Study Desk

Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever.

For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever;

And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites.

The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures;

And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.

And David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, made distribution of them into their positions for their work.

So they were put into groups, by the Lord's decision, one with another; for there were rulers of the holy place and rulers of the house of God among the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.

And Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was a Levite, put down their names in writing, the king being present with the rulers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites; one family being taken for Eleazar and then one for Ithamar, and so on.

Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was:

All these, under the direction of their father, made music in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments, for the worship of the house of God; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the orders of the king.

And selection was made of them for their special work, all having equal chances, small as well as great, the teacher as the learner.

For the divisions of the door-keepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, of the sons of Ebiasaph.

Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for the blessing of God was on him.

And Shemaiah his son had sons, rulers over the family of their father, for they were able men.

All these were sons of Obed-edom: they and their sons and their brothers, able men and strong for the work; sixty-two sons of Obed-edom.

And Hosah, a son of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the oldest, his father made him chief);

And the families were taken by the decision of the Lord for every door; the small family had the same chance as the great.

And the care of the door on the east came out for Shelemiah. Then the name of Zechariah his son, a man wise in discussion, came out, and the door on the north was given to him.

On the east were six Levites a day, and on the north and the south four a day, and for the store-house two and two.