The Gate Keepers

26 The Groups of the Gatekeepers: These are the gatekeepers from the Korah family. Meshelemiah {and his sons}. (Meshelemiah was Kore’s son. He was from Asaph’s family group.) ²Meshelemiah had sons. Zechariah was the oldest son. Jediael was the second son. Zebadiah was the third son. Jathniel was the fourth son. ³Elam was the fifth son. Jehohanan was the sixth son. And Eliehoenai was the seventh son. ⁴Obed Edom and his sons. Obed Edom’s oldest son was Shemaiah. Jehozabad was his second son. Joah was his third son. Sacar was his fourth son. Nethanel was his fifth son. ⁵Ammiel was his sixth son. Issachar was his seventh son. And Peullethai was his eighth son. God truly blessed Obed Edom.* ⁶Obed Edom’s son was Shemaiah. Shemaiah also had sons. Shemaiah’s sons were leaders in their father’s family because they were brave soldiers. ⁷Shemaiah’s sons were Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, Elihu, and Semakiah. Elzabad’s relatives were skilled workers. ⁸All those men were Obed Edom’s descendants.* Those men and their sons and relatives were powerful men. They were good guards. Obed Edom had 62 descendants. ⁹Meshelemiah had sons and relatives that were powerful men. In all there were 18 sons and relatives. ¹⁰These are the gatekeepers from the Merari family. There was Hosah. Shimri was chosen to be the first son. Shimri was not really the oldest, but his father chose him to be the firstborn* son. ¹¹Hilkiah was his second son. Tebaliah was his third son. And Zechariah was his fourth son. In all Hosah had 13 sons and relatives. ¹²These were the leaders of the groups of the gatekeepers. The gatekeepers had a special way to serve in the Lord’s temple,* just like their relatives did. ¹³Each family was given a gate to guard. Lots* where thrown to choose a gate for a family. Young and old were treated the same. ¹⁴Meshelemiah was chosen to guard the East Gate. Then lots* were thrown for Meshelemiah’s son Zechariah. Zechariah was a wise counselor. Zechariah was chosen for the North Gate. ¹⁵Obed Edom was chosen for the South Gate. And Obed Edom’s sons were chosen to guard the house where the valuable things were kept. ¹⁶Shuppim and Hosah were chosen for the West Gate and the Shalleketh Gate on the upper road. Guards stood side by side. ¹⁷Six Levites stood guard every day at the East Gate. Four Levites stood guard every day at the North Gate. Four Levites stood guard at the South Gate. And two Levites guarded the house where the valuable things were kept. ¹⁸There were four guards at the western court.* And there were two guards on the road to the court. ¹⁹These were the groups of the gatekeepers. Those gatekeepers were from the families of Korah and Merari.

The Treasurers and Other Officials

²⁰Ahijah was from the family group of Levi. Ahijah was responsible for taking care of the valuable things in God’s temple.* Ahijah also was responsible for the places where the holy things were kept. ²¹Ladan was from Gershon’s family. Jehieli was one of the leaders of Ladan’s family group. ²²Jehieli’s sons were Zetham and Zetham’s brother Joel. They were responsible for the valuable things in the Lord’s temple.* ²³{Other leaders were chosen} from the family groups of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁴Shubael was the leader responsible for the valuable things in the Lord’s temple.* Shubael was Gershom’s son. Gershom was Moses’ son. ²⁵These were Shubael’s relatives: His relatives from Eliezer were: Rehabiah, Eliezer’s son. Jeshaiah, Rehabiah’s son. Joram, Jeshaiah’s son. Zicri, Joram’s son. And Shelomith, Zicri’s son. ²⁶Shelomith and his relatives were responsible for all the things David had collected for the temple. The officers of the army also gave things for the temple.* ²⁷They gave some of the things taken in wars. They gave those things to be used in building the Lord’s temple. ²⁸Shelomith and his relatives also took care of all the holy things given by Samuel the seer;* Saul son of Kish; Abner son of Ner; and Joab son of Zeruiah. Shelomith and his relatives took care of all the holy things that people gave to the Lord. ²⁹Kenaniah was from the Izhar family. Kenaniah and his sons had work outside the temple. They worked as policemen and judges in different places in Israel. ³⁰Hashabiah was from the Hebron family. Hashabiah and his relatives were responsible for all the Lord’s work and for the king’s business in Israel west of the Jordan River. There were 1,700 powerful men in Hashabiah’s group. ³¹The family history of the Hebron family shows that Jeriah was their leader. When David had been king for 40 years, he ordered his people to search through the family histories for strong and skilled men. Some of those men were found among the Hebron family living in the town of Jazer in Gilead. ³²Jeriah had 2,700 relatives that were powerful men and leaders of families. King David gave those 2,700 relatives the responsibility of leading the family groups of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh in taking care of the Lord’s work and the king’s business.

Obed Edom God blessed Obed Edom when the Box of the Agreement stayed at his house. See 1 Chron. 21. descendants A person’s children and their future families. firstborn The first born child. The firstborn son was very important in ancient times. temple The special building in Jerusalem for worshiping God. lots Sticks, stones, or pieces of bone used like dice for making decisions. See Proverbs 16:33. court We do not know the exact meaning of this word. seer This is another name for a prophet. See 1 Sam. 9:9-11.

Army Groups

27 This is the list of the Israelite people that served the king in the army. Each group was on duty one month each year. There were rulers of families, captains, generals, and the policemen that served the king. Each army group had 24,000 men. ²Jashobeam was in charge of the first group for the first month. Jashobeam was Zabdiel’s son. There were 24,000 men in Jashobeam’s group. ³Jashobeam was one of Perez’s descendants.* Jashobeam was leader of all the army officers for the first month. ⁴Dodai was in charge of the army group for the second month. He was from Ahoah. There were 24,000 men in Dodai’s group. ⁵The third commander was Benaiah. Benaiah was the commander for the third month. Benaiah was Jehoiada’s son. Jehoiada was the leading priest. There were 24,000 men in Benaiah’s group. ⁶He was the same Benaiah that was a brave soldier from the Thirty Heroes. Benaiah led those men. Benaiah’s son Ammizabad was in charge of Banaiah’s group. ⁷The fourth commander was Asahel. Asahel was the commander for the fourth month. Asahel was Joab’s brother. Later, Asahel’s son Zebadiah took his place as commander. There were 24,000 men in Asahel’s group. ⁸The fifth commander was Shamhuth. Shamhuth was the commander for the fifth month. Shamhuth was from Zerah’s family. There were 24,000 men in Shamhuth’s group. ⁹The sixth commander was Ira. Ira was the commander for the sixth month. Ira was Ikkesh’s son. Ikkesh was from the town of Tekoa. There were 24,000 men in Ira’s group. ¹⁰The seventh commander was Helez. Helez was the commander for the seventh month. He was from the Pelonite people, and a descendant* of Ephraim. There were 24,000 men in Helez’ group. ¹¹The eighth commander was Sibbecai. Sibbecai was the commander for the eighth month. Sibbecai was from Hushah. Sibbecai was from Zerah’s family. There were 24,000 men in Sibbecai’s group. ¹²The ninth commander was Abiezer. Abiezer was the commander for the ninth month. Abiezer was from the town of Anathoth. Abiezer was from the family group of Benjamin. There were 24,000 men in Abiezer’s group. ¹³The tenth commander was Maharai. Maharai was the commander for the tenth month. Maharai was from Netophah. He was from Zerah’s family. There were 24,000 men in Maharai’s group. ¹⁴The eleventh commander was Benaiah. Benaiah was the commander for the eleventh month. Benaiah was from Pirathon. Benaiah was from the Ephraim family group. There were 24,000 men in Benaiah’s group. ¹⁵The twelfth commander was Heldai. Heldai was the commander for the twelfth month. Heldai was from Netophah. Heldai was from Othniel’s family. There were 24,000 men in Heldai’s group.

Leaders of the Family Groups

¹⁶The leaders of the family groups of Israel were: Reuben: Eliezer son of Zicri. Simeon: Shephatiah son of Maacah. ¹⁷Levi: Hashabiah son of Kemuel. Aaron: Zadok. ¹⁸Judah: Elihu. (Elihu was one of David’s brothers.) Issachar: Omri son of Michael. ¹⁹Zebulun: Ishmaiah son of Obadiah. Naphtali: Jeremoth son of Azriel. ²⁰Ephraim: Hoshea son of Azaziah. West Manasseh: Joel son of Pedaiah. ²¹East Manasseh: Iddo son of Zechariah. Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner. ²²Dan: Azarel son of Jeroham. Those were the leaders of the family groups of Israel.

David Counts the Israelites

²³{David decided to count the men in Israel.} There were very many people because God promised to make the people of Israel as many as the stars in the sky. So David only counted the men that were 20 years old and older. ²⁴Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the people, but he did not finish.* God became angry with the people of Israel. That is why the number of the people was not put in the book The History of King David.

The King’s Administrators

²⁵This is the list of men that were responsible for the king’s property: Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the king’s storerooms. Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the storerooms in the small towns, villages, fields, and towers. ²⁶Ezri son of Kelub was in charge of the field workers. ²⁷Shimei from Ramah was in charge of the fields of grapes. Zabdi from Shepham was in charge of the storage and care of the wine that came from the fields of grapes. ²⁸Baal Hanan from Geder was in charge of the olive trees and sycamore trees in the western hill country. Joash was in charge of storing the olive oil. ²⁹Shitrai from Sharon was in charge of the cattle around Sharon. Shaphat son of Adlai was in charge of the cattle in the valleys. ³⁰Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels. Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys. ³¹Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the sheep. All these men were the leaders that took care of King David’s property. ³²Jonathan was a wise counselor and a scribe.* Jonathan was David’s uncle. Jehiel son of Hacmoni took care of the king’s sons. ³³Ahithophel was the king’s counselor. Hushai was the king’s friend. Hushai was from the Arkite people. ³⁴Jehoiada and Abiathar later took Ahithophel’s place as the king’s counselor. Jehoiada was Benaiah’s son. Joab was the commander of the king’s army.

descendant(s) A person’s children and their future families. Joab ... did not finish God stopped him. See 1 Chron. 21:1-30. scribe A man that wrote down and copied books and letters. He often become an expert at the meaning of those writings (scriptures).