Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his relatives from his family (the Korahites) were assigned to guard the entrance to the sanctuary. ¹  Their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the Lord’s dwelling place. ² 

These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple and were twenty years old and up. ¹ 

As for the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his relatives, 1,700 respected men, were assigned responsibilities in Israel west of the Jordan; they did the Lord’s work and the king’s service.

David said to his son Solomon: “Be strong and brave! Do it! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ¹  For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is finished.

Here are the divisions of the priests and Levites who will perform all the service of God’s temple. All the willing and skilled men are ready to assist you in all the work and perform their service. ¹  The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.” ² 

King David said to the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

Huram Abi ¹  made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. ² 

When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The king and Jehoiada gave it to the construction foremen ¹  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and craftsmen to repair the Lord’s temple, as well as those skilled in working with iron and bronze to restore the Lord’s temple.

But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals, ¹  so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could consecrate themselves. (The Levites had been more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests.) ² 

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

So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ¹  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ² ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ³  the Levites.

They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ¹  of the king of Assyria ²  toward them, so that he assisted ³  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. ¹  We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers.

It so happened that when our adversaries heard that we were aware of these matters, ¹  God frustrated their intentions. Then all of us returned to the wall, each to his own work.

From that day forward, half of my men were doing the work and half of them were taking up spears, ¹  shields, bows, and body armor. Now the officers were behind all the people ²  of Judah

I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is demanding ¹  and extensive, and we are spread out on the wall, far removed from one another.

When all our enemies heard and all the nations who were around us saw ¹  this, they were greatly disheartened. ²  They knew that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Some of the family leaders ¹  contributed to the work. The governor contributed to the treasury 1,000 gold drachmas, ²  50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments.