The men who joined David's army at Ziklag

12 David went to Ziklag town because King Saul, the son of Kish, had chased him away. Many brave men went to David there. They were some of the brave soldiers who helped David to fight in war. ² They could shoot with bows and arrows. They could use slings to throw stones with either their right hand or their left hand. They were relatives of Saul, from Benjamin's tribe. Their names were:

The men of Gad's tribe who joined David's army

⁸ Many soldiers from Gad's tribe joined David's army at his strong place in the desert. These men were brave soldiers who knew how to fight well. They could use shields and spears. They could fight like lions. They could run as fast as deer on the mountains.

⁹ Ezer was their leader. After him there were: Obadiah (2), Eliab (3), ¹⁰ Mishmannah (4), Jeremiah (5), ¹¹ Attai (6), Eliel (7), ¹² Johanan (8), Elzabad (9), ¹³ Jeremiah (10), and Makbannai (11).^[a]

¹⁴ These descendants of Gad were leaders in the army. The least important officer among them led 100 soldiers. The greatest officer led 1,000 soldiers. ¹⁵ Those men went across to the west side of the Jordan River during the first month of the year.^[b] At that time the water in the river was very deep and wide. They chased away the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.

¹⁶ Some other men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David in his strong place. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them. He said to them, ‘I hope that you have come here as my friends. If you have come to help me, I will make an agreement with you. But I hope that you have not come here to help my enemies and to tell them where I am hiding. I have not done anything wrong. So I pray that the God of our ancestors will see what you do. He will punish you as you deserve!’

¹⁸ Then God's Spirit came to Amasai with power. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers. He said,

So David accepted them as his friends. He made them officers in his army.

The men of Manasseh's tribe who joined David's army

¹⁹ Some men from Manasseh's tribe also joined David's army. That was at the time when David joined with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men were not able to help the Philistines like that. That was because the leaders of the Philistines decided to send David and his men away. They said, ‘David may turn against us and go to help his master Saul, instead. If he does that, we will all be dead!’

²⁰ So David returned to Ziklag. These men from Manasseh's tribe joined David's army at that time:

²¹ All those men were brave soldiers and they became officers in David's army. They helped David to fight against the enemy's soldiers when they attacked.

²² Every day more men came to help David. So his army became very large and powerful, like God's own army.

The men who joined David's army at Hebron

²³ This is a list of the soldiers who joined David's army at Hebron. They came with their officers and they were ready to fight. They wanted to help David become king of Israel instead of Saul. The Lord had promised that this would happen.

²⁴ From Judah's tribe, there were 6,800 men who carried shields and spears. They knew how to fight well.

²⁵ From Simeon's tribe, there were 7,100 strong men who knew how to fight well.

²⁶ From Levi's tribe, there were 4,600 men. ²⁷ Jehoiada was the leader of the men who were Aaron's descendants. He brought 3,700 men with him. ²⁸ Zadok was also in that group. He was a brave young soldier. There were also 22 officers who belonged to his clan.

²⁹ From Benjamin's tribe that Saul belonged to, there were 3,000 men. Most of those men had served Saul faithfully until that time.

³⁰ From Ephraim's tribe, there were 20,800 men who were brave soldiers. The people in their clans respected them very much.

³¹ From the half tribe of Manasseh on the west side of the Jordan River, there were 18,000 men. Their clans had chosen those men to go and help David become their king.

³² From Issachar's tribe, there were 200 officers and their relatives who obeyed their commands. Those officers understood that this was an important time for Israel. They knew what Israel should do.

³³ From Zebulun's tribe, there were 50,000 brave men who were ready to fight. They knew how to use many different kinds of weapons. They were completely faithful to David.

³⁴ From Naphtali's tribe, there were 1,000 officers and 37,000 men who carried shields and spears.

³⁵ From Dan's tribe, there were 28,600 men who were ready for war.

³⁶ From Asher's tribe there were 40,000 soldiers who were ready for war.

³⁷ From the east side of the Jordan River, there were 120,000 soldiers who knew how to use many different kinds of weapons. Those men belonged to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the other half tribe of Manasseh.

³⁸ All those men were soldiers who were ready to fight in war. They came to David in Hebron because they wanted to make him king to rule all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed that David should become king. ³⁹ The men stayed there with David for three days. Their relatives had prepared a lot of food for them. So they enjoyed a big feast together. ⁴⁰ People also came from places as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. So there was plenty of flour to make bread, and lots of figs, raisins, wine, olive oil, cows and sheep. All the Israelites had a very happy party!