¹• Adam, • Seth, • Enosh, ²• Kainan, • MaHalaleEl, • JaRed, ³• Enoch, • MethuSelah, • Lamech, ⁴• Noah.Noah’s sons were:• Shem, • Ham, and • JaPheth.⁵JaPheth’s sons were:• Gomer, • Magog, • Madai, • Javan, • EliSha, • Tubal, • MeShech, and • Thiras.⁶Gomer’s sons were:• AshKenaz, • RiPhath, and • TogarMah.⁷Javan’s sons were:• EliSha, • Tharsis, • KitTim, and • Rodanim.⁸Ham’s sons were:• Kush, • Mesraim, • Put, and • CanaAn.⁹Kush’s sons were:• Saba, • HaviLah, • SaBatha, • RegMa, and • SebethAha.RegMa’s sons were:• SheBa, and • DeDan.¹⁰It was Kush who [also] fathered NimRod, who became a giant on the earth.[Editor note: Our Greek Septuagint source text doesn’t include verses 11 to 16, or verses 18 to 23. Perhaps someone added these extra names into the Hebrew text after the Greek translation was completed, or maybe there’s some other explanation.] ¹¹Mizraim’s sons were:• Ludim, • Anamim, • Lehabim, • Naphtuhim, ¹²• Pathrusim, • Casluhim (where the Philistines came from), and • Caphtorim.¹³Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, plus:• Heth, ¹⁴• The Jebusites, • The Amorites, • The Girgashite, ¹⁵• The Hivites, • The Arkites, • The Sinites, ¹⁶• The Arvadites, • The Zemarites, and • The Hamathite.[Editor note: As you’ll see, these insertions appear right in the middle of the list of Shem’s sons, but not in our Greek Septuagint source.] ¹⁷Shem’s descendants were:• ElAm, • AsSur, ¹⁸Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber.¹⁹To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.²⁰Joktan became the father of:• Almodad, • Sheleph, • Hazarmaveth, • Jerah, • ²¹Hadoram, • Uzal, • Diklah, ²²• Ebal, • Abimael, • Sheba, ²³• Ophir, • Havilah, and • Jobab.All these were the sons of Joktan.²⁴and • ArphaxAd.²⁵[Then, from ArphaxAd came] SheLah, [whose son was] Heber...• [Whose son was] Peleg, • [Whose son was] Ragau, ²⁶• [Whose son was] Seruk, • [Whose son was] NaHor, and • [Whose son was] Terah.²⁷AbraHam’s sons were:²⁸• IsaAc, and • IshMaEl.²⁹These 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.³²The sons of KeTurAh (AbraHam’s concubine) were:• ZemBram, • JexAn, • MidiAn, • MeDan, • Sobak, and • Soe.The sons of JexAn were DeDan and SheBa.³³The sons of MidiAn were:• GaiPhar, • Opher, • Enok, • AviDa, and • ElLada.These were the sons of KeTurAh.³⁴AbraHam fathered IsaAc, and IsaAc’s sons were:• Jacob, and • Esau.³⁵Esau’s sons were:• EliPhaz, • RagouEl, • JeSous, • JegLam, and • Koreh.³⁶The sons of EliPhaz were:• ThaiMan, • Omar, • ZepPhoue, • GoOtham, and • Kanez.Also, through ThamNa, he had a son named Amalec.³⁷The sons of RagouEl were:• NaCheth, • ZaRe, • SamMah, and • Mazeh.³⁸The sons of SeEir were:• LoTan, • Soubal, • SebeGon, • Ana, • DeSon, • Asar, and • Disan.³⁹LoTan’s sons were:• ChorRei, and • Imam.LoTan also had a sister named ThamNa.⁴⁰Soubal’s sons were:• AlouAm, • ManaAth, • Oubal, • SapPhei, and • Onam.SebeGon’s sons were:• Aia, and • Ana.⁴¹Ana’s son was DeSon, and DeSon’s sons were:• Amadan, • EseBan, • JeThran, and • CharRan.⁴²Asar’s sons were:• BalaAn, • ZaAn, and • JoKan.DeSon’s sons were:•Uz, and •Aran.⁴³These are the kings who ruled in Edom before there were any kings in IsraEl:• First, there was Balak (son of BeOr), [who ruled from] DenNaba.⁴⁴• When he died, Jobab (son of ZaRa) started reigning from BozRah.⁴⁵• After Jobab died, Asom (who was from the land of the Temanites) became the king.• ⁴⁶Then after Asom died, Adad (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• After SebLa died, Saul from RobOth by the River became the king.⁴⁹• Then Saul died and BelaEnNor (son of AchObor) became the king.⁵⁰• And when BelaEnNor died, Adad (son of BarAd) started ruling after him. The name of his city was PhoGor.⁵¹These 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.

¹These are the names of the sons and Lords of IsraEl:• ReuBen, • SimeOn, • Levi, • Judah, • IsSachar, • ZebuLun, ²• Dan, • JoSeph, • BenJamin, • NaphTali, • Gad, and • Asher.³The 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. ⁴Then through his daughter-in-law Tamar, he fathered Perez and Zerah.So, all 5 were the sons of Judah.⁵The sons of Perez were:• HezRon, and • JemouEl.⁶The sons of Zerah were:• ZamBri, • AiThan, • HeMan, • KalChal, and • Darad.[A total of] 5 sons.⁷The son of CharMi was Achar, who brought trouble on IsraEl by breaking the agreement [with God] and was then destroyed.⁸The son of AiThan was AzariJah.⁹The sons of HezRon that were born to him through JaRameEl were:• Aram, and • ChelubAi.¹⁰Then Aram fathered AmiNadab, and AmiNadab fathered NahShon, who became the head of the house of Judah.¹¹NahShon fathered SalMon, SalMon fathered BoAz, ¹²BoAz fathered Obed, and Obed fathered JesSe.¹³JesSe’s sons were:• EliAb (the firstborn), • AmiNadab (the 2nd), • SamaAh (the 3rd), ¹⁴• NathaniEl (the 4th), • ZadDai (the 5th), ¹⁵• Asom (the 6th), and • David (the 7th).¹⁶Their sisters were ZeruJah and AbiGail.The three sons of ZeruJah were:• AbiShai, • JoAb, and • AsahEl.¹⁷AbiGail gave birth to AmaSa (whose father was JoThor the IshMaElite) ¹⁸and Caleb (son of HezRon). He then took Azouba (the daughter of JeriOth) as his woman, and these are her sons:• JaSar, • Soubab, and • Orna.¹⁹Then Azouba died and Caleb married EphRath, who gave birth to Or.²⁰Or then fathered Ouri, and Ouri fathered BeseleEl.²¹It was after this that Lord HezRon [had sex with] the daughter of MachIr (who was the father of GileAd); then he married her when he was 65 years old and she gave birth to SegUb.²²Then SegUb fathered JaIr, who [ruled over] 23 cities in GileAd.²³Then GedSur and Aram took JaIr’s villages (including KaNath – some 60 villages all together), which belonged to the sons of MachIr, the father of GileAd.²⁴It was after HezRon died that Lord Caleb moved to EphRatha. HezRon’s woman was AbiJah, and she gave birth to AsChod, who became the father of ThekoE.²⁵These are the sons of JaRameEl (HezRon’s firstborn):• Ram (his firstborn), • then BaAna, • then Aran, and • his brother Asom.²⁶But JaRameEl also had another woman whose name was Atara, and she was the mother of Ozom.²⁷These were the sons of Ram:• JaRameEl (his firstborn), • then MaAs, • JaMin, and • Akor.²⁸Ozom’s sons were:• SamAi, and • JaDae.The sons of SamAi were:• NaDab, and • AbiShur.²⁹Then AbiShur married AbiHail and she gave birth to:• AchAbar, and • ModDi.³⁰The sons of NaDab were:• Seled, and • AphaIn.Then Lord Seled died without any children, ³¹but [his brother] AphaIn fathered IshEmiEl, who fathered SoSan, and SoSan fathered AadAi.³²The sons of AadAi were:• AchiSamas, • JeTher, and • JoNathan.Then Lord JeTher died without having any children.³³But the sons of JoNathan were:• PhalEd, and • Ozam.These were all descendants of JaRameEl.³⁴Now, no sons were born to SoSan, just daughters. But SoSan was given a [male] Egyptian slave named JochEl, ³⁵and he gave his daughter [to this slave] as his woman, then she gave birth to Ethi.³⁶Thereafter:• 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 EliShama, and • EliShama fathered IshMaEl.⁴²The firstborn son of Caleb (JaRameEl’s brother) was MariSha, who fathered:• Ziph, and • HebRon.⁴³HebRon’s sons were:• KorAh, • ThaPhous, • Rekom, and • SamaAh.⁴⁴SamaAh fathered RaEm, and he fathered JekLan. JekLan then fathered SamAi, ⁴⁵and SamAi’s son was MaOn, who founded BethZur.⁴⁶Caleb’s concubine GaiPha gave birth to:• ArRan, • Mosa, and • GezoWe.⁴⁷The sons of Caleb’s concubine AdDai were:• Ragem, • JoAtham, • Sogar, • Phalek, • GaiPha, and • SagaE.⁴⁸And his sons through his concubine Mocha were:•Saber, • ThaRam, ⁴⁹and • SagaE.[And SagaE] fathered:• MarMena, • MachaMena, and • GaiBaAh.Caleb also had a daughter named AshChah. ⁵⁰These were the descendants of Caleb.The sons of Or were:• EphRatha (his firstborn), • SoBal (who founded KiriAth JaiRim), ⁵¹and • Arim (who founded BethGedor).⁵²These are the sons of SoBal (the founder of KiriAth JaiRim, AraAh, AiSi, AmManith, ⁵³OumasPhae, and the city of JaIr):• AiThalim, • MiphiThim, • EsamaThim, and • EmaSaraim.They were the ones who fathered the SaraThaeans and the sons of EsthaAm.⁵⁴Salma’s [descendants] founded BethLehem, as well as:• The NetoPhathites, • AtarOth of the house of JoAb, • Half of the houses of MaLathi and EsAri, ⁵⁵• The families of the scribes that live in JaBish, • The TharGathiIm, • The SamathiIm, • The Sochathim (the KinaEans), • Those who come from MeSema, and • He was the father of the house of RechAb.

¹These are the sons of David who were born to him in HebRon:• The firstborn was AmNon, whose mother was AchinaAm the JezreElite.• The 2nd was DaniEl, son of AbiGail the CarMelite.²• The 3rd was AbSalom, son of Mocha, who was the daughter of TholMai the king of GedsoUr.• The 4th was AdoniJah, son of HagGith.³• The 5th was ShaphatiYa.⁴These sons were born to him in HebRon, where he reigned for 7 years and 6 months.After that, he reigned in JeruSalem for 33 years, ⁵and 4 sons were born to him there through BathSheba (the daughter of AmiEl). They were:• KamaAh, • SoBab, • Nathan, and • Solomon.⁶There was also:• Ebar, • EliSha, • EliPhaleth, ⁷• NagAi , • NaPhek, • HeAphie, ⁸• EliSama, • EliAda, and • EliPhala…Yes, 9 sons that were born to David, ⁹in addition to the sons of his concubines and his sister, Tamar.¹⁰The descendants of Solomon were:• RehoBoam, • Then his son AbiJah, • Then his son Asa, • Then his son JehoShaphat, • Then his son ¹¹JehoRam, • Then his son AhaziJah, • Then his son JehoAsh, • Then his son ¹²AmaziJah, • Then his son AzariJah, • Then his son JoTham, • Then his son ¹³Ahaz, • Then his son HezekiJah, • Then his son ManasSeh, • Then his son ¹⁴Amon, and • Then his son JosiAh.¹⁵The sons of JosiAh were:• JoHanan (his firstborn), • The 2nd was JehoiAkim, • The 3rd was ZedekiAh, and • The 4th was ShalLum.¹⁶The sons of JehoiAkim were:• JeconiJah, and • ZedekiAh.¹⁷Then the sons of JeconiJah were:• Asir, • ShalathiEl, ¹⁸• MelchiRam, • PhadiJah, • SaneSar, • JeKemYa, • OsamAth, and • NabadYas.¹⁹The sons of ShalathiEl were:• ZerubBabel, and • ShiMei.The sons of ZerubBabel were:• MosolLam, • HananiJah, and • Their sister SalomEth.²⁰He also had 5 more sons:• AsoUbe, • Ool, • BarachiAh, • AsadiJah, and • AsoBed.²¹The descendants of HananiJah were:• PhaletTiJah, • His son JesiJah, • His son Raphal, • His son Orna, • His son AbDiJah, • His son ShecheniJah, and ²²• His son ShemaiJah.ShemaiJah had 6 sons:• HatTush, • Igal, • BeriJah, • NeaJah, and • ShaPhat.²³NeaJah had 3 sons:• EliOnai, • HezekiJah, and • EzriKam.²⁴EliOnai had 7 sons:• OdolJa, • EliAsEbon, • PhadaJa, • AkoUb, • JoHanan, • DalaiJa, and • Hanan.

¹The sons of Judah were:• Perez, • HezRon, • Carmi, • Or, • Soubal, ²and, • His son Rada.Soubal fathered Jeth, and Jeth fathered:• AchiMai, and • LaAd.These are genealogies of SaraThi:³The sons of AiTam were:• JezreEl, • JesMan, and • IdBash.Their sister’s name was EselebBon.⁴PhanouEl 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.⁵And AsoUr (whose father was ThekoE) had two women, Aoda and ThoAda.⁶Aoda gave birth to:• OchaiJa, • Ephal, • ThaIman, and • HaAsther.Those were all her sons.⁷And the sons of ThoAda were:• Serek, • SaAr, and • EthNan.⁸Kos fathered:• Enob, and • SabaTha.They’re related to the brother of ReChab, son of JaRin.⁹JaBez was the most honorable among all his brothers, and his mother named him JaBez, because she said:‘I have given birth in pain [Hebrew: JaBez].’¹⁰And it was JaBez who called on the God of IsraEl, saying:‘O 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.’And God gave him everything that he asked for.¹¹Caleb (the father of AsCha) fathered MachIr, who became the father of AshSathon.¹²Then AshSathon fathered:• BathRaiAn, • BesSee, and • Thana (who was the founder of the city of NaHash and a relative of Eselom the Kenezite, who lived in Repha).¹³The sons of Kenez were:• GothoniEl, and • SaraJa.GothoniEl’s sons were:• AthAth ¹⁴and • ManAthi (who fathered GoPhera).SaraJa fathered JoAb, who was the father of the Harashim, who were craftsmen.¹⁵The descendants of Caleb (son of JePhonNe) were:• Era, • ElAh, and • NoOm.And ElAh’s son was Kenez.¹⁶The sons of GeseEl were:• Ziph, • Zepha, • ThephiJa, and • EseraEl.¹⁷The sons of EseraEl were:• JeTher, • Morad, • Apher, and • JaMon.JeTher was the father of:• MaRon, • SemAi, and • MaReth (who was the father of EsthaIMon).¹⁸Then his Judean woman gave birth to:• JaRed the father of Gedor, • Heber the father of Socho, and • JechoutiEl the father of ZaNoe.These are the sons of BethThouiJah (the daughter of PharaOh) who was taken by Marod, ¹⁹and the sons of his woman Hodia, the sister of Nahum ([who was also] the father of KeiLa the GarMite and EsthaIMon the Nochathite):²⁰• Simon, • AmNon, • Rena (whose sons were HanNan and ThiLon), and • Ishi, whose descendants were ZoHath and the ZoHathites.²¹The son of SeLom (Judah’s son) was Er.He became the father of LeChab and LaAda, who was the father of MariSha, as well as to all the descendants of the families of:• EphraDabak, • The house of Esoba, ²²• JoAkim, • The men of ChozEba, • JoAs, and • ShaPhat (who lived in MoAb and returned [with Moabite women named] AbeDerin and Athoukiim).²³This [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.²⁴The sons of SimeOn were:• NamouEl, • JaMin, • JaRib, • ZaRe, • Saul, ²⁵and • Salem, whose son was MabaSam.[MabaSam’s] son was MasMa, and: • His son was ²⁶AmJaRameElouEl, • His son was SaboUd, • His son was ZakChour, and • His son was ShiMei.²⁷ShiMei had 16 sons and 3 daughters. And since there were so few daughters, their families didn’t grow as large in Judah as did those of their brothers.²⁸The families [of ShiMei] lived in:• BeerSheba, • Sama, • MoLada, • EserSouAl, • ²⁹BalaAh, • BoAsom, • ThoUlad, ³⁰• BathOuEl, • Erma, • ZikLag, • ³¹BethMariMoth, • EmiSouseOsin, and • BethBarouseOrim, where they lived until the reign of King David.³²They also owned:• AiTan, • En, • RemMon, • ThokKan, and • AiSan (5 cities), ³³as well as the land all around these cities all the way to [the city of] BaAl.They owned it all, and it was distributed among the families of:• ³⁴MosoBab, • Amalek, • JosiJah, • The sons of AmasiJah, • ³⁵JoEl (son of AsAbiJah, son of SaraiJa, son of AsiEl), • ³⁶EliOnai, • JakAba, • JasouJah, • AsaiJah, • JediEl, • IsMaEl, • BenaiJah, • ³⁷ZoUza (son of SaphAi, son of Alon, son of JediJah, son of SemRi, son of SamiJah).³⁸These were the names of the rulers of their generations and the heads of their families (which grew in great numbers). ³⁹Their land ran from GeraRa to east of Gai, because they needed a lot of pasture for all their animals.⁴⁰This 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.⁴¹But it was during the reign of King HezekiAh of Judah that an edict was passed and they attacked the houses there (as well as all the Minaeans whom 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.⁴²Also, 500 of the descendants of SimeOn moved there, near Mount SeIr.They were led by the sons of JesSie, who were:• PhalaEtiJah, • NoAdiJah, • RaphiJah, and • OziEl.⁴³They killed the rest of the AmaLechites who lived there, and they still live in that land to this day.

¹ These are the sons of 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 (son of IsraEl). So, the rights of the firstborn aren’t traced through [ReuBen’s] family line.²Also, since Judah was the most powerful among his brothers, a leader came from him, although the blessing [of the firstborn] went to JoSeph.³The sons of ReuBen (IsraEl’s firstborn) were:• Enoch, • PalLu, • AsRom, and • Charmi.⁴The son of JoEl was ShiMei, and his son was BenaiJah.GoUg was [another] son of ShiMei, ⁵and his son was Micha...• Whose son was Recha, • Whose son was JoEl, • ⁶Whose son was BeEl.BeEl was relocated by King Tiglath Pileser [III] of Assyria, and he’s the leader of the ReuBenites.⁷These are the genealogies of BeEl’s brothers and countrymen who were also resettled [by Tiglath-Pileser III]:The first was JoEl, then ZachariJah.⁸[Then came:]• Balek, • His son AzoUz, • His son Sama, • His son JoEl.They lived in AroEr, Nebo, and BelMasSon.⁹This 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.¹⁰And during the time of Saul, they were known to attack and kill travelers from their tents that were located to the east of GileAd.¹¹Bordering them was the territory of the sons of Gad, which ran from the land of BaShan to SelCha.¹²JoEl was his firstborn, then ShaPham and JaNin (who was the scribe in BaShan).¹³The 7 heads of their family lines were:• MichaEl, • MosolLam, • SebeE, • JoReE, • JoAchan, • ZouE, and • Heber.¹⁴These were the sons of AbiChiJah...• Who was Ouri’s son, • Who was JaRoAh’s son, • Who was GileAd’s son, • Who was MichaEl’s son, • Who was JeSai’s son, • Who was JedDai’s son, • Who was ZabouCham’s son, ¹⁵• Who was AbDiEl’s son, • Who was GoUni’s son... The head of the house of those family lines.¹⁶They lived in the towns all around GileAd in the land of BaShan and in places all the way to the end of ShaRon. ¹⁷However, they were relocated in the days of JoTham the king of Judah and JeroBoam the king of IsraEl.¹⁸The sons of ReuBen, Gad, and the half-tribe of ManasSeh [had taken their land] with their army of trained swordsmen and bowmen… 44,760 men, who were fully prepared for battle.¹⁹They 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 [the IsraElites] called out to God – putting their hope in Him – and He listened to them.²¹So they captured all their belongings:• 5,000 camels, • 250,000 sheep, • 2,000 burros, and • The lives of 100,000 men.²²That many were killed, because God was fighting the war. So, they lived in their land until they were relocated.²³The large half-tribe of ManasSeh lived in the land that ran from BaShan, to BaAl HerMon, to SenIr, to Mount HerMon, and into Lebanon.²⁴Here 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.²⁵However, they annulled their allegiance with the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land that God had removed from before them.²⁶So, the God of IsraEl caused the spirit of King Pul of Assyria [also known as Tiglath-Pileser III], to become enraged with them. So, he sent 50,000 men and they relocated [the tribes of] ReuBen, Gad, and the half-tribe of ManasSeh... He moved them to Chalak and Mabor along the Gozan River, where they still are today.

¹The sons of Levi were:• GedSon, • KoHath, and • MeraRi.²KoHath’s sons were:• AmBram, • IsSaAr, • HebRon, and • OziEl.³AmBram’s children were: • Aaron, • Moses, and • their sister MiriAm.Aaron’s sons were:• NaDab, • AbiHu, • EliEzer, and • IthaMar.⁴EliEzer fathered PhiNehas, and:• 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 JoHanan, ¹⁰• JoHanan 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.¹⁶The sons of Levi were:• GedSon, • KoHath, and • MeraRi.¹⁷The names of the sons of GedSon were:•LoBeni, and •ShiMei.¹⁸The sons of KoHath were:• AmBram, • IsSaAr, • HebRon, and • OziEl.¹⁹And 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 ²¹was JoAb, • His son was AdDo, • His son was ZaRa, and • His son was JethRi.²²The descendants of KoHath were AmiNadab:• His son Kor, • His son Aser, • His son ²³ElKana, • His son AbiSaph, • His son Aser, • His son ²⁴ThaAth, • His son OureEl and, • His son OziJa.²⁵The sons of ElKana were:• AmaSi, • AchimOth, ²⁶and • SoUphi.[SoUphi’s] son was NaAth and:• His son ²⁷was EliAb, • His son was JereAm, • His son was ElKana, and • His son was SamuEl.²⁸These are the sons of SamuEl:• His firstborn was JoEl, and • His 2nd was AbiJah.²⁹The sons of MeraRi were:• MoOli, and • LoBeni.[And LoBeni’s] son was ShiMei, and:• His son was OziJah, • His son ³⁰was SamaAh, • His son was AgGiJah, and • His son was AsaiJah.³¹These are the ones whom David put in charge of the chorus that sang at the Temple of Jehovah when the [Sacred] Chest was brought there.³²They 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.³³And 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...• The son of SamuEl, ³⁴• Son of ElKana, • Son of JerEbam, • Son of EliEl, • Son of Thou, ³⁵• Son of SoUph, • Son of ElKana, • Son of MaAth, • Son of AmaThi, ³⁶• Son of ElKana, • Son of JoEl, • Son of AzariJa, • Son of SaphaniJah, ³⁷• Son of ThaAth, • Son of Aser, • Son of AbiAsaph, • Son of KorAh, ³⁸• Son of IsaAr, • Son of KoHath, • Son of Levi, and • Son of IsraEl.³⁹[HeMan’s] assistant was Asaph (who stood on his right), who was...• The son of BarachiJah, • Son of SamaAh, ⁴⁰• Son of MichaEl, • Son of BaAsiJah, • Son of MelchiJah, ⁴¹• Son of Athani, • Son of ZarAi, • Son of AdAi, ⁴²• Son of Ethan, • Son of ZemMa, • Son of ShiMei, ⁴³• Son of JeEth, • Son of GerShon, • Son of Levi.⁴⁴The assistant of MeraRi (the one who stood on his left) was Ethan, who was...• The son of Kisa, • Son of AbDi, • Son of MaOch, ⁴⁵• Son of AsEbi, ⁴⁶• Son of AmasiJah, • Son of HelkiJah, • Son of AmasiJah, • Son of Bani, • Son of Semer, ⁴⁷• Son of MoOli, • Son of MoUsi, • Son of MeraRi, • Son of Levi.⁴⁸And these were their brothers who were assigned responsibilities over the Tent and the Temple of God by Levite family lines:⁴⁹There was Aaron and his sons who offered whole burnt offerings on the Altar and burned incense on the incense Altar, working inside the Holy of Holies to atone for [the sins] of IsraEl, just as God’s servant Moses had instructed them.⁵⁰These are the sons of Aaron:• EliEzer, • His son PhiNehas, • His son AbiSou, • His son ⁵¹BokAi, • His son Ozi, • His son ZaraiJah, • His son ⁵²MariOth, • His son AmariJah, • His son AhiTub, • His son ⁵³ZaDok, and • His son AchimaAs.⁵⁴These are the places where the sons of Aaron who descended from KoHath lived, by towns and borders, which were assigned by a lottery:⁵⁵They were given towns in the land of Judah that surrounded HebRon. ⁵⁶However, the cities themselves and their fields were given to Caleb (son of JePhonNe).⁵⁷The 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.⁶⁰Then in the tribe of BenJamin there was:• GabaE and its outskirts, • GalemEth and its outskirts, and • AnathOth and its outskirts.These 13 cities were assigned to their families.⁶¹The rest of the family of KoHath was assigned 10 cities in the half-tribe of ManasSeh by lottery, ⁶²and the descendants of GedSon were assigned 13 cities in the tribes of IsSachar, Asher, NaphTali, and ManasSeh (in BaShan).⁶³The descendants of MeraRi were assigned 12 cities (by lottery) in the tribes of ReuBen, Gad, and ZebuLun.⁶⁴In addition, the sons of IsraEl gave cities along their borders to the rest of the Levites. ⁶⁵They assigned them by lottery in the tribes of the sons of Judah, SimeOn, and BenJamin.⁶⁶The 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.⁷⁰The half-tribe of ManasSeh gave to the rest of the descendants of KoHath:• Anar and its outskirts, and • JemblaAn and its outskirts.⁷¹They also gave to the rest of the descendants of GedSon:• Golan in BaShan and its outskirts, and • AstarOth and its outskirts.⁷²The tribe of IsSachar gave them:• KaDesh (and its outskirts), • DaBor (and its outskirts), ⁷³• RamOth (and its surrounding towns), • AiNan (and its outskirts).⁷⁴The tribe of Asher gave them:• MaAsal and its outskirts, • AbDon and its outskirts, ⁷⁵• Akak and its outskirts, • RoOb and its outskirts.⁷⁶The tribe of NaphTali gave them:• KaDesh in Galilee and its outskirts, • HamOth and its outskirts, and • KiriAth JaiRim and its outskirts.⁷⁷The tribe of ZebuLun gave to the remaining descendants of MeraRi:• RemMon and its outskirts, and • ThalLia and its outskirts.⁷⁸On 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, • ⁷⁹KadMoth and its outskirts, and • MaEphla and its outskirts.⁸⁰The tribe of Gad gave them:• RamOth GileAd and its outskirts, • MaAnaim and its outskirts, ⁸¹• HeshBon and its outskirts, and • JaZer and its outskirts.

¹The 4 sons of IsSachar were:• Thola, • Phua, • JasoUb, and • SomBran.²The 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 22,600.³The 5 sons of Ozi were:• JezRaiJah, • MichaEl, • AbDiOu, • JoEl, and • JesiJah......who were all rulers.⁴Each generation, as well as their houses and families, were renowned warriors. For [they were once] numbered at 36,000, because they had many women and many sons. ⁵In fact, there were 87,000 mighty men listed in the genealogy of their family line!⁶The 3 sons of BenJamin were:• Bale, • BachIr, and • JaDiEl.⁷Bale’s 5 sons were:• AsEbon, • Ozi, • OziEl, • JeriMoth, and • Ouri....who were all the rulers of their houses and family lines.They were also mighty warriors, for in their genealogy there are 22,034 listed.⁸The sons of BachIr were:• ZemirAh, • JoAs, • EliEzer, • ElioEnai, • AmariJah, • JeriMoth, • AbiJah, • AnathOth, and • ElMemeth.⁹According to their genealogies, these were the rulers of their houses and family lines, among whom 20,200 are listed as mighty warriors.¹⁰The son of JadiEl was BalaAn, and his sons were:• JaOus, • BenJamin, • AOth, • ChenaAnah, • ZaiThan, • Tharsi, and • AchiSaAr.¹¹All these sons of JadiEl were rulers of their families, and 17,200 are listed as mighty warriors. ¹²They include Saphin, Aphin, and the sons of RaOm… Especially his son Aer.¹³The sons of NaphTali through BalaA were:• JasiEl, • Goni, • IsSaEr, and • SalLour.¹⁴The sons of ManasSeh were:• AseriEl (who was born through ManasSeh’s Syrian concubine), and • MachIr, who was the father of GileAd.¹⁵MachIr took women [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, ¹⁶but MoOcha provided MachIr [a male heir] named Perez, and another that was named Soros. His sons were:• OuLam, and • Rokom.¹⁷And OuLam had a son named Badan.These were all the descendants of GileAd (son of MachIr and grandson of ManasSeh).¹⁸[GileAd] also had sisters. The one named MalechEth gave birth to:• IsAdek, • AbiEzer, and • MaEla.¹⁹And the sons of SemiRa were:• JaAim, • SheChem, • Lachim, and • AniAn.²⁰The 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. ²²So, Ephraim (their father) mourned for them a very long time, and their brothers came to comfort him.²³Then he [had sex with] his woman and she got pregnant and gave birth to a son whom he named BarAga (Son of Trouble), because of the bad things that had happened to his house ²⁴and 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 ²⁶named LaDan.• His son was AmiOud, • His son was EliSamAi, • His son ²⁷was NoUm, and • His son was JesOue.²⁸They lived in and owned:• BethEl and its surrounding villages, • The villages east of NoAran and to the west of GaZer, • SheChem and its villages, and • All the villages up to Mount An.²⁹The 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.³⁰The sons of Asher were:• JemNa, • SouYa, • IsoWi, • BeriJah, and • SoRe was their sister.³¹The sons of BeriJah were:• Chaber, and • MelchiEl, who was the father of BerZaith.³²Chaber was the father of:• JaPhlet, • Samer, • Chotham, and • their sister Sola.³³JaPhlet’s sons were:• Phasek, • BamaEl, and • Asith.³⁴Samer’s sons were:• Achir, • Rouga, • Oba, and • Aram.³⁵The sons of his brother ([who was also known as] Bane ElAm) were:• SoPha, • YamNa, • SelLes, and • Amal.³⁶The sons of SoPha were:• SoWeh, • ArnaPhar, • SoUda, • BarIn, • ImRan, ³⁷• Basar, • JeoUd, • SemMa, • SaliSa, • JethRan, and • BeEra.³⁸The sons of JethRan were:• JePhina, • PhasPha, and • Ara.³⁹The sons of Oba were:• Orek, • AniEl, and • RasJa.⁴⁰These 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 26,000 of them.

¹BenJamin fathered:• Baleh (his firstborn), then... • AsBel (his 2nd), • Ara (his 3rd), ²• Noa (his 4th), and • RaPheh (his 5th).³The sons of Baleh were:• Adir, • Gera, • AbiHud, ⁴• AbiShua, • NoAma, • AchiJah, ⁵• Gera, • SephouPham, and • OuRam.⁶These are the sons of Ehud that were the family heads that lived in GabeE, but were relocated to ManaHath:⁷• NaAman, • AchiA, • Gera, • JeglaAm (who fathered Aza and AhiHud), ⁸and • SaArin (who fathered children in the plains of MoAb after he sent his women Osin and BaAda away).⁹Through his woman Ada, he fathered:• Jobab, • SebJa, • Misa, • MelCham, ¹⁰• JoAs, • SekiJah, and • Marma.These were his sons and the heads of their families.¹¹But through Osin, he fathered:• AbiTol, and • AlphaAl.¹²AlphaAl’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.¹⁴They were related to the sons of BeriJah:• SoSel, • JeriMoth, ¹⁵• ZabadiJa, • Ored, • Eder, ¹⁶• MichaEl, • JesPha, and • Joda.¹⁷Also to the sons of ElPhaAl:• ZabadJa, • MosoLam, • Azaki, • Abar, ¹⁸• IsAlmari, • JezliAs, and • Jobab¹⁹Also to the sons of ShiMei:• JaKim, • ZachRi, • ZabDi, ²⁰• EliOnai, • SalaThi, • EliEl, ²¹• AdaiJah, • BaraiJah, and • SamarAth.²²Also to the sons of SoSek:• JesPhan, • Obed, • EleEl, ²³• AbDon, • ZechRi, • Hanan, ²⁴• HananiJah, • Ambri, • AiLam, • AnathOth, ²⁵• JephadiJah, and • PhanouEl.²⁶Also to the sons of JeroHam:• SamSari, • SaAriJah, • GotholiJa, ²⁷• JarasiJah, • EriJah, and • ZechRi.²⁸These are the heads of their families and their generations… The chiefs who lived in JeruSalem.²⁹The founder of [the city of] GibeOn, JeEl, had a woman [called] MaAcha.³⁰His firstborn son was AbaDon, then:• SoUr, • Kish, • BaAl, • Ner, • NaDab, ³¹• GedoUr, • ZakChoUr, ³²and • MakelOth (who was the father of SamaiJah).They all lived around their families in JeruSalem.³³• Ner fathered Kish, • Kish fathered Saul, and • Saul fathered JoNathan, MelchiShua, AmiNadab, and AsaBal.³⁴JoNathan’s son was MeriBaAl, and MeriBaAl’s son was MiChah.³⁵And MiChah’s sons were:• PhiThon, • MelAk, • TharAk, and • Ahaz.³⁶[In turn,] Ahaz fathered JaDa, and JaDa fathered:• SalaiMath, • AsMoth, and • ZamBri.ZamBri fathered MaiSa, ³⁷and MaiSa fathered:• BaAna, and • RaphaiJah.[RaphaiJah’s] son was ElAsa, and his son was EsEl.³⁸EsEl had 6 sons:• EzriKam (his firstborn), • IsMaEl, • SaraiJah, • AbDiA, • Hanan, and • AsaThese were all the sons of EsEl.³⁹And the sons of EsEl’s brother EshEck were:• Ulam (his firstborn), • Jas (his 2nd), and • EliPhalet (his 3rd).⁴⁰These were the strong and mighty bowmen of AiLam who produced 150 sons. And these were all the sons of BenJamin.

¹IsraEl can trace its genealogy because {Look!} it’s all written in the scrolls 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]. ²But in the land that they owned prior to that, as well as in the cities of IsraEl, there were the Priests and Levites who were in charge of everything.³In JeruSalem there were mostly Judeans, along with some sons of BenJamin and some of the descendants of Ephraim and ManasSeh.⁴There was also UthAi, son of SamMiHud, who was:• The son of OmRi, • The son of BuNi, • The son of Perez, • The son of Judah.⁵ShiLoh and his firstborn son AsaiJah and his family lived in JeruSalem too, ⁶as did JeEl (son of ZaRa) and 690 of that family line.⁷Among the descendants of BenJamin there was Salo, who was:• The son of MosolLam, • The son of HoDaviJah, and • The son of SanaAn.⁸There was also:• JebNa (son of JeroBoam), and • Elo.These are the sons of Ozi (son of MachIr).[Also] MosolLam [who was:]• Son of SaphatJa, • Son of RagouEl, and • Son of JemNai...⁹...and all the generations of their relatives, numbering 956 in all.All the men were the heads of their family lines and houses.¹⁰Then there were the Priests:• JehoiAda, • JoArim, • JaChin, ¹¹and • 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.¹²Then there was AdaiJa, [who was:]• The son of JeroAm, • The son of PhasChor, and • The son of MelchiJah.Also, MaAsaJa [who was:]• The son of AdiEl, • The son of EziRa, • The son of MosolLam, • The son of MaselMoth, • The son of EmMer.¹³[Also there were all] their families.There were 1,760 strong and mighty men who were the heads of their family lines and houses, and that worked at and oversaw everything in God’s Temple.¹⁴Among the Levites there was SamaiJah from the family line of MeraRi, [who was:]• The son of Asob, • The son of EzriKam, • The son of AsAbiJah.¹⁵And there was:• BakBakar, • Ares, • GalaAl, and • MatThaniJah......who were the sons of Micha, [who was:]• The son of ZechRi, • The son of Asaph.¹⁶Also, ObadiJah, [who was:]• The son of SamiJah, • The son of GalaAl, • The son of IdiThoun.Also, BarachiJah who lived in the courtyards of the NetoPhathites, [who was:]• The son of OsSa, • The son of ElKan.¹⁷Then there were the gatekeepers (and their families):• Salom, • AkoUm, • TelMon, and • AiMan.Salom was in charge ¹⁸of everything to the eastern King’s Gate. The gatekeepers for the camps of the sons of Levi were ¹⁹Salom (son of KorAh, son of AbiAsaph, 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, because their ancestors were once in charge of the entire camp of Jehovah, and they served as the guards to its entrances.²⁰Back then, PhineHas (son of EliEzer) stood as their leader before Jehovah, ²¹and ZachariJah (son of MasaLami) was in charge of guarding the entrance to the Tent of Proofs.²²Altogether, those who were chosen as gatekeepers to stand at the entrances were numbered at 212. The records of their genealogies and properties were all counted and established by the trusted offices of David and the Seer SamuEl.²³Now, it was their sons that were in charge of the doors and that kept watch at the Temple of Jehovah and the house of the Tent. ²⁴These gatekeepers were stationed as the four winds… In the east, west, north, and south. ²⁵And their brothers had to leave their homes in shifts every 7 weeks and spend 7 days there.²⁶There were 4 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.²⁷Their watch responsibility was to use the keys both morning and evening to unlock and lock the Temple doors. ²⁸They 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.²⁹Also, some of them were over the equipment and holy things, such as:• The fine flour, • The wine, • The oil, • The frankincense, and • The aromatics.³⁰In addition, some of the Priests’ sons were perfumers [who mixed] the fragrant [oils and incense].³¹The Levite MatTathiJah was the firstborn of Salom the Korite. He was entrusted with the work that had to do with the sacrifices of the pan of the High Priest.³²BenaiJah 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.³³When 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.³⁴So, throughout the generations, the heads of the families of Levites lived in JeruSalem.³⁵The founder of GibeOn (JeEl) lived in the town of GibeOn. His woman’s name was MaAcha.³⁶His firstborn son was AbaDon, then:• SoUr, • Kish, • BaAl, • Ner, • NaDab, ³⁷• GedoUr (and his brother),^[LXX] • ZakChour, and • MakelOth.³⁸Now, MakelOth fathered SamaAh, and he and his family lived together in JeruSalem.³⁹Ner fathered Kish, then Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered:• JoNathan, • MelchiShua, • AmiNadab, and • AsBal.⁴⁰The son of JoNathan was MeriBaAl, and MeriBaAl fathered MicAh.⁴¹The sons of MicAh were:• PhiThon, • MelchiEl, • Tharach, ⁴²and • Ahaz.[And it was Ahaz] who fathered JaDa.JaDa then fathered:• GaleMeth, • AzMoth, and • ZamBri.ZamBri fathered Masa, ⁴³and Masa fathered:• BaAna, and • RaphaJah.[And it was RaphaJah] whose son was ElAsa, and his son was EsEl.⁴⁴EsEl had 6 sons:• EzriKam (his firstborn), then • IshMaEl,^[LXX] • SaraiJah, • AbdJah, • Hanan, and • Asa.^[LXX]These were the sons of EsEl.

[Editor note: The story part of 1 Chronicles starts here. It begins with the death of the first king of IsraEl, King Saul.]¹Back then, the Philistines were fighting a war against IsraEl and the army of IsraEl was losing, so they turned and fled from the Philistines at Mount GilBoa.²Then the Philistines started chasing [King] Saul and his sons, and they caught and killed Saul’s sons JoNathan, AmiNadab, and MelchiShua.³And thereafter, they pressed on in the battle to reach Saul... Then their archers found him and shot him – leaving him in great pain. ⁴As a result, Saul said to the aid who 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!⁵And when the man who was carrying his weapons saw that Saul had killed himself, he too fell on his sword and died... ⁶So, Saul and his three sons all died that day, and that was the end of his house.⁷Then, when the men of IsraEl who had run into the valley heard that Saul and his sons had been killed, they all just ran back to their homes... So the Philistines then came and lived among them!⁸Well, on the day after the battle, when the Philistines came to loot the bodies, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount GilBoa. ⁹So, they stripped his body and carried his head and weapons back into the land of the Philistines, where it was joyfully paraded before the temples of their idols and their people.¹⁰Then they put his weapons in the temple of their god and they carried his head and put it into the temple of Dagon.¹¹But when the men of JabIsh GileAd heard what the Philistines had done to Saul and his sons, and to IsraEl, ¹²all 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, whereupon they fasted for the next 7 days.¹³So, Saul was killed because of the lawless ways in which he had acted against his God. For he’d gone against the instructions of Jehovah and he didn’t do what he was told.Saul also went to a fortuneteller to speak to the Prophet SamuEl.¹⁴So, because he failed to ask Jehovah, he was killed and his kingdom was handed over to David son of JesSe.

¹Then all the men of [the army of] IsraEl came to David at HebRon and said,‘Look! We’re your own flesh and bones!²‘Although 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.’³And after that, all the elders of IsraEl came to him at 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.⁴Then King David and [the whole army of] IsraEl marched on JeruSalem (which was called Jebus). And the Jebusites who lived there said to David:⁵‘You won’t come in here!’However, he was the first to capture the citadel on Zion, so it became known as the City of David.⁶Back then, 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 one who did that was JoAb (son of ZeruJah), so, he was appointed to be the commander-in-chief.⁷Thereafter, David stayed there and took up residence in the citadel, and he started calling it his city... ⁸For he had built a siege-wall around the entire city and captured it.⁹And from that point on, David kept getting greater and more famous, because Jehovah the Almighty was with him.¹⁰These 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 the king over all IsraEl, just as Jehovah had said):[Editor note: Some of the names here have very different spellings to those appearing in the parallel account in 2 Samuel 23, perhaps reflecting language changes, different Greek translators, and other factors. We’ve also had to add a large translator insertion into verse 13, which is discussed in the translator note.] ¹¹Counted among the mighty ones of David was:• JeseBaAl (son of AchaMani).He was the first of the 30, because he once used his broadsword to kill 300 men all by himself.¹²• EliEzer (son of DodAi the AchoChite).He was one [of David’s] three greatest men, ¹³for he was with David at PhasoDomin when the Philistines had gathered for war in a field full of barley... [see translator note] [and all our soldiers had fled... He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand muscles cramped and he couldn’t let go of his sword! Jehovah gave us a great victory that day, and the other soldiers only came back to strip the bodies.]• [Shammah (son of Aga the HaRarite).][When the Philistines had gathered together to battle against us in a field of lentils, after the rest of the army] turned and ran away from the Philistines, ¹⁴he stood there alone in the middle of the field and saved them by killing [all of] the Philistines… For Jehovah used him to bring a great victory!¹⁵He was also one of the three (from among the 30 generals) who went to David when he was at The Rock at the Cave of OdolLam, which was right in the midst of the camp of the Philistines, there in the valley of the giants. ¹⁶David was in the citadel and all the Philistines were in BethLehem ¹⁷when David asked:‘Who will bring me a drink of water from the well at the entrance to BethLehem?’¹⁸And it was these three men 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, saying: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 offered] 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, JoAb’s brother.He was chief over the three [mightest men]. He had once unsheathed his broadsword and killed 300 men all by himself, and his name was [always mentioned] along with the three. ²¹In fact, he was more famous than the two [previously mentioned men] of the three, so he became their leader, but not one of them.²²Then there was:• The mighty man BenaiJah (son of JehoiAda).He was the one who accomplished many great things at KaBasaEl, for it was there that he killed the two lion-like soldiers of MoAb! It was [also] there that he went down into a pit and killed a lion there on a snowy day.²³And he also killed the remarkable Egyptian man who stood more than 7 feet (2.13m) 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!²⁴Yes, these are the kinds of things that BenaiJah (son of JehoiAda) did, and that’s why his name is listed among the three mighty ones.²⁵But although he was considered the greatest among the 30, he wasn’t one of the three, because David had put him in charge of his family.[Editor note: Now follows some very extensive lists. If you’re only interested in the story, it resumes in 1 Chronicles 12:16.] ²⁶Also counted among the powerful mighty ones were:• AsahEl (JoAb’s other brother), • EliHanan (son of DoDoe) the BethLehemite, • ²⁷SamMoth the Arorite, • HelLes the Phelonite, • ²⁸Ora (son of EkKish) the Thekoite, • AbiEzer the AnathOthite, ²⁹• SoboChai the Asothite, • Eli the Achonite, • ³⁰MoorAi the NetoPhathite, • ChoLod (son of NoOza) the NetoPhathite,** • ³¹AiRi (son of RebiE) from the hills of BenJamin, • BenaiJah the PhaRathonite,** • ³²Ouri from Nachali-GaAs, • AbiEl the Arabethite, • ³³AzBon the Baromite, • EliAba the SaLobonite, • ³⁴BenAsam the Gizonite,* • JoNathan (son of Sola) the Ararite,** • ³⁵Achim (son of Achar) the Ararite, • ElPhat (son of ThuroPhar) ³⁶the Mechorathite, • AhiJah the PhelLonite, • ³⁷EseRe the Charmadite, • NaArai (son of AzobAi),* • ³⁸JoEl (Nathan’s brother),* • MeBaAl (son of Agari),* • ³⁹SelLek the AmMonite, • Nachor the BerOthite (who carried the weapons for JoAb, son of ZeruJah), ⁴⁰• Ira the Jethrite, • Gareb the Jethrite, • ⁴¹UriJah the Hittite, • Sabet (son of AchaJa),* and • ⁴²AdiNa (son of SaIZa), the head of the ReuBenites.*[see the translator note for the meaning of the * and ** markings]And with the 30 were:• ⁴³Hanan (son of MoOcha), • JoShaphat the Mathnite, • ⁴⁴OziJa the AstarOthite, • SamMa and JeiEl (the sons of HoTham) the Ararites, • ⁴⁵JediEl (son of Sameri), • JoZae and his brother (the ThosSaites), • ⁴⁶EliEl the Maoite, • JaRibi, • JosiJa and his son ElLam, • JethAma the Moabite, • ⁴⁷DaliEl, • Obed, and • JesSiEl the Mesobite.

¹These are the men who came to David at ZikLag as part of his band to [protect him from] Saul (son of Kish); they’re among the mighty ones who helped in his battles… ²Bowmen that could shoot with both their right and left hands, and that slung rocks and shot with their bows at the followers of the BenJaminite Saul; ³there was:• AhiEzer (their leader), • JoAsh (son of Asma) the Gabathite, • JoEl and JoPhalet (the sons of AsMoth), • BarachiJah, • Jehu the AnathOthite, ⁴and • SamaYas the GibeOnite…...they were the mightiest among the 30 and they were the leaders.Then there was:• JeremiJah, • JeziEl, • JoHanan, • JoZabath the Gederathite, ⁵• EliOzi, • JarimoUth, • BaAlJah, • SamariAi, • SaphatiJah the Haruphite, ⁶• ElKana, • JesiJah, • OzriEl, • JoZara, • SoboKam, • The Korites ⁷JoEla and ZabadJa (the sons of JeroHam), and • The sons of Gedor.⁸[The following] men came to David from the tribe of Gad when he was in the desert... They were great 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!⁹There was:• Azer (who was their leader), • AbDiJah (who was second in command), • EliAb (the 3rd), • ¹⁰MasMana (the 4th), • JeremiJah (the 5th), • ¹¹Jethi (the 6th), • EliAb (the 7th), • ¹²JoHanan (the 8th), • EliAzer (the 9th), • ¹³JeremiJah (the 10th), and • MachaBanai (the 11th).¹⁴These were all from the tribe of Gad, and they were all generals over the army… Some over hundreds and one of them over 1,000.¹⁵They all crossed the JorDan during the 1st 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.[Editor note: The story resumes here.] ¹⁶Some also came from the tribes of BenJamin and Judah to help David. ¹⁷And 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!’¹⁸Well at that, [God’s] Breath came over AmasAi (the leader of the 30), and he said:‘Go on, O David, son of JesSe… For you and your people, may there be peace! Yes, may there be peace for you and your helpers, And on your God, who is sending you aid.’So David welcomed him and appointed him as a general in his army.¹⁹Men from the tribe of ManasSeh also joined with David back when the Philistines attacked Saul. David didn’t join with the Philistines, because the Philistine generals said:‘He’ll just go back over to to his lord, Saul.’²⁰So 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.²¹They and their troops fought alongside David, and they were all strong, mighty men and leaders of their armies. ²²They came and fought for David every day like a great force from God![Editor note: Now follows more lists. The story resumes in 1 Chronicles 13:1.] ²³And these are the names of the military generals that came to David in HebRon to fight Saul for his kingdom (following the words of Jehovah):²⁴From the tribe of Judah there were 6,800 men, all bearing shields and spears, and ready for battle.²⁵From the tribe of SimeOn there were 7,100 mighty men who were ready for battle.²⁶From the tribe of Levi there were 4,600. ²⁷And when JehoiAda (the head of the family line of Aaron) came to meet with him, he brought along 3,700 more men. ²⁸Then there was ZaDok, who was a strong and mighty young man. He brought along 22 leaders from his father’s household.²⁹And from the tribe of BenJamin (Saul’s tribe) there were 3,000 men; yet, most of them were guards in the house of Saul.³⁰And from the tribe of Ephraim there were 20,800 strong, mighty, and famous men of their houses and family lines.³¹And from the half-tribe of ManasSeh there were 18,000, all of whom had sworn to make David the king.³²And from the tribe of IsSachar came 200 men with their [armies] who understood the times and knew what IsraEl should do.³³And from [the tribe of] ZebuLon came 50,000 men all dressed for war and carrying their weapons to help David (but not very wholeheartedly).³⁴And from [the tribe of] NaphTali came 1,000 leaders with 37,000 men carrying shields and spears.³⁵And from [the tribe of] Dan came 28,800 men all ready for war.³⁶And from [the tribe of] Asher came 40,600 to help in the war.³⁷And from the other side of the JorDan (from the tribes of ReuBen, Gad, and the [other] half-tribe of ManasSeh) came 120,000, all carrying their weapons of war.³⁸All of these men were warriors who were dressed and ready for battle, but peaceful in heart. They came to HebRon to make David the king over all IsraEl. And the rest of IsraEl was of the same heart when it came to making David their king.³⁹Then they all stayed with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers were providing for them.⁴⁰Those 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.Yes, because everyone in IsraEl was very happy.

[Editor note: The story resumes here.] ¹Well after that, David met with his generals, lieutenants, and all the leaders.²Then 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 that are left throughout the land of IsraEl, and to the Priests and Levites in their cities, and invite them all to gather with us here.³‘And after that, we’ll bring the [Sacred] Chest of our God to us, for no one has gone before it since the days of Saul.’⁴Well, the entire gathering agreed to this, for in the eyes of the people it seemed to be the right thing to do... ⁵So David called all IsraEl from the borders of Egypt to the land of HamAth to gather there, and he had the Chest of God transported from the town of JaiRim.⁶And from there, all IsraEl traveled up to the city of David in Judah to lead [a procession before] the Chest of Jehovah God… The one with the cherubs sitting on top that was used to call on His Name.⁷So they then placed the Chest of God on a new wagon and carried it from the house of AmiNadab. Oza and his brothers walked in front of the wagon, ⁸as David and all IsraEl sang and danced before God with all their might… There were singers, stringed instruments, woodwinds, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.⁹But, as they were carrying [the Chest] up to a threshing floor, Oza stuck out his hand to steady the Chest (because one of the oxen [pulling the wagon] had bolted), ¹⁰and the Lord became enraged with Oza for doing this... So He struck him down for touching the Chest; and he died there before God!¹¹Well, David was so upset over Jehovah cutting Oza down that he named the place The Severance of Oza which is what it’s still called today.¹²And from that day on, David became afraid of The God; for he asked:‘Then, how can I carry the Chest of God to me?’¹³So 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, ¹⁴where it remained for the next three months... And during this time, God blessed ObedEdom and his entire household.

¹After that, HiRam [I] (the king of Tyre) sent emissaries to David, along with cedar wood, tradesmen, and carpenters, to build a palace for him. ²David 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.³Then after David moved to JeruSalem, he started taking more women and he had many more sons and daughters.⁴These 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.⁸Well, when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed as king over all IsraEl, their [entire army] came looking for him, and David went out to face them. ⁹So the Philistines assembled for battle in the Valley of the Giants.¹⁰Therefore, David went before God and asked:‘Should I go and fight the Philistines; and if so, will You give them into my hands?’And Jehovah replied:‘Go, and I’ll give them into your hands!’¹¹So he marched to BaAl PharaSin and attacked them there.Then after [the battle], David said:‘God used my hand to cut through my enemies like cutting through water!’So he named that place, The Severance of PharaSin. ¹²For the Philistines just ran away, leaving [the images] of their gods lying there, and David [told his men to] burn them in a fire.¹³Then [David] marched after the Philistines and found them in the Valley of the Giants. ¹⁴So, David once again asked God what he should do, and [this time] God replied:‘Don’t go after them! Turn away and wait for them near the pear trees...¹⁵‘Then, when you hear the sound of rumbling from the tops of the pear trees, attack them, for [that will be the sound of] God going ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines!’¹⁶So David did exactly as God told him, and he thereafter kept on attacking the Philistine camps all the way from GibeOn to GeZer... ¹⁷And very soon, the name of David became known throughout the land; for Jehovah had put the fear of him upon all the surrounding nations.

¹Well after that, he did quite a bit of building in the City of David. He also prepared a place for the Chest of God there, and he had a Tent built for it.²Then 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 throughout the ages.’³So David then gathered all IsraEl to JeruSalem, and he arranged for the Chest of Jehovah to be carried and put into the place that he’d built for it.⁴And thereafter, he collected the descendants of Aaron and the Levites.⁵• OuriEl was the leader from the line of KoHath, and there were 120 with him.• ⁶AsaiJa was the leader from the line of MeraRi, and there were 220 with him.⁷• JoEl was the leader of the line of GerShon, and there were 130 with him.⁸• Shemei was the leader of the line of EliSaphan, and there were 200 with him.⁹• EliEl was the leader of the line of HebRon, and there were 80 with him.¹⁰• AmiNadab was the leader of the line of OziEl, and there were 112 with him.¹¹So David called the Priests (ZaDok and AbiAthar) and the Levites (OuriEl, AsaiJah, JoEl, Shemei, EliEl, and AmiNadab) ¹²and said to them:‘Since you are the heads of the families of the Levites, you must 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 it¹³‘The first time you tried to do this you weren’t ready, and that’s why The God came among us and cut through us… For we didn’t ask Him exactly how we should do it!’¹⁴Then the Priests and the Levites purified themselves so they could carry the Chest of the God of IsraEl ¹⁵exactly as God had instructed them through Moses and in the way that Moses wrote it should be done, using the staves to bear it.¹⁶David also instructed the heads of the Levites to assign singers and musicians from among their brothers to play stringed instruments, woodwinds, and cymbals so as to make loud and happy music.¹⁷Then the Levites appointed HeMan (son of JoEl) from among his family, and Asaph (the son BarachiJah) from the line of MeraRi, as well as his [friend] Ethan (son of KishaJah). ¹⁸They met with them and also appointed others that were to be under them:• ZachariJah, • OziEl, • SemiRamOth, • JeiEl, • EliOhel, • EliAb, • BenaiJah, • MaAseJah, • MatTathiJah, • EliPhaliJah, • MakeniJah, and • ObedEdom.They appointed JeiEl and OziAs to be in charge [of the Sacred Chest], ¹⁹and HeMan, Asaph, and Ethan to be in charge of the singers.Those who were put 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.And those who were put in charge of the stringed instruments and the many types of woodwinds (so the music would be loud enough) were:• AlamOth, ²¹• MatTathiJah, • EliPhaliJah, • MakeniJah, • ObedEdom, • JeiEl, and • OziJah.²²Then ChoNeniJah (the head of the Levites) was made the chief conductor of all the music, because he could orchestrate everything.²³BarachiJah and ElKana were assigned to [carry] the [front end of the Sacred] Chest. Also, [these men] were assigned to blow the trumpets ahead of it:²⁴• SobniJah, • JoShaphat, • NathaniEl, • AmasiJah, • ZachariJah, • BaniJah, and • EliEzer (the Priests).And ObedEdom and JeiJah were [to carry] the back end.²⁵Of course, David, the governors of IsraEl, and his generals were to lead the joyful parade as the Chest of God’s Sacred Agreement was carried from the house of ObedEdom. ²⁶And to be sure that God would empower them to carry the Chest of Jehovah, the [Priests] first sacrificed 7 calves and 7 rams.²⁷So David [led the parade] dressed in fine linen, followed by the Levites who would bear the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah, followed by the singers, and then ChoneniJah, who led the musicians.David was wrapped in a fine linen cape, ²⁸and 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 harps.²⁹Well, as the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah was entering the city of David, Michal (the daughter of Saul) was leaning over and watching from her window... And when she saw King David dancing and acting like a child, she inwardly felt contempt for him.

¹So 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.²And after David completed these offerings, he blest the people in the name of the Lord. ³Then he gave every man and woman of IsraEl a freshly-baked loaf of bread and some honey bread.⁴Thereafter, he stood before the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah and he ordered the Levites to shout aloud and acknowledge and praise Jehovah the God of IsraEl. ⁵Then Asaph (the orchestra conductor) and those under him (ZachariJah, JeiEl, SemiRamOth, MatTathiJah, EliAb, BenaiJah, ObedEdom, and JeiEl) led the stringed instruments and woodwinds while Asaph had them beat on the cymbals, ⁶and BenaiJah and OziEl (the Priests) blew the trumpets continuously before the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of God.⁷So, that was the day when David arranged for Asaph and his brothers to start praising Jehovah.
⁸[For they shouted]:‘Give praise to Jehovah! Call on Him by His Name! Tell the people of the things He’s done! ⁹Yes, sing praises to Him!‘Describe all the wonders the Lord has performed… ¹⁰Give praise to His Holy Name! Make your hearts glad… Seek His favor; ¹¹Seek the Lord and be strong!‘Always search for His face! ¹²Remember the wonderful things He has done… The miracles and decisions that have come from His mouth, ¹³O offspring of IsraEl, His servants… You sons of Jacob, His chosen.¹⁴‘He is Jehovah, our God! His judgments have filled the whole earth! ¹⁵Throughout the ages, remember His Sacred Agreement, ¹⁶And the words that He had instructed For thousands of generations to follow… The things that He said to AbraHam, And the oath that He spoke to IsaAc.¹⁷‘Then He established His Sacred Agreement Throughout the ages with Jacob, And He gave these orders to IsraEl:¹⁸‘I’ll give you CanaAn’s land as measured ground To be your inheritance [throughout the ages]...’¹⁹‘Yet, at the time, they were few, And [the nation] was growing much smaller.‘But first, they had to travel on foot ²⁰As they passed from nation to nation… Passing kingdoms of many foreign peoples. ²¹But, He wouldn’t allow them to beat them, And He disciplined their kings with these words:²²‘You may not touch My anointed, Nor may you be wicked to My Prophets!’²³‘So, may the whole earth sing to Jehovah And proclaim His salvation each day! ²⁴Tell all the nations of His glory, And all their peoples of His wonders!²⁵‘For, Jehovah is great and worthy of praise… He’s more to be feared than all other gods; ²⁶For the gods of the nations are just idols, While the skies were made by Jehovah!²⁷‘Stand before His face and give praise to His strength! Boast of His Holy Place! ²⁸Give praise to Jehovah, you families of nations… Praise the Lord’s glory and strength!²⁹‘Glorify the Name of the Lord… Before His Face, carry gifts. In His courtyard, bow low to Jehovah!³⁰‘Before His face, be in fear, All you who live on the earth! May our land become stronger before Him, And may it never be shaken!³¹‘You heavens be glad, and earth cry in joy! May all nations admit that Jehovah’s their king!³²‘May the seas, and the sun, and the trees in the fields, And all else, tremble before Him. ³³For, even the forests and trees in the fields Find joy before the face of the Lord, Who is the judge of the earth!³⁴‘Acknowledge that Jehovah is good, And His mercy lasts throughout the ages. O God; deliver and save us… ³⁵From the nations, please rescue and save us!‘Give praise to His Holy Name… Boast of the blessings He brings! ³⁶Praise Jehovah, IsraEl’s God, Down throughout age of the ages.’Then all the people shouted:‘Amen!’And they started praising Jehovah.³⁷So they left the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah there; and thereafter, Asaph and his brothers served before the Chest continually, each day, ³⁸along with ObedEdom and his family; for ObedEdom (son of IdiThoun) and Osa were the gatekeepers.³⁹ZaDok the Priest and his fellow Priests [set up camp] in front of the Tent of Jehovah, which was located on the High Place of GibeOn. ⁴⁰And 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 and as it was given to the sons of IsraEl by the hand of Moses, God’s servant.⁴¹Those who assisted [the Priests] were HeMan, IdiThoun, and many others that were chosen by name to praise Jehovah throughout the ages for His mercy. ⁴²There were also the trumpeters, the cymbal players, and all the rest of the musicians that could play their instruments loudly in the songs [of praise] to God.Then the sons of IdiThoun took their positions at the gates, as all the people returned to their homes, ⁴³and David went back home to bless his family.

¹Then one day, as David was in his palace, he said to the Prophet Nathan:‘Look; I’m here living in a palace of cedars, while the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah is sitting under a tent of leather skins!’²And Nathan said to David:‘Then do whatever is in your heart, because God is with you!’³But 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 Temple for Me to stay in, ⁵for I haven’t stayed in a Temple from the day that I started leading IsraEl until now. Rather, I’ve stayed in a tent protected by the covering...⁶‘So, in all the places that I’ve gone with IsraEl, did I ever ask any tribe of IsraEl or those whom I put in charge of taking care of My people why they didn’t build Me a Temple of cedars?’⁷‘Therefore, tell My servant David that Jehovah the Almighty said this:‘I took you out of the pastures where you followed the flocks to lead My people IsraEl, ⁸and 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.‘So, although they must camp [separate from the nations], they’ll have nothing to fear, since no unrighteous person will humble them as has happened in the past. ¹⁰For from the days that I first arranged for the Judges [to lead] My people IsraEl, I’ve been humbling all their enemies so that My [nation] would continue to grow.‘However, a Temple will [eventually] be built for Jehovah... ¹¹But that will happen after you’ve lived a full life and gone to sleep with your ancestors!‘For I’ll raise an offspring after you who’ll come from your belly, and I will prepare his kingdom... ¹²He will build a Temple for Me, and I’ll make his throne last throughout the ages!¹³‘I’ll be a father to him and he’ll be a son to Me, so My mercy will never be removed from him like I have removed it from those who preceded you. ¹⁴I’ll entrust My Temple to him and to his kingdom throughout the ages, and his name will be [remembered] throughout the ages.’¹⁵Well, Nathan relayed everything in that vision and told David all that was said.¹⁶Then King David went and sat before Jehovah and said this:‘Who am I, O Lord God?‘What is [so good about] my house that You’ve shown so much love for me through this age?¹⁷‘Yet now, although it seemed like this matter was unimportant to You, O God, You’ve spoken about this Temple that your servant [has long wanted to build] for You... And in a vision that was given to a man, You actually looked upon me and lifted me high, O Jehovah God.¹⁸‘So now, how should I proceed to glorify You?‘For Your servant knows that ¹⁹You will do whatever is in Your heart, and it’s all magnificent!²⁰‘O Jehovah,‘There is no other like You, and there’s no god other than You… None that we’ve ever heard of!²¹‘And there’s no other nation like Your people IsraEl anywhere else on the earth that has been guided by You, O God… A people whom You’ve ransomed for Yourself.‘For You’ve given Your people a great name and driven all the others away from before those whom You ransomed out of the nation of Egypt, ²²and You’ve appointed IsraEl to be Your people exclusively throughout the ages.‘Then You, O Jehovah, became their God.²³‘And now, O Jehovah,‘Concerning what You’ve said to Your servant about this Temple…‘May the words that You said prove trustworthy throughout the ages, ²⁴and may Your Name be trusted and magnified throughout the ages, O Jehovah the Almighty the God of IsraEl. For You are the God of IsraEl and of the house of Your servant David, who’s now standing here before You.²⁵‘O Jehovah; you are my God!‘And now that You’ve opened the ears of Your servant when it comes to building this Temple; this is why I saw the need to come and pray before Your face.²⁶‘For Jehovah,‘You are Him… You are The God!‘And now You’ve spoken about these good things to Your servant, ²⁷and You’ve started blessing the house of your servant. So, may it all continue to stand in this same way before You throughout the ages.‘For You, O Jehovah, have blest us, and You’ve promised us Your blessings throughout the ages!’

¹Well after that, David went and attacked the Philistines and drove them away, capturing Gath and all its surrounding villages. ²Then he attacked MoAb and made them serve him and pay a tribute.³David also attacked King HadraAzar of Souba at HamAth as he was marching towards the EuPhrates...⁴There he captured:• 1,000 chariots, • 7,000 horses, and • 20,000 of their infantrymen.And after that, David had all the chariots destroyed except for 100 of them.⁵And when the Syrians came from Damascus to help HadraAzar, David attacked them and killed 22,000 of their men! ⁶Then he left a garrison in Syria near Damascus, so Syria had to serve David and bring tributes to him.For Jehovah watched over David no matter where he went.⁷Then David took the golden collars and other items of gold that were worn by the servants of HadraAzar and had it all carried back to JeruSalem.⁸He also went to MataBeth (which was one of HadraAzar’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.⁹Well, when King Thoa of HamAth heard that David had beaten the army of King HadraAzar (of Souba), ¹⁰he sent his son AdouRam to King David to enquire of his welfare and to congratulate him on winning his war against HadraAzar and killing him, because Thoa had been at war with HadraAzar.¹¹Then David took all the gold, silver, and brass items that he captured from the nations of Edom, MoAb, the AmMonites, the Philistines, and the AmaLechites, and set them aside as holy to Jehovah. ¹²For, AbiShai (son of ZeruJah) had attacked the Edomites in the Salt Valley, where he killed 18,000 of their men!¹³Then he placed a garrison in the Valley, and the Edomites also became David’s servants.Well, Jehovah watched over David no matter where he went; ¹⁴so David reigned over all IsraEl, and he served as a righteous judge over his people.¹⁵At the time:• JoAb (son of ZeruJah) was the commanding general of his army, • JoShaphat (son of AchiLoud) was the recorder, ¹⁶• ZaDok (son of AhiTub) and AhiMelech (son of AbiAthar) were the Priests, • SoUsa was the scribe, ¹⁷• BenaiJah (son of JehoiAda) was in charge of the Cherethites and Phelethites, and • David’s sons served as his second-in-command.

¹In time, King NaHash of the sons of AmMon died and his son Hanan became the king in his place.²So David asked:‘What sort of kind thing can I do for NaHash’s son Hanan? For his father was very kind towards me!’And thereafter, David sent messengers to comfort him after the death of his father... ³But when David’s servants arrived in the land of the AmMonites and they went to Hanan to comfort him, the AmMonite governors said to [Hanan]:‘Isn’t David really glorifying your father over you by sending these comforters?‘And don’t you think that he might be really sending them to look at your city and to spy in our land!?’⁴Well, as a result, Hanan had the servants of David arrested, then he had [their beards] shaved and their clothes cut off halfway to the waist before he sent them away!⁵Then when the report of what Hanan had done to his men reached David, he sent people to meet them because they had been so disgraced; and the king told them to stay in JeriCho and not to return until their beards grew back.⁶Meanwhile, because the sons of AmMon realized that they had disgraced David’s emissaries, Hanan and his people sent 35 tons (32,000kg) of silver to MesoPotamia and to [King] MoOcha in Syria to hire an army along with chariots and cavalry... ⁷So King MoOcha brought his army that included 32,000 chariots, and they camped next to MaiDaba.Also, the AmMonites gathered an army from their own cities as they prepared for war [with IsraEl]. ⁸And when David heard about this, he told JoAb to gather his entire army to go and fight them.⁹Well, [the plan was that] the sons of AmMon would fight IsraEl from their city gates, while the kings set up camp out in the fields... ¹⁰So when JoAb saw that they were preparing to attack him from both sides, he gathered all the young men in his army to attack the Syrians [in the fields], ¹¹while he put the rest of the army into the hands of his brother AbiShai, who was to attack the sons of AmMon [at the city gates].¹²He told [his brother]:‘If the Syrians start to win, you come and help me; but if the AmMonites start to win, I’ll come to help you...¹³‘Let’s fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God, and we’ll trust that Jehovah will do whatever He finds good in His eyes!’¹⁴So then, JoAb attacked the Syrians and they fled from before him!¹⁵And when the AmMonites saw the Syrians retreating, they turned and ran from AbiShai (JoAb’s brother), fleeing back into their city!Then JoAb returned to JeruSalem.¹⁶But when the Syrians saw that IsraEl had left the field of battle, they sent messengers to the Syrians that had camped on the other side of the river, and SoPha (the commander-in-chief of the army of HadraAzar) marched back. ¹⁷And when this was reported to David, he again gathered the whole army of IsraEl and they crossed the JorDan to set up battle lines once more.So the Syrians came and faced David, and the battle began.¹⁸Well, Syria once again turned and ran from IsraEl, for David’s [men] had killed 40,000 of their infantry, they captured 7,000 of their chariots, and they killed SoPha, the commander-in-chief of their army!¹⁹So when the servants of HadraAzar saw that they’d lost the battle to IsraEl, they signed a treaty with David and started serving him. And thereafter, the Syrians never again came to help the sons of AmMon.

¹Well after that, during the time of year when the kings traditionally went to war, JoAb led the entire army [of IsraEl] against the cities of AmMon, starting first by laying siege against RabBah.Meanwhile, David had stayed behind in JeruSalem while JoAb was leading the attack on RabBah. And as [JoAb] was destroying the city, ²David [went there and] took the gold crown from the head of MolChom their king... It weighed 60 pounds (27.2kg) and it was covered with precious stones; so David took it and put it on.Then he looted the city and brought back a huge amount of treasures.³He also took the people and had them sawed in half [put them to work] with saws, iron axes, and threshing tools (that’s what David did to all the sons of AmMon). Then David returned to JeruSalem with his army.⁴However, there was still a war being fought with the Philistines in GaZer... And it was there that SoboChai cut down OuSathi the Raphite (who was from the family of giants) and dishonored him.⁵And as the war with the Philistines raged on, ElHanan (son of JaIr) killed LachMi (the brother of GoliAth the GitTite) whose wooden spear was as large as the rod of a weaving loom.⁶They also had a huge man there that had 24 fingers and toes (6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot), who was a descendant of the giants. ⁷And when he came forward and slandered IsraEl, JoNathan (son of David’s brother SamaAh) attacked him and killed him!⁸These men were all sons of Rapha of Gath, and although all four were giants, they all fell by the hand of David and his servants!

¹Well, the Slanderer came to IsraEl and [he] urged David to count his people.²So King David said to JoAb and his generals:‘Go and take a census of IsraEl from BeerSheba to Dan, then bring [the numbers] to me, so I’ll know how many men I have [in my army].’³And JoAb said:‘May Jehovah multiply His people 100 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!’⁴However, 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 1,100,000 men who could carry the sword.⁵• And among the sons of Judah there was an additional 470,000.⁶However, he didn’t count [the tribes of] Levi and BenJamin as being among them, because the king told JoAb not to do so.⁷Well, doing this was wicked [in the eyes of] God, so He struck IsraEl!⁸Then David said to God:‘I [was guilty of] a great sin when I did this thing!‘So, please forgive the evil of Your servant, for I’m the one who did this foolish thing.’⁹Then the Lord spoke to David’s Seer Gad, saying:¹⁰‘Go speak to David and tell him that this is what Jehovah has said:‘I’ll give you a choice of three punishments.‘Choose which you prefer, and I’ll bring it upon you...’¹¹So Gad went to David and told him:‘This is what Jehovah has said:‘Choose for yourself ¹²from 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 the Lord will go among all the inheritance of IsraEl and destroy.’‘Now, give me an answer for the One who sent me… Which do you choose?’¹³And David told Gad:‘Those are three very tough choices, so I’ll leave it in the hands of Jehovah, for He’s exceptionally compassionate.‘I don’t want to leave myself in the hands of men.’¹⁴So the Lord sent death throughout all IsraEl, and 70,000 of their males died.¹⁵Then God sent His messenger to JeruSalem to wipe it out also.But, as he was destroying it, the Lord saw what was happening and felt sorry for the evil. So He said to the messenger that was doing the destroying:‘That’s enough! Withdraw your hand!’Well, at the time, the messenger of Jehovah was standing at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite... ¹⁶And when David looked up and saw the messenger of Jehovah standing in that place between the sky and the ground with an unsheathed broadsword in his hand that was stretched out over JeruSalem, he fell to the ground and he had the elders put on sackcloth and cover their faces!¹⁷So then David called out to God, saying:‘Wasn’t I the one who told them to count the people?‘Yes, I’m the one who sinned and who told them to do this bad thing!‘What did these sheep do, O Jehovah God?‘Please bring Your hand and Your destruction against me and the house of my father instead, not against Your people, O Lord!’¹⁸Then the messenger of Jehovah said to Gad:‘Tell David that he must build an Altar to Jehovah there at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.’¹⁹So David thereafter went and did what Gad had told him in the Name of the Lord... ²⁰But when Ornan turned and saw the king and four of his sons coming to see him, he tried to hide (for he’d been threshing wheat at the time). ²¹But when David got there, Ornan came down from the threshing floor and bowed with his face to the ground before him.²²And David said:‘I want to buy your threshing floor, because I wish to build an Altar to Jehovah upon it.‘Tell me how much you want for it, since this will bring an end to the calamity that has been plaguing the people.’²³And Ornan said to David:‘Just take it… And may my lord the king do whatever he thinks is best!‘{Look!} Here are some calves to sacrifice as whole burnt offerings, as well as some wood and some grain.‘I’m giving it all to you!’²⁴But David told him:‘No, I want to pay you whatever it’s worth.‘There’s no way that I’d take what’s yours for Jehovah and then sacrifice whole burnt offerings for myself without paying you.’²⁵So David paid Ornan 600 weighed gold coins for his place, ²⁶then he built an Altar to Jehovah and sacrificed whole burnt offerings and a deliverance offering, as he stood there calling out to Jehovah.Well, Jehovah listened to him from the heavens as he was standing there by the fire with the whole burnt offerings on the Altar... ²⁷So the Lord spoke to the messenger, who then put his broadsword back into its sheath.²⁸And David recognized that Jehovah had listened to him there at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, where he’d offered the sacrifices.²⁹Well, at the time, the Tent of Jehovah that Moses had made was out in the desert, as was the Altar for sacrificing whole burnt offerings… It was located on the High Place in GibeOn. ³⁰But David wouldn’t go there right away to seek the face of God, because he didn’t want to turn away too quickly from the broadsword that was being held by Jehovah’s messenger.

¹Then David said:‘This is where the Temple of Jehovah our God [will be built] and where the Altar for the whole burnt offerings of IsraEl will be located.’²And David said:‘Gather all the foreigners in the land of IsraEl and use them as quarry workers to cut, and work stones to build the Temple of Jehovah.’³And thereafter, he prepared many other things for the project, such as the nails, the doorways, the gates, and the hinges. He also collected a huge amount of brass… So much that its weight couldn’t be calculated, ⁴and there was unnumbered amounts of cedar lumber, which the Sidonians and the people of Tyre had brought to David.⁵Then David said:‘My son Solomon is still a young boy, but he will erect this great Temple of Jehovah, which will thereafter be renowned for its glory throughout the whole earth… And I’ll prepare for it.’So David did prepare for it by [collecting] many things before he died.⁶Then David called his son Solomon and told him that he’d have to build the Temple to Jehovah the God of IsraEl.⁷David said to Solomon:‘My child,‘It has been in my heart to build a Temple to the Name of Jehovah God.⁸‘But, the Word of the Lord came to me and said:‘You’ve spilled a lot of blood and fought many great wars, so you may not build a Temple to My Name because of all the blood that you’ve spilled on the ground before Me.⁹‘Yet, look! A son has been born to you who is a man of peace, and I’ll give him rest from all his enemies round about!‘The name that has been given to him is Solomon [meaning, Peace]; so, I’ll give him peace and rest, and I’ll appoint him [as king] over IsraEl when his time comes. ¹⁰He’s the one who will build a Temple to My Name...‘He will be My son, I’ll be a father to him... And I will establish the throne of his kingdom in IsraEl throughout the ages!’¹¹‘Now, my son...‘May Jehovah be with you and bless you, for you’ll build a Temple to your God Jehovah, just as He said you would. ¹²May He give you wisdom, understanding, and make you strong over IsraEl! And may you preserve and keep the Laws of Jehovah your God... ¹³For if you carefully obey the instructions and decisions that Jehovah gave to IsraEl through Moses, He will bless you.‘So you must act like a man and be strong… Don’t be weak or afraid!¹⁴‘Now, {Look!} in my own poor way, I’ve made preparations for the Temple of Jehovah. I’ve collected hundreds of tons of gold, thousands of tons of silver, and so much brass that nobody can estimate its weight!‘I’ve also collected the wood and the stone, and you must add to all of this.¹⁵‘So may Jehovah be with you, and may you finish [this project]. You’ll have to assemble the huge number of craftsmen that will be needed… The stone workers, carpenters, and all the wise men ¹⁶who know how to work the gold, silver, brass, and iron.‘But if you’ll stand tall and act, Jehovah will be with you!’¹⁷Then David instructed all the governors of IsraEl to assist his son Solomon.He said:¹⁸‘Isn’t Jehovah with you, and hasn’t He provided you with peace roundabout?‘Hasn’t He put all those who live here into your hands so that the entire land is now subject to Jehovah and to His people?¹⁹‘Therefore, you must search for Jehovah your God with your whole hearts and souls, and then you must come here and build a Holy Place to Jehovah your God where the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah must be placed among all the rest of the holy things of God.‘Yes, you must build a Temple to the Name of Jehovah!’

¹Well, after David had grown old and lived a full life, his son Solomon took his place as [the king] over IsraEl. ²But then, David assembled all the rulers of IsraEl, as well as the Priests and the Levites, ³and he took a census of all the Levites who were more than 30 years old… And he found that there were 38,000 qualified men.⁴So he assigned 24,000 of them to be in charge of the Temple of Jehovah, 6,000 of them to be scribes and judges, ⁵4,000 [to be] gatekeepers, and 4,000 were anointed to praise Jehovah with the sacred musical instruments that had been made specifically for that purpose.⁶So at that time, David divided the Levites by family groups, and he worked out their daily rotations.Levi’s sons were:• GerShon, • KoHath, and • MeraRi.⁷In the family of GerShon, there was:• Edan, and • ShiMei.⁸The three sons (and rulers of) of Edan were:• JeiEl, • ZeThan, and • JoEl.⁹The three sons of ShiMei were:• SalomIth, • JeiEl, and • Dan....who had been the rulers of the families of LaAdan.¹⁰The four sons of ShiMei were:• Jeth, • Ziza, • JoAs, and • BeriJah.¹¹Jeth was the firstborn and Ziza was second. But JoAs and BeriJah didn’t have any sons, so the whole house and family received the same assignments.¹²The four sons of KoHath were:• AmBram, • IsaAr, • HebRon, and • OziEl.¹³The sons of AmBram were:• Aaron, and • Moses.Then Aaron and his sons were set aside to [serve in] the Holy of Holies, to burn incense before Jehovah, and to officiate and use the power of His Name throughout the rest of that age.¹⁴Of course, Moses was the man of God, and his sons were assigned among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵Moses’ sons were:• GerSam, and • EliEzer.¹⁶GerSam’s son SoubaEl was the firstborn, ¹⁷and EliEzer’s son RabiJah was his firstborn. EliEzer didn’t have any other sons, but the family line of RabiJah became very large.¹⁸The son of IsaAr was SalomOth (the firstborn).¹⁹The sons of HebRon were:• JeriJa (the firstborn), • AmadiJa (the 2nd), • JeziEl (the 3rd), and • JekemiJah (the 4th).²⁰The sons of OziEl were:• Micha (the firstborn), and • JesShiah (the 2nd).²¹The sons of MeraRi were:• MoOli, and • MoUsi.MoOli’s sons were:• EliEzer, and • Kish.²²EliEzer died without any sons (just daughters), but the sons of Kish married them.²³The three sons of MoUsi were:• MoOli, • Eder, and • JariMoth.²⁴These were the names of the rulers among the descendants of Levi by houses and family lines that were more than 20 years old and that served at the Temple of Jehovah.²⁵Then David said:‘Since Jehovah the God of IsraEl has provided rest for His people and He’s now camping in JeruSalem throughout the ages, ²⁶the Levites won’t have to carry the Sacred Tent or any of its things anymore.’²⁷And the last order that David [gave] was to count the sons of Levi who were 20 years old and older; ²⁸for he’d appointed them to [assist the descendants] of Aaron as they served in the Temple of Jehovah... They were to be in charge of the courtyards and the place of worship, as well as to handle the cleansing of the holy things and the maintenance of the Temple of God.²⁹They were also to be in charge of the place settings, and for mixing and measuring the fine flour for the bread loaves [that were to be used in] the sacrifice offerings, which included the fermentation-free bread and the fried cakes.³⁰And every morning and every evening, they were to praise and acknowledge Jehovah.³¹In addition, they were also to prepare all the whole burnt offerings to Jehovah on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the holidays (as they were instructed); so, their job was to always stand before Jehovah.³²They were also to stand guard by watches over the Meeting Tent, over the Holy Place, and to be in charge of their brothers the sons of Aaron, as they did their jobs at the Temple of Jehovah.

[Editor note: Now follows a list of temple assignments followed by other genealogical records. The story resumes in 1 Chronicles 28:1.]¹These are the [Priestly] divisions of the sons of Aaron:• NaDab, • AbiHu, • EliEzer, and • IthaMar.²Since NaDab and AbiHu died in front of their father and they had no sons, the official Priests were Aaron’s sons EliEzer and IthaMar.³So David made a similar division...He appointed ZaDok (who was a descendant of EliEzer) and AhiMelech (who was a descendant of IthaMar) to be the heads over their houses and families for their duties [inside the Temple].⁴But David found that among the descendants of EliEzer there were many more leaders and powerful men than there were among the descendants of IthaMar, so he appointed 16 descendants of EliEzer as leaders of their houses and families, and he only appointed 8 from the descendants of IthaMar.⁵Thereafter, he assigned each of their responsibilities in the Temple of God by lottery, ⁶and SamaiJah son of NathaniEl (the scribe from the tribe of Levi) recorded the results for the king, the governors, the [High] Priest ZaDok, AhiMelech (son of AbiAthar), the heads of families, and for the family heads of the Priests and Levites.In the lottery for the [assignments of the] families of EliEzer and IthaMar:⁷• JehoArim was the 1st group chosen, • JediJah was the 2nd, ⁸• Charib was the 3rd, • SeOrim was the 4th, ⁹• MelciJah was the 5th, • MeiJamin was the 6th, ¹⁰• Kos was the 7th, • AbiJah was the 8th, ¹¹• JeShua was the 9th, • ShecheniJah was the 10th, ¹²• EliAbi was the 11th, • JaKim was the 12th, ¹³• Opha was the 13th, • JesBaAl was the 14th, ¹⁴• BelGa was the 15th, • EmMer was the 16th, ¹⁵• Hezir was the 17th, • ApheSe was the 18th, ¹⁶• PhetaiJah was the 19th, • EzekiEl was the 20th, ¹⁷• Achim was the 21st, • GamoUl was the 22nd, ¹⁸• DalaiJah was the 23rd, and • MaAsiJah was the 24th.¹⁹So, this is the way that their duties were assigned and the order in which they were to enter the Temple of Jehovah, as the responsibilities were set out by their ancestor Aaron and as they were given to him by Jehovah, the God of IsraEl.²⁰These are the names of the rest of Levi’s descendants.Among the descendants of AmBram there was:• SobaEl, and • His son JediJah.²¹From the descendants of RaAbiJah there was his firstborn, JesiJah.²²From the descendants of IsaAri there was:• SalomOth and, • His son, Jath.²³From the descendants of JediOu there was:• AmadiJah, • JaziEl, and • JekMoAm.²⁴From the descendants of OziEl there was:• Micha, and • His son Samer.²⁵Micha’s brother was IsiJa, and his son was ZachariJah.²⁶The sons of MeraRi were:• MoOli, • MoUsi, and • Through BonNi, OziJa.²⁷So, OziJa was also one of MeraRi’s sons, and his sons were:• IsoAm, • SakChour, and • Abai.²⁸MoOli’s only son was EliEzer, ²⁹his son was Kish, and his son was JaRameEl.³⁰The sons of MoUsi were:• MoOli, • Eder, and • JariMoth.These were the sons of the Levites by the houses of their families.

¹King David also assigned some of the sons of Asaph, HeMan, and IdiThoun to be the heads of the orchestra that was to praise [God] with woodwinds, stringed instruments, and cymbals.And these are the numbers of the musicians who were working in their bands:²The sons of Asaph were:• SakChour, • JoSeph, • NathaniJah, and • EraEl.These sons of Asaph worked under Asaph, who was a Prophet, and he reported directly to the king.³Under IdiThoun were his 6 sons:• GodoliJah, • SoUri, • IseAs, • ShiMei, • AsAbiJah, and • MatTathiJah.They all played the woodwinds to praise and acknowledge Jehovah.⁴Under HeMan were his sons:• BoukiJah, • MathaniJah, • OziEl, • SoubaEl, • JeriMoth, • HananiJah, • Hanan, • EliAtha, • GodolLathi, • RomethiEzer, • JesBasaka, • MalLithi, • OthEri, and • MeAzOth. ⁵These were all the sons of HeMan.They played music to the king about the Word of God with horns.⁶God had given HeMan 14 sons and 3 daughters, and they all (including their father) sang in the Temple to the music of the cymbals, stringed instruments, and woodwinds during the services, and they all reported directly to the king (along with Asaph, IdiThoun, and HeMan).⁷In addition, many others in their families were taught to sing to Jehovah; so altogether, there were 288 in the chorus.⁸Then they threw lots for themselves to choose the daily rotations of singers… From the unknown to the famous and from the novices to the experts:⁹• The 1st lot fell to Asaph (son of JoSeph, who was also called GedaliJah) and his sons, • The 2nd fell to EneiJa and 12 among his family members, ¹⁰• The 3rd fell to ZakChour and 12 among his family members, ¹¹• The 4th fell to JesRi and 12 among his family members, ¹²• The 5th fell to NathaniJah and 12 among his family members, ¹³• The 6th fell to BoUkiJah and 12 among his family members, ¹⁴• The 7th fell to IshEriEl and 12 among his family members, ¹⁵• The 8th fell to JosiJah and 12 among his family members, ¹⁶• The 9th fell to MathaniJah and 12 among his family members, ¹⁷• The 10th fell to SemeiJah and 12 among his family members, ¹⁸• The 11th fell to AsriEl and 12 among his family members, ¹⁹• The 12th fell to AsabiJah and 12 among his family members, ²⁰• The 13th fell to SoubaEl and 12 among his family members, ²¹• The 14th fell to MatTathiJah and 12 among his family members, ²²• The 15th fell to JeriMoth and 12 among his family members, ²³• The 16th fell to HananiJah and 12 among his family members, ²⁴• The 17th fell to JesBasaka and 12 among his family members, ²⁵• The 18th fell to HananiJah and 12 among his family members, ²⁶• The 19th fell to MalLithi and 12 among his family members, ²⁷• The 20th fell to EliAthah and 12 among his family members, ²⁸• The 21st fell to OthEri and 12 among his family members, ²⁹• The 22nd fell to GodolLathi and 12 among his family members, ³⁰• The 23rd fell to MeAzOth and 12 among his family members, and • The 24th fell to RometThiEzer and 12 among his family members.³¹Their brothers from the sons of Aaron also threw lots for themselves before the king, as did ZaDok and AhiMelech (who were the heads of the families of the Priests and the Levites), as well as the family heads and the younger ones.

¹These are the groups of the gatekeepers:From the family of KorAh there was MoselLemiJa and his sons who descended through Asaph.²Under MoselLemiJa there was:• ZachariJah (his firstborn), • JadiEl (the 2nd), • ZabadiJa (the 3rd), • JethNouEl (the 4th), ³• JoLam (the 5th), • JoNathan (the 6th), • EliOnai (the 7th), and • ObedEdom (the 8th).⁴ObedEdom’s sons were:• SamaiJah (the firstborn), • JoZabath (the 2nd), • JoAth (the 3rd), • Sachar (the 4th), • NathaniEl (the 5th), ⁵• AmiEl (the 6th), • IsSachar (the 7th), and • PheLathi (the 8th) – for God had blessed him.⁶Then there was SamaiJah’s son RoshAi, who was the firstborn of the house of his father (they were all mighty men).⁷SamaiJah’s sons (they were the most powerful) were:• OthNi, • RaphaEl, • Obed, • EliZabath, and • AchiOud.Then there was:• EliOu, • SabachiJah, and • IshBakom.⁸These were the descendants of ObedEdom and their ancestor MoselLemiJa.They all became great in their positions (all 62 of them), ⁹and 18 of them became extremely powerful.¹⁰Then there was Osa (from the line of MeraRi), whose sons guarded the Temple. Although he wasn’t the firstborn, his father appointed him head of the 2nd division of gate guards.• ¹¹HelkiJah was second under him, • Then TabliJah (the 3rd), and • ZachariJah (the 4th).There were 13 sons in the family of Osa, ¹²and it was from among them that the heads of the divisions of gate guards descended. They were all rulers and important men who handled the daily rotations of their families as they served in the Temple of Jehovah.¹³Thereafter, they all (from the least to the most important) threw lots by houses and families at the gatehouse...¹⁴• And the lot for the gates towards the east fell to SelemiJah and ZachariJah.• Then MelchiJah threw the lots for the family of JoAs, and they received the north gate.¹⁵• When the second lot was thrown, ObedEdom received the south gate, which was next to the collection boxes.¹⁶• [And the Family of] Osa received the west gate.Their job was to watch over the road that led into the Temple.¹⁷Six Levites were assigned to guard the east gate each day, and four were to be in charge of the north gate. Two shifts of two men each watched the south gate (by the collection boxes), ¹⁸and there were also four posted at the west gate, who worked in two shifts of two guards each and kept an eye on the road.¹⁹These were all the divisions of the gatekeepers from the family of KorAh and MeraRi.²⁰The Levites and their families who received the responsibility of being over the treasury in the Temple of Jehovah and watching over the holy things ²¹were the family of LaDan (who was of the line of GerShon).JeiEl was the head of this family group. ²²JeiEl’s sons were:• Zethom, and • JoEl.They and their families were in charge of the treasury at the Temple of Jehovah, ²³as were:• AmBram, • IsaAr, • HebRon, and • OziEl.²⁴SoubaEl (a descendant of Moses through GerSam) was [the chief of] the treasury.²⁵The sons of his brother EliEzer were:• RabiJah, • JosiJah, • JoRam, • ZechRi, and • SalomOth.²⁶SalomOth and his family [kept watch over] the treasures that were inside of the Holy Place… The things that King David had set aside as holy, which had been brought there by the generals, lieutenants, and family heads.²⁷They were the things that they brought in from the cities that they’d captured, so, construction of the Temple of Jehovah God could begin soon thereafter. ²⁸These men were also in charge of all the holy things that had been dedicated by the Prophet SamuEl, by Saul (son of Kish), by AbNer (son of Ner), and by JoAb (son of ZeruJah).All of these holy things were put into the hands of SalomOth and his family.²⁹ChoNeniJah and his family (descendants of IsaAr) were assigned to work outside [of the Temple] as scribes and judges over IsraEl.³⁰AsabiJah and his family (descendants of HebRon) – all 1,700 of them – were important people, for they watched over IsraEl on the other side of the JorDan up to its western border, where they served as representatives of Jehovah and of the king.³¹JoriJah was the leader of the Hebronites and all the generations of their families.It was in the 40th year of David’s reign that all the powerful men were counted at JaZer [in the land of] GileAd. ³²There were 2,700 family heads; and (following Jehovah’s instructions) King David put them over the tribes of ReuBen, Gad, and the half-tribe of ManasSeh.

¹Now, these are the sons of IsraEl by rank that were the heads of their families and who served as generals or lieutenants in the army each month, every month of the year, as it was recorded by the scribes that officially served the king and wrote all his declarations:In the 1st division there were 24,000. ²The general over this division was IshBoaz (son of ZabDiEl). His division included 24,000 ³from the line of Perez. He was in charge of all the army officers during the 1st month.⁴The general in charge of the division during the 2nd month was DoDai (son of Ehok), and under him was MakelLoth. There were 24,000 in his division.⁵The general in charge during the 3rd month was BenaiJah (son of JehoiAda, the High Priest). In his division there were 24,000. ⁶BenaiJah was the greatest of [David’s] 30 men, and he was in charge of the 30. The man who served under him was his son Zabad.⁷In charge during the 4th month was AsaHel, JoAb’s brother, and his son ZabadiJah. There were 24,000 in his division.⁸The general in charge during the 5th month was SamaOth the JezreElite, and there were 24,000 in his division.⁹The general in charge during the 6th month was OdouJah (son of EkKes) the Thekoite, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹⁰The general in charge of the 7th month was HelLes of PalLu, from the tribe of Ephraim, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹¹The general in charge during the 8th month was SoboChai the Ousathite from ZarAi, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹²The general in charge during the 9th month was AbiEzer from AnathOth, of the tribe of BenJamin, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹³The general in charge during the 10th month was MeEra from NetoPhathi of ZarAi, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹⁴The general in charge during the 11th month was BenaiJah from PharaThon of the tribe of Ephraim, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹⁵The general in charge during the 12th month was CholdiJah from NetoPhathi of GoThoniEl, and there were 24,000 in his division.¹⁶These were the leaders of each of the tribes of IsraEl:• [In charge of the tribe of] ReuBen was EliEzer (son of ZechRi) • [In charge of the tribe of] SimeOn was SaphatiAs (son of MaAcha) ¹⁷• [In charge of the tribe of] Levi was AsabiJah (son of KamouEl) • [In charge of the line of] Aaron was ZaDok ¹⁸• [In charge of the tribe of] Judah was EliJah (David’s brother) • [In charge of the tribe of] IsSachar was Ambri (son of MichaEl) ¹⁹• [In charge of the tribe of] ZebuLun was SamaiJah (son of AbDiOu) • [In charge of the tribe of] NaphTali was JeriMoth (son of OziEl) ²⁰• [In charge of the tribe of] Ephraim was Ose (son of OziOu) • [In charge of the tribe of] half-tribe of ManasSeh was JoEl (son of PhadiJah) ²¹• [In charge of] the half-tribe of ManasSeh in the land of GileAd was JaDai (son of ZadiJah) • [In charge of the tribe of] BenJamin was JasiEl (son of AbNer) ²²• [In charge of the tribe of] Dan was AzariEl (son of IroAb).These were all the patriarchs of the tribes of IsraEl.²³Now, David never counted the men who were under 20 years old, because Jehovah said that He would cause IsraEl to grow like the stars in the sky... ²⁴And although JoAb (son of ZeruJah) did start to take a census of the people, he didn’t complete it because this brought [God’s] anger against IsraEl.So the number was never written in the scroll of The Days of King David.²⁵• The man who was in charge of the king’s storehouses was AsMoth (son of OdiEl).• The man who was over the storehouses in the countryside, towns, estates, and fortresses was JoNathan (son of OziOu).²⁶• The man who was in charge of the farming was EzRai (son of CheloUb).²⁷• The man who was in charge of the fields was ShiMei of RaEl.• The man in charge of the wineries in the fields was ZabDi (son of SephNi).²⁸• The man who was in charge of the olive groves and mulberry trees (in the plains) was BailHanan the Gedorite.• The man who was in charge of the olive storehouse was JoAs.²⁹• The man who was in charge of the cattle that grazed in ShaRon was SatRai the ShaRonite.• The man who was in charge of the cattle in the valleys was Shophat (son of AdLi).³⁰• The man who was in charge of the camels was AbiJah the IshMaElite.• The man who was in charge of the burros was JadiJah of MeraThon.³¹• The man who was in charge of the sheep was JaZiz the Agarite.These were the superintendents over the personal possessions of King David.³²• JoNathan (David’s uncle) was his advisor, because he was a very discerning man and a scribe.• JeEl (son of AchaMani) [watched over] the king’s sons.³³• AhiTophel was also one of the king’s councilors.• HushAi was David’s best friend.³⁴• After [the councilor] AhiTophel came JehoiAda (son of BenaiJah), then AbiAthar, and then JoAb (the king’s commander-in-chief).

[Editor note: The story resumes here.]¹Well, David had called for an assembly of all the governors of IsraEl, the chief justices of the tribes, the king’s servants, the army generals and lieutenants, the treasury department, those in charge of the king’s property, his sons, his eunuchs, and the most outstanding warriors in JeruSalem.²Then King David stood in the midst of the assembly and said:‘Hear me, my brothers and my people!‘It came into my heart to build a House of rest for the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah and as a footstool for the feet of our [God, Jehovah]... Therefore, I have prepared the things that will be needed to build it.³‘But God said:‘You may not build a Temple to Me that carries My Name, because you’re a man of war and you’ve spilled [too much] blood.’⁴‘Yet, Jehovah the God of IsraEl chose me from all the house of my father to be the king over IsraEl throughout the age, and He’s given the kingship to Judah and to the house of my father.‘From among all of his sons, God chose me, because He wanted me to be the king over IsraEl. ⁵And from among all of my sons –and Jehovah has given me many of them– He’s chosen my son Solomon and seated him on the throne of His kingdom over IsraEl.⁶‘For God said to me:‘Your son Solomon will build My Temple and My courtyard, because I have taken him to be My son, and I will be his Father... ⁷I will establish his kingdom throughout the ages, as long as he faithfully obeys My Commandments and instructions as he’s doing today.’⁸‘And now, before this entire assembly of Jehovah and within the hearing of our God, I say [to Solomon]:‘Guard and seek all the Commandments of Jehovah our God, so that you’ll inherit a good land, which your sons can thereafter inherit with you throughout the ages!⁹‘So, Solomon my son,‘Know the God of your fathers!‘You must serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing soul, for Jehovah regularly checks the hearts and He knows every thought!‘If you search for Him, you can always find Him…‘But if you leave Him, He will leave you in the end.¹⁰‘Now, look!‘Jehovah has chosen you to build a Temple as His most holy place.‘Therefore, you must be strong and act!’¹¹Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the Temple and its surrounding buildings, its treasury, its upper rooms, the inner storehouses, and the place where the [sacrifices were to be offered] for the forgiveness of sins.¹²He had the plans all laid out in his mind for how the courtyards of the Temple of Jehovah were to be assembled, as well as the places of worship, the storehouses around the Temple, the storehouses for the holy things, and the sleeping quarters. ¹³He had even planned the daily rotations of the Priests and Levites, the assignments of work at the Temple of Jehovah, the management of the storehouses, and how the sacred things were to be handled.¹⁴Then he weighed out all the gold and silver ¹⁵for the lamp stands, and he contributed money that had been weighed to make the lamps. ¹⁶Thereafter, he did the same thing for the tables and place settings (because each of the tables were to be made of gold and silver), ¹⁷the meat hooks, the drinking bowls, and the gold bowls.He also specified the weight of the gold and silver for the wash basin.¹⁸[Then he provided] pure gold for the incense Altar, clearly specifying how much each item should weigh, and he showed him the plans for the chariot of the cherubs (the ones with the opened, spread wings that were to cover the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah).¹⁹By the hand of Jehovah, David had written everything down for Solomon so that he would clearly understand how the plans were to be carried out.²⁰Then David said to Solomon:‘Now you must be strong and act like a man!‘Don’t be afraid or terrified, because my God Jehovah will be with you.‘He won’t push you away and He will never abandon you, as long as you finish all the work of building the Temple of Jehovah.‘Look! Here are the plans for the Temple, for His Most Holy, for His treasury, for the upper rooms, for the inner storehouses, and for the place where [the sacrifices are to be offered] for forgiveness of sins at the Temple of Jehovah.²¹‘And look!‘Here are the daily rotations of the Priests and Levites for their services at the Temple of Jehovah, and for the people who are to help you... They’re all eager, wise, and skilled at all sorts of crafts, as are their supervisors, and they’re all ready to follow your instructions.’

¹Then King David said to the assembly:‘My son Solomon, whom Jehovah has taken for Himself, is still young and inexperienced, and he has a great work to do!‘However, this isn’t going to be accomplished by a man, but by Jehovah our God.²‘Now, I’ve done everything in my power to prepare for the Temple of my God. [I’ve accumulated] all the gold for the things of gold, all the silver for the things of silver, all the brass for the things of brass, all the iron for the things of iron, all the wood for the things of wood, and all the stones for the things of stone.‘There’s onyx, precious gems, all types of costly colored stones, and large amounts of white marble... ³And yet, because I’ve favored myself by [preparing for] a Temple for my God, I’ve obtained even more gold and silver.‘And look… I’m now giving it all it to the Temple of my God!‘For in addition to what I’ve prepared for the Holy Temple, ⁴here is another 10 tons (9,000kg) of gold from Ophir and 20 tons (18,000kg) of pure silver with which to overlay the walls of the Temple ⁵and to make things of gold and silver…‘Whatever the craftsmen can do with it!‘Now, if anyone else is eager to contribute gold to make things of gold, and silver to make things of silver, may he fill his hands for Jehovah today.’⁶Well, the heads of families, the governors of the sons of IsraEl, the generals, the lieutenants, and the king’s supervisors and managers were eager to contribute to building the Temple of Jehovah. ⁷So he collected:• 30 tons (27,000kg) of gold, • 10,000 gold coins, • 60 tons (54,000kg) of silver, • 600 tons (540,000kg) of brass, and • 3,000 tons (2,700,000kg) of iron.⁸They contributed whatever gemstones they had to JeiEl the GerShonite, to put into the storehouses for the Temple of Jehovah.⁹Well, everyone there was very happy, because they’d all shown such eagerness, and their hearts had been so filled with their zeal for Jehovah!And because King David was so very happy, ¹⁰he then praised Jehovah before the assembly, saying:‘O Jehovah, the God of IsraEl, our Father throughout ages of ages; may You truly be praised!¹¹‘For to You, O Jehovah, belongs the greatness, the power, the boasting, the victories, the recognition, and the strength!‘For You are the One who made everything in the skies above and on the ground below.‘Yet, You are our Lord, and the kings of all the nations are in fear before Your face, ¹²for from You comes all the wealth and the glory. You’re the Ruler over everything!‘O Jehovah,‘You are above all others!‘For in Your hand there’s every type of strength and control, and in Your hand [is the power] to create all fame and mightiness.¹³‘And now, O Jehovah,‘We acknowledge You and we praise the Name of which You boast... ¹⁴But, who am I, and who are my people, that we’ve felt such eagerness to [contribute] these things?‘For it’s really all Yours, and all we’re doing is giving Your things back to You. ¹⁵We’re just visitors before You, as were our ancestors… For [our lives] are like shadows on the ground that are just passing by.¹⁶‘O Jehovah our God,‘All of these things that I’ve prepared so as to build a Temple to Your Holy Name have come from Your own hands, because everything belongs to You.¹⁷‘And I know, O Jehovah, that You are the One who examines hearts and that You love justice. So, it’s with a pure heart that I’ve been eager to do all these things… And now I’ve also seen gladness and eagerness for You among Your people!¹⁸‘O Jehovah, the God of AbraHam, IsaAc, and IsraEl… The God of our fathers,‘Keep this feeling in the minds and hearts of Your people throughout the ages, and make their hearts straight towards You! ¹⁹Also, give my son Solomon a good heart and make him obey Your Commandments, instructions, and orders, so that he may take the lead in finishing Your Temple.’²⁰Then David said to the entire assembly:‘Praise Jehovah our God!’And after that, everyone there praised Jehovah the God of their ancestors, as they bent their knees to bow low before Jehovah and before their king.²¹Thereafter, David offered sacrifices to Jehovah.And then on the next day, he sacrificed:• 1,000 calves, • 1,000 rams, and • 1,000 lambs......[all] as whole burnt offerings, along with drink offerings.Thereafter, [he offered] many more sacrifices on behalf of IsraEl.²²So, everyone joyfully ate and drank there before Jehovah that day, and they held a second coronation for David’s son Solomon, anointing him as their king before Jehovah and before ZaDok the [High] Priest.²³Well thereafter, Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king in place of his father David, and everyone thought highly of him. For all IsraEl – ²⁴the governors, the mighty ones, and all the sons of his father (King David) – submitted to him. ²⁵And Jehovah made Solomon great before all IsraEl, giving him greater glory than any king who had ever existed before him.²⁶Well, David (son of JesSe) had ruled IsraEl for ²⁷40 years… 7 years in HebRon and 33 years in JeruSalem. ²⁸But after he was old and had lived a long and good life filled with wealth and glory, [he died]… And his son Solomon took his place.²⁹The rest of the words of King David, from the beginning to the end, were written by the Seer SamuEl, by the Prophet Nathan, and by the Seer Gad; the things about his kingship, the area of his rule, the events of those times, and the things that happened to him and to IsraEl, as well as to all the other nations that lived in the land.