1 Chronicles 26–28

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 Hebronites, ^aJerijah the chief ¹(these Hebronites were investigated according to their generations and fathers’ households, in the fortieth year of David’s reign, and mighty men of valor were found among them at ^bJazer of Gilead)

³²and his relatives, men of valor, were 2,700 in number, heads of fathers’ households. And King David made them overseers of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites ^aconcerning ¹all the affairs of God and of the king.

CHAPTER 27

Commanders of the Divisions

¹Now this is the total count of the sons of Israel, the heads of fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who ministered to the king in each matter of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, each division numbering 24,000:

²Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel was ^aover the first division for the first month; and in his division were 24,000.

³He was from the sons of Perez, and was chief of all the commanders of the army for the first month.

⁴Dodai the Ahohite and his division were over the division for the second month, Mikloth being the chief officer; and in his division were 24,000.

⁵The third commander of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, as chief; and in his division were 24,000.

⁶This Benaiah was the mighty man of the thirty, and was over thirty; and over his division was Ammizabad his son.

⁷The fourth for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; and in his division were 24,000.

⁸The fifth for the fifth month was the commander Shamhuth the Izrahite; and in his division were 24,000.

⁹The sixth for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; and in his division were 24,000.

¹⁰The seventh for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were 24,000.

¹¹The eighth for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite of the Zerahites; and in his division were 24,000.

¹²The ninth for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite of the Benjamites; and in his division were 24,000.

¹³The tenth for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite of the Zerahites; and in his division were 24,000.

¹⁴The eleventh for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were 24,000.

¹⁵The twelfth for the twelfth month was Heldai the Netophathite of Othniel; and in his division were 24,000.

Chief Officers of the Tribes

¹⁶Now those over the tribes of Israel: chief officer for the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah;

¹⁷for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok;

¹⁸for Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael;

¹⁹for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel;

²⁰for the sons of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah;

²¹for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner;

²²for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. ^aThese were the princes of the tribes of Israel.

²³But David did not take up a count of those twenty years of age and under, ^abecause Yahweh had said He would multiply Israel ^bas the stars of heaven.

²⁴Joab the son of Zeruiah had begun to number them, but did not finish; and because of ^athis, wrath came upon Israel, and ¹this count was not included in the total count of the chronicles of King David.

Officials over David’s Possessions

²⁵Now Azmaveth the son of Adiel was over the king’s storehouses. And Jonathan the son of Uzziah was over the storehouses in the country, in the cities, in the villages and in the towers.

²⁶Ezri the son of Chelub was over the ¹workers of the field who cultivated the soil.

²⁷Shimei the Ramathite was over the vineyards; and Zabdi the Shiphmite was over the ¹produce of the vineyards stored in the wine cellars.

²⁸Baal-hanan the Gederite was over the olive and ^asycamore trees in the ¹Shephelah; and Joash had charge of the stores of oil.

²⁹Shitrai the Sharonite was over the cattle which were grazing in ^aSharon; and Shaphat the son of Adlai was over the cattle in the valleys.

³⁰Obil the Ishmaelite was over the camels; and Jehdeiah the Meronothite was over the donkeys.

³¹Jaziz the ^aHagrite was over the flocks. All these were officials over the possessions which belonged to King David.

Counselors

³²Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, and a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king’s sons.

^33aAhithophel was counselor to the king; and ^bHushai the Archite was the king’s friend.

³⁴Jehoiada the son of ^aBenaiah, and ^bAbiathar ¹succeeded Ahithophel; and Joab was the ^ccommander of the king’s army.

CHAPTER 28

David Assembles His Commanders

¹And ^aDavid assembled at Jerusalem all the commanders of Israel, the commanders of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that ministered to the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the commanders over all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and ^bthe mighty men, even all the mighty men of valor.

²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people; I ^ahad it within my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and for ^bthe footstool of the feet of our God. So I had made preparations to build it.

³“But God said to me, ‘^aYou shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’

⁴“Yet, Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^achose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel ^bforever. For ^cHe has chosen Judah to be a ruler; and ^din the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.

⁵“^aNow of all my sons (for Yahweh has given me many sons), ^bHe has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel.

⁶“And He said to me, ‘Your son ^aSolomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and…