The Daily Audio Bible

¹² These were the leaders of the groups of gatekeepers, and they served in the Temple of the Lord. Their relatives also worked in the Temple. ¹³ By throwing lots, each family chose a gate to guard. Young and old threw lots.

¹⁴ Meshelemiah was chosen by lot to guard the East Gate. Then lots were thrown for Meshelemiah’s son Zechariah. He was a wise counselor and was chosen for the North Gate. ¹⁵ Obed-Edom was chosen for the South Gate, and Obed-Edom’s sons were chosen to guard the storehouse. ¹⁶ Shuppim and Hosah were chosen for the West Gate and the Shalleketh Gate on the upper road.

Guards stood side by side with guards. ¹⁷ Six Levites stood guard every day at the East Gate; four Levites stood guard every day at the North Gate; four Levites stood guard every day at the South Gate; and two Levites at a time guarded the storehouse. ¹⁸ There were two guards at the western court and four guards on the road to the court.

¹⁹ These were the groups of the gatekeepers from the families of Korah and Merari.

Other Leaders

²⁰ Other Levites were responsible for guarding the treasuries of the Temple of God and for the places where the holy items were kept.

²¹ Ladan was Gershon’s son and the ancestor of several family groups. Jehiel was a leader of one of the family groups. ²² His sons were Zetham and Joel his brother, and they were responsible for the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord.

²³ Other leaders were chosen from the family groups of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁴ Shubael, the descendant of Gershom, who was Moses’ son, was the leader responsible for the treasuries. ²⁵ These were Shubael’s relatives from Eliezer: Eliezer’s son Rehabiah, Rehabiah’s son Jeshaiah, Jeshaiah’s son Joram, Joram’s son Zicri, and Zicri’s son Shelomith. ²⁶ Shelomith and his relatives were responsible for everything that had been collected for the Temple by King David, by the heads of families, by the commanders of a thousand men and of a hundred men, and by other army commanders. ²⁷ They also gave some of the things they had taken in wars to be used in repairing the Temple of the Lord. ²⁸ Shelomith and his relatives took care of all the holy items. Some had been given by Samuel the seer, Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah.

²⁹ Kenaniah was from the Izhar family. He and his sons worked outside the Temple as officers and judges in different places in Israel.

³⁰ Hashabiah was from the Hebron family. He and his relatives were responsible for the Lord’s work and the king’s business in Israel west of the Jordan River. There were seventeen hundred skilled men in Hashabiah’s group. ³¹ The history of the Hebron family shows that Jeriah was their leader. In David’s fortieth year as king, the records were searched, and some capable men of the Hebron family were found living at Jazer in Gilead. ³² Jeriah had twenty-seven hundred relatives who were skilled men and leaders of families. King David gave them the responsibility of directing the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh in God’s work and the king’s business.

Army Divisions

27 This is the list of the Israelites who served the king in the army. Each division was on duty one month each year. There were leaders of families, commanders of a hundred men, commanders of a thousand men, and other officers. Each division had twenty-four thousand men.

² Jashobeam son of Zabdiel was in charge of the first division for the first month. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division. ³ Jashobeam, one of the descendants of Perez, was leader of all the army officers for the first month.

⁴ Dodai, from the Ahohites, was in charge of the division for the second month. Mikloth was a leader in the division. There were twenty-four thousand men in Dodai’s division.

⁵ The third commander, for the third month, was Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division. ⁶ He was the Benaiah who was one of the Thirty^[a] soldiers. Benaiah was a brave warrior who led those men. Benaiah’s son Ammizabad was in charge of Benaiah’s division.

⁷ The fourth commander, for the fourth month, was Asahel, the brother of Joab. Later, Asahel’s son Zebadiah took his place as commander. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

⁸ The fifth commander, for the fifth month, was Shamhuth, from Izrah’s family. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

⁹ The sixth commander, for the sixth month, was Ira son of Ikkesh from the town of Tekoa. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁰ The seventh commander, for the seventh month, was Helez. He was from the Pelonites and a descendant of Ephraim. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹¹ The eighth commander, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai. He was from Hushah and was from Zerah’s family. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹² The ninth commander, for the ninth month, was Abiezer. He was from Anathoth in Benjamin. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹³ The tenth commander, for the tenth month, was Maharai. He was from Netophah and was from Zerah’s family. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁴ The eleventh commander, for the eleventh month, was Benaiah. He was from Pirathon in Ephraim. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

¹⁵ The twelfth commander, for the twelfth month, was Heldai. He was from Netophah and was from Othniel’s family. There were twenty-four thousand men in his division.

Leaders of the Tribes

¹⁶ These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel. Eliezer son of Zicri was over the tribe of Reuben. Shephatiah son of Maacah was over the tribe of Simeon. ¹⁷ Hashabiah son of Kemuel was over the tribe of Levi. Zadok was over the people of Aaron. ¹⁸ Elihu, one of David’s brothers, was over the tribe of Judah. Omri son of Michael was over the tribe of Issachar. ¹⁹ Ishmaiah son of Obadiah was over the tribe of Zebulun. Jerimoth son of Azriel was over the tribe of Naphtali. ²⁰ Hoshea son of Azaziah was over the tribe of Ephraim. Joel son of Pedaiah was over West Manasseh. ²¹ Iddo son of Zechariah was over East Manasseh. Jaasiel son of Abner was over the tribe of Benjamin. ²² Azarel son of Jeroham was over the tribe of Dan.

These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.

²³ The Lord had promised to make the Israelites as many as the stars in the sky. So David only counted the men who were twenty years old and older. ²⁴ Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the people, but he did not finish. God became angry with Israel for counting the people, so the number of the people was not put in the history book about King David’s rule.

The King’s Directors

²⁵ Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the royal storehouses.

Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the storehouses in the country, towns, villages, and towers.

²⁶ Ezri son of Kelub was in charge of the field workers who farmed the land.

²⁷ Shimei, from the town of Ramah, was in charge of the vineyards.

Zabdi, from Shapham, was in charge of storing the wine that came from the vineyards.

²⁸ Baal-Hanan, from Geder, was in charge of the olive trees and sycamore trees in the western hills.

Joash was in charge of storing the olive oil.

²⁹ Shitrai, from Sharon, was in charge of the herds that fed in the Plain of Sharon.

Shaphat son of Adlai was in charge of the herds in the valleys.

³⁰ Obil, an Ishmaelite, was in charge of the camels.

Jehdeiah, from Meronoth, was in charge of the donkeys.

³¹ Jaziz, from the Hagrites, was in charge of the flocks.

All these men were the officers who took care of King David’s property.

³² Jonathan was David’s uncle, and he advised David. Jonathan was a wise man and a teacher of the law. Jehiel son of Hacmoni took care of the king’s sons. ³³ Ahithophel advised the king. Hushai, from the Arkite people, was the king’s friend. ³⁴ Jehoiada and Abiathar later took Ahithophel’s place in advising the king. Jehoiada was Benaiah’s son. Joab was the commander of the king’s army.

God Keeps His Promise

¹³ Abraham^[a] and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. He did not receive that promise through the law, but through being right with God by his faith. ¹⁴ If people could receive what God promised by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law can only bring God’s anger. But if there is no law, there is nothing to disobey.

¹⁶ So people receive God’s promise by having faith. This happens so the promise can be a free gift. Then all of Abraham’s children can have that promise. It is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham, who is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written in the Scriptures: “I am making you a father of many nations.”^[b] This is true before God, the God Abraham believed, the God who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing.

¹⁸ There was no hope that Abraham would have children. But Abraham believed God and continued hoping, and so he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “Your descendants also will be too many to count.”^{[c] 19} Abraham was almost a hundred years old, much past the age for having children, and Sarah could not have children. Abraham thought about all this, but his faith in God did not become weak. ²⁰ He never doubted that God would keep his promise, and he never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God. ²¹ Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² So, “God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”^{[d] 23} Those words (“God accepted Abraham’s faith”) were written not only for Abraham ²⁴ but also for us. God will accept us also because we believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ Jesus was given to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

Right with God

5 Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have^[e] peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² who through our faith^[f] has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. ³ We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. ⁴ And patience produces character, and character produces hope. ⁵ And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.

The Unbelieving Fool

For the director of music. Of David.