² He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us.

Saul Takes His Life^(A)

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa.^(B)

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

⁸ Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, ⁹ yet I prefer to appeal to you^(A) on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner^(B) of Christ Jesus—

⁴ It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule^(A) the living God,^(B) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.^(C) Therefore pray^(D) for the remnant^(E) that still survives.”

⁴ He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion^(A) due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord. ⁵ As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits^(B) of their grain, new wine,^(C) olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe^(D) of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them in heaps.^{(E) 7} They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month.^{(F) 8} When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and blessed^(G) his people Israel.

⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; ¹⁰ and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok,^(H) answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”^(I)

¹¹ Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. ¹² Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts. Konaniah,^(J) a Levite, was the overseer in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was next in rank. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad,^(K) Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath and Benaiah were assistants of Konaniah and Shimei his brother. All these served by appointment of King Hezekiah and Azariah the official in charge of the temple of God.

¹⁴ Kore son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the freewill offerings given to God, distributing the contributions made to the Lord and also the consecrated gifts. ¹⁵ Eden,^(L) Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shekaniah assisted him faithfully in the towns^(M) of the priests, distributing to their fellow priests according to their divisions, old and young alike.

¹⁶ In addition, they distributed to the males three years old or more whose names were in the genealogical records^(N)—all who would enter the temple of the Lord to perform the daily duties of their various tasks, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. ¹⁷ And they distributed to the priests enrolled by their families in the genealogical records and likewise to the Levites twenty years old or more, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. ¹⁸ They included all the little ones, the wives, and the sons and daughters of the whole community listed in these genealogical records. For they were faithful in consecrating themselves.

¹⁹ As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around their towns or in any other towns,^(O) men were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among them and to all who were recorded in the genealogies of the Levites.

²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful^(P) before the Lord his God. ²¹ In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.^(Q)

² Then David said, “No one but the Levites^(A) may carry^(B) the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister^(C) before him forever.”

³ David assembled all Israel^(D) in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. ⁴ He called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:^(E)

¹¹ Then David summoned Zadok^(I) and Abiathar^(J) the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. ¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate^(K) yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³ It was because you, the Levites,^(L) did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us.^(M) We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.^(N)” ¹⁴ So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷ When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

⁵⁴ These were the locations of their settlements^(A) allotted as their territory (they were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clan, because the first lot was for them):

⁶¹ The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of half the tribe of Manasseh.

⁶² The descendants of Gershon, clan by clan, were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher and Naphtali, and from the part of the tribe of Manasseh that is in Bashan.

⁶³ The descendants of Merari, clan by clan, were allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.

⁶⁴ So the Israelites gave the Levites these towns^(H) and their pasturelands. ⁶⁵ From the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin they allotted the previously named towns.

⁶⁶ Some of the Kohathite clans were given as their territory towns from the tribe of Ephraim.