1 Chronicles 9
New King James Version
Priests and Levites in Jerusalem
9 So (A)all Israel was [a]recorded by genealogies, and indeed, they were inscribed in the book of the kings of Israel. But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. 2 (B)And the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and (C)the Nethinim.
Dwellers in Jerusalem
3 Now in (D)Jerusalem the children of Judah dwelt, and some of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh: 4 Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the descendants of Perez, the son of Judah. 5 Of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. 6 Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brethren—six hundred and ninety. 7 Of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; 8 Ibneiah the son of Jeroham; Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; 9 and their brethren, according to their generations—nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were heads of a father’s house in their fathers’ houses.
The Priests at Jerusalem
10 (E)Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin; 11 [b]Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the (F)officer over the house of God; 12 Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; 13 and their brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses—one thousand seven hundred and sixty. They were [c]very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
The Levites at Jerusalem
14 Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; 15 Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of (G)Zichri, the son of Asaph; 16 (H)Obadiah the son of (I)Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.
The Levite Gatekeepers
17 And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief. 18 Until then they had been gatekeepers for the camps of the children of Levi at the King’s Gate on the east.
19 Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, from his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, [d]gatekeepers of the tabernacle. Their fathers had been keepers of the entrance to the camp of the Lord. 20 And (J)Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him. 21 (K)Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was [e]keeper of the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
22 All those chosen as gatekeepers were two hundred and twelve. (L)They were recorded by their genealogy, in their villages. David and Samuel (M)the seer had appointed them to their trusted office. 23 So they and their children were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, the house of the tabernacle, by assignment. 24 The gatekeepers were assigned to the four directions: the east, west, north, and south. 25 And their brethren in their villages had to come with them from time to time (N)for seven days. 26 For in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God. 27 And they lodged all around the house of God because [f]they had the (O)responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning.
Other Levite Responsibilities
28 Now some of them were in charge of the serving vessels, for they brought them in and took them out by count. 29 Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the (P)fine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices. 30 And some of the sons of the priests made (Q)the ointment of the spices.
31 Mattithiah of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the trusted office (R)over the things that were baked in the pans. 32 And some of their brethren of the sons of the Kohathites (S)were in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath.
33 These are (T)the singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night. 34 These heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites were heads throughout their generations. They dwelt at Jerusalem.
The Family of King Saul
35 Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was (U)Maacah, dwelt at Gibeon. 36 His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahio, [g]Zechariah, and Mikloth. 38 And Mikloth begot [h]Shimeam. They also dwelt alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren. 39 (V)Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. 40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah. 41 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, [i]Tahrea, (W)and[j] Ahaz. 42 And Ahaz begot [k]Jarah; Jarah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begot Moza; 43 Moza begot Binea, [l]Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.
44 And Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 9:1 enrolled
- 1 Chronicles 9:11 Seraiah, Neh. 11:11
- 1 Chronicles 9:13 Lit. mighty men of strength
- 1 Chronicles 9:19 Lit. thresholds
- 1 Chronicles 9:21 gatekeeper
- 1 Chronicles 9:27 the watch was committed to them
- 1 Chronicles 9:37 Zecher, 1 Chr. 8:31
- 1 Chronicles 9:38 Shimeah, 1 Chr. 8:32
- 1 Chronicles 9:41 Tarea, 1 Chr. 8:35
- 1 Chronicles 9:41 So with Arab., Syr., Tg., Vg. (cf. 8:35); MT, LXX omit and Ahaz
- 1 Chronicles 9:42 Jehoaddah, 1 Chr. 8:36
- 1 Chronicles 9:43 Raphah, 1 Chr. 8:37
1 Chronicles 9
Living Bible
9 The family tree of every person in Israel was carefully recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
Judah was exiled to Babylon because the people worshiped idols.
2 The first to return and live again in their former cities were families from the tribes of Israel and also the priests, the Levites, and the Temple assistants.
3 Then some families from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh arrived in Jerusalem:
4 One family was that of Uthai (the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani) of the clan of Perez (son of Judah).
5 The Shilonites were another family to return, including Asaiah (Shilon’s oldest son) and his sons; 6 there were also the sons of Zerah, including Jeuel and his relatives: 690 in all.
7-8 Among the members of the tribe of Benjamin who returned were these:
Sallu (the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah);
Ibneiah (the son of Jeroham);
Elah (the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri);
Meshullam (the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah).
9 These men were all chiefs of subclans. A total of 956 Benjaminites returned.
10-11 The priests who returned were:
Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,
Azariah (the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub). He was the chief custodian of the Temple.
12 Another of the returning priests was Adaiah (son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah).
Another priest was Maasai (son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer).
13 In all, 1,760 priests returned.
14 Among the Levites who returned was Shemaiah (son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, who was a descendant of Merari).
15-16 Other Levites who returned included:
Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal,
Mattaniah (the son of Mica, who was the son of Zichri, who was the son of Asaph),
Obadiah (the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun),
Berechiah (the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the area of the Netophathites).
17-18 The gatekeepers were Shallum (the chief gatekeeper), Akkub, Talmon, and Ahiman—all Levites. They are still responsible for the eastern royal gate. 19 Shallum’s ancestry went back through Kore and Ebiasaph to Korah. He and his close relatives the Korahites were in charge of the sacrifices and the protection of the sanctuary, just as their ancestors had supervised and guarded the Tabernacle. 20 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was the first director of this division in ancient times. And the Lord was with him.
21 At that time Zechariah, the son of Meshelemiah, had been responsible for the protection of the entrance to the Tabernacle. 22 There were 212 doorkeepers in those days. They were chosen from their villages on the basis of their genealogies, and they were appointed by David and Samuel because of their reliability. 23 They and their descendants were in charge of the Lord’s Tabernacle. 24 They were assigned to each of the four sides: east, west, north, and south. 25 And their relatives in the villages were assigned to help them from time to time, for seven days at a time.
26 The four head gatekeepers, all Levites, were in an office of great trust, for they were responsible for the rooms and treasuries in the Tabernacle of God. 27 Because of their important positions, they lived near the Tabernacle, and they opened the gates each morning. 28 Some of them were assigned to care for the various vessels used in the sacrifices and worship; they checked them in and out to avoid loss. 29 Others were responsible for the furniture, the items in the sanctuary, and the supplies such as fine flour, wine, incense, and spices.
30 Other priests prepared the spices and incense.
31 And Mattithiah (a Levite and the oldest son of Shallum the Korahite) was entrusted with making the flat cakes for grain offerings.
32 Some members of the Kohath clan were in charge of the preparation of the special bread[a] each Sabbath.
33-34 The cantors were all prominent Levites. They lived in Jerusalem at the Temple and were on duty at all hours. They were free from other responsibilities and were selected by their genealogies.
35-37 Jeiel (whose wife was Maacah) lived in Gibeon. He had many[b] sons, including: Gibeon, Abdon (the oldest), Zur, Kish, Baal,
38 Mikloth lived with his son Shimeam in Jerusalem near his relatives.
39 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish was the father of Saul, Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
40 Jonathan was the father of Mephibosheth;[c]
Mephibosheth was the father of Micah;
41 Micah was the father of Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz;
42 Ahaz was the father of Jarah;
Jarah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri;
Zimri was the father of Moza.
43 Moza was the father of Binea, Rephaiah, Eleasah, and Azel.
44 Azel had six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, Hanan.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 9:32 special bread, literally, “showbread.”
- 1 Chronicles 9:35 many, implied.
- 1 Chronicles 9:40 Mephibosheth, or “Merib-baal.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.