from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;

from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei; from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.

That day ¹  the Israelites were defeated; the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their ancestors.

Then some Levites, from the Kohathites and Korahites, got up and loudly praised the Lord God of Israel. ¹ 

His brothers, Jehoshaphat’s sons, were Azariah, Jechiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel. ¹ 

The Israelites fled from before the Judahite army, ¹  and God handed them over to the men of Judah. ² 

He launched a military campaign ¹  against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites paid him 100 talents ²  of silver, 10,000 kors ³  of wheat, and 10,000 kors ⁴  of barley. The Ammonites also paid this same amount of annual tribute the next two years. ⁵ 

But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work. ¹ 

Later the Moabites and Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites, ¹  attacked Jehoshaphat.

Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in.

He did evil in the sight of ¹  the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations ²  whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites.

Stand in the sanctuary and, together with the Levites, represent the family divisions of your countrymen. ¹ 

The following Levites prepared to carry out the king’s orders: ¹  From the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah; from the Merarites: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians,

Afterward they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were offering burnt sacrifices and fat portions until evening. The Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. ¹  (It was there that ²  the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)

and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”

Solomon rebuilt the cities that Huram ¹  had given him and settled Israelites there.

Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews and they continue in that role to this very day. ¹ 

Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; ¹  the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. ²