1 Chronicles 26

1 For the divisions of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.

This is a list of the groups of men who guarded the temple gates: From the descendants of Korah, there was Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, who was one of the sons of Asaph.

2 Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,

The oldest son of Meshelemiah was Zechariah. His other sons were Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel,

3 Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, and Eliehoenai the seventh.

Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

4 Obed-Edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,

[Another guard] was Obed-Edom. His oldest son was Shemaiah. His other sons were Jehozabad, Joah, Sacar, Nethanel,

5 Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him.

Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai. It was because God had blessed him that he had many sons.

6 Sons were also born to Shemaiah his son, who ruled over the house of their father; for they were mighty men of valour.

Obed-Edom’s son Shemaiah also had sons. They were leaders in their father’s family because they were capable of doing many things well.

7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose relatives were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah.

The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad. Shemaiah’s relatives Elihu and Semakiah were also capable men.

8 All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom with their sons and their brothers, able men in strength for the service: sixty-two of Obed-Edom.

All of those descendants of Obed-Edom and their sons and relatives were capable people and strong workers. Altogether there were 62 of them.

9 Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, eighteen valiant men.

Another guard was Meshelemiah. He and his sons and relatives were also capable people. There were 18 of them altogether.

10 Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief),

Another guard was Hosah’s son Shimri, a descendant of Merari. Hosah appointed Shimri to be the leader, even though he was not Hosah’s oldest son.

11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, and Zechariah the fourth. All the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

Hosah’s other sons were Hilkiah, Tabaliah, and Zechariah. Altogether there were 13 sons and relatives of Hosah.

12 Of these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having offices like their brothers, to minister in the LORD’s house.

Those men were leaders of the groups of men who guarded the gates of the temple. They worked at the temple like their relatives did.

13 They cast lots, the small as well as the great, according to their fathers’ houses, for every gate.

By casting lots, the leader of each family chose one gate for their group to guard. [All of them, including] young men and old men (OR, including leaders of large families and small families), cast lots.

14 The lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a wise counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward.

Shelemiah’s group was selected to guard the East Gate. The group of Shelemiah’s son Zechariah, who was a wise counselor, was selected to guard the North Gate.

15 To Obed-Edom southward; and to his sons the storehouse.

Then Obed-Edom’s group was selected to guard the South Gate, and his sons were selected to guard the [entrances to the temple] storerooms.

16 To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the gate of Shallecheth, at the causeway that goes up, watchman opposite watchman.

Then Shuppim’s group and Hosah’s group were selected to guard the West Gate and the Shalleketh Gate on the upper road [to the temple]. The work for the guards was divided evenly.

17 Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and for the storehouse two and two.

Each day there were six descendants of Levi who guarded the East Gate, four who guarded the North Gate, four who guarded the South Gate, and two at a time who guarded the entrances to the storerooms.

18 For Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar.

At the West gate there were two men who guarded the courtyard and four who guarded the road outside the courtyard.

19 These were the divisions of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.

Those were the groups of men who were descendants of Korah and Merari who guarded the gates [of the temple].

20 Of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of God’s house and over the treasures of the dedicated things.

Other descendants of Levi were in charge of the chests that contained the money that was dedicated to Yahweh, money that the people brought to the temple.

21 The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers’ households belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.

[One of those men was] Ladan, a descendant of Gershon. He was the ancestor of several family groups. Jehiel was the leader of one of those family groups.

22 The sons of Jehieli: Zetham, and Joel his brother, over the treasures of the LORD’s house.

Others who had that work were Zetham and his [younger] brother Joel, who were the sons of Jehiel.

23 Of the Amramites, of the Izharites, of the Hebronites, of the Uzzielites:

Others who did that work were descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

24 Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler over the treasuries.

[From the descendants of Amram], Shubael, a descendant of Moses’s son Gershom, was the leader who was in charge of the money chests.

25 His brothers: of Eliezer, Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son.

[Others who did that work were] the descendants of [Gershom’s younger brother] Eliezer. Those men were Eliezer’s son Rehabiah, Rehabiah’s son Jeshaiah, Jeshaiah’s son Joram, Joram’s son Zicri, and Zicri’s son Shelomith.

26 This Shelomoth and his brothers were over all the treasuries of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers’ households, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army, had dedicated.

Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the valuable things that had been dedicated [to Yahweh] by King David, by the leaders of the family groups, by the army commanders of 1,000 soldiers and commanders of 100 soldiers, and by other army commanders.

27 They dedicated some of the plunder won in battles to repair the LORD’s house.

Some of the things that those army officers had taken [from Israel’s enemies] in battles they dedicated for the repair of the temple of Yahweh.

28 All that Samuel the seer, Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated, whoever had dedicated anything, it was under the hand of Shelomoth and of his brothers.

And Shelomith and his relatives were also in charge of everything that had been dedicated [to Yahweh] by the prophet Samuel, by King Saul, and by [David’s two army commanders] Ner and Joab.

29 Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were appointed to the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.

From the descendants of Izhar, Kenaniah and his sons were given work outside [the temple area]. They were officials and judges in [various places] in Israel.

30 Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, one thousand and seven hundred men of valour, had the oversight of Israel beyond the Jordan westward, for all the business of the LORD and for the service of the king.

From the descendants of Hebron, Hashabiah and his relatives were responsible for the work done for Yahweh and for the king in all the area west of the Jordan [river]. There were 1,700 of them who were able to do their work well.

31 Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was the chief of the Hebronites, according to their generations by fathers’ households. They were sought for in the fortieth year of the reign of David, and mighty men of valour were found amongst them at Jazer of Gilead.

It was written in the records of the descendants of Hebron that Jeriah was their leader. When David had been ruling for almost 40 years, they searched in those records, and they found [names of] capable men descended from Hebron who were at Jazer [city] in the Gilead [region].

32 His relatives, men of valour, were two thousand and seven hundred, heads of fathers’ households, whom King David made overseers over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites, for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.

Jeriah had 2,700 relatives who were able to do their work well, and who were leaders of their families. King David put them in charge of governing the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and [the eastern] half of the tribe of Manasseh, to be sure that all the people did what God and the king told them to do.