Study Desk

But during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, these leaders of Simeon invaded the region and completely destroyed the homes of the descendants of Ham and of the Meunites. No trace of them remains today. They killed everyone who lived there and took the land for themselves, because they wanted its good pastureland for their flocks.

They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.

Many of the Hagrites were killed in the battle because God was fighting against them. The people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh lived in their land until they were taken into exile.

Afterward Ephraim slept with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Ephraim named him Beriah because of the tragedy his family had suffered.

So all Israel was listed in the genealogical records in The Book of the Kings of Israel. The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon because they were unfaithful to the Lord .

In all, there were 212 gatekeepers in those days, and they were listed according to the genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed their ancestors because they were reliable men.

So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord . He failed to obey the Lord 's command, and he even consulted a medium

And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord of Heaven's Armies was with him.

Then the Lord 's anger was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.

David was angry because the Lord 's anger had burst out against Uzzah. He named that place Perez-uzzah (which means "to burst out against Uzzah"), as it is still called today.

Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our God burst out against us. We failed to ask God how to move it properly."

Kenaniah, the head Levite, was chosen as the choir leader because of his skill.

And because God was clearly helping the Levites as they carried the Ark of the Lord 's Covenant, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

"O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him—a dynasty of kings!

David said, "I am going to show loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me." So David sent messengers to express sympathy to Hanun about his father's death. But when David's ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,

When David heard what had happened to the men, he sent messengers to tell them, "Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back." For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.

But Joab did not include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do.

But David was not able to go there to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of the Lord .

Jahath was the family leader, and Ziza was next. Jeush and Beriah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons.

When David took his census, he did not count those who were younger than twenty years of age, because the Lord had promised to make the Israelites as numerous as the stars in heaven.