Beginning

Chapter 25

The Musicians. ¹ David, together with the captains of the army, set aside some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun who were to prophesy^[a] with harps, lyres, and cymbals. This is the list of those engaged in their ministry.

² From the sons of Asaph there were Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah. The sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph who prophesied at the command of the king.

³ From Jeduthun there were his sons Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. There were six of them in all. They were under the direction of their father Jeduthun who prophesied using the harp to give thanks and praise to the Lord.

⁴ From Heman there were his sons Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ These were all the sons of Heman, the king’s seer. They were given the word of God to exalt him. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ All of these were under the direction of their father. They played music for the temple of the Lord upon cymbals, lyres, and harps, for the ministry of the temple of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the direction of the king.

⁷ Along with their brethren, all of whom were trained and skilled in performing the songs of the Lord, there were two hundred and eighty-eight of them. ⁸ The young and old, the teacher and the student all cast lots.

⁹ The first lot fell to Asaph, to the family of Joseph; the second fell to Gedaliah, who together with his brethren and sons numbered twelve; ¹⁰ the third lot fell to Zaccur, who together with his sons and brethren numbered twelve; ¹¹ the fourth lot fell to Izri, who together with his sons and his brethren numbered twelve; ¹² the fifth lot fell to Nethaniah, who together with his sons and relatives numbered twelve; ¹³ the sixth lot fell to Bukkiah, who together with his sons and relatives numbered twelve; ¹⁴ the seventh lot fell to Jesarelah, who together with his sons and relatives numbered twelve; ¹⁵ the eighth lot fell to Jeshaiah, who together with his sons and relatives numbered twelve; ¹⁶ the ninth lot fell to Mattaniah, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ¹⁷ the tenth lot fell to Shimei, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ¹⁸ the eleventh lot fell to Uzziel, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ¹⁹ the twelfth lot fell to Hashabiah, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁰ the thirteenth lot fell to Shubael, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²¹ the fourteenth lot fell to Mattithiah, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²² the fifteenth lot fell to Jeremoth, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²³ the sixteenth lot fell to Hananiah, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁴ the seventeenth lot fell to Joshbekashah, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁵ the eighteenth lot fell to Hanani, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁶ the nineteenth lot fell to Mallothi, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁷ the twentieth lot fell to Eliathah, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁸ the twenty-first lot fell to Hothir, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ²⁹ the twenty-second lot fell to Giddalti, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ³⁰ the twenty-third lot fell to Mahazioth, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve; ³¹ the twenty-fourth lot fell to Romamti-ezer, who together with his sons and his relatives numbered twelve.

Chapter 26

Classes of Gatekeepers. ¹ These are the divisions of the gatekeepers.

From the Korahites, there was Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, one of the sons of Abiasaph. ² The sons of Meshelemiah were Zechariah, his firstborn, Jediael, his second, Zebadiah, his third, Jathniel, his fourth, ³ Elam, his fifth, Jehohanan, his sixth, and Eliehoenai, his seventh.

⁴ Obed-edom also had sons. They were Shemaiah, his firstborn, Jehozabad, his second, Joah, his third, Sachar, his fourth, Nethanel, his fifth, ⁵ Ammiel, his sixth, Issachar, his seventh, and Peullethai, his eighth, for God blessed Obed-edom.

⁶ His son Shemaiah also had sons who became the leaders of the ancestral clans because they were most capable. ⁷ The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad. His brethren Elihu and Semachiah were also capable men. ⁸ All of these were the descendants of Obed-edom. They and their brethren were capable men, strong enough to do their work. There were sixty-two descendants of Obed-edom in all.

⁹ Meshelemiah had eighteen sons and relatives who were capable men.

¹⁰ The sons of Hosah the Merarite were Shimri, his firstborn (although he was not really the firstborn, his father assigned him the honor of firstborn), ¹¹ Hilkiah, the second, Tebaliah, the third, and Zechariah, the fourth. Hosah had thirteen sons and relatives in all.

¹² These were the divisions of the gatekeepers according to their leaders. Their duties were to minister in the temple of the Lord. ¹³ They cast lots for the gates, the young and the old, according to their ancestral clans.

¹⁴ The lot for the East Gate fell to Meshelemiah. They then cast lots for his son Zechariah who was a wise counselor. His lot came out, and the North Gate was allotted to him. ¹⁵ The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-edom, and that for the storehouse fell to his sons. ¹⁶ The lot for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road fell to Shuppim and Hosah.

There were guards alongside of guards. ¹⁷ Each day there were six Levites to the east. Each day there were four to the north. Each day there were four to the south, and there were two at a time for the storehouse. ¹⁸ As for the courtyard^[b] to the west, there were four on the roadway and two in the courtyard itself.

¹⁹ These were the divisions for the gatekeepers who were the descendants of Korah and the descendants of Merari.

²⁰ Treasurers and Other Officials. Their fellow Levites supervised the treasury of the temple of God and the treasury of the dedicated objects. ²¹ The descendants of Ladan, who were Gershonites through Ladan and leaders of the ancestral clans of Ladan the Gershonite were Jehiel, ²² with the sons of Jehiel, who were Zetham and his brother Joel. They were responsible for the treasury of the temple of the Lord.

²³ From the Amramites there were the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites.

²⁴ Shubael, a descendant of Gershom, who was the son of Moses, was the supervisor of the treasury.

²⁵ His relatives through Eliezer were Rehabiah, his son, Jeshaiah, his son, Joram, his son, Zichri, his son, and Shelomith, his son. ²⁶ Shelomith and his brethren were responsible for the treasury of the dedicated objects. They had been dedicated by King David, by the leaders of the ancestral clans, by the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, and by the captains of the army. ²⁷ Some of the spoils taken in battle had been dedicated for the maintenance of the temple of the Lord. ²⁸ There were also all the things that had been dedicated by Samuel the seer, Saul, the son of Kish, Abner, the son of Ner, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah. Whatever had been dedicated was under the supervision of Shelomith and his brethren.

²⁹ Magistrates. From the Izharites there were Chenaniah and his sons who were assigned responsibilities outside of the temple as officials and judges over Israel.

³⁰ From the Hebronites there were Hashabiah and his relatives, one thousand seven hundred capable men, who were officials on the west side of the Jordan for all of the concerns involving the Lord and all of the service to the king.

³¹ From the Hebronites there was Jerijah, who was the leader of the Hebronites according to the generations of the ancestral clans.

In the fortieth year of the reign of David, a search was made, and some of their capable men were found in Jazer of Gilead. ³² He had two thousand seven hundred capable men among his brethren who were the leaders of the ancestral clans. King David made them responsible for any concern of God or any concern of the king among the Reubenites, the Gadites, and among one-half of the tribe of Manasseh.

Chapter 27

Commanders of the Army. ¹ This is the list of the leaders of the ancestral clans of the Israelites, the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, the officials who served the king in anything concerning going out or coming in as they were on duty from month to month, all throughout the year. Each division had twenty-four thousand men.

² Ishbaal, the son of Zabdiel, was in charge of the first division for the first month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division. ³ He was a descendant of Perez, and he was the leader of all of the captains of the army for the first month.

⁴ Dodai the Ahohite was in charge of the division for the second month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

⁵ Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest, was the third leader of the army for the third month. He was the leader, and there were twenty-four thousand men in his division. ⁶ This was the same Benaiah who was a brave warrior from among the Thirty and the leader of the Thirty. His son Ammizabad was in charge of his division.

⁷ Asahel, the brother of Joab, was the fourth for the fourth month. Zebadiah, his son, succeeded him. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

⁸ Shamhuth the Zerahite was the fifth leader for the fifth month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

⁹ Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite was the sixth for the sixth month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁰ Hellez the Pelonite, an Ephraimite, was the seventh for the seventh month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹¹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, a Zerahite, was the eighth for the eighth month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹² Abiezer the Anathothite, a Benjaminite, was the ninth for the ninth month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹³ Maharai the Netophathite, a Zerahite, was the tenth for the tenth month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁴ Benaiah the Pirathonite, an Ephraimite, was the eleventh for the eleventh month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁵ Heldai the Netophathite from the family of Othniel was the twelfth for the twelfth month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁶ Tribal Heads. The leaders of the tribes of Israel were: for the Reubenites: Eliezer, the son of Zichri; for the Simeonites: Shephatiah, the son of Maacah; ¹⁷ for the Levites: Hashabiah, the son of Kemuel; for the Aaronites: Zadok; ¹⁸ for the Judahites: Eliab, the brother of David; for the Issacharites: Omri, the son of Michael; ¹⁹ for the Zebulunites: Ishmaiah, the son of Obadiah; for the Naphtalites: Jeremoth, the son of Azriel; ²⁰ for the Ephraimites: Hoshea, the son of Azaziah; for one-half of the tribe of Manasseh: Joel, the son of Pedaiah; ²¹ for the other half of the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo, the son of Zechariah; for the Benjaminites: Jaasiel, the son of Abner; ²² and for the Danites: Azarel, the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders in charge of the tribes of Israel.

²³ David did not take stock of those who were younger than twenty years old because the Lord had said that Israel would increase to be as many as the stars in the heavens. ²⁴ Joab, the son of Zeruiah, began to count them, but he did not finish when wrath fell upon Israel because of it. Therefore the number was not entered into the chronicles of King David.

²⁵ Administrators. Azmaveth, the son of Adiel, was responsible for the royal treasury. Jonathan, the son of Uzziah, was in charge of the storehouses in the fields, the cities, the villages, and the watchtowers. ²⁶ Ezri, the son of Chelub, was in charge of the field workers who farmed the land. ²⁷ Shimei the Ramathite was in charge of the vineyards. Zabdi the Shiphmite was in charge of the harvest from the vineyards for the wine cellars. ²⁸ Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees on the western slopes. Joash was in charge of the olive oil supply in the cellars. ²⁹ Shitrai the Sharonite was in charge of the grazing herds in Sharon. Shaphat, the son of Adlai, was in charge of the herds in the valleys. ³⁰ Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels. Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys. ³¹ Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the flocks.

These were all officials in charge of King David’s possessions. ³² Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor. He was an insightful man, and he was a scribe. Jehiel, the son of Hachamoni, was in charge of the king’s sons. ³³ Ahithophel was the king’s counselor. Hushai the Archite was the king’s companion.^{[c] 34} Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah, and by Abiathar.^[d] Joab was the commander of the king’s army.