1 Chronicles 10-13

New International Reader's Version

Saul Takes His Own Life

10 The Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from them. But many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines kept chasing Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³ The fighting was heavy around Saul. Men armed with bows and arrows caught up with him. They shot their arrows at him and wounded him badly.

⁴ Saul spoke to the man who was carrying his armor. He said, “Pull out your sword and stick it through me. If you don’t, these men who aren’t circumcised will come and hurt me badly.”

But the man was terrified. He wouldn’t do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ The man saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died. ⁶ Saul and his three sons died. All of them died together.

⁷ All the Israelites who lived in the valley saw that their army had run away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So the Israelites left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ The day after the Philistines had won the battle, they came to take what they wanted from the dead bodies. They found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ So they took what they wanted from Saul’s body. They cut off his head and took his armor. Then they sent messengers through the whole land of the Philistines. They announced the news to the statues of their gods. They also announced it among their people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s armor in the temple of their gods. They hung up his head in the temple of their god Dagon.

¹¹ The people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹² So all the brave men of Jabesh Gilead went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the great tree that was there. They didn’t eat anything for seven days.

¹³ Saul died because he wasn’t faithful to the Lord. He didn’t obey the word of the Lord. He even asked for advice from a person who gets messages from people who have died. ¹⁴ He didn’t ask the Lord for advice. So the Lord put him to death. He turned the kingdom over to David. David was the son of Jesse.

David Becomes King Over Israel

11 The whole community of Israel came together to see David at Hebron. They said, “We are your own flesh and blood. ² In the past, Saul was our king. But you led the men of Israel in battle. The Lord your God said to you, ‘You will be the shepherd over my people Israel. You will become their ruler.’ ”

³ All the elders of Israel came to see King David at Hebron. There he made a covenant with them in front of the Lord. They anointed David as king over Israel. It happened just as the Lord had promised through Samuel.

David Captures Jerusalem

⁴ David and all the men of Israel marched to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was also called Jebus. The Jebusites who lived there ⁵ said to David, “You won’t get in here.” But David captured the fort of Zion. It became known as the City of David.

⁶ David had said, “Anyone who leads the attack against the Jebusites will become the commander of Israel’s army.” Joab went up first. So he became the commander of the army. He was the son of Zeruiah.

⁷ David moved into the fort. So it was called the City of David. ⁸ He built up the city around the fort. He filled in the low places. He built a wall around it. During that time, Joab built up the rest of the city. ⁹ David became more and more powerful. That’s because the Lord who rules over all was with him.

David’s Mighty Warriors

¹⁰ The chiefs of David’s mighty warriors and the whole community of Israel helped David greatly. They helped him become king over the entire land. That’s exactly what the Lord had promised him. ¹¹ Here is a list of David’s mighty warriors.

Jashobeam was chief of the officers. He was a Hakmonite. He used his spear against 300 men. He killed all of them at one time.

¹² Next to him was Eleazar. He was one of the three mighty warriors. He was the son of Dodai, the Ahohite. ¹³ Jashobeam was with David at Pas Dammim. The Philistines had gathered there for battle. Israel’s troops ran away from the Philistines. At the place where that happened, there was a field full of barley. ¹⁴ The three mighty warriors took their stand in the middle of the field. They didn’t let the Philistines capture it. They struck them down. The Lord helped them win a great battle.

¹⁵ David was near the rock at the cave of Adullam. Three of the 30 chiefs came down to him there. A group of Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁶ At that time David was in his usual place of safety. Some Philistine troops were stationed at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David really wanted some water. He said, “I wish someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ So the three mighty warriors fought their way past the Philistine guards. They got some water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem. They took the water back to David. But David refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord. ¹⁹ “I would never drink that water!” David said. “It would be like drinking the blood of these men. They put their lives in danger by going to Bethlehem.” The men had put their lives in danger by bringing the water back. So David wouldn’t drink it.

Those were some of the brave things the three mighty warriors did.

²⁰ Abishai was chief over the three mighty warriors. He was the brother of Joab. Abishai used his spear against 300 men. He killed all of them. So he became as famous as the three mighty warriors. ²¹ He was honored twice as much as the three mighty warriors. He became their commander. But he wasn’t included among them.

²² Benaiah was a great hero from Kabzeel. He was the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah did many brave things. He struck down two of Moab’s best fighting men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day. He killed a lion there. ²³ And Benaiah struck down an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall. The Egyptian was holding a spear as big as a weaver’s rod. Benaiah went out to fight against him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand. Then he killed him with it. ²⁴ Those were some of the brave things Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, did. He too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. ²⁵ He was honored more than any of the 30 chiefs. But he wasn’t included among the three mighty warriors. And David put him in charge of his own personal guards.

²⁶ Here is a list of David’s mighty warriors.

Fighting Men Join David

12 Some fighting men came to David at Ziklag. They were among those who helped him in battle. David had been forced to hide from Saul, the son of Kish. ² The men were armed with bows. They were able to shoot arrows or throw stones from a sling with either hand. They were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. Here is a list of them.

⁸ Some men of Gad went over to David’s side at his usual place of safety in the desert. They were brave fighting men. They were ready for battle. They were able to use shields and spears. Their faces were like the faces of lions. They could run as fast as antelopes in the mountains.

¹⁴ All these men of Gad were army commanders. The least important of them was equal to 100 men. The most important was equal to 1,000. ¹⁵ They went across the Jordan River when it was flowing over its banks. That happened in the first month of spring. They chased away everyone who lived in the valleys. They chased them away from the east and west sides of the river.

¹⁶ Some men from the territories of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his usual place of safety. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them. He said to them, “Have you come to me in peace? Have you come to help me? If you have, I’m ready for you to join me. But suppose you have come to hand me over to my enemies when I haven’t even harmed anyone. Then may the God of our people see it and judge you.”

¹⁸ The Spirit of God came on Amasai. He was leader of the 30 chiefs. He said,

So David welcomed them. He made them leaders in his army.

¹⁹ Some people from the tribe of Manasseh went over to David’s side. They did this when he marched out with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men didn’t help the Philistines. That’s because after all the Philistine rulers had discussed the matter, they sent him away. They said, “Suppose he deserts to his master Saul. Then our heads will be cut off!” ²⁰ So David went to Ziklag. Here are the men of Manasseh who went over to his side. They were Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. They were leaders of groups of 1,000 men in Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David fight against enemy armies. All the men of Manasseh were brave fighting men. They were commanders in David’s army. ²² Day after day men came to help David. Soon he had a large army. It was like the army of God.

Other Fighting Men Join David at Hebron

²³ Large numbers of men came to David at Hebron. They were prepared for battle. They came to hand Saul’s kingdom over to him, just as the Lord had said. Here are the numbers of the men who came.

³⁸ All these fighting men offered to serve in the army.

Before they came to Hebron, they had agreed completely to make David king over all the Israelites. All the rest of the people also agreed to make David king. ³⁹ The men spent three days there with David. They ate and drank what their families had given them. ⁴⁰ Their neighbors also brought food. They brought it on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. They came from as far away as the territories of Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. There was plenty of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep. The Israelites brought all these things because they were so happy.

David Brings Back the Ark

13 David talked with each of his officers. He wanted to get their advice. Some of them were commanders of thousands of men. Others were commanders of hundreds. ² David spoke to the whole community of Israel. He said, “Let’s send word to the rest of our people no matter how far away they live. They live in all the territories of Israel. Let’s also send word to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and on their grasslands. Let’s invite everyone to come and join us. Let’s do it if it seems good to you and if that’s what the Lord our God wants. ³ Let’s bring the ark of our God back here to us. We didn’t use it to ask God for advice during the whole time Saul was king.” ⁴ So that’s what the whole community agreed to do. It seemed right to them.

⁵ David gathered together all the Israelites. They came from the area between the Shihor River in Egypt and Lebo Hamath. They came to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. ⁶ David went to Baalah of Judah. The whole community of Israel went with him. Baalah is also called Kiriath Jearim. All the people went there to get the ark of God the Lord. He sits on his throne between the cherubim. The ark is named after the Lord.

⁷ The ark of God was placed on a new cart. Then it was moved from Abinadab’s house. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding it. ⁸ David was celebrating with all his might in front of God. So was the whole community of Israel. All of them were singing songs. They were also playing harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.

⁹ They came to the threshing floor of Kidon. The oxen nearly fell there. So Uzzah reached out his hand to hold the ark steady. ¹⁰ Then the Lord became very angry with Uzzah. The Lord struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So Uzzah died there in front of God.

¹¹ David was angry because the Lord’s great anger had broken out against Uzzah. That’s why the place is still called Perez Uzzah to this day.

¹² David was afraid of God that day. David asked, “How can I ever bring the ark of God back here to me?” ¹³ So he didn’t take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom was from Gath. ¹⁴ The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom. It stayed in his house for three months. And the Lord blessed his family. He also blessed everything that belonged to him.