The Temple Guards Are Assigned Their Duties
1 The temple guards were also divided into groups according to clans.
Meshelemiah son of Kore was from the Korah clan and was a descendant of Asaph. 2 He had seven sons, who were born in the following order: Zechariah, Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel, 3 Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.
4-5 Obed-Edom had been blessed with eight sons: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.
6-7 Shemaiah was the father of Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, Elihu, and Semachiah. They were all respected leaders in their clan. 8 There were 62 descendants of Obed-Edom who were strong enough to be guards at the temple.
9 Eighteen descendants of Meshelemiah were chosen for this work.
10-11 Hosah, from the Merari clan, was the father of Shimri, Hilkiah, Tebaliah, and Zechariah. Hosah had made Shimri the family leader, even though he was not the oldest son. Thirteen men from Hosah's family were chosen to be temple guards.
12 The guards were divided into groups, according to their family leaders, and they were assigned duties at the temple, just like the other Levites. 13 Each group, no matter how large or small, was assigned a gate to guard, and they let the Lord show them what he wanted done.
14 Shelemiah was chosen to guard the East Gate. Zechariah his son was a wise man and was chosen to guard the North Gate. 15 Obed-Edom was then chosen to guard the South Gate, and his sons were chosen to guard the storerooms. 16 Shuppim and Hosah were chosen to guard the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road.
The guards were assigned the following work schedule: 17 Each day six guards were on duty on the east side of the temple, four were on duty on the north side, and four were on duty on the south side. Two guards were stationed at each of the two storerooms, 18 four were stationed along the road leading to the west courtyard, and two guards stayed in the court itself.
19 These were the guard duties assigned to the men from the clans of Korah and Merari.
Guards Are Assigned to the Treasury
20 The Levites who were relatives of the Korahites and the Merarites were in charge of guarding the temple treasury and the gifts that had been dedicated to God.
21 Ladan was from the Gershon clan and was the father of Jehieli. Many of his other descendants were family leaders in the clan. 22 Jehieli was the father of Zetham and Joel, and they were responsible for guarding the treasury.
23 Other guards at the treasury were from the Kohathite clans of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
24 Shebuel was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses. He was the chief official in charge of the temple treasury. 25 The descendants of Gershom's brother Eliezer included Rehabiah, Jeshaiah, Joram, Zichri, and Shelomoth.
26 Shelomoth and his relatives were in charge of all the gifts that were dedicated to the Lord. These included the gifts that King David had dedicated, as well as those dedicated by the family leaders, army officers, and army commanders. 27 And whenever valuable things were captured in battle, these men brought back some of them to make repairs to the temple. 28 Shelomoth and his relatives were responsible for any gifts that had been given to the temple, including those from Samuel the prophet, King Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah.
Other Officers Are Assigned Their Duties
29 Chenaniah from the Izhar clan and his sons were government officials and judges. They did not work at the temple.
30 Hashabiah from the Hebron clan and 1,700 of his skilled relatives were the officials in charge of all religious and government business in the Israelite territories west of the Jordan River.
31-32 Jerijah was the leader of the Hebron clan. David assigned him and 2,700 of his relatives, who were all respected family leaders, to be the officials in charge of all religious and government business in the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. David found out about these men during the fortieth year of his rule, when he had a list made of all the families in the Hebron clan. They were from the town of Jazer in the territory of Gilead.
The Temple Guards
1 These are the assignments of work for the Levites who served as Temple guards. From the clan of Korah there was Meshelemiah son of Kore, of the family of Asaph. 2 He had seven sons, listed in order of age: Zechariah, Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel, 3 Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.
4 There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, 5 Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.
6-7 Obed Edom's oldest son, Shemaiah, had six sons: Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, Elihu, and Semachiah. They were important men in their clan because of their great ability; the last two were especially talented.
8 Obed Edom's family furnished a total of sixty-two highly qualified men for this work.
9 Meshelemiah's family furnished eighteen qualified men.
10 From the clan of Merari there was Hosah, who had four sons: Shimri (his father made him the leader, even though he was not the oldest son), 11 Hilkiah, Tebaliah, and Zechariah. In all there were thirteen members of Hosah's family who were Temple guards.
12 The Temple guards were divided into groups, according to families, and they were assigned duties in the Temple, just as the other Levites were. 13 Each family, regardless of size, drew lots to see which gate it would be responsible for. 14 Shelemiah drew the east gate, and his son Zechariah, a man who always gave good advice, drew the north gate. 15 Obed Edom was allotted the south gate, and his sons were allotted to guard the storerooms. 16 Shuppim and Hosah were allotted the west gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road. Guard duty was divided into assigned periods, one after another. 17 On the east, six guards were on duty each day, on the north, four, and on the south, four. Four guards were stationed at the storerooms daily, two at each storeroom. 18 Near the western pavilion there were four guards by the road and two at the pavilion itself. 19 This is the assignment of guard duty to the clan of Korah and the clan of Merari.
Other Temple Duties
20 Others of their fellow Levites were in charge of the Temple treasury and the storerooms for gifts dedicated to God. 21 Ladan, one of the sons of Gershon, was the ancestor of several family groups, including the family of his son Jehiel. 22 Ladan's two other sons, Zetham and Joel, had charge of the Temple treasury and storerooms.
23 Duties were also assigned to the descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
24 Shebuel, of the clan of Moses' son Gershom, was the chief official responsible for the Temple treasury. 25 Through Gershom's brother Eliezer he was related to Shelomith. Eliezer was the father of Rehabiah, who was the father of Jeshaiah, the father of Joram, the father of Zichri, the father of Shelomith. 26 Shelomith and the members of his family were in charge of all the gifts dedicated to God by King David, the heads of families, leaders of clan groups, and army officers. 27 They took some of the loot they captured in battle and dedicated it for use in the Temple. 28 Shelomith and his family were in charge of everything that had been dedicated for use in the Temple, including the gifts brought by the prophet Samuel, by King Saul, by Abner son of Ner, and by Joab son of Zeruiah.
Duties of Other Levites
29 Among the descendants of Izhar, Chenaniah and his sons were assigned administrative duties: keeping records and settling disputes for the people of Israel.
30 Among the descendants of Hebron, Hashabiah and seventeen hundred of his relatives, all outstanding men, were put in charge of the administration of all religious and civil matters in Israel west of the Jordan River. 31 Jeriah was the leader of the descendants of Hebron. In the fortieth year that David was king, an investigation was made of the family line of Hebron's descendants, and outstanding soldiers belonging to this family were found living at Jazer in the territory of Gilead. 32 King David chose twenty-seven hundred outstanding heads of families from Jeriah's relatives and put them in charge of administering all religious and civil matters in Israel east of the Jordan River—the territories of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.