The Daily Audio Bible

¹² These divisions of gatekeepers through their head men were assigned duties with their relatives to serve in the Lord’s temple. ¹³ They drew lots by families, youngest and oldest alike, for every gate. ¹⁴ Shelemiah was chosen for the east side. His son Zechariah, a counselor who displayed insight, was chosen for the north side. ¹⁵ Obed Edom was chosen for the south side, and his sons were chosen for the storerooms. ¹⁶ Shuppim and Hosah were chosen for the west side with Shallecheth Gate at the gateway that goes to the palace.

One squad of guards served its watch after another. ¹⁷ On the east side there were six Levites. On the north there were four every day. On the south there were four every day. At the storerooms there were four, two at each entrance. ¹⁸ At the courtyard on the west there were four Levites at the gateway to the palace and two at the courtyard itself. ¹⁹ These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among Korah’s and Merari’s descendants.

David Appoints Treasurers for the Temple

²⁰ Ahijah, a Levite, was in charge of the treasuries in God’s temple and the treasuries of the gifts dedicated to God. ²¹ ⌞There were also⌟ the descendants of Ladan, who was descended from Gershon. ⌞Those who served⌟ for Ladan, the descendant of Gershon, were the heads of Ladan’s families: Jehiel ²² ⌞and⌟ Jehiel’s sons Zetham and Joel. They were in charge of the treasuries in the Lord’s temple. ²³ For the descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, ²⁴ there was Shebuel, a descendant of Moses’ son Gershom. He was the highest-ranking official in charge of the treasuries. ²⁵ From his relatives on Eliezer’s side of the family was Shelomith. (Eliezer’s son was Rehabiah; his grandson was Jeshaiah; his great-grandson was Joram. Joram’s son was Zichri; his grandson was Shelomith.) ²⁶ He and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries of the gifts dedicated to God that King David, the heads of families, the commanders of regiments and battalions, and the commanders of the army had donated. ²⁷ (They had donated some of the loot taken in battle to support the Lord’s temple.) ²⁸ Everything that Samuel the seer,^[a] Saul (son of Kish), Abner (son of Ner), and Joab (son of Zeruiah) had donated—everything that had been donated—was under the supervision of Shelomith and his relatives.

David Appoints Levites to Oversee Israel’s Worship

²⁹ From Izhar’s descendants Chenaniah and his sons were assigned duties. They served as officials and judges outside ⌞the temple⌟ in Israel. ³⁰ From Hebron’s descendants Hashabiah and his 1,700 skilled, male relatives were appointed to serve Israel west of the Jordan River. They did everything the Lord wanted them to do, and they served the king. ³¹ Jeriah was the head of Hebron’s descendants. In the fortieth year of David’s reign, the ancestry of Hebron’s descendants was researched family by family. Warriors from these families were found at Jazer in Gilead. ³² Jeriah’s relatives were 2,700 skilled men, who were heads of families. King David appointed them to be overseers in every matter involving God or the king for the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.

David’s Government Officials

27 This is a list of Israelite family heads, regiment and battalion commanders, and officers who were serving the king in all the army’s units. Throughout each year they came for a month at a time and then left. Each unit consisted of 24,000 men.

² Jashobeam, son of Zabdiel, was in charge of the first unit, the one during the first month. In his unit there were 24,000. ³ He was a descendant of Perez, and he was head of all of the army’s officers for the first month.

⁴ Dodai, Ahoh’s descendant, was in charge of the unit during the second month. It was his unit. (Mikloth was one of its leaders.) In Dodai’s unit there were 24,000.

⁵ The third commander of the army during the third month was Benaiah, son of the priest Jehoiada. He was the head, and in his unit there were 24,000. ⁶ This Benaiah was one of the thirty fighting men and commander of the thirty as well as his own unit. His son was Ammizabad.

⁷ Asahel, Joab’s brother, was in charge of the fourth unit during the fourth month, and after him was his son Zebadiah. In his unit there were 24,000.

⁸ Shamhuth, Izrah’s descendant, was commander of the fifth unit during the fifth month. In his unit there were 24,000.

⁹ Ira, the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa, was in charge of the sixth unit during the sixth month. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹⁰ Helez, a Pelonite from the descendants of Ephraim, was in charge of the seventh unit during the seventh month. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹¹ Sibbecai, a descendant of Zerah from Hushah, was in charge of the eighth unit during the eighth month. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹² Abiezer, a member of the tribe of Benjamin from Anathoth, was in charge of the ninth unit during the ninth month. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹³ Mahrai, a descendant of Zerah from Netophah, was in charge of the tenth unit during the tenth month. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹⁴ Benaiah, a member of the tribe of Ephraim from Pirathon, was in charge of the eleventh unit during the eleventh month. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹⁵ During the twelfth month, the twelfth unit was commanded by Heldai from Netophah. He was Othniel’s descendant. In his unit there were 24,000.

¹⁶ The following officers were in charge of the tribes of Israel:

These were the commanders of Israel’s tribes.

²³ David didn’t count those under 20 years old, because the Lord had promised that the people of Israel would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. ²⁴ Joab, son of Zeruiah, started to count them but didn’t finish. God was angry with Israel because of this, and the report from it was never included in the official records of King David.

²⁵ These were all the commanders in charge of King David’s property: ^[b]

³² David’s uncle Jonathan, an educated man who possessed insight, was David’s adviser. Jonathan and Jehiel, son of Hachmoni, were in charge of the king’s sons. ³³ Ahithophel was the king’s adviser. Hushai, a descendant of Archi, was the king’s friend. ³⁴ Jehoiada (son of Benaiah) and Abiathar succeeded Ahithophel. Joab was the commander of the royal army.

¹³ So it was not by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings that Abraham or his descendants received the promise that he would inherit the world. Rather, he received this promise through God’s approval that comes by faith. ¹⁴ If those who obey Moses’ Teachings are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless. ¹⁵ The laws in Moses’ Teachings bring about anger. But where those laws don’t exist, they can’t be broken. ¹⁶ Therefore, the promise is based on faith so that it can be a gift.^[a] Consequently, the promise is guaranteed for every descendant, not only for those who are descendants by obeying Moses’ Teachings but also for those who are descendants by believing as Abraham did. He is the father of all of us, ¹⁷ as Scripture says: “I have made you a father of many nations.”

Abraham believed when he stood in the presence of the God who gives life to dead people and calls into existence things that don’t even exist. ¹⁸ When there was nothing left to hope for, Abraham still hoped and believed. As a result, he became a father of many nations, as he had been told: “That is how many descendants you will have.” ¹⁹ Abraham didn’t weaken. Through faith he regarded the facts: His body was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old, and Sarah was unable to have children. ²⁰ He didn’t doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God ⌞for the promise⌟, he became strong because of faith ²¹ and was absolutely confident that God would do what he promised. ²² That is why Abraham’s faith was regarded as the basis of his approval by God.

²³ But the words “his faith was regarded as the basis of his approval by God” were written not only for him ²⁴ but also for us. Our faith will be regarded as the basis of our approval by God—each of us who believe in the one who brought Jesus, our Lord, back to life. ²⁵ Jesus, our Lord, was handed over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we could receive God’s approval.

We Are at Peace with God because of Jesus

5 Now that we have God’s approval by faith, we have peace with God because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. ² Through Christ we can approach God ^[b] and stand in his favor.^[c] So we brag because of our confidence that we will receive glory from God. ³ But that’s not all. We also brag when we are suffering. We know that suffering creates endurance, ⁴ endurance creates character, and character creates confidence. ⁵ We’re not ashamed to have this confidence, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

For the choir director; by David.