1 Chronicles 26-28

Lexham English Bible

The Divisions of the Gatekeepers

26 As for the working groups of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, from the sons of Asaph. ² And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³ Elam the fifth, Jehohana the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. ⁴ And Obed-Edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, ⁵ Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him. ⁶ And to Shemaiah his son were sons born who were rulers in the house of their father, for they were mighty warriors of ability. ⁷ The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers were sons of ability, Elihu and Semakiah. ⁸ All these from the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons, and their brothers were men of ability with strength for service; sixty-two of Obed-Edom. ⁹ And Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, sons of ability, eighteen. ¹⁰ And Hosah, from the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (though he was not firstborn, his father appointed him as chief), ¹¹ Hilkiah the second, Tabaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

¹² These working groups of gatekeepers, corresponding to the chief men, had responsibilities like their brothers to serve in the house of Yahweh. ¹³ And they cast lots, small and great alike, by their fathers’ houses, for their gates.^{[a] 14} And the lot fell to the east to Shelemiah. As for Zechariah his son, a wise counselor,^[b] they cast lots. And his lot came out for the north. ¹⁵ To Obed-Edom went out the south, and to his sons, the storehouses. ¹⁶ For Shuppim and Hosah it went out for the west, at the gate of Shalleketh, on the road that goes up, guard for guard. ¹⁷ To the east, six Levites; to the north, four daily; to the south, four daily; and at the storerooms, two by two. ¹⁸ For the court to the west, four at the road, two at the court. ¹⁹ These were the working groups of the gatekeepers among the sons of the Korahites and among the sons of Merari.

Treasurers and Other Officials

²⁰ And of the Levites: Ahijah was over the treasuries of the house of God and over the treasuries of the sanctified objects. ²¹ The sons of Ladan: the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the families^[c] belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli. ²² The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel his brother, were over the treasuries of the house of Yahweh. ²³ Of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Ozzielites: ²⁴ Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was commander over the treasuries. ²⁵ And his brothers: from Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zikri his son, and Shelomoth his son. ²⁶ That Shelomoth and his brothers were over all the treasuries of the sanctified objects that King David and the heads of the families^[d] to the commanders of thousands and hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated. ²⁷ From the battles and from the spoil they had dedicated these things to strengthen the house of Yahweh. ²⁸ And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated—all the dedicated gifts were under the hand of Shelomith and his brothers. ²⁹ For the Izharites: Kenaniah and his sons were appointed to the duties outside of Israel as officials and as judges. ³⁰ For the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his brothers, one thousand seven hundred men of ability, were over the administration of Israel beyond the Jordan westward, for all the work of Yahweh and for the service of the king. ³¹ For the Hebronites: Jeriah the chief of the Hebronites for the genealogy for the families.^[e] (In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were examined, and there was found among them mighty warriors of strength at Jazer in Gilead.) ³² And his brothers, sons of ability, were two thousand seven hundred heads of the families,^[f] and King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, for every matter of God and matter of the king.

Military Divisions

27 And as for the number of the Israelites,^[g] the heads of families,^[h] the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their officials who serve the king in all matters of the working groups that came and went, month by month, throughout all the months of the year, each working group: twenty-four thousand.

² Over the first working group for the first month: Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ³ From the sons of Perez who was the chief of the commanders of the armies for the first month. ⁴ And over the working groups of the second month: Dodai the Ahohite and his working group, and Mikloth the commander. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ⁵ The third commander of the army for the third month was Benaiah son of Jehoiada the chief priest. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ⁶ This was Benaiah who was a mighty warrior of thirty, and over the thirty and his working group was Ammizabad his son. ⁷ The fourth, for the fourth month, was Asahel the brother of Joab and his son Zebadiah after him. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ⁸ The fifth, for the fifth month, the commander was Shamhuth the Izrahite. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ⁹ The sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ¹⁰ The seventh, for the seventh month, was Helez the Pelonite, from the sons of Ephraim. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ¹¹ The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai the Hushathite of the Zerahites. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ¹² The ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer the Anathothite of the Benjamites. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ¹³ The tenth, for the tenth month, was Maharai the Netophathite of the Zerahites. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ¹⁴ The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Benaiah the Pirathonite from the sons of Ephraim. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand. ¹⁵ The twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel. And he was over his working group of twenty-four thousand.

Leaders of the Tribes and Other High Ranking Officials

¹⁶ And over the tribes of Israel, for the Reubenites: the commander was Eliezer the son of Zikri. For the Simeonites: Shephatiah the son of Maacah. ¹⁷ For Levi: Hashabiah the son of Kemuel. For Aaron, Zadok. ¹⁸ For Judah: Elihu, from the brothers of David. For Issachar: Omri the son of Michael. ¹⁹ For Zebulun: Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah. For Naphtali: Jerimoth the son of Azriel. ²⁰ For the Ephraimites: Hoshea the son of Azaziah. For the half-tribe of Manasseh: Joel the son of Pedaiah. ²¹ For the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo the son of Zechariah. For Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner. ²² For Dan: Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the commanders of the tribes of Israel. ²³ And David did not take a census of those twenty years old or under^[i] because Yahweh promised^[j] to make Israel more numerous than the stars of heaven. ²⁴ Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but he did not finish. But wrath came upon Israel concerning this, and the number was not included in the chronicles^[k] of King David.

²⁵ And over the treasury rooms of the king was Azmaveth the son of Adiel. And over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the unwalled villages, and in the towers was Jonathan the son of Uzziah. ²⁶ And over those who did the work in the field to till the soil was Ezri the son of Kelub. ²⁷ And over the vineyards was Shemei the Ramathite. And over the produce in the vineyards for the storehouses of the wine was Zabdi the Shiphmite. ²⁸ And over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in the Shephelah was Baal-Hanan the Gederite. And over the treasury houses of olive oil was Joash. ²⁹ And over the cattle pastured in the Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite. And over the cattle in the valley was Shaphat the son of Adlai. ³⁰ And over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite. And over the female donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite.^[l] And over the sheep was Jaziz the Hagrite. ³¹ All of these were officials of the property of King David.

³² And Jehonathan the uncle of David was an adviser, a man of insight, and he was a scribe. And Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the sons of the king. ³³ And Ahithophel was an adviser to the king, and Hushai the Arkite was a friend of the king.

³⁴ And after Ahithophel came Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. And Joab was the commander of the king’s army.

David’s Charge to Israel

28 Then David assembled all the commanders of Israel, the commanders of the tribes and the commanders of working groups who served the king, and the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, and the commanders over all the property of the king and his sons, with the court officials and mighty warriors, and all the mighty warriors of ability, at Jerusalem. ² And King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I myself wanted^[m] to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the footstool of our God, and I prepared to build. ³ But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name because you are a man of war, and you have shed blood.’ ⁴ But Yahweh the God of Israel chose me from all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to reign over all Israel. ⁵ And from all my sons—for Yahweh has given many sons to me—he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel. ⁶ And he said to me, ‘Solomon your son, he himself shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him as a son to myself, and I myself will be as a father to him, ⁷ and I will establish his kingdom forever if he firmly performs^[n] my commandments and my judgments as he has to this day.’ ⁸ So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of Yahweh, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek all the commandments of Yahweh your God so that you may take possession of this good land and bestow it as an inheritance to your children after you forever.”

David’s Charge to Solomon

⁹ “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every plan and all thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ Look now, for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it!”

¹¹ Then David gave to Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and of the house of the lid of the ark, ¹² and the plan of all that he had in mind^[o] for the courtyards of the house of Yahweh and for all the surrounding storage rooms, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for sanctified objects, ¹³ and for the working groups of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh, and for all the vessels for the service of the house of Yahweh, ¹⁴ and for the gold, according to the weight of the gold for all the vessels of the service, and the service of all the vessels of silver according to the weight of all the vessels for every kind of service.^{[p] 15} And the weight of the golden lampstands and the golden lamps, the weight of each lampstand and each lamp,^[q] and the silver according to the weight of a lampstand and its lamp, according to the use of each lampstand,^{[r] 16} and the weight of gold for the tables of the arranged bread, each table,^[s] and silver for the tables of silver, ¹⁷ and pure gold for the three-pronged meat forks, and the bowls and the pitchers, and for the golden bowls, by weight for each bowl,^[t] and for the silver bowls, by weight for each bowl,^{[u] 18} and for the altar of incense made of refined gold, by weight, and gold for the plan for the chariot—the cherubim with outspread and covering wings over the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. ¹⁹ “All this I give you in writing; from the hand of Yahweh he instructed me about all the workings of this plan.”

²⁰ Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do this! Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for Yahweh God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you and will not forsake you until all the work of the service of the house of Yahweh is finished. ²¹ And behold, the working groups of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work for all those willing with the skill for every service, and the commanders and all the people for all your commands.”