The Merarites were assigned by lot 12 towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun according to their families.

They assigned by lot the towns named above from the tribes of the Judahites, Simeonites, and Benjaminites.

Some of the families of the Kohathites were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim for their territory:

From half the tribe of Manasseh, Aner and its pasturelands, and Bileam and its pasturelands were given to the rest of the families of the Kohathites.

The Gershomites received:

Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands, and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands from the families of half the tribe of Manasseh.

From the tribe of Issachar they received Kedesh and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands,

From the tribe of Asher they received Mashal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands,

From the tribe of Naphtali they received Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammon and its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands.

The rest of the Merarites received:

From the tribe of Zebulun they received Rimmono and its pasturelands and Tabor and its pasturelands.

From the tribe of Reuben across the Jordan at Jericho, to the east of the Jordan, they received Bezer in the desert and its pasturelands, Jahzah and its pasturelands,

From the tribe of Gad they received Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands,

Machir took wives from Huppim and Shuppim. The name of his sister was Maacah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, but he had only daughters.

These people from the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh settled in Jerusalem:

from the Shilonites:
Asaiah the firstborn and his sons;

and from the sons of Zerah:
Jeuel and 690 of their relatives.

he was previously stationed at the King’s Gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the Levites.

Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah and his relatives from his ancestral household, the Korahites, were assigned to guard the thresholds of the tent. Their ancestors had been assigned to the Lord’s camp as guardians of the entrance.

Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to be with them seven days,

The singers, the heads of the Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other tasks because they were on duty day and night.

The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa.

He built up the city all the way around, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding parts, and Joab restored the rest of the city.

He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had gathered there for battle. There was a portion of a field full of barley, where the troops had fled from the Philistines.

David was extremely thirsty and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!”

So the Three broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the son of a brave man from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

Ithai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjaminites,
Benaiah the Pirathonite,

Hurai from the wadis of Gaash,
Abiel the Arbathite,

The following were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still banned from the presence of Saul son of Kish. They were among the warriors who helped him in battle.

They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow. They were Saul’s relatives from Benjamin:

and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

Other Benjaminites and men from Judah also went to David at the stronghold.

When David went to Ziklag, some men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

From the Judahites: 6,800 armed troops bearing shields and spears.

From the Simeonites: 7,100 brave warriors ready for war.

From the Levites: 4,600

and Zadok, a young brave warrior, with 22 commanders from his own ancestral house.

From the Benjaminites, the relatives of Saul: 3,000 (up to that time the majority of the Benjaminites maintained their allegiance to the house of Saul).

From the Ephraimites: 20,800 brave warriors who were famous men in their ancestral houses.

From half the tribe of Manasseh: 18,000 designated by name to come and make David king.

From the Issacharites, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their relatives under their command.

From Zebulun: 50,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, with one purpose to help David.

From Naphtali: 1,000 commanders accompanied by 37,000 men with shield and spear.

From the Danites: 28,600 trained for battle.

From Asher: 40,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle.

From across the Jordan—from the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: 120,000 men equipped with all the military weapons of war.

In addition, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came and brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—abundant provisions of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine and oil, oxen, and sheep. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.

Then he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is from the Lord our God, let us spread out and send the message to the rest of our relatives in all the districts of Israel, including the priests and Levites in their cities with pasturelands, that they should gather together with us.

So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

David and all Israel went to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah) to take the ark of God from there, which is called by the name of the Lord who dwells between the cherubim.

So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees.

So David did exactly as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.

From the Kohathites, Uriel the leader and 120 of his relatives;

from the Merarites, Asaiah the leader and 220 of his relatives;

from the Gershomites, Joel the leader and 130 of his relatives;

from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the leader and 200 of his relatives;

from the Hebronites, Eliel the leader and 80 of his relatives;

from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the leader and 112 of his relatives.

So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his relatives, Asaph son of Berechiah; and from their relatives the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah.

David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

wandering from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another,

Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Proclaim His salvation from day to day.

And say: “Save us, God of our salvation;
gather us and rescue us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to Your holy name
and rejoice in Your praise.

May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.”

Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

From the time I brought Israel out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have moved from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle.

“Now this is what you will say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will not take away My faithful love from him as I took it from the one who was before you.

And who is like Your people Israel? God, You came to one nation on earth to redeem a people for Yourself, to make a name for Yourself through great and awesome works by driving out nations before Your people You redeemed from Egypt.

After this, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from Philistine control.

David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers from him, hamstrung all the horses, and kept 100 chariots.

From Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer’s cities, David also took huge quantities of bronze, from which Solomon made the bronze reservoir, the pillars, and the bronze articles.

King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had carried off from all the nations—from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.

When the Ammonites realized they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 38 tons of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.

They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites also came together from their cities for the battle.

Then David took the crown from the head of their king, and it was placed on David’s head. He found that the crown weighed 75 pounds of gold, and there was a precious stone in it. In addition, David took away a large quantity of plunder from the city.

There was still another battle at Gath where there was a man of extraordinary stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—24 in all. He, too, was descended from the giant.

So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number.”

He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.

Together with Zadok from the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech from the sons of Ithamar, David divided them according to the assigned duties of their service.

Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than Ithamar’s, they were divided accordingly: 16 heads of ancestral houses were from Eleazar’s descendants, and eight heads of ancestral houses were from Ithamar’s.

These had their assigned duties for service when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to their regulations, which they received from their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

As for the rest of Levi’s sons:
from Amram’s sons: Shubael;
from Shubael’s sons: Jehdeiah.

From Rehabiah:
from Rehabiah’s sons: Isshiah was the first.

From the Izharites: Shelomoth;
from Shelomoth’s sons: Jahath.

From Uzziel’s sons: Micah;
from Micah’s sons: Shamir.

Micah’s brother: Isshiah;
from Isshiah’s sons: Zechariah.

Merari’s sons: Mahli and Mushi,
and from his sons, Jaaziah his son.

From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.

From Kish, from Kish’s sons: Jerahmeel.

From Asaph’s sons:
Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph, under Asaph’s authority, who prophesied under the authority of the king.

From Jeduthun: Jeduthun’s sons:
Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six—under the authority of their father Jeduthun, prophesying to the accompaniment of lyres, giving thanks and praise to the Lord.

From Heman: Heman’s sons:
Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.

The following were the divisions of the gatekeepers:

From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.

All of these were among the sons of Obed-edom with their sons and brothers; they were capable men with strength for the work—62 from Obed-edom.

Hosah, from the Merarites, also had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father had appointed him as the first),

Those were the divisions of the gatekeepers from the sons of the Korahites and Merarites.

From the Levites, Ahijah was in charge of the treasuries of God’s temple and the treasuries of what had been dedicated.

From the sons of Ladan, who were the sons of the Gershonites through Ladan and were the heads of families belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.

From the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites: