1 Chronicles 27–29

The Companies in the King’s Army

27Here is the list of the Israelites who served in the king’s army. They included leaders of families. They included commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. They also included other officers. All of them served the king in everything concerning the army companies that were on duty month by month all through the year. The total number of men in each company was 24,000.

²Jashobeam was in charge of the first company for the first month. He was the son of Zabdiel. The total number of men in Jashobeam’s company was 24,000. ³He belonged to the family line of Perez. He was chief of all of the army officers for the first month.

⁴Dodai was in charge of the second company for the second month. He belonged to the family line of Ahoah. Mikloth was the leader of Dodai’s company. The total number of men in Dodai’s company was 24,000.

⁵The third army commander for the third month was the priest Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah was the chief. The total number of men in Benaiah’s company was 24,000. ⁶That same Benaiah was a mighty man among the Thirty. In fact, he was leader over the Thirty. His son Ammizabad was in charge of his company.

⁷The fourth commander for the fourth month was Joab’s brother Asahel. Asahel’s son Zebadiah was the next commander after him. The total number of men in Asahel’s company was 24,000.

⁸The fifth commander for the fifth month was Shamhuth. He was an Izrahite. The total number of men in Shamhuth’s company was 24,000.

⁹The sixth commander for the sixth month was Ira. He was the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa. The total number of men in Ira’s company was 24,000.

¹⁰The seventh commander for the seventh month was Helez. He was a Pelonite from Ephraim. The total number of men in Helez’s company was 24,000.

¹¹The eighth commander for the eighth month was Sibbecai. He was a Hushathite from Zerah. The total number of men in Sibbecai’s company was 24,000.

¹²The ninth commander for the ninth month was Abiezer. He was from Anathoth in Benjamin. The total number of men in Abiezer’s company was 24,000.

¹³The tenth commander for the tenth month was Maharai. He was a Netophathite from Zerah. The total number of men in Maharai’s company was 24,000.

¹⁴The 11th commander for the 11th month was Benaiah. He was from Pirathon in Ephraim. The total number of men in Benaiah’s company was 24,000.

¹⁵The 12th commander for the 12th month was Heldai. He was a Netophathite from the family line of Othniel. The total number of men in Heldai’s company was 24,000.

The Officers Over the Tribes

¹⁶Here are the officers over the tribes of Israel.

Over the tribe of Reuben was Eliezer, the son of Zicri.

Over Simeon was Shephatiah, the son of Maacah.

¹⁷Over Levi was Hashabiah, the son of Kemuel.

Over Aaron was Zadok.

¹⁸Over Judah was Elihu. He was David’s brother.

Over Issachar was Omri, the son of Michael.

¹⁹Over Zebulun was Ishmaiah, the son of Obadiah.

Over Naphtali was Jerimoth, the son of Azriel.

²⁰Over Ephraim was Hoshea, the son of Azaziah.

Over half of the tribe of Manasseh was Joel, the son of Pedaiah.

²¹Over the half of the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead was Iddo, the son of Zechariah.

Over Benjamin was Jaasiel, the son of Abner.

²²Over Dan was Azarel, the son of Jeroham.

Those were the officers over the tribes of Israel.

²³David didn’t count the men who were 20 years old or less. That’s because the Lord had promised to make the people of Israel as many as the stars in the sky. ²⁴Joab, the son of Zeruiah, began to count the men. But he didn’t finish. The Lord was angry with Israel because David had begun to count the men. So the number wasn’t written down in the official records of King David.

Other Officials of the King

²⁵Azmaveth was in charge of the royal storerooms. He was the son of Adiel.

Jonathan was in charge of the storerooms in the fields, towns, villages and lookout towers. He was the son of Uzziah.

²⁶Ezri was in charge of the workers who farmed the land. He was the son of Kelub.

²⁷Shimei was in charge of the vineyards. He was from Ramah.

Zabdi was in charge of the grapes from the vineyards. He was also in charge of storing the wine. He was a Shiphmite.

²⁸Baal-Hanan was in charge of the olive trees and sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. He was from Geder.

Joash was in charge of storing the olive oil.

²⁹Shitrai was in charge of the herds that ate grass in Sharon. He was from Sharon.

Shaphat was in charge of the herds in the valleys. He was the son of Adlai.

³⁰Obil was in charge of the camels. He was from the family line of Ishmael.

Jehdeiah was in charge of the donkeys. He was from Meronoth.

³¹Jaziz was in charge of the flocks. He was a Hagrite.

All of those men were the officials in charge of King David’s property.

³²Jonathan was David’s uncle. He gave good advice. He was a man of understanding. He was also a secretary. Jehiel took care of the king’s sons. He was the son of Hacmoni.

³³Ahithophel was the king’s adviser.

Hushai was the king’s friend. He was an Arkite. ³⁴Jehoiada and Abiathar became the next advisers after Ahithophel. Jehoiada was the son of Benaiah.

Joab was the commander of the royal army.

David Talks About His Plans for the Temple

28David asked all of the officials of Israel to come together at Jerusalem. He sent for the officers who were over the tribes. He sent for the commanders of the companies who served the king. He sent for the commanders of thousands of men and commanders of hundreds. He sent for the officials who were in charge of all of the royal property and livestock. They belonged to the king and his sons. He sent for the palace officials and the mighty men. He also sent for all of the brave fighting men.

²King David stood up. He said, “All of you, listen to me. With all my heart I wanted to build a house for the Lord. I wanted it to be a place of peace and rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord. The ark is the stool for our God’s feet. I made plans to build the Lord’s house. ³But God said to me, ‘You are not the one who will build a house for my Name. That is because you are a fighting man. You have spilled people’s blood.’

⁴“But the Lord chose me. He is the God of Israel. He chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah to lead the tribes. From the families of Judah he chose my family. From my father’s sons he chose me. He was pleased to make me king over the whole nation of Israel.

⁵“The Lord has given me many sons. From all of them he has chosen my son Solomon. He wants Solomon to sit on the throne of the Lord’s kingdom. He wants him to rule over Israel. ⁶He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who will build my house and my courtyards. I have chosen him to be my son. And I will be his father. ⁷I will make his kingdom secure. It will last forever. That will happen if he does not turn away from my commands and laws. He must continue to obey them, just as he is doing now.’

⁸“So I’m giving you a command in the sight of all of the people of Israel. The Lord’s community is watching. And our God is listening. I command you to be careful to follow all of the commands of the Lord your God. Then you will own this good land. You will pass it on to your children after you as their share forever.

⁹“My son Solomon, always remember the God of your father. Serve him with all your heart. Do it with a mind that wants to obey him. The Lord looks deep down inside every heart. He understands the real reasons for everything you think. If you look to him, you will find him. But if you desert him, he will turn his back on you forever. ¹⁰Think about it. The Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a holy place where he can live. So be strong. Get to work.”

¹¹Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the porch of the temple. He gave him the plans for its buildings and its storerooms. He gave him the plans for its upper parts and its inside rooms. He gave him the plans for the place where sin is paid for and forgiven. ¹²He gave him the plans for everything the Spirit of the Lord had put in his mind. There were plans for the courtyards of the Lord’s temple. There were plans for all of the rooms that were around it. There were plans for the places where the treasure of God’s temple would be kept. There were plans for the places where the things that were set apart for God would be kept.

¹³David told Solomon how to separate the priests and Levites into groups. He gave him directions for all of the work they should do when they served in the Lord’s temple.

He also showed him how all of the articles should be used at the temple. ¹⁴Different articles were used for different purposes.

David told Solomon how much gold should be used for each gold article. He also told him how much silver should be used for each silver article. ¹⁵He told him how much gold should be used to make each gold lampstand and its lamps. He told him how much silver should be used to make each silver lampstand and its lamps. The amount depended on how each lampstand would be used.

¹⁶David told Solomon how much gold should be used to make each table for holy bread. He told him how much silver should be used to make the silver tables. ¹⁷He told him how much pure gold should be used to make the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers. He told him how much gold should be used to make each gold dish. He told him how much silver should be used to make each silver dish.

¹⁸And he told him how much pure gold should be used to make the altar for burning incense. David also gave Solomon the plan for the chariot of the gold cherubim. They spread their wings over the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

¹⁹David said, “I have written everything down. The Lord’s powerful hand helped me. He helped me understand every part of the plan.”

²⁰David also said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and brave. Get to work. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope. The Lord God is my God. He is with you. He won’t fail you. He won’t desert you until all of the work for serving in the Lord’s…