1 Chronicles 24–26

The Work Assigned to the Priests

24These are the groups to which the descendants of Aaron belong. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^2*Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and left no descendants, so their brothers Eleazar and Ithamar became priests. ³King David organized the descendants of Aaron into groups according to their duties. He was assisted in this by Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, and by Ahimelech, a descendant of Ithamar. ⁴The descendants of Eleazar were organized into sixteen groups, while the descendants of Ithamar were organized into eight; this was done because there were more male heads of families among the descendants of Eleazar. ⁵Since there were temple officials and spiritual leaders among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar, assignments were made by drawing lots. ⁶The descendants of Eleazar and of Ithamar took turns in drawing lots. Then they were registered by Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite secretary. The king, his officials, the priest Zadok, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of the priestly families and of the Levite families, were all witnesses.

^7–18This is the order in which the 24 family groups were given their assignments:

1, Jehoiarib;

2, Jedaiah;

3, Harim;

4, Seorim;

5, Malchijah;

6, Mijamin;

7, Hakkoz;

8, Abijah;

9, Jeshua;

10, Shecaniah;

11, Eliashib;

12, Jakim;

13, Huppah;

14, Jeshebeab;

15, Bilgah;

16, Immer;

17, Hezir;

18, Happizzez;

19, Pethahiah;

20, Jehezkel;

21, Jachin;

22, Gamul;

23, Delaiah;

24, Maaziah.

¹⁹These men were registered according to their assignments for going to the Temple and performing the duties established by their ancestor Aaron in obedience to the commands of the Lord God of Israel.

The List of the Levites

²⁰These are other heads of families descended from Levi:

Jehdeiah, a descendant of Amram through Shebuel;

²¹Isshiah, a descendant of Rehabiah;

²²Jahath, a descendant of Izhar through Shelomith;

²³Jeriah, Amariah, Jehaziel, and Jekameam, sons of Hebron, in order of age;

²⁴Shamir, a descendant of Uzziel through Micah;

²⁵Zechariah, a descendant of Uzziel through Isshiah, Micah’s brother;

²⁶Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah, descendants of Merari. ²⁷Jaaziah had three sons: Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ^28–29Mahli had two sons, Eleazar and Kish. Eleazar had no sons, but Kish had one son, Jerahmeel. ³⁰Mushi had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

These are the families of the Levites.

³¹The head of each family and one of his younger brothers drew lots for their assignments, just as their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, had done. King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites were witnesses.

The Temple Musicians

25King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the services of worship: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God’s messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals. This is the list of persons chosen to lead the worship, with the type of service that each group performed:

²The four sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah. They were under the direction of Asaph, who proclaimed God’s messages whenever the king commanded.

³The six sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. Under the direction of their father they proclaimed God’s message, accompanied by the music of harps, and sang praise and thanks to the Lord.

⁴The fourteen sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵God gave to Heman, the king’s prophet, these fourteen sons and also three daughters, as he had promised, in order to give power to Heman. ⁶All his sons played cymbals and harps under their father’s direction, to accompany the temple worship. And Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under orders from the king.

⁷All these 24 men were experts; and their fellow-Levites were trained musicians. There were 288 men in all.

⁸To determine the assignment of duties they all drew lots, whether they were young or old, experts or beginners.

^9–31These 288 men were divided according to families into 24 groups of twelve, with a leader in charge of each group. This is the order in which they were on duty:

1, Joseph of the family of Asaph;

2, Gedaliah;

3, Zaccur;

4, Zeri;

5, Nethaniah;

6, Bukkiah;

7, Asharelah;

8, Jeshaiah;

9, Mattaniah;

10, Shimei;

11, Uzziel;

12, Hashabiah;

13, Shebuel;

14, Mattithiah;

15, Jerimoth;

16, Hananiah;

17, Joshbekashah;

18, Hanani;

19, Mallothi;

20, Eliathah;

21, Hothir;

22, Giddalti;

23, Mahazioth;

24, Romamti Ezer.

The Temple Guards

26These are the assignments of work for the Levites who served as temple guards. From the clan of Korah there was Meshelemiah son of Kore, of the family of Asaph. ²He had seven sons, listed in order of age: Zechariah, Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel, ³Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

^4*There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, ^5*Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.

^6–7Obed Edom’s eldest son, Shemaiah, had six sons: Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, Elihu, and Semachiah. They were important men in their clan because of their great ability; the last two were especially talented.

⁸Obed Edom’s family furnished a total of 62 highly qualified men for this work.

⁹Meshelemiah’s family furnished eighteen qualified men.

¹⁰From the clan of Merari there was Hosah, who had four sons: Shimri (his father made him the leader, even though he was not the eldest son), ¹¹Hilkiah, Tebaliah, and Zechariah. In all there were thirteen members of Hosah’s family who were temple guards.

¹²The temple guards were divided into groups, according to families, and they were assigned duties in the Temple, just as the other Levites were. ¹³Each family, regardless of size, drew lots to see which gate it would be responsible for. ¹⁴Shelemiah drew the east gate, and his son Zechariah, a man who always gave good advice, drew the north gate. ¹⁵Obed Edom was allotted the south gate, and his sons were allotted to guard the storerooms. ¹⁶Shuppim and Hosah were allotted the west gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road. Guard duty was divided into assigned periods, one after another. ¹⁷On the east, six guards were on duty each day, on the north, four, and on the south, four. Four guards were stationed at the storerooms daily, two at each storeroom. ¹⁸Near the western pavilion there were four guards by the road and two at the pavilion itself. ¹⁹This is the assignment of guard duty to the clan of Korah and the clan of Merari.

Other Temple Duties

²⁰Others of their fellow-Levites^y were in charge of the temple treasury and the storerooms for gifts dedicated to God. ²¹Ladan, one of the sons of Gershon, was the ancestor of several family groups, including the family of his son Jehiel. ²²Ladan’s two other sons, Zetham and Joel, had charge of the temple treasury and storerooms.

²³Duties were also assigned to the descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁴Shebuel, of the clan of Moses’ son Gershom, was the chief official responsible for the temple treasury. ²⁵Through Gershom’s brother Eliezer he was related to Shelomith. Eliezer was the father of Rehabiah, who was the father of Jeshiah, the father of Joram, the father of Zichri, the father of Shelomith. ²⁶Shelomith and the members of his family were in charge of all the gifts dedicated to God by King David, the heads of families, leaders of clan groups, and army officers. ²⁷They took some of the loot they captured in battle and dedicated it for use in the Temple. ²⁸Shelomith and his family were in charge of everything that had been dedicated for use in the Temple, including the gifts brought by the prophet Samuel, by King Saul, by Abner son of Ner, and by Joab son of Zeruiah.

Duties of Other Levites

²⁹Among the descendants of Izhar, Chenaniah and his sons were assigned administrative duties: keeping records and settling disputes for the people of Israel.

³⁰Among the descendants of Hebron, Hashabiah and 1,700 of his relatives, all outstanding men, were put in charge of the administration of all religious and civil matters in Israel west of the River Jordan. ³¹Jeriah was the leader of the descendants of Hebron. In the 40th year that David was king, an investigation was made of the family line of Hebron’s descendants, and outstanding soldiers belonging to this family were found living at Jazer in the territory of Gilead. ³²King David chose 2,700 outstanding heads of families from Jeriah’s relatives and put them in charge of administering all religious and civil matters in Israel east of the River Jordan—the territories of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.