1 Chronicles 24–26

CHAPTER 24

Divisions of Levites

¹Now the divisions of the sons of Aaron were these: ^athe sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

^2aBut Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no ¹sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests.

³And David, with ^aZadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their assignments for their service.

⁴And more chief men were found from the ¹sons of Eleazar than the ²sons of Ithamar, so they divided them thus: there were sixteen heads of fathers’ households of the ³sons of Eleazar and eight of the ⁴sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers’ households.

^5aThus they were divided by lot, the one as the other; for they were leaders for the sanctuary and leaders for God, both from the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.

⁶Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, from the Levites, wrote them down in the presence of the king, the princes, Zadok the priest, ^aAhimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; one father’s household taken for Eleazar and one taken for Ithamar.

⁷Now the first lot came out for Jehoiarib, the second for Jedaiah,

⁸the third for Harim, the fourth for Seorim,

⁹the fifth for Malchijah, the sixth for Mijamin,

¹⁰the seventh for Hakkoz, the eighth for ^aAbijah,

¹¹the ninth for Jeshua, the tenth for Shecaniah,

¹²the eleventh for Eliashib, the twelfth for Jakim,

¹³the thirteenth for Huppah, the fourteenth for Jeshebeab,

¹⁴the fifteenth for Bilgah, the sixteenth for Immer,

¹⁵the seventeenth for Hezir, the eighteenth for Happizzez,

¹⁶the nineteenth for Pethahiah, the twentieth for Jehezkel,

¹⁷the twenty-first for Jachin, the twenty-second for Gamul,

¹⁸the twenty-third for Delaiah, the twenty-fourth for Maaziah.

^19aThese were their assignments for their service when they came in to the house of Yahweh according to the legal judgment rendered to them by the hand of Aaron their father, just as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

²⁰Now for the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, ¹Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah.

²¹Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the first.

²²Of the Izharites, ¹Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath.

²³The sons ^aof Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.

²⁴The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir.

²⁵The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah.

²⁶The sons of Merari, Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, Beno.

²⁷The sons of Merari: by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

²⁸By Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.

²⁹By Kish: the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel.

³⁰The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

^31aThese also cast lots alongside their ¹relatives the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, ^bZadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites—the head of fathers’ households alongside those of his younger brother.

CHAPTER 25

Number and Services of Musicians

¹Moreover, David and the commanders of the army separated for the service some of the sons of ^aAsaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to ^bprophesy with lyres, ^charps, and cymbals; and the number of ¹those who performed their service was:

²Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and ¹Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the ²direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the ³direction of the king.

^3aOf Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, ¹Zeri, Jeshaiah, ²Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the ³direction of their father Jeduthun with the harp, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising Yahweh.

⁴Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, ¹Uzziel, ²Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth.

⁵All these were the sons of Heman ^athe king’s seer to ¹exalt him according to the words of God. So God gave fourteen sons and three daughters to Heman.

⁶All these were under the ¹direction of their father to sing in the house of Yahweh, ^awith cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. ^bAsaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the ²direction of the king.

⁷And their number who were trained in singing to Yahweh, with their ¹relatives, all who were skillful, was ^a288.

Responsibilities of the Musicians

^8aThey cast lots for their responsibilities, each alongside the other, the small as well as the great, the teacher as well as the pupil.

⁹Now the first lot came out for Asaph to Joseph, the second for Gedaliah, he with his relatives and sons were twelve;

¹⁰the third to Zaccur, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹¹the fourth to ¹Izri, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹²the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹³the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹⁴the seventh to ¹Jesharelah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹⁵the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹⁶the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹⁷the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹⁸the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

¹⁹the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁰for the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²¹for the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²²for the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²³for the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁴for the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁵for the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁶for the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁷for the twentieth to Eliathah, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁸for the twenty-first to Hothir, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

²⁹for the twenty-second to Giddalti, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

³⁰for the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his sons and his relatives, twelve;

³¹for the twenty-fourth to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his relatives, twelve.

CHAPTER 26

Divisions of the Gatekeepers

¹For the divisions of the gatekeepers there were of the Korahites, ¹Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of ²Asaph.

²Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,

³Elam the fifth, Johanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.

^4aObed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,

⁵Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh and Peullethai the eighth; God had indeed blessed him.

⁶Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who ruled over the house of their father, for they were mighty men of valor.

⁷The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers, Elihu and Semachiah, were men of valor.

⁸All these were of the sons of Obed-edom; they and their sons and their ¹relatives were valiant men with strength for the service, sixty-two from Obed-edom.

⁹Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, eighteen men of valor.

¹⁰Also ^aHosah, one of the sons of Merari had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father made him first),

¹¹Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and relatives of Hosah were thirteen.

¹²To these divisions of the gatekeepers, the chief men, were given responsibilities like their relatives to minister in the house of Yahweh.

^13aAnd they cast lots, the small and the great alike, according to their fathers’ households, for every gate.

¹⁴And the lot to the east fell to ¹Shelemiah. Then they cast lots for his son Zechariah, a counselor with insight, and his lot came out to the north.

¹⁵For Obed-edom it fell to the south, and to his sons went the house of storerooms.

¹⁶For Shuppim and Hosah it was to the west, by the gate of Shallecheth, on the ascending highway. Guard corresponded to guard.

¹⁷On the east there were six Levites, on the north four daily, on the south four daily, and at the storerooms two by two.

¹⁸At the ^1aParbar on the west there were four at the highway and two at the Parbar.

¹⁹These were the divisions of the gatekeepers of the sons of Korah and of the sons of Merari.

Caring for the Holy Treasure

²⁰¹As for the Levites, Ahijhah was ^aover the treasures of the house of God and of the treasures of the holy gifts.

²¹The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, namely, the Jehielites, were the heads of the fathers’ households, belonging to Ladan the Gershonite.

²²The sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel his brother, were over the treasures of the house of Yahweh.

²³As for the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites,

²⁴Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was officer over the treasures.

²⁵And his relatives by Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son.

²⁶This Shelomoth and his relatives were over all the treasures of the holy gifts ^awhich King David and the heads of the fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army, had set apart as holy.

²⁷They set apart as holy part of what was won in battles and part of the spoil to repair the house of Yahweh.

²⁸And all that Samuel the seer had set apart as holy and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had set apart anything as holy, all of this was ¹in the care of ²Shelomoth and his relatives.

Administrators of Outside Work

²⁹As for the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons ^awere assigned to the outside work for Israel, as ^bofficers and judges.

³⁰As for the Hebronites, ^aHashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 men of valor, were over the administration of Israel across the Jordan to the west, for all the work of Yahweh and the service of the king.

³¹As for the…