1 Chronicles 26

1 For the divisions of the gatekeepers, of the Korahites: Meshelemiah 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 and sons of Meshelemiah: 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, Elioenai the seventh.

Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

4 And moreover, sons of Obed-Edom: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethaneel 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, Peullethai the eighth, for God has blessed him.

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

6 And sons have been born to his son Shemaiah, who are ruling throughout the house of their father, for they [are] mighty men of valor.

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 Sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, [and] Elzabad; his brothers Elihu and Semachiah [are] sons of valor.

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

8 All these [are] of the sons of Obed-Edom; they, and their sons, and their brothers, men of valor with might for 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 And sons and brothers of Meshelemiah, sons of valor—eighteen;

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

10 and of Hosah, of the sons of Merari, [are these] sons: Shimri the head (though he was not firstborn, yet his father sets him for head),

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, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and brothers of Hosah—thirteen.

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

12 For these [are] the divisions of the gatekeepers, of the heads of the mighty ones, [with] charges just as their brothers, to minister in the house of YHWH,

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 and they cause lots to fall, the small as well as the great, according to the house of their fathers, 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 And the lot falls eastward to Shelemiah; and [for] his son Zechariah, a counselor with understanding, they cause lots to fall, and his lot goes 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 house of the gatherings;

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 to Hosah to the west, with Shallecheth Gate, in the highway, the ascent, watch next to watch;

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 to the east [are] six Levites, to the north [are] four each day, to the south [are] four each day, and for the gatherings, two by 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 at Parbar, to the west, [are] four at the highway, 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 are the divisions of the gatekeepers, of the sons of the Korahite, 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 And of the Levites, Ahijah [is] over the treasures of the house of God, even for the treasures of the holy 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 Sons of Laadan, sons of the Gershonite, of Laadan, heads of the fathers of Laadan 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 Sons of Jehieli: Zetham and his brother Joel, over the treasures of the house of YHWH.

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

23 Of the Amramite, of the Izharite, of the Hebronite, of [the] Uzzielite—

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

24 and Shebuel son of Gershom, son of Moses, [is] president over the treasures.

[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 And his brothers, of Eliezer: Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith 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 Shelomith and his brothers [are] over all the treasures of the holy things that David the king, and heads of the fathers, even heads of thousands, and of hundreds, and heads of the host, sanctified;

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 from the battles and from the spoil, they sanctified to strengthen the house of YHWH;

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 and all that Samuel the seer, and Saul son of Kish, and Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah sanctified, everyone sanctifying [anything—it is] by the side of Shelomith and 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 Izharite, Chenaniah and his sons [are] for the outward work over Israel, for officers and for 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 Hebronite, Hashabiah and his brothers, one thousand and seven hundred sons of valor, [are] over the inspection of Israel, beyond the Jordan westward, for all the work of YHWH, 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 Hebronite, Jerijah [is] the head of the Hebronite, according to the generations of his fathers. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they have been sought out, and there are found among them mighty men of valor, in 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 and his brothers, two thousand and seven hundred sons of valor, [are] heads of the fathers, and King David appoints them over the Reubenite, and the Gadite, and the half of the tribe of the Manassite, for every matter of God and matter 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.