Study Desk

He told them, "The Lord your God is with you! He has made you secure on every side, for he handed over to me the inhabitants of the region and the region is subdued before the Lord and his people.

4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship."

For David said, "The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem.

They also took care of the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring.

They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the holy place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.

His son Shemaiah also had sons, who were leaders of their families, for they were highly respected.

They cast lots, both young and old, according to their families, to determine which gate they would be responsible for.

The lot for the east gate went to Shelemiah. They then cast lots for his son Zechariah, a wise adviser, and the lot for the north gate went to him.

As for the Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites:

They had dedicated some of the plunder taken in battles to be used for repairs on the Lord 's temple.

As for the Izharites: Kenaniah and his sons were given responsibilities outside the temple as officers and judges over Israel.

As for the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 respected men, were assigned responsibilities in Israel west of the Jordan; they did the Lord 's work and the king's service.

As for the Hebronites: Jeriah was the leader of the Hebronites according to the genealogical records. In the fortieth year of David's reign, they examined the records and discovered there were highly respected men in Jazer in Gilead.

What follows is a list of Israelite family leaders and commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, as well as their officers who served the king in various matters. Each division was assigned to serve for one month during the year; each consisted of 24,000 men.

He was a descendant of Perez; he was in charge of all the army officers for the first month.

David did not count the males twenty years old and under, for the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Jonathan, David's uncle, was a wise adviser and scribe; Jehiel son of Hacmoni cared for the king's sons.

King David rose to his feet and said: "Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the ark of the Lord 's covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God. I have made the preparations for building it.

But God said to me, ‘You must not build a temple to honor me, for you are a warrior and have spilled blood.'

He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my temple and my courts, for I have chosen him to become my son and I will become his father.