1 Chronicles 26

1 To the courses of the door-keepers, pertained, —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, 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, Eliehoenai the seventh.

Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

4 And, Obed-edom, had sons, —Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Josh the third, and Sacar the fourth, and 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, Peullethai, the eighth, —for God had blessed him.

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

6 And, to Shemaiah his son, were born sons, who bare rule to their ancestral house, —for, heroes of valour, were they.

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, were Othni and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brethren were sons of valour, —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, they and their sons and their brethren, able men in strength for the service, —sixty-two, pertaining to 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, Meshelemiah, had sons, and brethren, sons of valour, eighteen.

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

10 And, Hosah of the sons 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, Zechariah the fourth, —all the sons and brethren of Hosah, were thirteen.

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

12 To these, belonged the courses of door-keepers, to the chiefs of the strong men, belonged charges, equally with their brethren, —to be in attendance in the house of Yahweh.

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 Yea they cast lots, as the small so the great, by their ancestral house, for every several 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 eastward fell to Shelemiah. And, for Zechariah his son, a discreet 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 to Hosah, westward, near the refuse-gate, in the causeway that goeth up, —one ward as well as another.

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—daily, were six, —northward—daily, four, southward—daily, four, and, for the stores, 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 the precinct—westward, four, at the causeway, two—by the precinct.

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 courses of the door-keepers, 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 And, the Levites, their brethren, were over the treasuries of the house of God, even to the treasuries of hallowed 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 ancestral chiefs belonging to Ladan the Gershonite, were 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 who were over the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.

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

23 Then came certain 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 And, Shebuel, son of Gershom, son of Moses, was chief 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 And, his brethren pertaining to Eliezer, were 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 The same Shelomoth and his brethren, were over all the treasuries of the hallowed things, which David the king and the ancestral chiefs, with the captains of thousands and hundreds and the captains of the army, had hallowed:

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 out of the battles and out of the spoil, had they hallowed [them], —to strengthen [the provision] for the house of Yahweh.

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, had hallowed, whosoever had hallowed anything, it was under the direction of Shelomoth, and his brethren.

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 for the outward business over Israel, —as officers, and as 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 brethren, sons of valour, one thousand seven hundred, had the oversight of Israel, across the Jordan westward, —for all the business of Yahweh, 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 chief, [he was] of the Hebronites by his generations, by his fathers, —in the fortieth year of the reign of David, were they sought out, and there were found among them heroes of valour, 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 brethren that were heroes of valour, were two thousand and seven hundred, ancestral chiefs, —so David the king gave them oversight, over the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manassites, in all the affairs of God, and 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.