1 Chronicles 6 Cross References - BSB

¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ³ The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁴ Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas was the father of Abishua, ⁵ Abishua was the father of Bukki, Bukki was the father of Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah, Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth, ⁷ Meraioth was the father of Amariah, Amariah was the father of Ahitub, ⁸ Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz, ⁹ Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Johanan, ¹⁰ Johanan was the father of Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem, ¹¹ Azariah was the father of Amariah, Amariah was the father of Ahitub, ¹² Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Shallum, ¹³ Shallum was the father of Hilkiah, Hilkiah was the father of Azariah, ¹⁴ Azariah was the father of Seraiah, and Seraiah was the father of Jehozadak. ¹⁵ Jehozadak went into captivity when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁶ The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷ These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites listed according to their fathers: ²⁰ Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, ²¹ Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, and Jeatherai his son. ²² The descendants of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, ²³ Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, ²⁴ Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. ²⁵ The descendants of Elkanah: Amasai, Ahimoth, ²⁶ Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, ²⁷ Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, and Elkanah his son. ²⁸ The sons of Samuel: Joel his firstborn and Abijah his second son. ²⁹ The descendants of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, ³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son. ³¹ These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark rested there. ³² They ministered with song before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. And they performed their duties according to the regulations given them. ³³ These are the men who served, together with their sons. From the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, ³⁴ the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, ³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, ³⁶ the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, ³⁷ the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, ³⁸ the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. ³⁹ Heman’s kinsman was Asaph, who served at his right hand: Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea, ⁴⁰ the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah, ⁴¹ the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, ⁴² the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, ⁴³ the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. ⁴⁴ On the left were their kinsmen, the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, ⁴⁵ the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, ⁴⁶ the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer, ⁴⁷ the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. ⁴⁸ Their fellow Levites were assigned to every kind of service of the tabernacle, the house of God. ⁴⁹ But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the Most Holy Place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. ⁵⁰ These were the descendants of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, ⁵¹ Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, ⁵² Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, ⁵³ Zadok his son, and Ahimaaz his son. ⁵⁴ Now these were the territories assigned to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clan for their settlements, because the first lot fell to them: ⁵⁵ They were given Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands. ⁵⁶ But the fields and villages around the city were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh. ⁵⁷ So the descendants of Aaron were given Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, ⁵⁸ Hilen, Debir, ⁵⁹ Ashan, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, together with their pasturelands. ⁶⁰ And from the tribe of Benjamin they were given Gibeon, Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, together with their pasturelands. So they had thirteen cities in all among their families. ⁶¹ To the rest of the Kohathites, ten cities were allotted from the half-tribe of Manasseh. ⁶² The Gershomites, according to their clans, were allotted thirteen cities from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan. ⁶³ The Merarites, according to their families, were allotted twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ⁶⁴ So the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands. ⁶⁵ They assigned by lot the cities named above from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁶⁶ And some of the clans of the Kohathites were given cities from the tribe of Ephraim for their territory: ⁶⁷ They were given Shechem (a city of refuge) with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer, ⁶⁸ Jokmeam, Beth-horon, ⁶⁹ Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁰ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh the remaining clans of the Kohathites were given Aner and Bileam, together with their pasturelands. ⁷¹ The Gershomites received the following: From the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan and also Ashtaroth, together with their pasturelands. ⁷² From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kedesh, Daberath, ⁷³ Ramoth, and Anem, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁴ From the tribe of Asher they were given Mashal, Abdon, ⁷⁵ Hukok, and Rehob, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁶ And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁷ The Merarites (the rest of the Levites) received the following: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Rimmono and Tabor, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁸ From the tribe of Reuben east of the Jordan opposite Jericho they were given Bezer in the wilderness, Jahzah, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth, and Mephaath, together with their pasturelands. ⁸⁰ And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim, ⁸¹ Heshbon, and Jazer, together with their pasturelands.

¹¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁶ These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

¹⁷ These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁵⁷ Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.

¹⁶ The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

²⁰ Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,

⁶ Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²² The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³ And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites.

¹² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.

⁴ And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

²⁰ And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

²³ And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁰ Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

¹ “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

¹ Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.

¹² And Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that remains from the offerings made by fire to the LORD and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is most holy.

¹⁶ Later, Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked,

¹³ The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

¹ These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ² But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. ³ With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service. ⁴ Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar. ⁵ Thus they were divided by lot, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants. ⁶ The scribe, Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officers: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar, and then one from Ithamar.

⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.

²⁵ Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

⁶ Just then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ On seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, ⁸ followed the Israelite into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was halted, ⁹ but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000. ¹⁰ Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.

¹³ It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

⁶ And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

¹³ The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied. ³¹ Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.” ³² Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report regarding the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead.

³³ Eleazar son of Aaron also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

²⁸ and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

⁴ Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas was the father of Abishua, ⁵ Abishua was the father of Bukki, Bukki was the father of Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah, Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth,

⁵⁰ These were the descendants of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,

²⁰ In earlier times Phinehas son of Eleazar had been in charge of the gatekeepers, and the LORD was with him.

¹ Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, ² the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, ³ the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, ⁴ the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, ⁵ the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest—

² from the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; from the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; from the descendants of David, Hattush

³⁰ But Phinehas stood and intervened, and the plague was restrained. ³¹ It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.

¹⁷ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;

²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan.

³⁵ Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace. ³⁶ Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”

¹⁵ So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised.

¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, for they dared not be seen entering the city.

²⁰ When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They have crossed over the brook,” she replied. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.”

²² Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “Regardless of whatever may happen, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”

²⁷ The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “This is a good man,” said the king. “He comes with good news.” ²⁸ Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” And he bowed facedown before the king. He continued, “Blessed be the LORD your God! He has delivered up the men who raised their hands against my lord the king.” ²⁹ The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.”

²⁵ Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s mighty men would not join Adonijah.

³⁴ There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

⁴⁴ And with Solomon, the king has sent Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, and they have set him on the king’s mule.

³⁵ And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.

¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD. ² The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. ³ The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple. ⁴ He also had narrow windows framed high in the temple. ⁵ Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms. ⁶ The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls. ⁷ The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

¹ Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

⁴ The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.

¹⁷ Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the LORD, went in after him. ¹⁸ They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the LORD. Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully; you will not receive honor from the LORD God.” ¹⁹ Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the LORD had afflicted him.

³ the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

¹¹ Azariah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple;

¹¹ Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of the house of God;

⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

¹² and commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king: ¹³ “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words in this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing all that is written about us.” ¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD written by Moses. ¹⁵ And Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported, “Your servants are doing all that has been placed in their hands. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have put it into the hands of the supervisors and workers.” ¹⁸ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. ¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes ²⁰ and commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king:

⁸ His officials also contributed willingly to the people and priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the administrators of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 Passover offerings and 300 bulls.

¹⁸ The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.

¹ Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

¹¹ Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.

¹³ But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

²⁷ and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

²¹ There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.

¹⁷ So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, ¹⁸ who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value. ²⁰ Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. ²¹ So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.

² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

⁹ Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away to Babylon the remnant of the people who had remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to him.

¹² On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. ¹³ He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. ¹⁴ And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen.

²⁸ These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

¹ In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, stating

¹² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. So the people feared the LORD.

¹⁴ So the LORD stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and began the work on the house of the LORD of Hosts, their God,

² “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and also to the remnant of the people. Ask them,

²⁷ When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

¹⁸ I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,

¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their clans.

¹⁸ These were the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei.

²¹ From Gershon came the Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan; these were the Gershonite clans.

⁷ The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ³ The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites according to their records.

²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites, according to their families.

⁵⁷ Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari. ⁵⁸ These were the families of the Levites: The Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, and the Korahite clan. Now Kohath was the father of Amram,

²¹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

²⁶ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah: Beno.

⁴³ the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.

²¹ The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²⁴ The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites.

² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹⁸ The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, ³⁶ the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,

¹ Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,

¹⁹ The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow in worship before the LORD, and then returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰ So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.

³³ These are the men who served, together with their sons. From the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,

³³ From Merari came the clans of the Mahlites and Mushites; these were the Merarite clans.

¹⁹ The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites listed according to their fathers:

¹⁷ So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

¹⁶ David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. ¹⁹ The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals. ²⁰ Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth. ²¹ And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith. ²² Chenaniah the head Levite was the director of the music because he was highly skilled.

²⁵ So David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went with rejoicing to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom.

⁴ David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals ⁶ and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

¹ Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service: ² From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. ³ From the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six in all—under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the harp, giving thanks and praise to the LORD. ⁴ From the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these sons of Heman the king’s seer were given him through the promises of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ All these were under the direction of their fathers for the music of the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the direction of the king. ⁷ Together with their relatives, who were all trained and skillful in the songs of the LORD, they numbered 288. ⁸ They cast lots for their duties, young and old alike, teacher as well as pupil. ⁹ The first lot, which was for Asaph, fell to Joseph, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; the second to Gedaliah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁰ the third to Zaccur, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹¹ the fourth to Izri, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹² the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹³ the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁴ the seventh to Jesarelah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁵ the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁶ the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁷ the tenth to Shimei, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁸ the eleventh to Azarel, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁹ the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁰ the thirteenth to Shubael, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²¹ the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²² the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²³ the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁴ the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁵ the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁶ the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁷ the twentieth to Eliathah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁸ the twenty-first to Hothir, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁹ the twenty-second to Giddalti, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ³⁰ the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ³¹ and the twenty-fourth to Romamti-ezer, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all.

⁸ Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

¹⁴ “This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.

⁶ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁸ The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. ¹² Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. ¹³ I have indeed built You an exalted house, a place for You to dwell forever.”

¹⁰ Johanan was the father of Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem,

³³ Those who were musicians, the heads of Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other duties because they were on duty day and night.

³⁷ So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to minister there regularly according to the daily requirements, ³⁸ along with Obed-edom and his sixty-eight relatives. Obed-edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were to be gatekeepers. ³⁹ And David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place in Gibeon ⁴⁰ to regularly present burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offerings, morning and evening, according to all that was written in the Law of the LORD, which He had commanded Israel to keep. ⁴¹ With them were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the LORD, for “His loving devotion endures forever.” ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for the songs of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

²⁵ Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the LORD through His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ And Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be sacrificed on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD and the trumpets began as well, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ The whole assembly was worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed. ²⁹ When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.

² Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling.

¹⁵ The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. And the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their position, because their fellow Levites made preparations for them.

¹⁰ When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed. ¹¹ And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.

¹⁸ They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

¹⁷ Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ The Levites in the holy city totaled 284. ¹⁹ And the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their associates, who kept watch at the gates—172 men. ²⁰ The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the villages of Judah, each on his own inheritance. ²¹ The temple servants lived on the hill of Ophel, with Ziha and Gishpa over them. ²² Now the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers in charge of the service of the house of God. ²³ For there was a command from the king concerning the singers, an ordinance regulating their daily activities.

²⁷ At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. ²⁸ The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites,

⁴⁵ They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed. ⁴⁶ For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. ⁴⁷ So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.

²⁴ They have seen Your procession, O God—the march of my God and King into the sanctuary. ²⁵ The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.

¹ A song of ascents. Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who serve by night in the house of the LORD! ² Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD!

¹ Hallelujah! Praise the name of the LORD. Give praise, O servants of the LORD, ² who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. ³ Hallelujah, for the LORD is good; sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.

²⁰ So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

²⁸ I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

²⁸ The sons of Samuel: Joel his firstborn and Abijah his second son.

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;

¹⁹ The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.

¹ Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service: ² From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. ³ From the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six in all—under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the harp, giving thanks and praise to the LORD. ⁴ From the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these sons of Heman the king’s seer were given him through the promises of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

¹² all the Levitical singers—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps, and lyres, accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets.

¹⁴ Jehiel and Shimei from the Hemanites; and Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites.

¹ A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You.

¹ Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted ² a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly. ³ They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” ⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses, He will bring near to Himself. ⁶ You, Korah, and all your followers are to do as follows: Take censers, ⁷ and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!” ⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi! ⁹ Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well. ¹¹ Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?” ¹² Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us? ¹⁴ Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!” ¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.” ¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each man is to take his censer, place incense in it, and present it before the LORD—250 censers. You and Aaron are to present your censers as well.” ¹⁸ So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹ When Korah had gathered his whole assembly against them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole congregation. ²⁰ And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” ²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?” ²³ Then the LORD said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” ²⁵ So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” ²⁷ So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants. ²⁸ Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things, for it was not my own doing: ²⁹ If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. ³⁰ But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” ³¹ As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions. ³³ They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. ³⁴ At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!” ³⁵ And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

¹⁰ And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign. ¹¹ However, the line of Korah did not die out.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies.” A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song. My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses to the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,

¹ For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.

¹⁹ The sons of Kohath by their clans were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹ So they brought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah; ¹⁸ and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. ¹⁹ The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.

⁷ On that day David first committed to Asaph and his brothers this song of thanksgiving to the LORD:

² From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.

¹ These were the divisions of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants, as he stood in the midst of the assembly.

¹³ Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites;

³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.

⁴¹ The singers: the descendants of Asaph, 128.

¹⁰ When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their positions to praise the LORD, as David king of Israel had prescribed.

⁴⁴ The singers: the descendants of Asaph, 148.

¹⁷ Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who led in thanksgiving and prayer; Bakbukiah, second among his associates; and Abda son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

²² Now the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.

³⁵ and some of the priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,

⁴⁶ For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

¹ A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

¹ For the choirmaster: To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A song. We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.

¹ For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A song. God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.

¹ For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me.

¹ A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

¹ For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:

¹ A song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.

²² And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”

¹⁶ The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷ These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.

¹ Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service:

³ From the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six in all—under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the harp, giving thanks and praise to the LORD.

⁶ All these were under the direction of their fathers for the music of the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the direction of the king.

¹ A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations.

³³ From Merari came the clans of the Mahlites and Mushites; these were the Merarite clans. ³⁴ The number of all the males a month old or more was 6,200. ³⁵ The leader of the families of the Merarites was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. ³⁶ The duties assigned to the sons of Merari were the tabernacle’s frames, crossbars, posts, bases, and all its equipment—all the service for these items,

⁴² And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,

⁸ and he gave the Merarites four carts and eight oxen, as their service required, all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

¹⁷ Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and the Merarites set out, transporting it.

⁷ And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

³⁴ This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah, ³⁵ Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz, ³⁷ Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ³⁸ And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim, ³⁹ Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands. ⁴⁰ In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

²⁸ but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,

¹ This is the account of Aaron and Moses at the time the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ² These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, then Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³ These were Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. ⁴ Nadab and Abihu, however, died in the presence of the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai. And since they had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

⁵ Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. ⁷ This is what you must do to cleanse them: Sprinkle them with the water of purification. Have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves. ⁸ Then have them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. ⁹ Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole congregation of Israel. ¹⁰ You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them. ¹¹ Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD. ¹² And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. ¹³ You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering. ¹⁴ In this way you shall separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to Me. ¹⁵ After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁶ For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷ For every firstborn male in Israel is Mine, both man and beast. I set them apart for Myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. ¹⁸ But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel. ¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.” ²⁰ So Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel did with the Levites everything that the LORD had commanded Moses they should do. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² After that, the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Thus they did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ²³ And the LORD said to Moses, ²⁴ “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting. ²⁵ But at the age of fifty, they must retire from performing the work and no longer serve. ²⁶ After that, they may assist their brothers in fulfilling their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves are not to do the work. This is how you are to assign responsibilities to the Levites.”

⁹ Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.

¹ So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood. ² But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony. ³ And they shall attend to your duties and to all the duties of the Tent; but they must not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar, or both they and you will die. ⁴ They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you. ⁵ And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and of the altar, so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again. ⁶ Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” ⁸ Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute. ⁹ A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. ¹⁰ You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy. ¹¹ And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat it. ¹² I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits. ¹³ The firstfruits of everything in their land that they bring to the LORD will belong to you. Every ceremonially clean person in your household may eat them. ¹⁴ Every devoted thing in Israel belongs to you. ¹⁵ The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. ¹⁶ You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs. ¹⁷ But you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ¹⁸ And their meat belongs to you, just as the breast and right thigh of the wave offering belong to you. ¹⁹ All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the LORD I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD for you and your offspring.” ²⁰ Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. ²¹ Behold, I have given to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²² No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die. ²³ The Levites are to perform the work of the Tent of Meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites. ²⁴ For I have given to the Levites as their inheritance the tithe that the Israelites present to the LORD as a contribution. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites.” ²⁵ And the LORD instructed Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites and tell them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the LORD—a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. ²⁸ So you are to present an offering to the LORD from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, and from these you are to give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’ ³⁰ Therefore say to the Levites, ‘When you have presented the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the produce of the threshing floor or winepress. ³¹ And you and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere; it is the compensation for your work at the Tent of Meeting. ³² Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”

² Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.

¹ Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service: ² From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. ³ From the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah—six in all—under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the harp, giving thanks and praise to the LORD. ⁴ From the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these sons of Heman the king’s seer were given him through the promises of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶ All these were under the direction of their fathers for the music of the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the direction of the king. ⁷ Together with their relatives, who were all trained and skillful in the songs of the LORD, they numbered 288. ⁸ They cast lots for their duties, young and old alike, teacher as well as pupil. ⁹ The first lot, which was for Asaph, fell to Joseph, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; the second to Gedaliah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁰ the third to Zaccur, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹¹ the fourth to Izri, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹² the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹³ the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁴ the seventh to Jesarelah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁵ the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁶ the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁷ the tenth to Shimei, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁸ the eleventh to Azarel, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ¹⁹ the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁰ the thirteenth to Shubael, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²¹ the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²² the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²³ the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁴ the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁵ the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; ²⁶ the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all;

¹ “You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. ² Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze. ³ Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots for removing ashes, its shovels, its sprinkling bowls, its meat forks, and its firepans. ⁴ Construct for it a grate of bronze mesh, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the mesh. ⁵ Set the grate beneath the ledge of the altar, so that the mesh comes halfway up the altar. ⁶ Additionally, make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. ⁷ The poles are to be inserted into the rings so that the poles are on two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸ Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

³³ They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred.

³⁶ Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will become most holy; whatever touches the altar will be holy.

¹ “You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense. ² It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece. ³ Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it. ⁴ And make two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. ⁵ Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ⁶ Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you. ⁷ And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.

¹⁰ Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.” ¹¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹² “When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered. ¹³ Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD. ¹⁴ Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD. ¹⁵ In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less. ¹⁶ Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD to make atonement for your lives.”

⁵ And he shall slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁷ The sons of Aaron the priest shall put a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. ⁸ Then Aaron’s sons the priests are to arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, atop the burning wood on the altar. ⁹ The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

²⁰ He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, ² “Take Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, ³ and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” ⁴ So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁵ And Moses said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.” ⁶ Then Moses presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. ⁷ He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He tied the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him. ⁸ Then he put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. ⁹ Moses also put the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the holy diadem, on the front of the turban, as the LORD had commanded him. ¹⁰ Next, Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it; and so he consecrated them.

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, ² except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, ³ or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. ⁴ He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself. ⁵ Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. ⁶ They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy. ⁷ A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart. ⁹ If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire. ¹⁰ The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments. ¹¹ He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. ¹² He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD. ¹³ The woman he marries must be a virgin. ¹⁴ He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, ¹⁵ so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.” ¹⁶ Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God. ¹⁸ No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; ¹⁹ no man who has a broken foot or hand, ²⁰ or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. ²¹ No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God. ²² He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,

²⁵ The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by fire and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin.

¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.

¹ The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD; that is their inheritance. ² Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them. ³ This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. ⁴ You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool sheared from your flock. ⁵ For the LORD your God has chosen Levi and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in His name for all time. ⁶ Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose, ⁷ then he shall serve in the name of the LORD his God like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the LORD. ⁸ They shall eat equal portions, even though he has received money from the sale of his father’s estate.

⁵ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said.

¹ Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying,

²⁴ to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’

¹¹ Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.

⁴ Nadab and Abihu, however, died in the presence of the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai. And since they had no sons, only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.

³² The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest; he oversaw those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.

²⁶ Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did as the LORD had commanded, and they climbed Mount Hor in the sight of the whole congregation. ²⁸ After Moses had removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²² Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation,

³ The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁴ Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas was the father of Abishua, ⁵ Abishua was the father of Bukki, Bukki was the father of Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi was the father of Zerahiah, Zerahiah was the father of Meraioth, ⁷ Meraioth was the father of Amariah, Amariah was the father of Ahitub, ⁸ Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz, ⁹ Ahimaaz was the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Johanan,

¹ These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

³³ On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and sacred articles into the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, along with the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

³⁵ Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.

²⁴ Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had passed out of the city. ²⁵ Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again. ²⁶ But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.” ²⁷ The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan.

¹⁵ So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised. ¹⁶ Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’” ¹⁷ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, for they dared not be seen entering the city.

²⁶ But me your servant he did not invite, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.

⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁸ Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz,

²⁸ and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.

¹⁶ The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first.

³ With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service.

³¹ As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.

¹⁵ But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes.

¹⁰ Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments,

¹ Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: ² “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock. ⁴ The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side. ⁵ You are also to measure two thousand cubits outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities. ⁶ Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities. ⁷ The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands. ⁸ The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”

³ So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance: ⁴ The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵ The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ⁶ The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. ⁷ And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ⁸ So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

¹⁰ to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

¹³ Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.

¹³ According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹² But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession. ¹³ So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

²⁰ Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.

¹³ The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.

⁴² Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

⁴⁸ These were in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

¹³ So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah, ¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa,

¹⁹ In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

¹⁷ The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered’s wife Bithiah gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

³ Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying,

³⁸ Finally Joshua and all Israel with him turned toward Debir and fought against it.

¹³ the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

⁴⁹ Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

⁵¹ Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—eleven cities, along with their villages.

¹⁵ Holon, Debir,

¹⁰ The border curled westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), went down to Beth-shemesh, and crossed to Timnah.

¹⁶ Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

¹² And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh. ¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. ¹⁵ And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. ¹⁶ And when the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day. ¹⁷ As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸ The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers—the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. ¹⁹ But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter.

³² And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns—

¹³ He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, along with their villages.

¹⁷ And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba, ¹⁸ Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

³ Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”

²⁶ Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

⁶ These were the descendants of Ehud who were the heads of the families living in Geba and were exiled to Manahath:

³⁰ Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

¹ These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

²³ There will be no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”

¹² Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.

⁴ The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵ The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

²⁰ The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim ²¹ they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer, ²² Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ²³ From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon, ²⁴ Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ²⁵ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands. ²⁶ In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

¹ The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ² The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

⁶⁶ And some of the clans of the Kohathites were given cities from the tribe of Ephraim for their territory: ⁶⁷ They were given Shechem (a city of refuge) with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer, ⁶⁸ Jokmeam, Beth-horon, ⁶⁹ Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁰ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh the remaining clans of the Kohathites were given Aner and Bileam, together with their pasturelands.

²⁷ This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands. ²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath, ²⁹ Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ³⁰ From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon, ³¹ Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ³² And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands. ³³ In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

⁷¹ The Gershomites received the following: From the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan and also Ashtaroth, together with their pasturelands. ⁷² From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kedesh, Daberath, ⁷³ Ramoth, and Anem, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁴ From the tribe of Asher they were given Mashal, Abdon, ⁷⁵ Hukok, and Rehob, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁶ And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁷ The Merarites (the rest of the Levites) received the following: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Rimmono and Tabor, together with their pasturelands. ⁷⁸ From the tribe of Reuben east of the Jordan opposite Jericho they were given Bezer in the wilderness, Jahzah, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth, and Mephaath, together with their pasturelands. ⁸⁰ And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim, ⁸¹ Heshbon, and Jazer, together with their pasturelands.

³ So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

⁴¹ For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites. ⁴² Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

⁵⁷ So the descendants of Aaron were given Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, ⁵⁸ Hilen, Debir, ⁵⁹ Ashan, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, together with their pasturelands. ⁶⁰ And from the tribe of Benjamin they were given Gibeon, Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, together with their pasturelands. So they had thirteen cities in all among their families.

¹⁸ After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.

⁴ So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.

¹² the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;

³ Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.

¹⁰ But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

²¹ they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

¹⁶ Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

¹¹ As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.

⁵ This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar in the east to Upper Beth-horon

²² Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

¹⁸ another toward Beth-horon, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the wilderness.

¹² Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;

¹² On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

²⁴ Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands. ²⁵ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

¹¹ Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.

²⁵ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

⁴ This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

¹⁰ and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

⁸ And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

²⁷ This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath, ²⁹ Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

³² And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

⁹ “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh,

²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west the border touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath,

³⁰ From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon, ³¹ Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

²² the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

⁶ She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Surely the LORD, the God of Israel, is commanding you: ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, taking with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun.

³⁴ This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah, ³⁵ Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

⁴¹ Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east ⁴² to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities: ⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz, ³⁷ Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

³⁸ And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim, ³⁹ Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

²⁴ Then David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.

³² Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.

³ who said to his servants, “Do you not know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, but we have failed to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?” ⁴ So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “I am like you, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.” ⁵ But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.” ⁶ So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.” ⁷ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?” ⁸ The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied. ⁹ So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.” ¹⁰ Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. ¹¹ Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’” ¹² And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.” ¹³ Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, “Behold now, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.” ¹⁵ When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up and triumph,” Micaiah replied, “for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶ But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?” ¹⁷ So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’” ¹⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for me, but only bad?” ¹⁹ Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. ²⁰ And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD. ²² And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ ²³ So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.” ²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?” ²⁵ Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.” ²⁶ And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, ²⁷ and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’” ²⁸ But Micaiah replied, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take heed, all you people!”

¹ Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

⁷³ Ramoth, and Anem, together with their pasturelands.

²⁵ Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.

³² After Moses had sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

¹ Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.

³ “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

³⁷ The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

²⁴ “Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

²⁵ The territory of Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, near Rabbah; ²⁶ the territory from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir;

³⁹ Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

²² You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.

⁴ Your neck is like a tower made of ivory; your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, facing toward Damascus.