1 Chronicles 5
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 5
Reuben. 1 The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel. For this reason he could not be listed in the genealogy according to his birthright. 2 Though Judah was the strongest of the brothers and a ruler came through him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.)
3 [a]The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
4 The descendants of Joel were Shemaiah, his son, Gog, his son, Shimei, his son, 5 Micah, his son, Reaiah, his son, Baal, his son, 6 and Beerah, his son, whom Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, carried off into exile. He was the leader of the Reubenites.
7 These were their brethren by their clans, listed according to the generations of their genealogy. Jeiel, their leader, Zechariah, 8 and Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel. They dwelt in the area that ran from Aroer to Nebo and Baal-meon. 9 To the east, they lived on the edge of the desert that runs up to the Euphrates River because their herds had grown numerous in the land of Gilead. 10 During the days of Saul they fought against the Hagrites who fell at their hands. They lived in their dwellings to the east of Gilead.
11 Gad. The Gadites lived alongside of them in the land of Bashan up to Salecah. 12 Joel was their leader, Shapham the next, then Janai, Shaphat, and Bashan. 13 Their brethren, by their ancestral clans, were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber. There were seven of them in all.
14 These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz.
15 Ahi, the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was the leader of the clan.
16 The Gadites lived in Gilead, in Bashan, all of their villages, and all throughout the pastures of Sharon. 17 All of these were entered in the genealogies during the reigns of Jotham, the king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the king of Israel.
18 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh had forty-four thousand, seven hundred and sixty trained warriors armed with shield, sword, and bow who went out to battle. 19 They fought against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 They helped in fighting against them, and the Lord delivered the Hagrites and those who were with them into their hands for they had cried out to God all throughout the battle. He responded to them because they had put their trust in him. 21 They seized their livestock: fifty thousand camels, two hundred thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand captives. 22 Many others were killed, falling because it was God’s battle. They then dwelt there in their place until the time of the Exile.
23 The Half-tribe of Manasseh. The one-half of the tribe of Manasseh who dwelt in the land of Bashan up to Baal-hermon, that is Senir, or Mount Hermon, grew numerous.
24 These were the leaders of their ancestral clans: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous, and the leaders of their ancestral clans, 25 but they betrayed the God of their fathers, prostituting themselves with the gods of the various peoples of the land whom God had destroyed before them. 26 Therefore the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, the king of Assyria (that is, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria). He led away the Reubenites, the Gadites, and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the Gozan River where they are up to the present.
27 Levi.[b]The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
28 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
29 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.
The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
30 Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, and Phinehas was the father of Abishua.
31 Abishua was the father of Bukki, and Bukki was the father of Uzzi.
32 Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah, and Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth.
33 Meraioth was the father of Amariah, and Amariah was the father of Ahitub.
34 Ahitub was the father of Zadok, and Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz.
35 Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah, and Azariah was the father of Johanan.
36 Johanan was the father of Azariah. He served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem.
37 Azariah was the father of Amariah, and Amariah was the father of Ahitub.
38 Ahitub was the father of Zadok, and Zadok was the father of Shallum.
39 Shallum was the father of Hilkiah, and Hilkiah was the father of Azariah.
40 Azariah was the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak.
41 Jehozadak was carried off when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 5:3 The relations between the clan of Joel and the tribe of Reuben are not clarified.
- 1 Chronicles 5:27 The tribe of Levi comes at the center of these genealogical sketches. The Chronicler assigns great importance to the temple and its worship. In this post-Exilic period it is, in fact, the priestly class that keeps the people united and leads them. The information given here has to do with various aspects of the life and functions of the Levites. As the only tribe not to possess a territory, Levi very quickly lost any political role and was put in charge solely of the sanctuaries and, later, of the one temple in Jerusalem (see Num 3–4; 2 Ki 23).
