The Groups of the Priests

24 These were the groups of Aaron’s sons: Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did. And Nadab and Abihu had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. ³David separated the family groups of Eleazar and Ithamar into two different groups. David did that so those groups could do the duties of work they were given to do. David did this with the help of Zadok and Ahimelech. Zadok was a descendant* of Eleazar, and Ahimelech was a descendant of Ithamar. ⁴There were more leaders from Eleazar’s family than from Ithamar’s. There were 16 leaders from Eleazar’s family and there were eight leaders from Ithamar’s family. ⁵Men were chosen from each family. They were chosen by throwing lots.* Some of the men were chosen to be in charge of the Holy Place.* And other men were chosen to serve as priests. All of these men were from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶Shemaiah was the secretary.* He was Nethanel’s son. Shemaiah was from the family group of Levi. Shemaiah wrote the names of those descendants.* He wrote those names in front of King David and these leaders: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech, and the leaders from the families of the priests and of the Levites. Ahimelech was Abiathar’s son. Each time they threw the lots* a man was chosen, and Shemaiah wrote down that man’s name. So they divided the work among the men from families of Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁷The first group was Jehoiarib’s group. The second group was Jedaiah’s group. ⁸The third group was Harim’s group. The fourth group was Seorim’s group. ⁹The fifth group was Malkijah’s group. The sixth group was Mijamin’s group. ¹⁰The seventh group was Hakkoz’s group. The eighth group was Abijah’s group. ¹¹The ninth group was Jeshua’s group. The tenth group was Shecaniah’s group. ¹²The eleventh group was Eliashib’s group. The twelfth group was Jakim’s group. ¹³The thirteenth group was Huppah’s group. The fourteenth group was Jeshebeab’s group. ¹⁴The fifteenth group was Bilgah’s group. The sixteenth group was Immer’s group. ¹⁵The seventeenth group was Hezir’s group. The eighteenth group was Happizzez’s group. ¹⁶The nineteenth group was Pethahiah’s group. The twentieth group was Jehezkel’s group. ¹⁷The twenty-first group was Jakin’s group. The twenty-second group was Gamul’s group. ¹⁸The twenty-third group was Delaiah’s group. The twenty-fourth group was Maaziah’s group. ¹⁹These were the groups chosen to serve in the Lord’s temple.* They obeyed Aaron’s rules for serving in the temple. The Lord God of Israel had given those rules to Aaron.

The Other Levites

²⁰These are the names of the rest of Levi’s descendants: From Amram’s descendants: Shubael. From Shubael’s descendants: Jehdeiah. ²¹From Rehabiah: Isshiah. (Isshiah was the oldest son.) ²²From Izhar family group: Shelomoth. From Shelomoth’s family: Jahath. ²³Hebron’s oldest son was Jeriah. Amariah was Hebron’s second son. Jahaziel was his third son, and Jekameam was his fourth son. ²⁴Uzziel’s son was Micah. Micah’s son was Shamir. ²⁵Isshiah was Micah’s brother. Isshiah’s son was Zechariah. ²⁶Merari’s* descendants were Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah his son. ²⁷Jaaziah son of Merari had sons named Shoham and Zaccur. ²⁸Mahli’s son was Eleazar. But Eleazar did not have sons. ²⁹Kish’s son was Jerahmeel. ³⁰Mushi’s sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. Those are the leaders of Levite families. They are listed by their families. ³¹They {were chosen for special jobs}. They threw lots* like their relatives, the priests. The priests were Aaron’s descendants.* They threw lots in front of David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the leaders of the priests’ and Levite families. The older families and the younger families were treated the same when their jobs were chosen.

descendant(s) A person’s children and all their future families. lots Sticks, stones, or pieces of bone used like dice for making decisions. See Proverbs 16:33. Holy Place The room in the Holy Tent and in the temple that was used by the priests to do their daily service to God. secretary A man that wrote down and copied books and letters. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. Merari The Hebrew in verses 26 and 27 is hard to understand.

The Music Groups

25 David and the leaders of the army separated Asaph’s sons for special service. Asaph’s sons were Heman and Jeduthun. Their special service was to prophesy* God’s message by using harps,* lyres,* and cymbals.* Here is a list of the men that served this way: ²From Asaph’s family: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. King David chose Asaph to prophesy.* And Asaph led his sons. ³From Jeduthun’s family: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. There were six of them. Jeduthun led his sons. Jeduthun used harps* to prophesy* and give thanks and praise to the Lord. ⁴Heman’s sons that served were Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵All these men were Heman’s sons. Heman was David’s seer.* God promised to make Heman strong. So Heman had many sons. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶Heman led all his sons in singing in the Lord’s temple.* Those sons used cymbals,* lyres,* and harps.* That was their way of serving in God’s temple. King David chose those men. ⁷Those men and their relatives from the family group of Levi were trained to sing. There were 288 men that learned to sing praises to the Lord. ⁸They threw lots* to choose the different kinds of work each person was to do. Every person was treated the same. Young and old were treated the same. And the teacher was treated the same as the student. ⁹First, there were 12 men chosen from Asaph’s (Joseph’s) {sons and relatives}. Second, there were 12 men chosen from Gedaliah’s sons and relatives. ¹⁰Third, there were 12 men chosen from Zaccur’s sons and relatives. ¹¹Fourth, there were 12 men chosen from Izri’s sons and relatives. ¹²Fifth, there were 12 men chosen from Nethaniah’s sons and relatives. ¹³Sixth, there were 12 men chosen from Bukkiah’s sons and relatives. ¹⁴Seventh, there were 12 men chosen from Asarelah’s sons and relatives. ¹⁵Eighth, there were 12 men chosen from Jeshaiah’s sons and relatives. ¹⁶Ninth, there were 12 men chosen from Mattaniah’s sons and relatives. ¹⁷Tenth, there were 12 men chosen from Shimei’s sons and relatives. ¹⁸Eleventh, there were 12 men chosen from Azarel’s sons and relatives. ¹⁹Twelfth, there were 12 men chosen from Hashabiah’s sons and relatives. ²⁰Thirteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Shubael’s sons and relatives. ²¹Fourteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Mattithiah’s sons and relatives. ²²Fifteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Jeremoth’s sons and relatives. ²³Sixteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Hananiah’s sons and relatives. ²⁴Seventeenth, there were 12 men chosen from Joshbakashah’s sons and relatives. ²⁵Eighteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Hanani’s sons and relatives. ²⁶Nineteenth, there were 12 men chosen from Mallothi’s sons and relatives. ²⁷Twentieth, there were 12 men chosen from Eliathah’s sons and relatives. ²⁸Twenty-first, there were 12 men chosen from Hothir’s sons and relatives. ²⁹Twenty-second, there were 12 men chosen from Giddalti’s sons and relatives. ³⁰Twenty-third, there were 12 men chosen from Mahazioth’s sons and relatives. ³¹Twenty-fourth, there were 12 men chosen from Romamti Ezer’s sons and relatives.

prophesy To speak God’s message. harps Musical instruments with several strings. lyres An instrument with several strings, like a harp. cymbals A pair of metal platters that are hit against each other to make a loud sound. prophesy To announce God’s message. seer This is another name for a prophet. See 1 Sam. 9:9-11. temple Here this means the Holy Tent at Shiloh where people went to worship the Lord. lots Sticks, stones, or pieces of bone used like dice for making decisions. See Proverbs 16:33.