1 Chronicles 26
Complete Jewish Bible
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.
12 These divisions of the gatekeepers, under their chief men, had duties, just as their kinsmen did, serving in the house of Adonai. 13 Great or small, they cast lots according to their clans for every gate. 14 The lot for the east gate fell to Shelemyahu. Then they cast lots for his son Z’kharyahu, a sensible adviser, and he was allotted the north gate. 15 ‘Oved-Edom was allotted the south gate and his sons the storehouse. 16 Shupim and Hosah were allotted the west gate and the Shallekhet Gate at the highway that goes up, with corresponding guards. 17 For the east there were six L’vi’im, for the north four a day, for the south four a day, for the Storehouse two and two, 18 while for the courtyard to the west there were four at the highway and two at the courtyard itself. 19 These were the divisions of the gatekeepers, consisting of descendants of the Korchim and descendants of M’rari.
20 Of the L’vi’im, Achiyah was responsible for the stores in the house of God and the stores of holy articles. 21 The sons of La‘dan, the descendants of the Gershuni belonging to La‘dan, the heads of clans belonging to La‘dan the Gershuni: Yechi’eli; 22 and the sons of Yechi’eli: Zetam and Yo’el his brother, over the stores in the house of Adonai. 23 Of the ‘Amrami, of the Yitz’hari, of the Hevroni, of the ‘Uzi’eli, 24 Sh’vu’el the descendant of Gershom, the son of Moshe, was in charge of the stores.
25 His kinsmen: from Eli‘ezer: Rechavyahu his son, Yesha‘yahu his son, Yoram his son, Zikhri his son and Shlomit his son. 26 This Shlomit and his kinsmen were in charge of all the stores of the dedicated things that David the king, the clan heads, the captains over thousands and hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated. 27 From the spoil won in wars they had dedicated these things to repair the house of Adonai. 28 Also included was all that Sh’mu’el the seer, Sha’ul the son of Kish, Avner the son of Ner and Yo’av the son of Tz’ruyah had dedicated. In short, if anyone had dedicated anything, Shlomit and his brothers were in charge of it.
29 Of the Yitz’hari: K’nanyahu and his sons were assigned to be over Isra’el in regard to outside business as officers and judges. 30 Of the Hevroni: Hashavyah and his kinsmen, 1,700 valiant men, had the oversight of Isra’el west of the Yarden in regard to all the business of Adonai and the service of the king. 31 Yeriyah was chief of the Hevroni according to their generations by clans. In the fortieth year of David’s reign the Hevroni were sought out, and there were found among them strong, brave men at Ya‘zer in Gil‘ad. 32 King David appointed 2,700 of his kinsmen, valiant men and clan leaders, as overseers over the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of the M’nashi for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.
1 Chronicles 26
EasyEnglish Bible
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.
Footnotes
- 26:1 The temple guards were Levites. Their job was to watch the gates and doors of the temple. They would open the gates and doors at the right times. And they would close them at the proper times.
- 26:32 These were the tribes that lived on the east side of the Jordan River. David organized all of this during the 40th year of his rule. That was his last year before he died.
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