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

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.

Attai was the father of Nathan, and Nathan was the father of Zabad.

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 Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, the clans of the linen workers at Beth-Ashbea,

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.

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.

his son Joah, his son Iddo, his son Zerah, and his son Jeatherai.

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 Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah,

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

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.

Beriah, and Shema. They were leaders of the families living in Aijalon and chased out the inhabitants of Gath.

Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.

Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malkijah; and Maasai son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer.

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.

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 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.

Some of them were in charge of the articles used by those who served; they counted them when they brought them in and when they brought them out.

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.

All Israel joined David at Hebron and said, "Look, we are your very flesh and blood!

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 lived in the fortress; for this reason it is called 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.

but then they made a stand in the middle of that area. They defended it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

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 in the stronghold at the time, while a Philistine garrison was in Bethlehem.

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.

He even killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall. The Egyptian had a spear as big as the crossbeam of a weaver's loom; Benaiah attacked him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.

Some of the Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the desert. They were warriors who were trained for battle; they carried shields and spears. They were as fierce as lions and could run as quickly as gazelles across the hills.

Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,

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.

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.")

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

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

The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him, because he reached out his hand and touched the ark. He died right there before God.

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

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of all Israel, all the Philistines marched up to confront him. When David heard about it, he marched out against them.

So they marched against Baal Perazim and David defeated them there. David said, "Using me as his instrument, God has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out." So that place is called Baal Perazim.

So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, "Don't march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army of the Philistines."

David constructed buildings in the City of David; he then prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring the ark of the Lord up to the place he had prepared for it.

He told them: "You are the leaders of the Levites' families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves and bring the ark of the Lord God of Israel up to the place I have prepared for it.

The first time you did not carry it; that is why the Lord God attacked us, because we did not ask him about the proper way to carry it."

As the ark of the Lord's covenant entered the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out the window. When she saw King David jumping and celebrating, she despised him.

They brought the ark of God and put it in the middle of the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

He then handed out to each Israelite man and woman a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.

He is the Lord our God; he carries out judgment throughout the earth.

He gave it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as a lasting promise,

When they were few in number, just a very few, and foreign residents within it,

Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is established, it cannot be moved.

Let the sea and everything in it shout! Let the fields and everything in them celebrate!

including Obed-Edom and sixty-eight colleagues. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah were gatekeepers.

Zadok the priest and his fellow priests served before the Lord's tabernacle at the worship center in Gibeon,

regularly offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar for burnt sacrifice, morning and evening, according to what is prescribed in the law of the Lord which he charged Israel to observe.

"Go, tell my servant David: 'This is what the Lord says: "You must not build me a house in which to live.

"So now, say this to my servant David: 'This is what the Lord who commands armies says: "I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you a leader of my people Israel.

I will become his father and he will become my son. I will never withhold my loyal love from him, as I withheld it from the one who ruled before you.

David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

And you did not stop there, O God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant's family. You have revealed to me what men long to know, O Lord God.

What more can David say to you? You have honored your servant; you have given your servant special recognition.

O Lord, there is none like you; there is no God besides you! What we heard is true!

And who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation in the earth? Their God went to claim a nation for himself! You made a name for yourself by doing great and awesome deeds when you drove out nations before your people whom you had delivered from the Egyptian empire and its gods.

so it may become a reality and you may gain lasting fame, as people say, 'The Lord who commands armies is the God of Israel.' David's dynasty will be established before you,

Now you are willing to bless your servant's dynasty so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O Lord, have blessed it and it will be blessed from now on into the future."

From Tibhath and Kun, Hadadezer's cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called "The Sea," the pillars, and other bronze items.

he sent his son Hadoram to King David to extend his best wishes and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer. He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.

the Ammonite officials said to Hanun, "Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? No, his servants have come to you so they can get information and spy out the land!"

Messengers came and told David what had happened to the men, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards grow again; then you may come back."

They hired 32,000 chariots, along with the king of Maacah and his army, who came and camped in front of Medeba. The Ammonites also assembled from their cities and marched out to do battle.

The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

Be strong! Let's fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!"

In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.

David took the crown from the head of their king and wore it (its weight was a talent of gold and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city.

Later there was a battle with the Philistines in Gezer. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.

God was also offended by it, so he attacked Israel.

"Go, tell David, 'This is what the Lord says: "I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them."'"

Gad went to David and told him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Pick one of these:

three years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck down by their swords, or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land and the Lord's messenger will destroy throughout Israel's territory.' Now, decide what I should tell the one who sent me."

David looked up and saw the Lord's messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.

David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep -- what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

While Ornan was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the messenger, and he and his four sons hid themselves.

When David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David; he came out from the threshing floor and bowed to David with his face to the ground.

David said to Ornan, "Sell me the threshing floor so I can build on it an altar for the Lord -- I'll pay top price -- so that the plague may be removed from the people."

Ornan told David, "You can have it! My master, the king, may do what he wants. Look, I am giving you the oxen for burnt sacrifices, the threshing sledges for wood, and the wheat for an offering. I give it all to you."

King David replied to Ornan, "No, I insist on buying it for top price. I will not offer to the Lord what belongs to you or offer a burnt sacrifice that cost me nothing.

David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. He called out to the Lord, and the Lord responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar.

At that time, when David saw that the Lord responded to him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

Now the Lord's tabernacle (which Moses had made in the wilderness) and the altar for burnt sacrifices were at that time at the worship center in Gibeon.

But David could not go before it to seek God's will, for he was afraid of the sword of the Lord's messenger.

David said, "My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man, and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for its construction." So David made extensive preparations before he died.

Now, look, I have made every effort to supply what is needed to build the Lord's temple. I have stored up 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, and so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed, as well as wood and stones. Feel free to add more!

These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord's temple and were twenty years old and up.