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1 Chronicles 12 (CEV)

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²⁴ (SEE 12:23) ²⁵ (SEE 12:23) ²⁶ (SEE 12:23) ²⁷ (SEE 12:23) ²⁸ (SEE 12:23) ²⁹ (SEE 12:23) ³⁰ (SEE 12:23) ³¹ (SEE 12:23) ³² (SEE 12:23) ³³ (SEE 12:23) ³⁴ (SEE 12:23) ³⁵ (SEE 12:23) ³⁶ (SEE 12:23) ³⁷ (SEE 12:23) ³⁸ All of these soldiers voluntarily came to Hebron because they wanted David to become king of Israel. In fact, everyone in Israel wanted the same thing. ³⁹ The soldiers stayed in Hebron three days, eating and drinking what their relatives had prepared for them. ⁴⁰ Other Israelites from as far away as the territories of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali brought cattle and sheep to slaughter for food. They also brought donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen that were loaded down with flour, dried figs, wine, and olive oil. ¹ Some time earlier, David had gone to live in the town of Ziklag to escape from King Saul. While David was there, several brave warriors joined him to help fight his battles. ² Several of these warriors were from King Saul's own tribe of Benjamin. They were experts at using a bow and arrows, and they could shoot an arrow or sling a stone with either hand. ³ Their leaders were Ahiezer and Joash, the sons of Shemaah from Gibeah. Here is a list of those men from Benjamin: Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah and Jehu from Anathoth; Ishmaiah from Gibeon, who was the leader of the Thirty Warriors; Jere ⁴ (SEE 12:3) ⁵ (SEE 12:3) ⁶ (SEE 12:3) ⁷ (SEE 12:3) ⁸ Men from the tribe of Gad also joined David at his fortress in the desert and served as his warriors. They were also brave soldiers--fierce as lions and quick as gazelles. They were always prepared to fight with shields and spears. ⁹ There were eleven of them, ranked in the following order: Ezer the leader, then Obadiah, Eliab, Mishmannah, Jeremiah, Attai, Eliel, Johanan, Elzabad, Jeremiah, and Machbannai. ¹⁰ (SEE 12:9) ¹¹ (SEE 12:9) ¹² (SEE 12:9) ¹³ (SEE 12:9) ¹⁴ All these men were army officers; some were high-ranking officers over a thousand troops, and others were officers over a hundred troops. ¹⁵ Earlier, they had crossed the Jordan River when it flooded, and they chased out the people who lived in the valleys on each side of the river. ¹⁶ One time a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went to the fortress where David was staying. ¹⁷ David met them outside and said, "If you are coming as friends to fight on my side, then stay and join us. But if you try to turn me over to my enemies, the God our ancestors worshiped will punish you, because I have done nothing wrong." ¹⁸ Amasai, who later became the leader of the Thirty Warriors, was one of these men who went to David. God's Spirit took control of him, and he said, "We will join you, David son of Jesse! You and your followers will always be successful, because God fights ¹⁹ Some of the warriors who joined David were from the tribe of Manasseh. They had earlier gone with David when he agreed to fight on the side of the Philistines against King Saul. But as soon as the Philistine rulers realized that David might turn against ²⁰ That's when the following men from Manasseh joined him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. They had all been commanders in Saul's army ²¹ and brave soldiers, and so David made them officers in his army. They fought on his side when enemy troops attacked. ²² Day after day, new men came to join David, and soon he had a large, powerful army. ²³ The kingdom of Israel had been taken away from Saul, and it now belonged to David. He was ruling from Hebron, and thousands of well-trained soldiers from each tribe went there to crown David king of all Israel, just as the LORD had promised. These soldie