 13 For, he was with David at PhasoDomin when the Philistines had gathered for war in a field full of barley. And when [the army] turned and ran from the Philistines, 14 he stood there alone in the middle of the field and saved them by killing [all of] the Philistines. For, Jehovah had used him to bring a great victory.

15 He was also one of the three (from among the thirty generals) who went to David when he was at The Rock at the Cave of OdolLam, right in the midst of the camp of the Philistines, there in the valley of the giants. 16 And when David was in the citadel and all the Philistines were in BethLehem, 17 and David asked, ‘Who will bring me a drink of water from the well at the entrance to BethLehem?,’ 18 it was these three who attacked the Philistines, drew water from the well at the entrance to BethLehem, and brought it to David. But then David refused to drink it. Rather, he offered it to Jehovah and said, 19 ‘It was because of Your kindness to me, O God, that they have done this thing. So, shall I now drink the blood of these men… something for which [they risked] their lives? Why, they risked their lives to bring it to me, so I don’t want to drink it.’

Yes, it was these three mighty men who did these things.

20 There was also AbiShai, the brother of JoAb. He was one of those three generals. He unsheathed his broadsword and killed three-hundred men all by himself. In fact, he was the most famous of the three… 21 he was the most honored, and he was the leader of the three.

22 And there was the mighty man BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda). There were so many things that he accomplished at KabasaEl. For, it was he who killed the two lion-like soldiers of Moab, and it was he who went down into a pit and killed the lion on the snowy day. 23 It was he who also killed the remarkable Egyptian man who stood more than seven-feet tall and carried a spear that was as large as a weaving loom. BenaiJah went and grabbed the spear from the Egyptian’s hands and killed him with it. 24 These are the types of things that BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) did. So, his name is listed along with the three mighty ones, 25 for he was considered the greatest among the thirty, but he wasn’t considered one of the three [generals], because David had put him in charge of his family.

26 Also among the powerful mighty ones were AsahEl (JoAb’s other brother), EliAnan (the son of DoDoe) the BethLehemite, 27 SamMoth the Arorite, Helles the Phelonite, 28 Ora (the son of EkKis) the Thekoite, AbiEzer the AnathOthite, 29 SoboChai the Asothite, Eli the Achonite, 30 MoorAi the Netophathite, Cholod (the son of NoOza) the Netophathite, 31 AiRi (the son of Rebie) from the hills of BenJamin, BenaiJah the Pharathonite, 32 Ouri from Nachali-GaAs, AbiEl the Arabethite, 33 Azbon the Baromite, EliAba the Salobonite, 34 BenAsam the Gizonite, JoNathan (the son of Sola) the Ararite, 35 Achim (the son of Achar) the Ararite, ElPhat (the son of ThuroPhar) 36 the Mechorathite, AhiJah the Phellonite, 37 EseRe the Charmadite, NaArai (the son of AzobAi), 38 JoEl (Nathan’s brother), MeBaal (the son of Agari), 39 SelLek the Ammonite, Nachor the BerOthite (who carried the weapons for JoAb, the son of ZeruJah), 40 Ira the Jethrite, Gareb the Jethrite, 41 UriJah the Hittite, Sabet (the son of AchaJa), 42 and Adina 43 (the son of SaIza) the head of the Reubenites. And with the thirty were 43 Anan (the son of MoOcha), JoSaphat the Mathnite, 44 OziJa the AstarOthite, SamMa and JeiEl (the sons of Hotham) the Ararites, 45 JediEl (the son of Sameri), JoZae and his his brother (the ThosSaites), 46 EliEl the Maoite, JaRibi, JosiJa and his son ElLam, JethAma the Moabite, 47 DaliEl, Obed, and JessiEl the Mesobite.

Chapter 12

1 These are the men who came to David at Ziklag as part of his band, to [protect him from] Saul (the son of Kish). They are among the mighty ones who helped in his battles… 2 bowmen who could shoot with both their right and left hands. And they slung rocks and shot with their bows at the followers of the BenJamite Saul. 3 There was AhiEzer (their leader), JoAsh (the son of Asma) the Gabathite, JoEl and JoPhalet (the sons of AsMoth), BarachiJah, Jehu the AnaThothite, 4 and SamaYas the Gibeonite… they were the mightiest among the thirty, and they were their leaders.

Then there was JeremiJah, JeziEl, JoAnan, JoZabath the Gederathite, 5 EliOzi, JarImoUth, BaalJah, SamariAi, SaphatiJah the Haruphite, 6 ElKanah, JesiJah, OzriEl, JoZara, SoboKam, and the Korites 7 JoEla and ZabadJa (the sons of JeroHam), and the sons of Gedor.

8 These men came to David from the tribe of Gad when he was in the desert. They were strong mighty men who all stood in battle lines dressed for war carrying shields and spears with faces like lions. They also moved as quickly as light does on the mountains. 9 There was Azer (who was their leader), AbDiAh (who was second in command), EliAb (the third), 10 MasMana (the fourth), JeremiJah (the fifth), 11 Jethi (the sixth), EliAb (the seventh), 12 JoAnan (the eighth), EliAzer (the ninth), 13 JeremiJah (the tenth), and MachaBanai (the eleventh). 14 These were all from the tribe of Gad, and they were all generals over the army… some over hundreds and one over a thousand. 15 They all crossed the Jordan during the first month when it was at its highest level and drove away all the people who lived in the valleys from the east to the west.

16 Some also came from the tribes of BenJamin and Judah to help David. 17 And when David came to meet them, he said to them: ‘If you’ve come to me in peace, may we share the same heart. But if you’ve come to hand me over to my enemies, may the God of your fathers discipline you.’

18 Well, [God’s] Breath came over AmasAi (the leader of the thirty), and he said, ‘Go on, O David, you son of Jesse… you and all your people! Peace! Peace to you and peace to your helpers, for your God is also helping you.’

So, David welcomed them and appointed them as generals in his army.

19 Men from the tribe of Manasseh had also joined with David when the Philistines attacked Saul. But David didn’t join with the Philistines, because the Philistine generals said, ‘He’ll just return to his lord Saul.’ 20 So, they sent him away, and David returned to Ziklag… and that’s when some from the tribe of Manasseh joined him. There was EdNah, JoZabath, RodiEl, MichaEl, JosaBeth, Eliu, and Selathi, generals over thousands from Manasseh. 21 They and their troops fought alongside David, and they were all strong, mighty men and leaders of their armies. 22 They came and fought for David each day like a great force from God.

23 And these are the names of the military generals who came to David in Hebron to fight Saul for his kingdom (according to the words of Jehovah). 24 From the tribe of Judah there were six-thousand eight-hundred men, all bearing shields and spears, and ready for battle. 25 From the tribe of Simeon there were seven-thousand one-hundred mighty men, who were ready for battle. 26 From the tribe of Levi there were four-thousand six-hundred. 27 And when JehoiAda (the head of the family line of Aaron) came to meet with him, he brought along three-thousand seven-hundred men.

28 Then there was Zadok, who was a strong and mighty young man. He brought along twenty-two leaders from his father's household.

29 And from the tribe of BenJamin (Saul’s tribe) there were three-thousand men; yet most of them were guards in the house of Saul.

30 And from the tribe of Ephraim there were twenty-thousand eight-hundred strong, mighty, and famous men in their houses and family lines.

31 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh there were eighteen thousand, all of whom had sworn to make David the king.

32 And from the tribe of IsSachar came two-hundred men with their [armies], who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.

33 And from [the tribe of] Zebulon came fifty-thousand men all dressed for war and carrying their weapons to help David, but not with their whole hearts.

34 And from [the tribe of] Naphtali came a thousand leaders with thirty-seven-thousand men carrying shields and spears.

35 And from [the tribe of] Dan came twenty-eight-thousand eight-hundred men all ready for war.

36 And from [the tribe of] Asher came forty-thousand six-hundred to help in the war.

37 And from the other side of the Jordan (from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh) came a hundred-and-twenty thousand, all carrying their weapons of war.

38 All these men were warriors that were dressed and ready for battle, but peaceful in heart. They came to Hebron to make David the king over all Israel. And all the rest of Israel was of the same heart when it came to making David their king. 39 Then they all stayed with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers were providing for them. 40 Those of IsSachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali who lived nearby, loaded up their camels, burros, mules, and oxen and brought them huge quantities of food… flour, dried figs, raisins, wine, olive oil, veal, and lamb, because everyone in Israel was very happy.

Chapter 13

1 First David met with his generals, lieutenants, and all the leaders. 2 Then he went before the entire gathering of Israel and said, ‘If you approve, and if our God Jehovah blesses the effort, we should send [a letter] to all our brothers who are left throughout the land of Israel, and to the Priests and Levites in their cities, and invite them all to gather with us. 3 Then we will bring the [Sacred] Chest of our God to us here, for no one has gone before it since the days of Saul.’

4 Well, the entire congregation agreed to do this, because it seemed to be right in the eyes of the people. 5 So, David called all Israel together from the borders of Egypt to the land of Hamath, and David had the Chest of God transported out of the city of JaRim. 6 For, all Israel had traveled up to the city of David, which was in Judah, to lead [a procession before] the Chest of Jehovah God (the one with the cherubs sitting on top) that is used to call upon His Name.

7 Then they placed the Chest of God on a new wagon and carried it from the house of AminAdab. And Oza and his brothers walked ahead of the wagon, 8 as David and all Israel sang and danced before God with all their strength. There were singers, stringed instruments, woodwinds, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 But as they were carrying [the Chest] onto a threshing floor, Oza stuck out his hand to steady the Chest (because one of the oxen [pulling the wagon] had bolted), 10 and Jehovah became enraged with what Oza had done, so He struck him down, because he had touched the Chest; and he died there before God.

11 Well, David was so upset that Jehovah had cut Oza down, that he named that place ‘The Severance of Oza’, which is what it is still called today.

12 And from that day on, David became afraid of God, for he asked, ‘Then how can I carry the Chest of God to me?’ 13 So, David didn’t go back to carry the Chest of God to himself into the city of David. Rather, he left it in the house of ObedEdom the Gittite, 14 where it remained for three months. And during this time, God blessed ObedEdom and his entire household.

Chapter 14

1 Then Hiram (the king of Tyre) sent emissaries to David, along with cedar wood, tradesmen, and carpenters, to build a palace for him.

2 Now, David knew that Jehovah had prepared him to be the king over Israel, and that He would make his kingdom become more important because of His people Israel. 3 And after David moved to Jerusalem, he started taking more wives, and he had many more sons and daughters. 4 These are their names: Those who were born in Jerusalem were SamaAh, Sobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 IbaAr, EliSae, EliPalet, 6 NaGeth, NaPhag, JaPhie, 7 EliShama, BaalJada, and EliPhalet.

8 But when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, their [entire army] came looking for him, and David went out to meet them. 9 So, the Philistines assembled for battle in the Valley of the Giants. 10 But first David went before God and asked, ‘Should I go and fight the Philistines, and will You give them into my hands?’ And Jehovah replied, ‘Go, and I will give them into your hands!’ 11 So, he marched to Baal PharAsin and attacked them there.

And thereafter, David said, ‘God used my hand to cut through my enemies like cutting through water.’ And that’s why he named that place ‘The Severance of PharAsin.’

12 Well, the Philistines just ran away and left [the images] of their gods lying there, so David [told his men to] burn them in a fire. 13 Then he marched after the Philistines again and found them in the Valley of the Giants. 14 So, David asked God what he should do. But [this time] God replied, ‘Don’t go after them! Turn away and wait for them near the pear trees. 15 And when you hear the sound of rumbling from the tops of the pear trees, attack them, for [that’s the sound of] God going ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines.’

16 So, David did exactly as God had told him. Then he kept attacking the Philistine camps from Gibeon to Gezer, 17 and the name of David became known throughout the land, for Jehovah had put the fear of him upon all the nations.

Chapter 15

1 Thereafter, he did quite a bit of building in the city of David. He prepared a place for the Chest of God, and he had a Tent built for it. 2 Then David said, ‘No one is to handle the Chest of God other than the Levites, because Jehovah has chosen them for that purpose… to carry it and to officiate before Him through the ages.

3 Then David gathered all Israel in Jerusalem to carry the Chest of Jehovah and put it into the place that he had built for it.

4 He also collected [groups] of the descendants of Aaron and the Levites. 5 OuriEl was the leader from the line of Kohath, and there were a hundred and twenty with him. 6 AsaiJa was the leader from the line of Merari, and there were two hundred and twenty with him. 7 JoEl was the leader of the line of Gershon, and there were a hundred and thirty with him. 8 Shemei was the leader of the line of EliSaphan, and there were two hundred with him. 9 EliEl was the leader of the line of Hebron, and there were eighty with him. 10 And AminAdab was the leader of the line of OziEl, and there were a hundred and twelve with him.

11 David then called the priests Zadok and AbiAthar, and the Levites, OuriEl, AsaiAn, JoEl, SamaYan, EliEl, and AminAdab, 12 and said to them, ‘You are the heads of the families of the Levites. Now purify yourselves and your brothers, so you can carry the Chest of the God of Israel to the place that I’ve prepared for it. 13 Because, the first time you tried to do this you weren’t ready, so God came among us and cut through us, because we didn’t ask Him what we should do.’

14 So, the Priests and the Levites purified themselves to carry the Chest of the God of Israel. 15 Then they went to carry it exactly as God had instructed them through Moses, and in the way that he wrote it should be done, using the staves to bear it.

16 Then David told the heads of the Levites: ‘Now, assign singers and musicians who play stringed instruments, woodwinds, and cymbals from among your brothers, to make loud and happy music.’

17 So, the Levites appointed Heman (the son of JoEl) from among his family, and Asaph (the son BarachiJa) from the line of Merari, and his [friend] Ethan (the son of KishaiJah). 18 Then they met with them and they appointed others who would be under them… ZachariJah, OziEl, SemiRamOth, JeiEl, EliOhel, EliAb, BenaiJah, MaAseJah, MatTathiJah, EliPhaliJah, MakeniJah, and ObedEdom. And they appointed JeiEl and OziAs to be in charge [of the Sacred Chest].

19 Then they appointed Heman, Asaph, and Ethan to be in charge of the singers. And in charge of the brass cymbals (to make sure that the music was loud) were 20 ZachariJah, OziEl, SemiRamOth, JeiEl, Oni, EliAb, MasaiJah, and BenaiJah. The stringed instruments and the many types of woodwinds (so the music would be loud enough) were headed by AlamOth, 21 MatTathiJah, EliPhaliJah, MakeniJah, ObedEdom, JeiEl, and OziJah. 22 And ChoneniJah (the head of the Levites) was put in charge of all the music, because he could orchestrate everything.

23 Then BarachiJah and ElKanah were assigned to [carry] the [front end of the Sacred] Chest – as 24 SobniAh, JoSaphat, NathanaEl, AmasiJah, ZachariJah, BaniJah, and EliEzer (the Priests) were assigned to blow the trumpets ahead of it – and ObedEdom and JeiJah were [to carry] it [from behind].

25 Of course, David, the governors of Israel, and his generals were to lead the joyful parade when they carried the Chest of God’s Sacred Agreement out of the house of ObedEdom. 26 And to be sure that God would empower them to carry the Chest of Jehovah, the [Priests] first sacrificed seven calves and seven rams.

27 Then David came dressed in fine linen, along with the Levites who would bear the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah, the singers, and ChoneniJah (the head of the musicians). Then they wrapped David in a fine linen cape, 28 and all Israel walked ahead of the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah, cheering, blowing ram’s horns and trumpets, loudly beating on cymbals, and playing stringed instruments and lutes.

29 Then, when the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah reached the city of David, Michal (the daughter of Saul) leaned over and looked from her window, and when she saw King David dancing and acting like a child, she inwardly felt contempt for him.

Chapter 16

1 So, they carried the Chest of God, and placed it in the middle of the tent that David had made for it. Then they offered whole-burnt offerings and a salvation offering before God. 2 And when David completed these offerings, he blest the people in the name of Jehovah. 3 Then he gave every man and woman of Israel a freshly-baked loaf of bread and some honey bread.

4 Then he stood before the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah and ordered the Levites to shout out loud and acknowledge and praise Jehovah, the God of Israel. 5 And Asaph, the orchestra conductor, and those under him (ZachariJah, JeiEl, SemiRamOth, MatTathiJah, EliAb, BenaiJah, ObedEdom, and JeiEl) conducted the stringed instruments and woodwinds, while Asaph had them beat on the cymbals, 6 and BenaiJah and OziEl (the Priests) blew the trumpets continuously before the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of God.

7 So, that was the day when David arranged for Asaph and his brothers to start praising Jehovah. 8 [For they shouted], ‘Acknowledge Jehovah! Call upon Him by His Name! Tell the people about the things He has done! 9 Sing praises to him! Describe all the wonders that Jehovah has performed! 10 Give praise to His Holy Name! Make your hearts glad and seek His favor! 11 Seek Jehovah and be strong! Always search for His face! 12 Remember the wonderful things He has done… His miracles and the decisions that have come from His mouth! 13 O seed of Israel… His servants… you sons of Jacob… His elected… 14 He is Jehovah our God! His judgments have filled the whole earth!

15 ‘Remember His Sacred Agreement through the ages, 16 and the words that He instructed thousands of generations to follow, which He spoke to Abraham, and the oath that He gave to Isaac. 17 Then He established His Sacred Agreement with Jacob through the ages, and He gave His orders to Israel, 18 saying, I will give the land of Canaan as a piece of measured land to be your inheritance. 19 Yet at the time, there weren’t many of them, and [the nation] was dwindling. But first they had to walk around; 20 and they passed from nation to nation and past the kingdoms of foreigners. 21 But He didn’t allow anyone to overpower them, and He disciplined their kings saying, 22 You may not touch My anointed ones, and you may not act wickedly among My Prophets!

23 ‘May the whole earth sing to Jehovah! Shout each day about the way that He saves! 24 Tell all the nations about His glory, and all their people about His wonders! 25 For, Jehovah is great and exceedingly worthy of praise! He is more to be feared that all other gods, 26 because the gods of the nations are just idols, but Jehovah made the heavens! 27 Stand before His face and praise His strength! Brag about His Holy Place! 28 Give praise to Jehovah, all you families of the nations; praise Jehovah’s glory and strength! 29 Glorify the Name of Jehovah! Bring gifts and carry them before His face, then bow low before Jehovah in His holy courtyard!

30 ‘Be afraid before His face, all you on the earth! May the ground become firm before Him and may it not be shaken! 31 You heavens be glad and earth cry in joy! May all the nations admit that Jehovah is their king! 32 And may all the seas, and the sun, and the trees in the fields, and everything else resonate before Him. 33 Why, even the forests of trees in the fields will be glad before the face of Jehovah, for He is coming to judge the earth!

34 ‘Acknowledge that Jehovah is good, because His mercy lasts through the ages. Save us, O God; deliver us! 35 Gather us up and rescue us from the nations! Praise His Holy Name and boast about the blessings that He brings! 36 Praise Jehovah the God of Israel through the ages and [beyond].’

Then all the people shouted, ‘Amen!’ And they started praising Jehovah.

37 So, they left the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah there, and Asaph and his brothers served before the Chest continually, each day, 38 along with ObedEdom and his family; for ObedEdom (the son of IdiThoUm) and Osa were the gatekeepers.

39 However, Zadok the Priest and his fellow Priests stayed before the Tent of Jehovah, which was located in Bala of Gibeon. 40 And there they offered whole-burnt offerings on the Altar to Jehovah continually, morning and evening, just as it was written in the Law of Jehovah, as it was given to the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses, God’s servant.

41 Those who were with [the Priests] were Heman, IdiThoUm, and all the rest who were chosen by name to praise Jehovah for His mercy through the ages. 42 There were also the trumpeters, the cymbal players, and all the rest of the musicians, who could play their instruments loudly in the songs [of praise] to God.

Then the sons of IdiThoUm took their positions at the gates; all the people returned to their homes; 43 and David went back home to bless his family.

Chapter 17

1 Then one day, when David was in his palace, he said to the Prophet Nathan, ‘Look; here I am living in a palace of cedars, while the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah is sitting under a tent of leather skins.’

2 And Nathan said to David, ‘Then do whatever is in your heart, because God is with you!’

3 But that night, the word of Jehovah came to Nathan, saying, 4 ‘Go and tell My servant David that this is what Jehovah has said: You may not build a house for Me to stay in, 5 because I haven’t stayed in a house from the day that I started leading Israel until now. I’ve stayed in a tent protected by the covering. 6 In all the places that I’ve gone with Israel, did I ever ask any tribe of Israel or those who I put in charge of taking care of My people why they didn’t build Me a house of cedar?

7 ‘So, tell My servant David, that this is what Jehovah the Almighty had decreed: I’ve taken you out of the pastures where you followed the flocks, to lead My people Israel, 8 and I was with you wherever you went. I destroyed all your enemies from before you, and I’ve made your name one of the greatest on the earth.

9 ‘I’ve also made a place for My people Israel, and I’ve planted them there. And when they camp alone, they won’t have to be afraid anymore, for no unrighteous person will humble them as has happened in the past. 10 Why, from the days when I arranged for the Judges [to lead] My people Israel, I’ve humbled all their enemies so My [nation] would grow.

‘So now, a house will be built for Jehovah, 11 but that will happen after you’ve lived a full life and you go to sleep with your ancestors. Then I will raise a seed after you who will come from your belly, and I will prepare his kingdom. 12 He will build a house for Me, and I shall make his throne last through the ages. 13 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. And My mercy will never be removed from him, as I have removed it from those who preceded you. 14 I will entrust My House to him and his kingdom through the ages, and his name will be [remembered] through the ages.’

15 Well, Nathan then spoke those words and relayed everything in that vision to David. 16 Then King David went and sat before Jehovah and said, ‘Who am I, O Lord God… what is [so good about] my house that You’ve loved me through the age? 17 And now it seems that this thing has become less important to You, O God, for You have spoken about this House that your servant [would build] for a long time. But then You looked upon me in a vision that was given to a man and raised me up high, O Jehovah God. 18 So now, how shall I proceed to glorify You? For, Your servant knows 19 that what You have done is whatever is in Your heart, and it is all greatness.

20 ‘O Jehovah, there’s no other like You, and there’s no god other than You… no one that we’ve ever heard of. 21 And there’s no nation like Your people Israel anywhere else on earth who have been guided by You, O God… a people who You’ve ransomed for Yourself. For, You’ve given Your people a great name, and driven others away from before those who You ransomed out of the nation of Egypt. 22 And You’ve appointed Israel as Your people exclusively through the ages. Then You, O Jehovah, have become their God.

23 ‘And now, O Jehovah; concerning what You’ve said to Your servant about this house… may the words that You said be trusted through the ages! 24 And may Your Name be trusted and magnified through the ages, O Jehovah the Almighty, the God of Israel. For, You are the God of Israel and of the house of David Your servant, who now stands before You. 25 O Jehovah; you are my God, and now You’ve opened the ears of Your servant about building this house. And it’s because of this that I saw the need to pray before Your face.

26 ‘And now, O Jehovah; You are Him… God! You’ve spoken about these good things to Your servant, 27 and You’ve started blessing the house of your servant. So, may it all stand that way before You through the ages. For You, O Jehovah, have blest, and You’ve promised Your blessings through the ages!’

Chapter 18

1 After that, David attacked the Philistines and routed them, capturing Gath and all its surrounding villages from them. 2 Then he attacked Moab and made them serve him and pay him tribute. 3 David also attacked AdraAzar, the king of SoUba, at Hamath, as he was marching toward the Euphrates. 4 And there he captured a thousand chariots, seven-thousand horses, and twenty-thousand of their infantrymen. Then David had all the chariots destroyed, except for a hundred of them. 5 And when the Syrians came from Damascus to help AdraAzar, David attacked them and killed twenty-two thousand of their men, 6 and he left a garrison in Syria near Damascus. So, Syria became David’s servants and had to bring tributes to him.

Well, Jehovah watched over David, no matter where he went. 7 So David took the golden collars and other items of gold that were worn by the servants of AdraAzar, and had it all carried back to Jerusalem. 8 Then he went to MataBeth (which was one of AdraAzar’s capital cities) and he brought back a tremendous amount of brass, which Solomon later used to make the Sacred Sea, the brass columns, and many other sacred utensils.

9 Well, when Thoa the king of Hamath heard that David had beaten the army of AdraAzar (the king of SoUba), 10 he sent his son AdouRam to King David to enquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him on winning his war against AdraAzar and killing him, because Thoa had been at war with AdraAzar.

11 Then David took all the gold, silver, and brass items that he captured from the nations of Idumea, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalechites, and set them aside as holy to Jehovah. 12 For AbiShai (the son of ZeruJah) had attacked the Idumeans in the Salt Valley, where he killed eighteen-thousand of their men. 13 Then he placed a garrison in the Valley, and the Idumeans also became David’s servants.

Well, Jehovah watched over David, no matter where he went, 14 so David reigned over all Israel, and he served as a righteous judge over his people.

15 At the time, JoAb (the son of ZeruJah) was the commanding general of his army, JoSaphat (the son of AchiLoud) was the recorder, 16 Zadok (the son of AhiTub) and AhiMelech (the son of AbiAthar) were the Priests, SoUsa was the Scribe, 17 BenaiJah (the son of JehoiAda) was in charge of the Cherethites and Phelethites, and David’s sons served as his second-in-command.

Chapter 19

1 In time, NaAs (the king of the sons of Ammon) died, and his son Anan became the king in his place. 2 So David said: ‘What kind thing can I do for Anan (the son of NaAs), because his father was very kind toward me?’ Then David sent messengers to comfort him after the death of his father.

3 Well, when the servants of David arrived in the land of the Ammonites and went to Anan to comfort him, the Ammonite governors said to [Anan]: ‘Isn’t David glorifying your father over you by sending these comforters? And isn’t he really sending them to see the city and to spy in our land?’

4 So, Anan grabbed the servants of David and shaved them, then he cut off their uniforms halfway to the waist and sent them away.

5 Well, when the report of what was done to his men reached David, he sent people to meet them, because they had been very disgraced, and the king told them to stay in Jericho and not to return until their beards grew back.

6 Meanwhile, the sons of Ammon realized that they had disgraced David’s emissaries, so Anan and his men sent a shipment of thirty-five tons of silver to hire an army from MesoPotamia and from [King] MoOcha in Syria, along with chariots and cavalry. 7 They hired thirty-two thousand chariots, and King MoOcha brought his army, who camped next to MaiDaba. Also, the Ammonites gathered an army from their cities and they came to wage war [with Israel]. 8 So when David heard about this, he sent JoAb and his entire army to meet them.

9 Well, the sons of Ammon marched right up to the city gates, but the kings camped all by themselves out in the fields. 10 And when JoAb saw that they were ready to attack him from all sides, he took all the young men from the army and had them face the Syrians. 11 Then he put the rest of the army into the hands of his brother AbiShai, and they set up battle lines against the sons of Ammon. 12 And he told [his brother], ‘If the Syrians start to win, you come and help me, and if the Ammonites start to win, I’ll come to help you. 13 If we show that we’re [courageous], our people will be stronger; because these are the cities of our God, and Jehovah will do whatever is good in His eyes.’

14 So JoAb attacked the Syrians and they fled before him. 15 And when the Ammonites saw the Syrians retreating, they turned and ran from AbiShai (JoAb’s brother), and they ran into the city. Then JoAb went back to Jerusalem. 16 And when the Syrians saw that Israel had left the battle, they sent messengers to the Syrians who were camped on the other side of the river, and SoPha (the commander-in-chief of the army of AdraAzar) marched ahead of them.

17 Well, when this was reported to David, he gathered the whole army of Israel and they crossed the Jordan and set up battle lines against them. So, Syria deployed opposite David, and the battle began. 18 Then Syria again turned and ran from Israel, and David killed forty-thousand of their infantry; he captured seven-thousand of their chariots; and he killed SoPha (the commander-in-chief of their army).

19 Well, when the servants of AdraAzar saw that they had lost the battle to Israel, they signed a treaty with David and started serving him. And thereafter, the Syrians would never again come to help the sons of Ammon.

Chapter 20

1 It was during the course of that year, as the kings went to war, that JoAb led the entire army [of Israel] and they destroyed the cities of Ammon, then they went and besieged RabBah.

Now, David had stayed behind in Jerusalem as JoAb attacked RabBah and razed the city. 2 Then David [went there and] took the gold crown from the head of MolChom their king. It weighed sixty pounds and was also covered with precious stones, so David took it and wore it.

Then he looted the city and brought back a huge number of treasures. 3 He also captured the people and had them sawed in half with iron saws and with threshing machines. And that’s what David did to all the sons of Ammon. Thereafter, David returned to Jerusalem with his army.

4 However, there was still war in Gazer with the Philistines. And it was then that SoboChai cut down OuSathi the Saphite (who was from the family of giants) and dishonored him. 5 But the war with the Philistines continued, and ElLanan (the son of JaIr) killed Lachmi (the brother of Goliath the Gittite) whose wooden spear was as large as a weaving loom.

6 They also had a huge man there with twenty-four fingers and toes – six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot – who was a descendant of the giants. 7 And when he came forward and slandered Israel, JoNathan (the son of David’s brother SamaAh) attacked him and killed him.

8 These men were all born to Rapha in Gath, and all four were giants, but they all fell by the hand of David and his servants.

Chapter 21

1 Well, the Slanderer came to Israel and [he] urged David to count his people. 2 So, King David said to JoAb and his generals, ‘Go and do a census of Israel from BeerSheba to Dan, then bring [the numbers] to me, so I’ll know how many men we have [in our army].’

3 And JoAb said, ‘May Jehovah multiply His people a hundred times. But the eyes of my lord the king can see all of his servants; so, why do you want to do this, my lord? Be careful that you don’t bring a sin upon Israel.’

4 However, the king just wouldn’t listen to JoAb. So, JoAb traveled throughout all Israel, and then he returned to Jerusalem and gave the numbers of the people to David. There were a million one-hundred-thousand men who could carry the sword. 5 [In addition], among the sons of Judah there were four-hundred-and-seventy thousand. 6 However, he didn’t count [the tribes of] Levi and BenJamin as being among [the tribe of Judah], because the king told JoAb not to include them.

7 Well, doing this was wicked [in the eyes of] God, so He struck Israel. 8 Then David said to God, ‘I [was guilty of] a great sin when I did this thing! So, please forgive the evil of Your servant, because I’ve done something very foolish.’

9 Then Jehovah spoke to Gad, David’s Seer, and said, 10 ‘Go speak to David and tell him that this is what Jehovah has said: I will give you a choice of three punishments. Choose which you prefer, and I’ll bring it upon you.’

11 So, Gad went to David and told him, ‘This is what Jehovah has said, Choose for yourself 12 from these three:

· Three years of famine

· Three months of destruction and fleeing from your enemies

· Three days of death in the land, when the messenger of Jehovah goes destroying among all the inheritance of Israel.

‘Now, give me an answer for the One who sent me… which do you choose?’

13 And David told Gad, ‘Those are three very tough choices, so I’ll leave it in the hands of Jehovah, because He is exceptionally compassionate. I don’t want to leave myself in the hands of men.’

14 So, Jehovah sent death throughout all Israel, and seventy-thousand men died. 15 Then God sent His messenger to Jerusalem to wipe it out too, but as he was destroying it, Jehovah saw what was happening and felt sorry for the evil. So He said to the messenger who was doing the destroying, ‘That’s enough; stay your hand!’

And at the time, the messenger of Jehovah was standing at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 For, David looked up and saw the messenger of Jehovah standing there between the earth and the sky with an unsheathed broadsword in his hand that was stretched out over Jerusalem, and David fell to the ground. Then the elders put on sackcloth and covered their faces.

17 And David said to God, ‘Wasn’t it me who told them to count the people? I’m the one who sinned! I’m the one who told them to do this bad thing! And these sheep; what did they do, O Jehovah God? Bring Your hand and Your destruction against me and the house of my father, not against Your people, O Jehovah.’

18 Then the messenger of Jehovah told Gad, ‘Now, tell David to build an Altar to Jehovah at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.’

19 So David went and did what Gad had told him in the Name of Jehovah. 20 And when Ornan turned and saw the king and four of his sons coming, he hid himself.

Well, Ornan had been threshing wheat at the time. 21 So, David walked toward Ornan, and he came down off the threshing floor and bowed with his face to the ground before David. 22 Then David said, ‘Give me your threshing floor, because I want to build an Altar to Jehovah upon it. Tell me how much you want for it, because this will bring an end to the calamity that has been plaguing the people.’

23 And Ornan said to David, ‘Take it! And may my lord the king do whatever he thinks is best. Why look; here are some calves to sacrifice as whole-burnt offerings, as well as some wood and grain. I give it all to you!’

24 And David said to Ornan, ‘No, I want to pay you whatever it’s worth, because there’s no way that I’ll take what’s yours for Jehovah and sacrifice a whole-burnt offering for myself free of charge.’

25 So, David paid Ornan six-hundred weighed gold coins for his place, 26 then he built an Altar to Jehovah there and sacrificed whole-burnt offerings and a deliverance offering, as he yelled out to Jehovah.

Well, Jehovah listened to him from the heavens as he stood there by the fire and the whole-burnt offerings on the Altar. 27 And Jehovah spoke to the messenger, and he put the broadsword back into its sheath. 28 Then David saw that Jehovah had listened to him there at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, where he had offered the sacrifices.

29 At the time, the Tent of Jehovah that Mose