1 Chronicles 3-5

Contemporary English Version

The Descendants of King David

3 ^1-4 (A) King David ruled from Hebron for seven years and six months, and during that time he had six sons, who were born in the following order: Amnon, Daniel, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream. Ahinoam from Jezreel was the mother of Amnon; Abigail from Carmel was the mother of Daniel; Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur was the mother of Absalom; Haggith was the mother of Adonijah; Abital was the mother of Shephatiah; and Eglah was the mother of Ithream.

David then ruled from Jerusalem for 33 years, ^5 (B) and during that time, he had 13 more sons. His wife Bathsheba^[a] daughter of Ammiel gave birth to Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. ^6-8 David's other sons included Ibhar, Elishua,^[b] Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. ⁹ David's other wives^[c] also gave birth to sons. Tamar was his daughter.

The Descendants of King Solomon

^10-15 Solomon's descendants included the following kings: Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram,^[d] Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah and his four sons, Johanan, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, and Jehoahaz.^{[e] 16} Jehoiakim was the father of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.

¹⁷ Jehoiachin, who was taken to Babylon as a prisoner, had seven sons: Shealtiel, ¹⁸ Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ¹⁹ Pedaiah had two sons: Zerubbabel and Shimei. Zerubbabel was the father of Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister. ²⁰ He also had five other sons: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushabhesed. ²¹ Hananiah's descendants were Pelatiah, Jeshaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, and Shecaniah,^{[f] 22} the father of Shemaiah and the grandfather of Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat. ²³ Neariah was the father of Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam. ²⁴ Elioenai was the father of Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani.

The Descendants of Judah

4 Judah was the father of five sons: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ² Shobal was the father of Reaiah, the grandfather of Jahath, and the great-grandfather of Ahumai and Lahad. These men all belonged to the Zorathite clan.

^3-4 Hur was the oldest son of Caleb and Ephrath. Some of his descendants settled the town of Bethlehem. Hur's other descendants included Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam's sons^[g] were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and his daughter was Hazzelelponi. Penuel settled the town of Gedor, and Ezer settled the town of Hushah.

⁵ Ashhur, who settled the town of Tekoa, had two wives: Helah and Naarah. ⁶ Ashhur and Naarah were the parents of Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. ⁷ Ashhur and Helah were the parents of Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.

⁸ Koz, the father of Anub and Zobebah, was also the ancestor of the clans of Aharhel, the son of Harum.

⁹ Jabez was a man who got his name because of the pain he caused his mother during birth.^[h] But he was still the most respected son in his family. ¹⁰ One day he prayed to Israel's God, “Please bless me and give me a lot of land. Be with me so I will be safe from harm.”^[i] And God did just what Jabez had asked.

¹¹ Chelub was the brother of Shuhah and the father of Mehir. Later, Mehir had a son, Eshton, ¹² whose three sons were Bethrapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. It was Tehinnah who settled the town of Nahash.^[j] These men and their families lived in the town of Recah.

¹³ Kenaz was the father of Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel had two sons: Hathath and Meonothai,^{[k] 14} who was the father of Ophrah. Seraiah was the father of Joab, who settled a place called “Valley of Crafts”^[l] because the people who lived there were experts in making things.

¹⁵ Caleb son of Jephunneh had three sons: Iru, Elah, and Naam. Elah was the father of Kenaz.

¹⁶ Jehallelel was the father of Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.

^17-18 Ezrah was the father of Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered was married to Bithiah the daughter of the king of Egypt. They had a daughter named Miriam and two sons: Shammai and Ishbah. It was Ishbah who settled the town of Eshtemoa. Mered was also married to a woman from the tribe of Judah, and their sons were Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel. Jered settled the town of Gedor; Heber settled the town of Soco; and Jekuthiel settled the town of Zanoah.

¹⁹ A man named Hodiah was married to the sister of Naham. Hodiah's descendants included Keilah of the Garmite clan and Eshtemoa of the Maacathite clan.

²⁰ Shimon was the father of Amnon, Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon.

Ishi was the father of Zoheth and Benzoheth.

^21-22 Judah also had a son named Shelah, whose descendants included Jokim and the people of the town of Cozeba, as well as Er who settled the town of Lecah and Laadah who settled the town of Mareshah. The people who lived in Beth-Ashbea were also descendants of Shelah, and they were experts in weaving cloth. Shelah was the ancestor of Joash and Saraph, two men who married Moabite women and then settled near Bethlehem^[m]—but these family records are very old. ²³ The members of these clans were the potters who lived in the towns of Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king.

The Descendants of Simeon

²⁴ Simeon had five sons: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. ²⁵ The descendants of Shaul included his son Shallum, his grandson Mibsam, and his great-grandson Mishma. ²⁶ The descendants of Mishma included his son Hammuel, his grandson Zaccur, and his great-grandson Shimei. ²⁷ Shimei had 16 sons and 6 daughters. But his brothers did not have as many children, so the Simeon tribe was smaller than the Judah tribe.

^28-31 (C) Before David became king, the people of the Simeon tribe lived in the following towns: Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-Marcaboth, Hazarsusim, Bethbiri, and Shaaraim. ³² They also lived in the five villages of Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, ³³ as well as in the nearby villages as far as the town of Baal. These are the places where Simeon's descendants had settled, according to their own family records.

^34-38 As their families and clans became larger, the people of Simeon had the following leaders: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu,^[n] Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, and Ziza.^{[o] 39} When the people needed more pastureland for their flocks and herds, they looked as far as the eastern side of the valley where the town of Gerar^[p] is located, ⁴⁰ and they found a lot of good pastureland that was quiet and undisturbed. This had once belonged to the Hamites, ⁴¹ but when Hezekiah was king of Judah, the descendants of Simeon attacked and forced the Hamites and Meunites off the land, then settled there.

⁴² Some time later, 500 men from the Simeon tribe went into Edom^[q] under the command of Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel the sons of Ishi. ⁴³ They killed the last of the Amalekites and lived there from then on.

The Descendants of Reuben

5 ^(D) Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob,^[r] but he lost his rights as the first-born son^[s] because he slept with one of his father's wives.^[t] The honor of the first-born son was then given to Joseph, ^2 (E) even though it was the Judah tribe that became the most powerful and produced a leader.

³ Reuben had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

^4-6 (F) The descendants of Joel included Shemaiah, Gog, Shimei, Micah, Reaiah, Baal, and Beerah, a leader of the Reuben tribe. Later, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria took Beerah away as prisoner.

^7-8 The family records also include Jeiel, who was a clan leader, Zechariah, and Bela son of Azaz and grandson of Shema of the Joel clan. They lived in the territory around the town of Aroer, as far north as Nebo and Baal-Meon, ⁹ and as far east as the desert just west of the Euphrates River. They needed this much land because they owned too many cattle to keep them all in Gilead.

¹⁰ When Saul was king, the Reuben tribe attacked and defeated the Hagrites, then took over their land east of Gilead.

The Descendants of Gad

¹¹ The tribe of Gad lived in the region of Bashan, north of the Reuben tribe. Gad's territory extended all the way to the town of Salecah. ¹² Some of the clan leaders were Joel, Shapham, Janai, and Shaphat. ¹³ Their relatives included Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber.

¹⁴ They were all descendants of Abihail, whose family line went back through Huri, Jaroah, Gilead, Michael, Jeshishai, Jahdo, and Buz. ¹⁵ Ahi, the son of Abdiel and the grandson of Guni, was the leader of their clan.

¹⁶ The people of Gad lived in the towns in the regions of Bashan and Gilead, as well as in the pastureland of Sharon. ¹⁷ Their family records were written when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

¹⁸ The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh had 44,760 soldiers trained to fight in battle with shields, swords, bows, and arrows. ¹⁹ They fought against the Hagrites and the tribes of Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰ Whenever these soldiers went to war against their enemies, they prayed to God and trusted him to help. That's why the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh defeated the Hagrites and their allies. ²¹ These Israelite tribes captured 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 people. ²² Many of the Hagrites died in battle, because God was fighting this battle against them. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh lived in that territory until they were taken as prisoners to Assyria.^[u]

The Tribe of East Manasseh

²³ East Manasseh was a large tribe, so its people settled in the northern region of Bashan, as far north as Baal-Hermon,^[v] Senir, and Mount Hermon. ²⁴ Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel were their clan leaders; they were well-known leaders and brave soldiers.

The Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh Are Defeated

²⁵ The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh were unfaithful to the God their ancestors had worshiped, and they started worshiping the gods of the nations that God had forced out of Canaan. ^26 (G) So God sent King Tiglath Pileser^[w] of Assyria to attack these Israelite tribes. The king led them away as prisoners to Assyria, and from then on, he forced them to live in Halah, Habor, Hara, and near the Gozan River.