Scripture: 1 Chronicles 6-10 (NKJV)

6:1 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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

3 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.

And the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

4 Eleazar begot Phinehas, and Phinehas begot Abishua;

5 Abishua begot Bukki, and Bukki begot Uzzi;

6 Uzzi begot Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begot Meraioth;

7 Meraioth begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub;

8 Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Ahimaaz;

9 Ahimaaz begot Azariah, and Azariah begot Johanan;

10 Johanan begot Azariah (it was he who ministered as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem);

11 Azariah begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub;

12 Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Shallum;

13 Shallum begot Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begot Azariah;

14 Azariah begot Seraiah, and Seraiah begot Jehozadak.

15 Jehozadak went into captivity when the LORD carried Judah and Jerusalem into captivity by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

16 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

17 These are the names of the sons of Gershon:

Libni and Shimei.

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

19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.

Now these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers:

20 Of Gershon were 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 sons of Kohath were 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 sons of Elkanah were Amasai and Ahimoth.

26 As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son, Nahath his son, 27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, and Elkanah his son.

28 The sons of Samuel were Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second.

29 The sons of Merari were Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son.

31 Now these are the men whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after the ark came to rest.

32 They were ministering with music before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they served in their office according to their order.

33 And these are the ones who ministered with their sons:

Of the sons of the Kohathites were 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 And his brother Asaph, who stood at his right hand, was Asaph the son of Berachiah, 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 Gershon, the son of Levi.

44 Their brethren, the sons of Merari, on the left hand, were 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 Shamer, 47 the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

48 And their brethren, the Levites, were appointed to every kind of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

49 But Aaron and his sons offered sacrifices on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

50 Now these are the sons 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 are their dwelling places throughout their settlements in their territory, for they were given by lot to the sons of Aaron, of the family of the Kohathites:

55 They gave them Hebron in the land of Judah, with its surrounding common-lands.

56 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

57 And to the sons of Aaron they gave one of the cities of refuge, Hebron; also Libnah with its common-lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its common-lands, 58 Hilen with its common-lands, Debir with its common-lands, 59 Ashan with its common-lands, and Beth Shemesh with its common-lands.

60 And from the tribe of Benjamin:

Geba with its common-lands, Alemeth with its common-lands, and Anathoth with its common-lands. All their cities among their families were thirteen.

61 To the rest of the family of the tribe of the Kohathites they gave by lot ten cities from half the tribe of Manasseh.

62 And to the sons of Gershon, throughout their families, they gave thirteen cities from the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

63 To the sons of Merari, throughout their families, they gave twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

64 So the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands to the Levites.

65 And they gave by lot from the tribe of the children of Judah, from the tribe of the children of Simeon, and from the tribe of the children of Benjamin these cities which are called by their names.

66 Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath were given cities as their territory from the tribe of Ephraim.

67 And they gave them one of the cities of refuge, Shechem with its common-lands, in the mountains of Ephraim, also Gezer with its common-lands, 68 Jokmeam with its common-lands, Beth Horon with its common-lands, 69 Aijalon with its common-lands, and Gath Rimmon with its common-lands.

70 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh:

Aner with its common-lands and Bileam with its common-lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.

71 From the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh the sons of Gershon were given Golan in Bashan with its common-lands and Ashtaroth with its common-lands.

72 And from the tribe of Issachar:

Kedesh with its common-lands, Daberath with its common-lands, 73 Ramoth with its common-lands, and Anem with its common-lands.

74 And from the tribe of Asher:

Mashal with its common-lands, Abdon with its common-lands, 75 Hukok with its common-lands, and Rehob with its common-lands.

76 And from the tribe of Naphtali:

Kedesh in Galilee with its common-lands, Hammon with its common-lands, and Kirjathaim with its common-lands.

77 From the tribe of Zebulun the rest of the children of Merari were given Rimmon with its common-lands and Tabor with its common-lands.

78 And on the other side of the Jordan, across from Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, they were given from the tribe of Reuben:

Bezer in the wilderness with its common-lands, Jahzah with its common-lands, 79 Kedemoth with its common-lands, and Mephaath with its common-lands.

80 And from the tribe of Gad:

Ramoth in Gilead with its common-lands, Mahanaim with its common-lands, 81 Heshbon with its common-lands, and Jazer with its common-lands.

7:1 The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four in all.

2 The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house.

The sons of Tola were mighty men of valor in their generations; their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred.

3 The son of Uzzi was Izrahiah, and the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Ishiah. All five of them were chief men.

4 And with them, by their generations, according to their fathers’ houses, were thirty-six thousand troops ready for war; for they had many wives and sons.

5 Now their brethren among all the families of Issachar were mighty men of valor, listed by their genealogies, eighty-seven thousand in all.

6 The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, and Jediael—three in all.

7 The sons of Bela were Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri—five in all.

They were heads of their fathers’ houses, and they were listed by their genealogies, twenty-two thousand and thirty-four mighty men of valor.

8 The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jerimoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth.

All these are the sons of Becher.

9 And they were recorded by genealogy according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, twenty thousand two hundred mighty men of valor.

10 The son of Jediael was Bilhan, and the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tharshish, and Ahishahar.

11 All these sons of Jediael were heads of their fathers’ houses; there were seventeen thousand two hundred mighty men of valor fit to go out for war and battle.

12 Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, and Hushim was the son of Aher.

13 The sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.

14 The descendants of Manasseh:

his Syrian concubine bore him Machir the father of Gilead, the father of Asriel.

15 Machir took as his wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose name was Maachah.

The name of Gilead’s grandson was Zelophehad, but Zelophehad begot only daughters.

16 (Maachah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh. The name of his brother was Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. 17 The son of Ulam was Bedan.)

These were the descendants of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

18 His sister Hammoleketh bore Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.

19 And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

20 The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eladah his son, Tahath his son, 21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead.

The men of Gath who were born in that land killed them because they came down to take away their cattle.

22 Then Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.

23 And when he went in to his wife, she conceived and bore a son; and he called his name Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house.

24 Now his daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon and Uzzen Sheerah;

25 and Rephah was his son, as well as Resheph, and Telah his son, Tahan his son, 26 Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, 27 Nun his son, and Joshua his son.

28 Now their possessions and dwelling places were Bethel and its towns:

to the east Naaran, to the west Gezer and its towns, and Shechem and its towns, as far as Ayyah and its towns;

29 and by the borders of the children of Manasseh were Beth Shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns.

In these dwelt the children of Joseph, the son of Israel.

30 The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.

31 The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.

32 And Heber begot Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua.

33 The sons of Japhlet were Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were the children of Japhlet.

34 The sons of Shemer were Ahi, Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.

35 And the sons of his brother Helem were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.

36 The sons of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, 37 Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Jithran, and Beera.

38 The sons of Jether were Jephunneh, Pispah, and Ara.

39 The sons of Ulla were Arah, Haniel, and Rizia.

40 All these were the children of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, choice men, mighty men of valor, chief leaders.

And they were recorded by genealogies among the army fit for battle; their number was twenty-six thousand.

8:1 Now Benjamin begot Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, 2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.

3 The sons of Bela were Addar, Gera, Abihud, 4 Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, 5 Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

6 These are the sons of Ehud, who were the heads of the fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and who forced them to move to Manahath:

7 Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera who forced them to move.

He begot Uzza and Ahihud.

8 And Shaharaim had children in the country of Moab, after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.

9 By Hodesh his wife he begot Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, 10 Jeuz, Sachiah, and Mirmah.

These were his sons, heads of their fathers’ houses.

11 And by Hushim he begot Abitub and Elpaal.

12 The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns;

13 and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of their fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath.

14 Ahio, Shashak, Jeremoth, 15 Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, 16 Michael, Ispah, and Joha were the sons of Beriah.

17 Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, 18 Ishmerai, Jizliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.

19 Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, 20 Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, 21 Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.

22 Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, 23 Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, 24 Hananiah, Elam, Antothijah, 25 Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.

26 Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, 27 Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.

28 These were heads of the fathers’ houses by their generations, chief men.

These dwelt in Jerusalem.

29 Now the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, dwelt at Gibeon.

30 And his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, 31 Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, 32 and Mikloth, who begot Shimeah.

They also dwelt alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren.

33 Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal.

34 The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah.

35 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

36 And Ahaz begot Jehoaddah;

Jehoaddah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri;

and Zimri begot Moza.

37 Moza begot Binea, Raphah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.

38 Azel had six sons whose names were these:

Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan.

All these were the sons of Azel.

39 And the sons of Eshek his brother were Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

40 The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor—archers.

They had many sons and grandsons, one hundred and fifty in all. These were all sons of Benjamin.

9:1 So all Israel was recorded by genealogies, and indeed, they were inscribed in the book of the kings of Israel. But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

2 And the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and the Nethinim.

3 Now in Jerusalem the children of Judah dwelt, and some of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh:

4 Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the descendants of Perez, the son of Judah.

5 Of the Shilonites:

Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.

6 Of the sons of Zerah:

Jeuel, and their brethren—six hundred and ninety.

7 Of the sons of Benjamin:

Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; 8 Ibneiah the son of Jeroham; Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; 9 and their brethren, according to their generations—nine hundred and fifty-six.

All these men were heads of a father’s house in their fathers’ houses.

10 Of the priests:

Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin;

11 Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the officer over the house of God;

12 Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

13 and their brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses—one thousand seven hundred and sixty.

They were very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

14 Of the Levites:

Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; 15 Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph; 16 Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

17 And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief.

18 Until then they had been gatekeepers for the camps of the children of Levi at the King’s Gate on the east. 19 Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, from his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, gatekeepers of the tabernacle. Their fathers had been keepers of the entrance to the camp of the LORD. 20 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the LORD was with him. 21 Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was keeper of the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

22 All those chosen as gatekeepers were two hundred and twelve. They were recorded by their genealogy, in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed them to their trusted office. 23 So they and their children were in charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, the house of the tabernacle, by assignment. 24 The gatekeepers were assigned to the four directions: the east, west, north, and south. 25 And their brethren in their villages had to come with them from time to time for seven days. 26 For in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God. 27 And they lodged all around the house of God because they had the responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning.

28 Now some of them were in charge of the serving vessels, for they brought them in and took them out by count. 29 Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices. 30 And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices. 31 Mattithiah of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the trusted office over the things that were baked in the pans. 32 And some of their brethren of the sons of the Kohathites were in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath.

33 These are the singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night.

34 These heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites were heads throughout their generations.

They dwelt at Jerusalem.

35 Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, dwelt at Gibeon.

36 His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.

38 And Mikloth begot Shimeam.

They also dwelt alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren.

39 Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal.

40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah.

41 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.

42 And Ahaz begot Jarah; Jarah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begot Moza;

43 Moza begot Binea, Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.

44 And Azel had six sons whose names were these:

Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers.

4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together.

7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

8 So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

11 And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. 14 But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Devotion

The Levites served as assistants to the Aaronic priests on behalf of the whole community. 1 Chronicles six lists the sons of Levi, who were “to take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle” (Num. 3:8). Beginning with 6:31, we have those Levites who were appointed as musicians in the Temple.

The enumeration of these lists gives authorization to those who were appointed to serve God. Hebrews 5:4-6, “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ The Christ was not a descendant of Aaron or Levi, but from the tribe of Judah. The Levitical priesthood could not bring perfection, but required another priest like Melchizedek. Our Lord Jesus ‘has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life'” (Heb. 7:16).

Jesus’ propitiatory death secures eternal life once and for all. These former external regulations have passed away. Our High Priest has cleansed our conscience, so that we are appointed to serve “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). The book of Revelation (7:15) says of us, “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.”

O Lord, open our lips to praise You with heart and mind. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.