The Gatekeepers

26 Concerning the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, ^[a]Meshelemiah the son of ^(A)Kore, of the sons of ^[b]Asaph. ² And the sons of Meshelemiah were ^(B)Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³ Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.

⁴ Moreover the sons of ^(C)Obed-Edom were Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, ⁵ Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth; for God blessed him.

⁶ Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born who governed their fathers’ houses, because they were men of great ability. ⁷ The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers Elihu and Semachiah were able men.

⁸ All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons and their brethren, ^(D)able men with strength for the work: sixty-two of Obed-Edom.

⁹ And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, eighteen able men.

¹⁰ Also ^(E)Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the first (for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him the first), ¹¹ Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.

¹² Among these were the divisions of the gatekeepers, among the chief men, having duties just like their brethren, to serve in the house of the Lord. ¹³ And they ^(F)cast lots for each gate, the small as well as the great, according to their father’s house. ¹⁴ The lot for the East Gate fell to ^[c]Shelemiah. Then they cast lots for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and his lot came out for the North Gate; ¹⁵ to Obed-Edom the South Gate, and to his sons the ^[d]storehouse. ¹⁶ To Shuppim and Hosah the lot came out for the West Gate, with the Shallecheth Gate on the ^(G)ascending highway—watchman opposite watchman. ¹⁷ On the east were six Levites, on the north four each day, on the south four each day, and for the ^[e]storehouse two by two. ¹⁸ As for the ^[f]Parbar on the west, there were four on the highway and two at the Parbar. ¹⁹ These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among the sons of Korah and among the sons of Merari.

The Treasuries and Other Duties

²⁰ Of the Levites, Ahijah was ^(H)over the treasuries of the house of God and over the treasuries of the ^(I)dedicated^[g] things. ²¹ The sons of ^[h]Laadan, the descendants of the Gershonites of Laadan, heads of their fathers’ houses, of Laadan the Gershonite: ^[i]Jehieli. ²² The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel his brother, were over the treasuries of the house of the Lord. ²³ Of the ^(J)Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites: ^24 (K)Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was overseer of the treasuries. ²⁵ And his brethren by Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son, and ^(L)Shelomith his son.

²⁶ This Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasuries of the dedicated things ^(M)which King David and the heads of fathers’ houses, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army, had dedicated. ²⁷ Some of the ^[j]spoils won in battles they dedicated to maintain the house of the Lord. ²⁸ And all that Samuel ^(N)the seer, Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated, every dedicated thing, was under the hand of Shelomith and his brethren.

²⁹ Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons ^(O)performed duties as ^(P)officials and judges over Israel outside Jerusalem.

³⁰ Of the Hebronites, ^(Q)Hashabiah and his brethren, one thousand seven hundred able men, had the oversight of Israel on the west side of the Jordan for all the business of the Lord, and in the service of the king. ³¹ Among the Hebronites, ^(R)Jerijah was head of the Hebronites according to his genealogy of the fathers. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought, and there were found among them capable men ^(S)at Jazer of Gilead. ³² And his brethren were two thousand seven hundred able men, heads of fathers’ houses, whom King David made officials over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, for every matter pertaining to God and the ^(T)affairs of the king.

The Military Divisions

27 And the children of Israel, according to their number, the heads of fathers’ houses, the captains of thousands and hundreds and their officers, served the king in every matter of the military divisions. These divisions came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, each division having twenty-four thousand.

² Over the first division for the first month was ^(A)Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel, and in his division were twenty-four thousand; ³ he was of the children of Perez, and the chief of all the captains of the army for the first month. ⁴ Over the division of the second month was ^[a]Dodai an Ahohite, and of his division Mikloth also was the leader; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ⁵ The third captain of the army for the third month was ^(B)Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, who was chief; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ⁶ This was the Benaiah who was ^(C)mighty among the thirty, and was over the thirty; in his division was Ammizabad his son. ⁷ The fourth captain for the fourth month was ^(D)Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ⁸ The fifth captain for the fifth month was ^[b]Shamhuth the Izrahite; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ⁹ The sixth captain for the sixth month was ^(E)Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹⁰ The seventh captain for the seventh month was ^(F)Helez the Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹¹ The eighth captain for the eighth month was ^(G)Sibbechai the Hushathite, of the Zarhites; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹² The ninth captain for the ninth month was ^(H)Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹³ The tenth captain for the tenth month was ^(I)Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zarhites; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹⁴ The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was ^(J)Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim; in his division were twenty-four thousand. ¹⁵ The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was ^[c]Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel; in his division were twenty-four thousand.

Leaders of Tribes

¹⁶ Furthermore, over the tribes of Israel: the officer over the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri; over the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maachah; ¹⁷ over the Levites, ^(K)Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; over the Aaronites, Zadok; ¹⁸ over Judah, ^(L)Elihu, one of David’s brothers; over Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; ¹⁹ over Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; over Naphtali, Jerimoth the son of Azriel; ²⁰ over the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; over the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; ²¹ over the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; over Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; ²² over Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.

²³ But David did not take the number of those twenty years old and under, because ^(M)the Lord had said He would multiply Israel like the ^(N)stars of the heavens. ²⁴ Joab the son of Zeruiah began a census, but he did not finish, for ^(O)wrath came upon Israel because of this census; nor was the number recorded in the account of the chronicles of King David.

Other State Officials

²⁵ And Azmaveth the son of Adiel was over the king’s treasuries; and Jehonathan the son of Uzziah was over the storehouses in the field, in the cities, in the villages, and in the fortresses. ²⁶ Ezri the son of Chelub was over those who did the work of the field for tilling the ground. ²⁷ And Shimei the Ramathite was over the vineyards, and Zabdi the Shiphmite was over the produce of the vineyards for the supply of wine. ²⁸ Baal-Hanan the Gederite was over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in the lowlands, and Joash was over the store of oil. ²⁹ And Shitrai the Sharonite was over the herds that fed in Sharon, and Shaphat the son of Adlai was over the herds that were in the valleys. ³⁰ Obil the Ishmaelite was over the camels, Jehdeiah the Meronothite was over the donkeys, ³¹ and Jaziz the ^(P)Hagrite was over the flocks. All these were the officials over King David’s property.

³² Also Jehonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a wise man, and a ^[d]scribe; and Jehiel the ^[e]son of Hachmoni was with the king’s sons. ^33 (Q)Ahithophel was the king’s counselor, and ^(R)Hushai the Archite was the king’s companion. ³⁴ After Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, then ^(S)Abiathar. And the general of the king’s army was ^(T)Joab.

¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[a]two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that ^(A)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, ^(B)“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am ^(C)the resurrection and the life. ^(D)He who believes in Me, though he may ^(E)die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^(F)I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but ^[b]was in the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (G)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, ^[c]saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she ^(H)fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ^(I)“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

^35 (J)Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, ^(K)who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a ^(L)stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would ^(M)see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone ^[d]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but ^(N)because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with ^(O)graveclothes, and ^(P)his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus^(Q)

⁴⁵ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, ^(R)and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went away to the Pharisees and ^(S)told them the things Jesus did. ^47 (T)Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ^(U)“What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

⁴⁹ And one of them, ^(V)Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ^50 (W)nor do you consider that it is expedient for ^[e]us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and ^(X)not for that nation only, but ^(Y)also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

⁵³ Then, from that day on, they plotted to ^(Z)put Him to death. ^54 (AA)Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called ^(AB)Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

^55 (AC)And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to ^(AD)purify themselves. ^56 (AE)Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” ⁵⁷ Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might ^(AF)seize Him.