1 Chronicles 6–7

The Family Line of the High Priests

6Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

²Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

³Amram had two sons, Aaron and Moses, and one daughter, Miriam. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

⁴The descendants of Eleazar from generation to generation are as follows: Phinehas, Abishua, ⁵Bukki, Uzzi, ⁶Zerahiah, Meraioth, ⁷Amariah, Ahitub, ⁸Zadok, Ahimaaz, ⁹Azariah, Johanan, ¹⁰Azariah (the one who served in the Temple which King Solomon built in Jerusalem), ¹¹Amariah, Ahitub, ¹²Zadok, Shallum, ¹³Hilkiah, Azariah, ¹⁴Seraiah, Jehozadak. ¹⁵King Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehozadak along with the other people of Judah and Jerusalem whom the Lord sent into exile.

Other Descendants of Levi

^16*Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ^17*Each of them also had sons. Gershon was the father of Libni and Shimei; ^18*Kohath was the father of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; ^19*and Merari was the father of Mahli and Mushi.

²⁰These are the descendants of Gershon from generation to generation: Libni, Jahath, Zimmah, ²¹Joah, Iddo, Zerah, Jeatherai.

²²These are the descendants of Kohath from generation to generation: Amminadab, Korah, Assir, ²³Elkanah, Ebiasaph, Assir, ²⁴Tahath, Uriel, Uzziah, Shaul.

²⁵Elkanah had two sons, Amasai and Ahimoth. ²⁶These are Ahimoth’s descendants from generation to generation: Elkanah, Zophai, Nahath, ²⁷Eliab, Jeroham, Elkanah.

²⁸Samuel had two sons: Joel,^p the elder, and Abijah, the younger.

²⁹These are the descendants of Merari from generation to generation: Mahli, Libni, Shimei, Uzzah, ³⁰Shimea, Haggiah, Asaiah.

The Temple Musicians

³¹These are the men whom King David put in charge of the music at the place of worship in Jerusalem after the Covenant Box was moved there. ³²They took regular turns of duty at the Tent of the Lord’s presence during the time before King Solomon built the Temple. ³³The family lines of those who held this office are as follows:

The clan of Kohath: Heman, the leader of the first choir, was the son of Joel. His family line went back to Jacob as follows: Heman, Joel, Samuel, ³⁴Elkanah, Jeroham, Eliel, Toah, ³⁵Zuph, Elkanah, Mahath, Amasai, ³⁶Elkanah, Joel, Azariah, Zephaniah, ³⁷Tahath, Assir, Ebiasaph, Korah, ³⁸Izhar, Kohath, Levi, Jacob.

³⁹Asaph was leader of the second choir. His family line went back to Levi as follows: Asaph, Berechiah, Shimea, ⁴⁰Michael, Baaseiah, Malchijah, ⁴¹Ethni, Zerah, Adaiah, ⁴²Ethan, Zimmah, Shimei, ⁴³Jahath, Gershon, Levi.

⁴⁴Ethan of the clan of Merari was the leader of the third choir. His family line went back to Levi as follows: Ethan, Kishi, Abdi, Malluch, ⁴⁵Hashabiah, Amaziah, Hilkiah, ⁴⁶Amzi, Bani, Shemer, ⁴⁷Mahli, Mushi, Merari, Levi.

⁴⁸The other Levites were assigned all the other duties at the place of worship.

The Descendants of Aaron

⁴⁹Aaron and his descendants presented the offerings of incense and offered the sacrifices that were burnt on the altar. They were responsible for all the worship in the Most Holy Place and for the sacrifices by which God forgives Israel’s sins. They did all this in accordance with the instructions given by Moses, God’s servant. ⁵⁰This is the line of Aaron’s descendants: Eleazar, Phinehas, Abishua, ⁵¹Bukki, Uzzi, Zerahiah, ⁵²Meraioth, Amariah, Ahitub, ⁵³Zadok, Ahimaaz.

Where the Levites Lived

⁵⁴This is the territory assigned to the descendants of Aaron of the clan of Kohath. They received the first share of the land assigned to the Levites. ⁵⁵This included Hebron in the territory of Judah and the pasture lands round it. ⁵⁶The fields and villages, however, that belonged to the city were assigned to Caleb son of Jephunneh. ^57–59The following towns were assigned to Aaron’s descendants: Hebron, a city of refuge,^q Jattir, and the towns of Libnah, Eshtemoa, Hilen, Debir, Ashan, and Beth Shemesh, with their pasture lands. ⁶⁰In the territory of Benjamin they were assigned the following towns with their pasture lands: Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth. This made a total of thirteen towns for all their families to live in. ⁶¹Ten towns in the territory of West Manasseh were assigned by lot to the rest of the clan of Kohath, family by family.

⁶²To the clan of Gershon, family by family, were assigned thirteen towns in the territories of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and East Manasseh in Bashan. ⁶³In the same way, twelve towns in the territories of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun were assigned to the clan of Merari, family by family. ⁶⁴In this way the people of Israel assigned towns for the Levites to live in, together with the pasture lands round the towns. ⁶⁵(The towns in the territories of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, mentioned above, were also assigned by drawing lots.)

⁶⁶Some of the families of the clan of Kohath were assigned towns and pasture lands in the territory of Ephraim: ⁶⁷Shechem, the city of refuge in the hills of Ephraim, Gezer, ⁶⁸Jokmeam, Beth Horon, ⁶⁹Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. ⁷⁰In the territory of West Manasseh they were assigned the towns of Aner and Bileam with the surrounding pasture lands.

⁷¹The families of the clan of Gershon were assigned the following towns, with the surrounding pasture lands:

In the territory of East Manasseh: Golan in Bashan, and Ashtaroth.

⁷²In the territory of Issachar: Kedesh, Daberath, ⁷³Ramoth, and Anem.

⁷⁴In the territory of Asher: Mashal, Abdon, ⁷⁵Hukok, and Rehob.

⁷⁶In the territory of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim.

⁷⁷The remaining families of the clan of Merari were assigned the following towns with the surrounding pasture lands:

In the territory of Zebulun: Rimmono and Tabor.

⁷⁸In the territory of Reuben, east of the River Jordan beyond Jericho: Bezer on the plateau, Jahzah, ⁷⁹Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

⁸⁰In the territory of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim, ⁸¹Heshbon, and Jazer.

The Descendants of Issachar

7Issachar had four sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.

²Tola had six sons: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel. They were heads of families of the clan of Tola and were famous soldiers. At the time of King David their descendants numbered 22,600.

³Uzzi had one son, Izrahiah. Izrahiah and his four sons, Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, were all heads of families. ⁴They had so many wives and children that their descendants were able to provide 36,000 men for military service.

⁵The official records of all the families of the tribe of Issachar listed 87,000 men eligible for military service.

The Descendants of Benjamin and Dan

⁶

Benjamin had three sons: Bela, Becher, and Jediael. ⁷Bela had five sons: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri. They were heads of families in the clan and were all famous soldiers. Their descendants included 22,034 men eligible for military service.

⁸Becher had nine sons: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Eleoenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. ⁹The official record of their descendants by families listed 20,200 men eligible for military service.

¹⁰Jediael had one son, Bilhan, and Bilhan had seven sons: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. ¹¹They were heads of families in the clan and were all famous soldiers. Their descendants included 17,200 men eligible for military service. ¹²Shuppim and Huppim also belonged to this tribe.

Dan had one son, Hushim.^r

The Descendants of Naphtali

¹³Naphtali had four sons: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum. (They were descendants of Bilhah.)^s

The Descendants of Manasseh

¹⁴By his Aramean concubine, Manasseh had two sons, Asriel and Machir. Machir was the father of Gilead. ¹⁵Machir found a wife for Huppim and one for Shuppim. His sister’s name was Maacah. Machir’s second son was Zelophehad, and he had only daughters.

¹⁶Maacah, Machir’s wife, gave birth to two sons, whom they named Peresh and Sheresh. Peresh had two sons, Ulam and Rakem, ¹⁷and Ulam had a son named Bedan. These are all descendants of Gilead, the son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh.

¹⁸Gilead’s sister Hammolecheth had three sons: Ishod, Abiezer, and Mahlah. ¹⁹(Shemida had four sons: Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.)

The Descendants of Ephraim

²⁰These are the descendants of Ephraim from generation to generation: Shuthelah, Bered, Tahath, Eleadah, Tahath, ²¹Zabad, Shuthelah. Ephraim had two other sons besides Shuthelah: Ezer and Elead, who were killed when they tried to steal the livestock belonging to the native inhabitants of Gath. ²²Their father Ephraim mourned for them for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. ²³Then he had intercourse with his wife again, and she became pregnant and had a son. They named him Beriah,^t because of the trouble that had come to their family.

²⁴Ephraim had a daughter named Sheerah. She built the towns of Upper and Lower Beth Horon, and Uzzen Sheerah.

²⁵Ephraim also had a son named Rephah, whose descendants were as follows: Resheph, Telah, Tahan, ²⁶Ladan, Ammihud, Elishama, ²⁷Nun, Joshua.

²⁸The territory which they took and settled in included Bethel and the towns round it, as far east as Naaran and as far west as Gezer and the towns round it. It also included the cities of Shechem and Ayyah, and the towns round them.

²⁹The descendants of Manasseh controlled the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, and the towns round them.

All these are the places where the descendants of Joseph son of Jacob lived.

The Descendants of Asher

³⁰These are the descendants of Asher. He had four sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah; and one daughter, Serah.

³¹Beriah had two sons, Heber and Malchiel. (Malchiel founded the city of Birzaith.)

³²Heber had three sons: Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham; and one daughter, Shua.

³³Japhlet also had three sons: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath.

³⁴His brother Shomer had three sons: Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.

³⁵His brother Hotham^u had four sons: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.

³⁶The descendants of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, ³⁷Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.

³⁸The…