The Daily Audio Bible

24 The divisions of the descendants of Aharon were as follows:

The sons of Aharon: Nadav, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. ² But Nadav and Avihu died before their father and had no children; therefore El‘azar and Itamar functioned as the cohanim. ³ David, together with Tzadok from the descendants of El‘azar, and Achimelekh from the descendants of Itamar, arranged them in divisions for service. ⁴ There were more men who were chiefs found among the descendants of El‘azar than among the descendants of Itamar; therefore there were sixteen divisions of the descendants of El‘azar, headed by clan leaders, and eight divisions of the descendants of Itamar, according to their clans. ⁵ They were assigned [periods of service] by lot, the one group equally with the other, since both the descendants of El‘azar and the descendants of Itamar had officers of the sanctuary and officers of God. ⁶ Sh’ma‘yah the son of N’tan’el the secretary, one of the L’vi’im, recorded them in the presence of the king, the officers, Tzadok the cohen, Achimelekh the son of Evyatar, and the clan leaders of the cohanim and of the L’vi’im — with two clan divisions taken from El‘azar for each one from Itamar.

¹⁹ These are the divisions and the sequence in which they served in the house of Adonai, in accordance with the rule they were given through Aharon their ancestor, as Adonai the God of Isra’el had ordered him.

²⁰ The rest of the descendants of Levi: of the descendants of ‘Amram, Shuva’el; of the descendants of Shuva’el, Yechd’yah. ²¹ Of Rechavyahu: of the descendants of Rechavyahu, Yishiyah the chief. ²² Of the Yitz’hari, Shlomot; of the descendants of Shlomot, Yachat. ²³ Of the sons [of Hevron]: Yeriyahu, Amaryahu second, Yachzi’el third and Y’kam‘am fourth. ²⁴ The descendants of ‘Uzi’el: Mikhah; of the descendants of Mikhah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Mikhah: Yishiyah; of the descendants of Yishiyah, Z’kharyahu.

²⁶ The sons of M’rari: Machli and Mushi. The descendants of his son Ya‘aziyahu, ²⁷ that is, the descendants of M’rari through his descendant Ya‘aziyahu: Shoham, Zakur and ‘Ivri. ²⁸ Of Machli: El‘azar, who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish: the descendants of Kish, Yerachme’el. ³⁰ And the sons of Mushi: Machli, ‘Eder and Yerimot.

These were the descendants of the L’vi’im according to their clans. ³¹ These likewise cast lots, as had their kinsmen the descendants of Aharon, in the presence of David the king, Tzadok, Achimelekh, and the clan leaders of the cohanim and of the L’vi’im; with the senior and junior clans casting lots equally.

25 For the service, David and the army commanders selected some of the descendants of Asaf, of Heman and of Y’dutun to prophesy with lyres, lutes and cymbals. The list of those doing this work, according to the type of work performed was:

² Of the descendants of Asaf: Zakur, Yosef, N’tanyah and Asar’elah; the sons of Asaf were with Asaf, who prophesied according to the direction of the king. ³ Of Y’dutun, the descendants of Y’dutun: G’dalyahu, Tzeri, Yesha‘yahu, Hashavyahu, Mattityahu — six, with their father Y’dutun, who, accompanied by the lyre, prophesied thanks and praise to Adonai. ⁴ Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukiyahu, Mattanyahu, ‘Uzi’el, Sh’vu’el, Yerimot, Hananyah, Hanani, Eli’atah, Gidalti, Romamti-‘ezer, Yoshb’kashah, Maloti, Hotir and Machzi’ot; ⁵ all these sons of Heman, the king’s seer in matters pertaining to God, were there to exalt [God]. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ They were all with their fathers Asaf, Y’dutun and Heman to sing with cymbals, lutes and lyres in the house of Adonai, serving in the house of God under the direction of the king. ⁷ Their number, together with their kinsmen who had been instructed in singing to Adonai, was 288, all well trained. ⁸ Whether great or small, teacher or talmid, they cast lots for their term of duty.

26 The divisions of the gatekeepers:

Of the Korchim: Meshelemyahu the son of Kore, of the descendants of Asaf. ² Meshelemyahu had sons: Z’kharyahu the firstborn, Y’dia‘el the second, Z’vadyahu the third, Yatni’el the fourth, ³ ‘Eilam the fifth, Y’hochanan the sixth and Ely’ho‘einai the seventh.

⁴ ‘Oved-Edom had sons: Sh’ma‘yah the firstborn, Y’hozavad the second son,

Yo’ach the third, Sakhar the fourth, N’tan’el the fifth, ⁵ ‘Ammi’el the sixth, Yissakhar the seventh, and Pe‘ultai the eighth; for God blessed him. ⁶ To his son Sh’ma‘yah were born sons who ruled over their father’s clan, because they were strong, brave men. ⁷ The sons of Sh’ma‘yah: ‘Otni, Refa’el and his brothers ‘Oved and Elzavad, valiant men; also Elihu and S’makhyahu. ⁸ These were all from the sons of ‘Oved-Edom, they and their sons and brothers, men of ability and strength for service, sixty-two from ‘Oved-Edom.

⁹ Meshelemyahu had sons and brothers, valiant men, eighteen. ¹⁰ Hosah, from the descendants of M’rari, had sons: Shimri the chief, for although he was not the firstborn, nevertheless his father made him the chief; ¹¹ Hilkiyahu the second, T’valyahu the third and Z’kharyahu the fourth; all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

4 Then what should we say Avraham, our forefather, obtained by his own efforts? ² For if Avraham came to be considered righteous by God because of legalistic observances, then he has something to boast about. But this is not how it is before God! ³ For what does the Tanakh say? “Avraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.”^{[a] 4} Now the account of someone who is working is credited not on the ground of grace but on the ground of what is owed him. ⁵ However, in the case of one who is not working but rather is trusting in him who makes ungodly people righteous, his trust is credited to him as righteousness.

⁶ In the same way, the blessing which David pronounces is on those whom God credits with righteousness apart from legalistic observances:

⁹ Now is this blessing for the circumcised only? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say that Avraham’s trust was credited to his account as righteousness; ¹⁰ but what state was he in when it was so credited — circumcision or uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision! ¹¹ In fact, he received circumcision as a sign, as a seal of the righteousness he had been credited with on the ground of the trust he had while he was still uncircumcised. This happened so that he could be the father of every uncircumcised person who trusts and thus has righteousness credited to him, ¹² and at the same time be the father of every circumcised person who not only has had a b’rit-milah, but also follows in the footsteps of the trust which Avraham avinu had when he was still uncircumcised.