Then some of the elders of Judah ¹  stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

Then some men from Israel’s elders came to me and sat down in front of me.

Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel, for from the very first day you applied your mind ¹  to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words.

I tell you the truth, ¹  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ² 

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the sake of the truth.

For this reason ¹  I kneel ²  before the Father, ³ 

When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.

¹ “If an ox ²  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ³  then the ox must surely ⁴  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity ¹  because he has profaned ²  what is holy to the Lord. ³  That person will be cut off from his people. ⁴ 

You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. ¹  They must bear their punishment for iniquity. ² 

“All the service of the Gershonites, whether ¹  carrying loads ²  or for any of their work, will be at the direction of ³  Aaron and his sons. You will assign them all their tasks ⁴  as their responsibility.

and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their sockets, tent pegs, and ropes, along with all their furnishings and everything for their service. You are to assign by names the items that each man is responsible to carry. ¹ 

You must not shed innocent blood ¹  in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. ² 

Now at your own discretion, ¹  O king, come down. Delivering him into the king’s hand will be our responsibility.”

All the people and all Israel realized on that day that the killing of Abner son of Ner was not done at the king’s instigation. ¹ 

The Tekoan woman said to the king, “My lord the king, let any blame fall on me and on the house of my father. But let the king and his throne be innocent!”

Their relatives, who were leaders of their families, numbered 1,760. They were capable men who were assigned to carry out the various tasks of service in God’s temple. ¹ 

They would spend the night in their posts all around God’s sanctuary, ¹  for they were assigned to guard it and would open it with the key every morning.

Some of them were in charge of the equipment and articles of the sanctuary, ¹  as well as the flour, wine, olive oil, incense, and spices.

The musicians and Levite family leaders stayed in rooms at the sanctuary ¹  and were exempt from other duties, for day and night they had to carry out their assigned tasks.