Two sons were born to Eber: the first was named Peleg, for during his lifetime the earth was divided; his brother's name was Joktan.

The sons to whom Keturah, Abraham's concubine, gave birth: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bathshua, a Canaanite woman. Er, Judah's firstborn, displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him.

Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

The son of Carmi: Achan, who brought the disaster on Israel when he stole what was devoted to God.

The sons born to Hezron: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.

After Hezron's death, Caleb had sexual relations with Ephrath, his father Hezron's widow, and she bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

Sheshan gave his daughter to his servant Jarha as a wife; she bore him Attai.

These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel; the second was Daniel, whose mother was Abigail from Carmel;

These six were born to David in Hebron, where he ruled for seven years and six months. He ruled thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

These were the sons born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon -- the mother of these four was Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel.

Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

Jabez was more respected than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, for she said, "I experienced pain when I gave birth to him."

Jabez called out to the God of Israel, "If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!" God answered his prayer.

The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered's wife Bithiah gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa.

(His Judahite wife gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) These were the sons of Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah, whom Mered married.

They went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east of the valley, looking for pasture for their sheep.

They found fertile and rich pasture; the land was very broad, undisturbed and peaceful. Indeed some Hamites had been living there prior to that.

The men whose names are listed came during the time of King Hezekiah of Judah and attacked the Hamites' settlements, as well as the Meunites they discovered there, and they wiped them out to this very day. They dispossessed them, for they found pasture for their sheep there.

Five hundred men of Simeon, led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, went to the hill country of Seir

and defeated the rest of the Amalekite refugees; they live there to this very day.

The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn -- (Now he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father's bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph, Israel's son. So Reuben is not listed as firstborn in the genealogical records.

Though Judah was the strongest among his brothers and a leader descended from him, the right of the firstborn belonged to Joseph.)

In the east they settled as far as the entrance to the desert that stretches to the Euphrates River, for their cattle had increased in numbers in the land of Gilead.

Their relatives, listed according to their families, included Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber -- seven in all.

They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its surrounding settlements, and in the pasturelands of Sharon to their very borders.

They received divine help in fighting them, and the Hagrites and all their allies were handed over to them. They cried out to God during the battle; he responded to their prayers because they trusted in him.

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors and worshiped instead the gods of the native peoples whom God had destroyed before them.

So the God of Israel stirred up King Pul of Assyria (that is, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria), and he carried away the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh and took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this very day.

To Gershom: His son Libni, his son Jahath, his son Zimmah,

They performed music before the sanctuary of the meeting tent until Solomon built the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. They carried out their tasks according to regulations.

son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah,

The rest of their fellow Levites were assigned to perform the remaining tasks at God's sanctuary.

But Aaron and his descendants offered sacrifices on the altar for burnt offerings and on the altar for incense as they had been assigned to do in the most holy sanctuary. They made atonement for Israel, just as God's servant Moses had ordered.

These were the areas where Aaron's descendants lived: The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment:

(But the city's land and nearby towns were allotted to Caleb son of Jephunneh.)

So the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands.

The following belonged to Gershom's descendants: Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands.

The following belonged to the rest of Merari's descendants: Within the territory of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and its pasturelands, and Tabor and its pasturelands.

According to the genealogical records of their families, they had 36,000 warriors available for battle, for they had numerous wives and sons.

All these were the sons of Jediael. Listed in their genealogical records were 17,200 family leaders and warriors who were capable of marching out to battle.

The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, who was born to Manasseh's Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Makir the father of Gilead.

Maacah, Makir's wife, gave birth to a son, whom she named Peresh. His brother was Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rekem.

His sister Hammoleketh gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.

his son Zabad, his son Shuthelah (Ezer and Elead were killed by the men of Gath, who were natives of the land, when they went down to steal their cattle.

Their father Ephraim mourned for them many days and his brothers came to console him.

He had sexual relations with his wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Ephraim named him Beriah because tragedy had come to his family.

Their property and settlements included Bethel and its surrounding towns, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its surrounding towns to the west, and Shechem and its surrounding towns as far as Ayyah and its surrounding towns.

These were the descendants of Ehud who were leaders of the families living in Geba who were forced to move to Manahath:

The people of Judah were carried away to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

The first to resettle on their property and in their cities were some Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.

Their relatives, who were leaders of their families, numbered 1,760. They were capable men who were assigned to carry out the various tasks of service in God's temple.

he serves to this day at the King's Gate on the east. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the descendants of Levi.

Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his relatives from his family (the Korahites) were assigned to guard the entrance to the sanctuary. Their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the Lord's dwelling place.

Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the guard at the entrance to the meeting tent.

All those selected to be gatekeepers at the entrances numbered 212. Their names were recorded in the genealogical records of their settlements. David and Samuel the prophet had appointed them to their positions.

They and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the Lord's sanctuary (that is, the tabernacle).

Their relatives, who lived in their settlements, came from time to time and served with them for seven-day periods.

The four head gatekeepers, who were Levites, were assigned to guard the storerooms and treasuries in God's sanctuary.

They would spend the night in their posts all around God's sanctuary, for they were assigned to guard it and would open it with the key every morning.

The musicians and Levite family leaders stayed in rooms at the sanctuary and were exempt from other duties, for day and night they had to carry out their assigned tasks.

Saul told his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and stab me with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come and torture me." But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa.

They stripped his corpse, and then carried off his head and his armor. They sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines proclaiming the news to their idols and their people.

When all the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul,

all the warriors went and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their remains under the oak tree in Jabesh and fasted for seven days.

So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord's instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits.

He did not seek the Lord's guidance, so the Lord killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

In the past, even when Saul was king, you were Israel's commanding general. The Lord your God said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over my people Israel.'"

When all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord. They anointed David king over Israel, just as the Lord had announced through Samuel.

David and the whole Israelite army advanced to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). (The Jebusites, the land's original inhabitants, lived there.)

The residents of Jebus said to David, "You cannot invade this place!" But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

He built up the city around it, from the terrace to the surrounding walls; Joab restored the rest of the city.

Three of the thirty leaders went down to David at the rocky cliff at the cave of Adullam, while a Philistine force was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.

David was thirsty and said, "How I wish someone would give me some water to drink from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate!"

So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the city gate. They carried it back to David, but David refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

and said, "God forbid that I should do this! Should I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?" Because they risked their lives to bring it to him, he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a brave warrior from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab; he also went down and killed a lion inside a cistern on a snowy day.

They crossed the Jordan River in the first month, when it was overflowing its banks, and routed those living in all the valleys to the east and west.

Some from Benjamin and Judah also came to David's stronghold.

David went out to meet them and said, "If you come to me in peace and want to help me, then I will make an alliance with you. But if you come to betray me to my enemies when I have not harmed you, may the God of our ancestors take notice and judge!"

Some men from Manasseh joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (But in the end they did not help the Philistines because, after taking counsel, the Philistine lords sent David away, saying: "It would be disastrous for us if he deserts to his master Saul.")

When David went to Ziklag, the men of Manasseh who joined him were Adnach, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, leaders of a thousand soldiers each in the tribe of Manasseh.

Each day men came to help David until his army became very large.

The following is a record of the armed warriors who came with their leaders and joined David in Hebron in order to make David king in Saul's place, in accordance with the Lord's decree:

along with Zadok, a young warrior, and twenty-two leaders from his family.

From Benjamin, Saul's tribe, there were 3,000, most of whom, up to that time, had been loyal to Saul.

From Ephraim there were 20,800 warriors, who had brought fame to their families.

From the half tribe of Manasseh there were 18,000 who had been designated by name to come and make David king.

From Issachar there were 200 leaders and all their relatives at their command -- they understood the times and knew what Israel should do.

From Zebulun there were 50,000 warriors who were prepared for battle, equipped with all kinds of weapons, and ready to give their undivided loyalty.

All these men were warriors who were ready to march. They came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel by acclamation; all the rest of the Israelites also were in agreement that David should become king.

David said to the whole Israelite assembly, "If you so desire and the Lord our God approves, let's spread the word to our brothers who remain in all the regions of Israel, and to the priests and Levites in their cities, so they may join us.

The whole assembly agreed to do this, for the proposal seemed right to all the people.

So David assembled all Israel from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim.

David and all Israel went up to Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim) in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who sits enthroned between the cherubim -- the ark that is called by his name.

When they arrived at the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to take hold of the ark, because the oxen stumbled.

David was angry because the Lord attacked Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, which remains its name to this very day.

David was afraid of God that day and said, "How will I ever be able to bring the ark of God up here?"

So David did not move the ark to the City of David; he left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.