1 Chronicles 9:17-34

9:17 The gatekeepers were:

Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brothers. Shallum was the leader; 9:18 he serves to this day at the King’s Gate on the east. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the descendants of Levi.

9:19 Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his relatives from his family (the Korahites) were assigned to guard the entrance to the sanctuary. ¹  Their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the Lord’s dwelling place. ²  9:20 Phinehas son of Eleazar had been their leader in earlier times, and the Lord was with him. 9:21 Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the guard at the entrance to the meeting tent.

9:22 All those selected to be gatekeepers at the entrances numbered 212. Their names were recorded in the genealogical records of their settlements. David and Samuel the prophet ³  had appointed them to their positions. ⁴  9:23 They and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the Lord’s sanctuary (that is, the tabernacle). ⁵  9:24 The gatekeepers were posted on all four sides – east, west, north, and south. 9:25 Their relatives, who lived in their settlements, came from time to time and served with them for seven-day periods. 9:26 The four head gatekeepers, who were Levites, were assigned to guard the storerooms and treasuries in God’s sanctuary. ⁶  9:27 They would spend the night in their posts all around God’s sanctuary, ⁷  for they were assigned to guard it and would open it with the key every morning. 9:28 Some of them were in charge of the articles used by those who served; they counted them when they brought them in and when they brought them out. ⁸  9:29 Some of them were in charge of the equipment and articles of the sanctuary, ⁹  as well as the flour, wine, olive oil, incense, and spices. 9:30 (But some of the priests mixed the spices.) 9:31 Mattithiah, a Levite, the firstborn son ¹⁰  of Shallum the Korahite, was in charge of baking the bread for offerings. 9:32 Some of the Kohathites, their relatives, were in charge of preparing the bread that is displayed each Sabbath.

9:33 The musicians and Levite family leaders stayed in rooms at the sanctuary ¹¹  and were exempt from other duties, for day and night they had to carry out their assigned tasks. 9:34 These were the family leaders of the Levites, as listed in their genealogical records. They lived in Jerusalem.

[9:19]  ¹ tn Heb “and his brothers belonging to the house of his father, the Korachites, to the work of the task, guardians of the threshold of the tent.”

[9:19]  ² tn Heb “and their fathers to the camp of the Lord, guardians of the entrance.” Here “fathers” is used in a more general sense of “forefathers” or “ancestors” and is not limited specifically to their fathers only.

[9:22]  ³ tn The Hebrew term is רֹאֶה (ro’eh, “seer”), an older word for נָבִיא (navi’, “prophet”).

[9:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “they – David appointed, and Samuel the seer, in their position.”

[9:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they and their sons to the gates of the house of the Lord, of the house of the tent, [were assigned] as guards.”

[9:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the house of God.”

[9:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the house of God.”

[9:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “and from them over the articles of the task, for by number they would bring them in, and by number they would bring them out.”

[9:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “holy place.”

[9:31]  ¹⁰ tn The word “son” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[9:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “were in rooms.” The words “at the sanctuary” are supplied in the translation for clarification.