18 God's Spirit took control of one of them, Amasai, who later became the commander of “The Thirty”, and he called out,“David son of Jesse, we are yours!Success to you and those who help you!God is on your side.”David welcomed them and made them officers in his army.
19 Some soldiers from the tribe of Manasseh went over to David's side when he was marching out with the Philistines to fight King Saul. Actually he did not help the Philistines, for their kings were afraid that he would betray them to his former master Saul, so they sent him back to Ziklag.
20 These are the soldiers from Manasseh who went over to David's side when he was returning: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai. In Manasseh they had all commanded units of a thousand men.
21 They served David as officers over his troops, because they were all outstanding soldiers. Later they were officers in the Israelite army.
22 Almost every day new men joined David's forces, so that his army was soon enormous.
23-37 When David was at Hebron, many trained soldiers joined his army to help make him king in place of Saul, as the Lord had promised. Their numbers were as follows:Judah: 6,800 well-equipped men, armed with shields and spears;Simeon: 7,100 well-trained men;Levi: 4,600 men;Followers of Jehoiada, descendant of Aaron: 3,700 men;Relatives of Zadok, an able young fighter: 22 leading men;Benjamin (Saul's own tribe): 3,000 men (most of the people of Benjamin had remained loyal to Saul);Ephraim: 20,800 men famous in their own clans;West Manasseh: 18,000 men chosen to go and make David king;Issachar: 200 leaders, together with the men under their command (these leaders knew what Israel should do and the best time to do it);Zebulun: 50,000 loyal and reliable men ready to fight, trained to use all kinds of weapons;Naphtali: 1,000 leaders, together with 37,000 men armed with shields and spears;Dan: 28,600 trained men;Asher: 40,000 men ready for battle;Tribes east of the Jordan — Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh: 120,000 men trained to use all kinds of weapons.
38 All these soldiers, ready for battle, went to Hebron, determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the people of Israel were united in the same purpose.