The men of Gad's tribe who joined David's army
8 Many soldiers from Gad's tribe joined David's army at his strong place in the desert. These men were brave soldiers who knew how to fight well. They could use shields and spears. They could fight like lions. They could run as fast as deer on the mountains.
9 Ezer was their leader. After him there were: Obadiah (2), Eliab (3), 10 Mishmannah (4), Jeremiah (5), 11 Attai (6), Eliel (7), 12 Johanan (8), Elzabad (9), 13 Jeremiah (10), and Makbannai (11).
12:13The list of men is in the order of how important each of them was.
14 These descendants of Gad were leaders in the army. The least important officer among them led 100 soldiers. The greatest officer led 1,000 soldiers. 15 Those men went across to the west side of the Jordan River during the first month of the year. At that time the water in the river was very deep and wide. They chased away the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.
12:15The first month of the year would have been what we call March or April.
16 Some other men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David in his strong place. 17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, ‘I hope that you have come here as my friends. If you have come to help me, I will make an agreement with you. But I hope that you have not come here to help my enemies and to tell them where I am hiding. I have not done anything wrong. So I pray that the God of our ancestors will see what you do. He will punish you as you deserve!’
18 Then God's Spirit came to Amasai with power. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers. He said,
‘We will serve you, David, Jesse's son.
We have come to help you!
May God bless you!
May God bless those who help you!
Yes, your God will help you.’
So David accepted them as his friends. He made them officers in his army.
