16. Other people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his stronghold.
17. David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But if you have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong, the God of our ancestors will see this and punish you.”
18. Then the Spirit entered Amasai, the leader of the Thirty, and he said:“We belong to you, David.We are with you, son of Jesse.Success, success to you.Success to those who help you,because your God helps you.”So David welcomed these men and made them leaders of his army.
19. Some of the men from Manasseh also joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After talking about it, the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, “If David goes back to his master Saul, we will be killed.”
20. These are the men from Manasseh who joined David when he went to Ziklag: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. Each of them was a leader of a thousand men from Manasseh.
21. All these men of Manasseh were brave soldiers, and they helped David fight against groups of men who went around the country robbing people. These soldiers became commanders in David’s army.
22. Every day more men joined David, and his army became large, like the army of God.
23. These are the numbers of the soldiers ready for battle who joined David at Hebron. They came to help turn the kingdom of Saul over to David, just as the Lord had said.
24. There were sixty-eight hundred men with their weapons from Judah. They carried shields and spears.
25. There were seventy-one hundred men from Simeon. They were warriors ready for war.
26. There were forty-six hundred men from Levi.
27. Jehoiada, a leader from Aaron’s family, was in that group. There were thirty-seven hundred with him.
28. Zadok was also in that group. He was a strong young warrior, and with him came twenty-two leaders from his family.
29. There were three thousand men from Benjamin, who were Saul’s relatives. Most of them had remained loyal to Saul’s family until then.