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David Organizes the Priests

24 And as for the sons of Aaron, these were their divisions. The sons of Aaron were Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons,[a] so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their appointments for their service. And more sons of Eleazar were found as heads of the men than the sons of Ithamar, so they divided them to the sons of Eleazar to be sixteen heads over the house of the fathers, and to the sons of Ithamar over the house of the fathers were eight heads. They divided them by lot all alike,[b] for they were commanders of the sanctuary and commanders of God from among the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them before the king, the princes, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the families[c] of the priests and Levites, one father’s house drawn by Lot for Eleazar and one drawn by lot for Ithamar. And the first lot went out to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, the fifth to Malkijah, the sixth to Mijamin, 10 the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, 11 the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shekaniah, 12 the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13 the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14 the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, 15 the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Ha-Pizzez, 16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Ezekiel, 17 the twenty-first to Jakin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18 the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19 These were their appointments for their service to come into the house of Yahweh according to their custom by the hand of Aaron their father, as Yahweh the God of Israel had commanded him.

20 And as for the remainder of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21 Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. 22 Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons Shelomoth, Jahath. 23 Of the sons of Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. 24 The sons of Uzziel, Micah; the sons of Micah, Shamur. 25 The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. 26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, his son.[d] 27 The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, his son,[e] Shoham, Zakkur, and Ibri. 28 Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. 29 Of Kish: the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel. 30 And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to the house of their fathers. 31 And lots were also cast for these, just as their brothers, the sons of Aaron, before David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families[f] for the priests and for the Levites the fathers, on the principle of the chief and younger brother alike.[g]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 24:2 Literally “sons were not to them”
  2. 1 Chronicles 24:5 Literally “these with those”
  3. 1 Chronicles 24:6 Literally “fathers”
  4. 1 Chronicles 24:26 Or “Beno”
  5. 1 Chronicles 24:27 Or “Beno”
  6. 1 Chronicles 24:31 Literally “fathers”
  7. 1 Chronicles 24:31 Literally “the head like his brother the younger”

David Organizes the Priests

24 The divisions of Aaron’s descendants were as follows:

The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Nadab and Abihu died before their father did; they had no sons. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.

David, Zadok (a descendant of Eleazar), and Ahimelech (a descendant of Ithamar) divided them into groups to carry out their assigned responsibilities.[a] The descendants of Eleazar had more leaders than the descendants of Ithamar, so they divided them up accordingly; the descendants of Eleazar had sixteen leaders, while the descendants of Ithamar had eight.[b] They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the Holy Place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.[c] The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, wrote down their names before the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the priestly and Levite families. One family was drawn by lot from Eleazar, and then the next from Ithamar.[d]

The first lot went to Jehoiarib,

the second to Jedaiah,

the third to Harim,

the fourth to Seorim,

the fifth to Malkijah,

the sixth to Mijamin,

10 the seventh to Hakkoz,

the eighth to Abijah,

11 the ninth to Jeshua,

the tenth to Shecaniah,

12 the eleventh to Eliashib,

the twelfth to Jakim,

13 the thirteenth to Huppah,

the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,

14 the fifteenth to Bilgah,

the sixteenth to Immer,

15 the seventeenth to Hezir,

the eighteenth to Happizzez,

16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah,

the twentieth to Jehezkel,

17 the twenty-first to Jakin,

the twenty-second to Gamul,

18 the twenty-third to Delaiah,

the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

19 This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor[e] Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him.[f]

Remaining Levites

20 The rest of the Levites included:[g]

Shubael[h] from the sons of Amram,

Jehdeiah from the sons of Shubael,

21 the firstborn Isshiah from Rehabiah and the sons of Rehabiah,

22 Shelomoth from the Izharites,

Jahath from the sons of Shelomoth.

23 The sons of Hebron:[i] Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

24 The son[j] of Uzziel: Micah;

Shamir from the sons of Micah.

25 The brother of Micah: Isshiah.

Zechariah from the sons of Isshiah.

26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

The son of Jaaziah: Beno.[k]

27 The sons of Merari, from Jaaziah: Beno,[l] Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

28 From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.

29 From Kish: Jerahmeel.[m]

30 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

These were the Levites, listed by their families.

31 Like their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, they also cast lots before King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of families, the priests, and the Levites. The families of the oldest son cast lots along with those of the youngest.[n]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 24:3 tn Heb “for their assignment in their service.”
  2. 1 Chronicles 24:4 tn Heb “And the sons of Eleazar were found to be more, with respect to the heads of men, than the sons of Ithamar, and they divided them. To the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen heads, according to the house of the fathers; and to the sons of Ithamar there were eight, according to the house of their fathers.”
  3. 1 Chronicles 24:5 tn Heb “and they divided them by lots, these with these, for the officials of the holy place and the officials of God were from the sons of Eleazar and among the sons of Ithamar.”
  4. 1 Chronicles 24:6 tn Heb “one house of a father was drawn by lot for Eleazar, and one [this assumes an emendation of אָחֻז (ʾakhuz) to אֶחָד (ʾekhad, “one”)] was drawn by lot for Ithamar.”
  5. 1 Chronicles 24:19 tn Heb “father.”
  6. 1 Chronicles 24:19 tn Heb “these were their responsibilities for their service to enter the house of the Lord according to their manner [given] by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel commanded him.”
  7. 1 Chronicles 24:20 tn Heb “Belonging to the rest of the sons of Levi.”
  8. 1 Chronicles 24:20 tn This appears to be a variant of the name Shebuel (cf. 1 Chr 23:16 and 26:24).
  9. 1 Chronicles 24:23 tc Most Hebrew mss omit “Hebron” here, but see 1 Chr 23:19. The name is included in two Hebrew mss and some LXX mss.
  10. 1 Chronicles 24:24 tn The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this.
  11. 1 Chronicles 24:26 tn Heb “the sons of Jaaziah, Beno.” Apparently בְנוֹ (veno), which could be translated “his son,” is a proper name here. The text, however, may be defective at this point; a list of Jaaziah’s sons may have been accidentally omitted. See v. 27.
  12. 1 Chronicles 24:27 tn Or “from Jaaziah his son.” See the note on “Beno” in v. 26.
  13. 1 Chronicles 24:29 tc The Hebrew text has, “Belonging to [i.e., from] Kish, the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel.” There appears to be a conflation of headings.
  14. 1 Chronicles 24:31 tn Heb “the fathers [i.e., families] of the head [i.e., oldest] just like his youngest brother.”