1Ch 5 | EE | STEP | Reuben was Israel’s first son. That is, Reuben was born first. But Reuben had sex with a woman who lived with his father like a wife. So, his father did not let him have the benefits of the first son. Instead, his father gave those benefits to Joseph’s sons. Joseph was a son of Israel. So, Reuben does not have the first place in the list of Israel’s sons.

1 Chronicles 5

The tribe of Reuben

1 Reuben was Israel’s first son. That is, Reuben was born first. But Reuben had sex with a woman who lived with his father like a wife. So, his father did not let him have the benefits of the first son. Instead, his father gave those benefits to Joseph’s sons. Joseph was a son of Israel. So, Reuben does not have the first place in the list of Israel’s sons. 2 Judah became stronger than his brothers. And the ruler was from his tribe. But Joseph’s sons received the benefits that the oldest son should receive. 3 Reuben was Israel’s first son. Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. 4 These were the descendants of Joel: Shemaiah was Joel’s son. Gog was Shemaiah’s son and Shimei was Gog’s son. 5 Micah was Shimei’s son. Reaiah was Micah’s son and Baal was Reaiah’s son. 6 Beerah was Baal’s son. Beerah was a leader of the tribe of Reuben. Tilgath-Pilneser, king of Assyria took him away. So Beerah had to live in a foreign country. 7 ^{▼▼This verse is empty because in this translation its contents have been moved to form part of verse 1Ch 5:8.} ^{▼▼In this translation, this verse contains text which in some other translations appears in verses 1Ch 5:7-1Ch 5:8.}8 The books of ancestors show Beerah’s relatives. The books record these people by their clans. Jeiel was the first, then Zechariah and Bela. Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema and Shema was the son of Joel. These people lived in the land between Aroer and Nebo and in the land near Baal-Meon. 9 Their east border was the desert. This is the desert that is next to the Euphrates River. They had too many animals for the place called Gilead. So they had to live in all those other places too.

10 When Saul was king, Bela’s people fought a war. The war was against the people called Hagrites. Bela’s people beat the Hagrites in that war. Then Bela’s people lived in the tents that the Hagrites had used. They lived in all the land that was east of Gilead.

The tribe of Gad

11 The descendants of Gad lived in the place called Bashan. Their border was Salecah. So they lived near Bela’s people. 12 Joel was the most important leader and Shapham was the second leader. Janai and Shaphat were leaders in Bashan. 13 Their relatives in their clans were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber. So there were 7 clans. 14 Abihail was their ancestor. Abihail was Huri’s son and Huri was Jaroah’s son. Jaroah was Gilead’s son and Gilead was Michael’s son. Michael was Jeshishai’s son. Jeshishai was Jahdo’s son and Jahdo was the son of Buz. 15 Ahi was Abdiel’s son and Abdiel was Guni’s son. Ahi was the leader of their clan. 16 The descendants of Gad lived in Gilead and Bashan. And they lived in the small towns near there. They lived in the place called Sharon. Sharon had a lot of fields of grass. And that land was theirs as far as the borders. 17 Gad’s descendants wrote down the list of all those names. They wrote it when Jotham was king of Judah. That was when 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. The soldiers carried shields, swords and bows and they were very good fighters. 19 They started a war against the people called Hagrites. They also fought the people in Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. 20 The soldiers of Manasseh, Reuben and Gad believed God. They prayed to God while they fought. So God helped them. So they won the war against the Hagrites and against all the other people who were helping the Hagrites. 21 And they took all their enemies’ animals. They took 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep and 2000 donkeys. Also they took 100,000 people. 22 Many people died in the fight because it was God’s war. Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh lived in the land of the people called Hagrites. They lived there until the exile of Judah’s people.

The half tribe of Manasseh in the east

23 There were many people in the half tribe of Manasseh. They lived in the place called Bashan. Their borders were Baal-Hermon, Senir and the mountain called Hermon. 24 These men were the leaders of their clans: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave soldiers and famous men. And they were leaders of their clans.

25 But the clans sinned against God. He was their ancestors‘God. But they did not obey him. He had won the war against the people who were living there before them. They had seen that. But they worshipped the gods of those people. 26 So, Israel’s God caused Pul, king of Assyria, to attack their country. And he caused Tilgath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, to attack their country. And he took away the people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. He sent them into exile. Tilgath-Pilneser brought them to Halah, to Habor and to Hara. And he sent them near to the River Gozan. They are still there today. ^{▼▼5:26 Pul was another name of King Tiglath-Pileser the third. He ruled in Assyria from 745 to 727 BC.}