1 Chronicles 5

EasyEnglish Bible

The descendants of Reuben

5 Reuben was Israel's firstborn son. That is, Reuben was born first. But he had sex with his father's slave wife. So his father took away the benefits that belong to a firstborn son. Instead, Israel gave those benefits to his son Joseph's sons. So Reuben does not have the first place in the list of Israel's sons. ² Judah became stronger than all his brothers. Israel's ruler came from his tribe. But it was Joseph who received the benefits that belong to the firstborn son.^[a]

³ The sons of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, were: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

⁴ Joel's descendants were: His son Shemaiah. Shemaiah's son Gog. Gog's son Shimei. ⁵ Shimei's son Micah. Micah's son Reaiah. Reaiah's son Baal. ⁶ Baal's son Beerah. Beerah was a leader of Reuben's tribe. Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, took him away to Assyria as his prisoner.

⁷ The lists of Reuben's descendants include these leaders of their clans: Jeiel was the first, then Zechariah and Bela. ⁸ Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema. Shema was the son of Joel.

Reuben's people lived in the region of Aroer, as far north as Nebo and Baal-Meon. ⁹ Their east border was the desert that goes all the way to the Euphrates River. They had too many animals to feed in the region of Gilead. So they had to live in all those other places too.

¹⁰ When Saul was Israel's king, the men of Reuben's tribe attacked the Hagrites. They won the fight. Then they moved into their land to live. That was the whole region that was east of Gilead.

The descendants of Gad

¹¹ Gad's descendants lived in the region of Bashan, near the people of Reuben's tribe. Their land went as far as Salecah town in the east.

¹² Joel was the most important leader. Shapham was the second leader. Janai and Shaphat were also leaders in Bashan. ¹³ Their relatives in each of their seven clans were: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber.

¹⁴ They were all descendants of Abihail. Abihail was Huri's son. Huri was Jaroah's son. Jaroah was Gilead's son. Gilead was Michael's son. Michael was Jeshishai's son. Jeshishai was Jahdo's son. Jahdo was the son of Buz. ¹⁵ Ahi, son of Abdiel and grandson of Guni, was the leader of their clan. ¹⁶ Gad's descendants lived in Gilead, in Bashan, and in the small towns near there. They also lived in the whole land of Sharon where there was grass to feed their animals. ¹⁷ The names of Gad's descendants were written down at the time when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

¹⁸ The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh had a large army. They had 44,760 brave soldiers who knew how to fight well. Their weapons were shields, swords, and bows and arrows. ¹⁹ They attacked the Hagrites and the people in Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. ²⁰ God helped their army to fight against their enemies. He put the Hagrites under their power, as well as the other people who fought with them. The soldiers of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad called out to God for help during the battle. God answered their prayers because they trusted him. ²¹ They took all their enemies' animals. They included 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep and 2,000 donkeys. They also caught 100,000 people as their prisoners. ²² They killed many of their enemy's soldiers because God was fighting for them. Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh's tribe took the land where the Hagrites had lived. They continued to live there until the exile of Judah's people.

The half tribe of Manasseh in the east^[b]

²³ Half of Manasseh's tribe lived in the region of Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan River. Their borders were Baal-Hermon, Senir and Hermon mountain. They became very many people.

²⁴ These men were the leaders of their clans: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave soldiers and people respected them. They were leaders of their clans. ²⁵ But they turned away from the God that their ancestors had worshipped. He had chased the other nations out of the land where his people now lived. But now they started to worship the gods of those nations. ²⁶ So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria to attack their land. That king is also called King Tiglath-Pileser.^[c] He won the fight against the people of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. He took them away as his prisoners to Halah, to Habor, to Hara and to the Gozan river. They are still living there, even today.