1- 3Reuben was Israel’s first son. Reuben should have received the special privileges of the oldest son. But Reuben had sexual relations with his father’s wife. So those privileges were given to Joseph’s sons. In the family history, Reuben’s name is not listed as the first son. Judah became stronger than his brothers, so the leaders came from his family. But Joseph’s family got the other privileges that belong to the oldest son. Reuben’s sons were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4These are the names of Joel’s descendants: Shemaiah was Joel’s son. Gog was Shemaiah’s son. Shimei was Gog’s son. 5Micah was Shimei’s son. Reaiah was Micah’s son. Baal was Reaiah’s son. 6Beerah was Baal’s son. Tiglath Pileser, the king of Assyria, forced Beerah to leave his home. So Beerah became the king’s prisoner. Beerah was a leader of the family group of Reuben. 7Joel’s brothers and all his family groups are listed just as they are written in the family histories: Jeiel was the first son, then Zechariah, 8and Bela. Bela was Azaz’s son. Azaz was Shema’s son. Shema was Joel’s son. They lived in the area of Aroer all the way to Nebo and Baal Meon. 9Bela’s people lived to the east as far as the edge of the desert, near the Euphrates River. They lived in that place because they had many cattle in the land of Gilead. 10When Saul was king, Bela’s people fought a war against the Hagrite people. They defeated the Hagrite people. Bela’s people lived in the tents that had belonged to the Hagrite people. They lived in those tents and traveled throughout the area east of Gilead. 11The people from the family group of Gad lived near the people from the family group of Reuben. The Gadite people lived in the area of Bashan, all the way to the town of Salecah. 12Joel was the first leader in Bashan. Shapham was the second leader. Then Janai became the leader. 13The seven brothers in their families were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber. 14Those men were the descendants of Abihail. Abihail was Huri’s son. Huri was Jaroah’s son. Jaroah was Gilead’s son. Gilead was Michael’s son. Michael was Jeshishai’s son. Jeshishai was Jahdo’s son. Jahdo was Buz’s son. 15Ahi was Abdiel’s son. Abdiel was Guni’s son. Ahi was the leader of their family. 16The people in the family group of Gad lived in the area of Gilead. They lived in the area of Bashan, in the small towns around Bashan, and in all the pastures in the area of Sharon all the way to the borders. 17During the time of Jotham and Jeroboam, all these people’s names were written in the family history of Gad. Jotham was the king of Judah and Jeroboam was the king of Israel. 18From half of Manasseh’s family group and from the family groups of Reuben and Gad there were 44,760 brave men ready for war. They were skilled in war. They carried shields and swords. And they were also good with bows and arrows. 19They started a war against the Hagrite people and the people of Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20Those men from the family groups of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad prayed to God in the war. They asked God to help them because they trusted him. So God helped them. God allowed them to defeat the Hagrite people. And they also defeated those other people who were with the Hagrite people. 21They took the animals that belonged to the Hagrite people. They took 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 people. 22Many Hagrite people were killed because God helped the people of Reuben win the war. Then those people from the family groups of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad lived in the land of the Hagrite people. They lived there until the time when the people of Israel were taken into captivity. 23Half of Manasseh’s family group lived in the area of Bashan all the way to Baal Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. They became a very large group of people. 24These were the family leaders from half of Manasseh’s family group: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were all strong and brave men. They were famous men. And they were leaders in their families. 25But those leaders sinned against the God that their ancestors worshiped. They began worshiping the false gods of the people living there—and those were the people God destroyed. 26The God of Israel made Pul want to go to war. Pul was the king of Assyria. He was also called Tiglath Pileser. He fought against the people from the family groups of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad. He forced them to leave their homes and made them prisoners. Pul brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and near the Gozan River. Those family groups from Israel have lived in those places since that time until today.