¹¹ They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them.^(A)

⁹ Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to allow you to approach him in order to perform the duties of the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the congregation and serve them?^(A)

³⁴ But the priests were too few and could not skin all the burnt offerings, so, until other priests had sanctified themselves, their kindred, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished, for the Levites were more conscientious^[a] than the priests in sanctifying themselves.^(A)

¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it.^(A)

⁴⁵ He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,^(A)

¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to make it holy to the Lord.^(A)

The Gatekeepers

26 As for the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.^{(A) 2} Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³ Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. ⁴ Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,^{(B) 5} Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him. ⁶ Also to his son Shemaiah sons were born who exercised authority in their ancestral houses, for they were men of great ability. ⁷ The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers were able men, Elihu and Semachiah. ⁸ All these, sons of Obed-edom with their sons and brothers, were able men qualified for the service; sixty-two of Obed-edom. ⁹ Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, able men, eighteen. ¹⁰ Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him chief),^{(C) 11} Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and brothers of Hosah totaled thirteen.

¹² These divisions of the gatekeepers, corresponding to their leaders, had duties, just as their kindred did, ministering in the house of the Lord,^{(D) 13} and they cast lots by ancestral houses, small and great alike, for their gates.^{(E) 14} The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a prudent counselor, and his lot came out for the north. ¹⁵ Obed-edom’s came out for the south, and to his sons was allotted the storehouse. ¹⁶ For Shuppim and Hosah it came out for the west, at the gate of Shallecheth on the ascending road. Guard corresponded to guard. ¹⁷ On the east there were six Levites each day,^[a] on the north four each day, on the south four each day, as well as two and two at the storehouse, ¹⁸ and for the colonnade^[b] on the west there were four at the road and two at the colonnade.^{[c] 19} These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among the Korahites and the sons of Merari.

⁶ It is I who now take your brother Levites from among the Israelites; they are now yours as a gift, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service of the tent of meeting.^(A)

¹⁰ When the service had been prepared, the priests stood in their place and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command.^{(A) 11} They slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests dashed the blood that they received^[a] from them, while the Levites did the skinning.^(B)