Beginning
Groups of temple musicians
25 David and the army officers chose some Levites to serve God as musicians. They belonged to the families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. They chose these men to speak messages from God while they made music with harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is a list of the men that they chose for this work:
2 From Asaph's sons, there were: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. Asaph had authority over their work. He would speak a message from God when the king told him to do that.
3 From Jeduthun's sons, there were six musicians: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah. Their father Jeduthun had authority over their work. He spoke messages from God while he made music with a harp. He also sang to thank the Lord and to praise him.
4 From Heman's sons, there were: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. 5 All those men were sons of Heman, the king's prophet. God had promised to give Heman many children who would give him honour. God gave him 14 sons and three daughters.
6 All these musicians were under the authority of their fathers. They used cymbals, harps and lyres to make music to worship the Lord in his temple. The king had authority over Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman. 7 All those men had skills to make good music, as well as their relatives. There were 288 Levites who served the Lord as musicians. 8 They used lots to decide the right work for each musician. They chose work for everyone in the same way: the young men and the older men, the teachers and the students.
9-31 They chose 24 groups of musicians. There were 12 musicians in each group and each group had its leader. These were the names of the leaders of each group, from the first to the last that they chose:
1. Asaph's descendant Joseph, with his sons and his relatives.
2. Gedaliah, with his sons and his relatives.
3. Zaccur, with his sons and his relatives.
4. Izri, with his sons and his relatives.
5. Nethaniah, with his sons and his relatives.
6. Bukkiah, with his sons and his relatives.
7. Jesarelah, with his sons and his relatives.
8. Jeshaiah with his sons and his relatives.
9. Mattaniah with his sons and his relatives.
10. Shimei with his sons and his relatives.
11. Azarel with his sons and his relatives.
12. Hashabiah with his sons and his relatives.
13. Shubael with his sons and his relatives.
14. Mattithiah with his sons and his relatives.
15. Jeremoth with his sons and his relatives.
16. Hananiah with his sons and his relatives.
17. Joshbekashah with his sons and his relatives.
18. Hanani with his sons and his relatives.
19. Mallothi with his sons and his relatives.
20. Eliathah with his sons and his relatives.
21. Hothir with his sons and his relatives.
22. Giddalti with his sons and his relatives.
23. Mahazioth with his sons and his relatives.
24. Romamti-Ezer with his sons and his relatives.
Groups of temple guards
26 These are the groups of guards for the entrances of the temple:[a]
From Korah's descendants there was Kore's son Meshelemiah, who was a descendant of Asaph.
2 Meshelemiah's seven sons were: Zechariah (his firstborn son), then Jediael (his second son), Zebadiah (his third son), Jathniel (his fourth son), 3 Elam (his fifth son), Jehohanan (his sixth son) and Eliehoenai (his seventh son).
4 Obed-Edom's sons were: Shemaiah (his firstborn son), Jehozabad (his second son), Joah (his third son), Sachar (his fourth son), Nethanel (his fifth son), 5 Ammiel (his sixth son), Issachar (his seventh son) and Peullethai (his eighth son). God blessed Obed-Edom with those eight sons.
6-7 Obed-Edom's son Shemaiah had four sons. They were called Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad. They were leaders in their clan, because they were brave men. People respected them very much. People also respected their relatives, Elihu and Semakiah.
8 There were 62 descendants of Obed-Edom. People respected them, as well as their sons and their relatives. They could all do their work well.
9 Meshelemiah had 18 sons and relatives. People respected them as men who could work well.
10 From Merari's descendants there was Hosah. He had four sons: Shimri was his firstborn son. His father chose him to be the leader among his sons, but he was not the oldest of them. 11 Hilkiah was Hosah's second son, Tebaliah was his third son and Zechariah was his fourth son. 13 men from among Hosah's sons and relatives worked as guards for the temple.
12 Each group of guards had a leader. Like the other Levites, each group had a job to do as they served the Lord in his temple. 13 They used lots to decide which family group would be the guards for each gate of the temple. They chose the jobs for everyone in the same way, important people and ordinary people.
14 They chose Shelemiah's group to be guards for the East gate. They chose his son Zechariah's group for the North gate. Zechariah was a wise man who gave good advice. 15 They chose Obed-Edom's group to be guards at the South gate. They chose his sons to be guards for the rooms where they kept valuable things. 16 They chose Shuppim's group and Hosah's group to be guards at the West gate, as well as the Shalleketh Gate on the higher road.
They chose the times for each group of guards to work each day. 17 Six Levites watched the east side of the temple. Four men watched the north side and four men watched the south side. Two guards worked together at each room where they kept valuable things. 18 There were four guards on the road near the yard at the west side of the temple. And there were two guards in the yard.
19 That was the work of the different groups of guards who were descendants of Korah and Merari.
Other work for the Levites
20 Other Levites kept the valuable things in the temple safe. That included the money and the gifts that people had offered to God.
21 One group of these men were descendants of Ladan, who belonged to Gershon's clan. These were the leaders of those families: Jehieli, 22 and his sons, Zetham and Joel (his younger brother). They had authority for the rooms where they kept the money and other valuable things in the Lord's temple.
23 The other guards for those rooms were descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 24 Shebuel was a descendant of Moses' son Gershom. He was the leader with authority to keep the money safe. 25 His relatives were descendants of Gershom's brother Eliezer. They were: Eliezer's son Rehabiah, Rebaiah's son Jeshaiah, Jeshaiah's son Joram, Joram's son Zikri, and Zikri's son Shelomoth. 26 Shelomoth and his relatives had authority for all the holy things that people had offered as gifts to God. King David, the leaders of clans and army officers had given those things to God. 27 When the Israelites won battles, they took valuable things from their enemies. They brought some of those things to the Lord's temple to make it strong. 28 There were also gifts that Samuel the prophet, Kish's son Saul, Ner's son Abner and Zeruiah's son Joab had offered to the Lord. Shelomoth and his relatives had authority to keep safe everything that had been offered to the Lord.
29 There were also descendants of Izhar: Kenaniah and his sons did not work in the temple. Instead they served as judges and officers in different places in Israel.
30 There were descendants of Hebron: Hashabiah and his relatives served as officers on the west side of the Jordan River. There were 1,700 of those men who could work well. They had authority for the work the people did to serve the Lord and the king. 31 Jeriah was the leader among Hebron's descendants. The records of their ancestors showed that this was true. When David had been king for 40 years, people read those records carefully. They realized that there were descendants of Hebron who were living at Jazer in Gilead region, and people respected them very much. 32 There were 2,700 men from Jeriah's clan who were good leaders in their families. King David chose them to be officers with authority for the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh.[b] They had authority for all the work that people did to serve the Lord and the king.
The leaders of Israel's army
27 This is a list of the men from Israel's families who served as soldiers in the army. Some were leaders of their families. Some were officers who led 1,000 soldiers or officers who led 100 soldiers. Other men were officers who served the king in different ways. Each month of the year, a group of 24,000 men served the king as soldiers.
2 Zabdiel's son Jashobeam was the leader of the first group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the first month of each year. 3 Jashobeam was a descendant of Perez. He was leader of all the army officers for the first month.
4 Dodai was the leader of the second group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the second month. Dodai belonged to Ahoah's clan. Mikloth was the leader who helped him.
5 Benaiah was the leader of the third group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the third month. Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the priest. 6 Benaiah was the leader of the 30 great soldiers and his whole group. His son was Ammizabad.
7 Asahel was the leader of the fourth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the fourth month. Asahel was Joab's brother. His son Zebadiah was the leader of the group after him.
8 Shamhuth, from Izrah's clan, was the leader of the fifth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the fifth month.
9 Ira was the leader of the sixth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the sixth month. Ira was the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa.
10 Helez was the leader of the seventh group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the seventh month. He belonged to Pelon's clan, in the tribe of Ephraim.
11 Sibbecai was the leader of the eighth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the eighth month. Sibbecai was a descendant of Zerah, who came from Hushah.
12 Abiezer was the leader of the ninth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the ninth month. Abiezer came from Anathoth, in the tribe of Benjamin.
13 Maharai was the leader of the tenth group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the tenth month. Maharai was a descendant of Zerah, who came from Netophah.
14 Benaiah was the leader of the 11th group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the 11th month. Benaiah came from Pirathon, in the tribe of Ephraim.
15 Heldai was the leader of the 12th group of 24,000 soldiers. They worked in the 12th month. He was a descendant of Othniel, who came from Netophah.
Officers with authority over Israel's tribes
16 This is a list of the officers who had authority over Israel's tribes:
For Reuben: Zikri's son, Eliezer.
For Simeon: Maakah's son, Shephatiah.
17 For Levi: Kemuel's son, Hashabiah. Zadok had authority over the descendants of Aaron.[c]
18 For Judah: Elihu, a brother of David.
For Issachar: Michael's son, Omri.
19 For Zebulun: Obadiah's son, Ishmaiah.
For Naphtali: Azriel's son, Jerimoth.
20 For Ephraim Hoshea's son, Azaziah.
For the half tribe of Manasseh in the west: Pedaiah's son, Joel.
21 For the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Zechariah's son, Iddo.
For Benjamin: Abner's son, Jaasiel.
22 For Dan: Jeroham's son, Azarel.
Those were the officers who led the tribes of Israel.
23 The Lord had promised to make Israel a nation with as many people as there are stars in the sky. So King David did not count the men who were less than 20 years old. 24 Zeruiah's son Joab had begun to count the men. He did not finish counting them because the Lord started to punish Israel. So nobody wrote the number in the history book about King David's life.
Other officers who served the king
25 Adiel's son Azmaveth had authority over the places in the palace where the king stored his valuable things.
Uzziah's son Jonathan had authority over the places in the different regions of Israel where the king stored his things. Those places were in towns, in villages and in strong towers.
26 Kelub's son Ezri had authority over the men who worked in the king's fields.
27 Shimei from Ramah had authority over the men who worked in the king's vineyards.
Zabdi from Shepham had authority over the men who stored wine in the vineyards.
28 Baal-Hanan from Geder had authority over the trees in the low hills in the west. They were olive trees and fig trees.
Joash had authority over the places where they stored the olive oil.
29 Shitrai from Sharon had authority to take care of the king's cows that were in Sharon.
Adlai's son Shaphat had authority to take care of the king's cows that were in the valleys.
30 Obil, a descendant of Ishmael, had authority for the king's camels.
Jehdeiah from Meronoth had authority for the donkeys.
31 Jaziz, a descendant of Hagar, had authority to take care of the king's sheep and goats.
These were the officers who had authority to take care of King David's things.
32 David's uncle, Jonathan, was a wise man who gave good advice. He wrote down records.
Hakmoni's son Jehiel taught the king's sons.
33 Ahithophel was the king's advisor, and Hushai, from Arki, was also the king's friend. 34 After Ahithophel died, Benaiah's son Jehoiada became the king's advisor. After him, Abiathar became his advisor.
Joab was the captain who led the king's army.
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