II Chronicles 31 Hezekiah regulates the divisions of the priests and Levites

 II Chronicles 31

Hezekiah regulates the divisions of the priests and Levites

2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and Levites according to their divisions, each according to his service, to the priests and Levites for the burnt offering and for the peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to sing, at the gates of the camps of the Lord.

3 And he appointed the king's portion for the burnt offerings, for the burnt offerings of the morning and evening, and for the burnt offerings of the Sabbaths, of the new moons, and of the appointed feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord.

4 And he commanded the people, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and Levites, that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.

 5 And after this saying was spread abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of wheat, wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in a tithe of all things in abundance.

 6 And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought in a tithe of their herds and of their flocks, and a tithe of the holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God: and they made great heaps.

 7 In the third month they began to make the first heaps, and in the seventh month they finished. 

8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel. 

9 And Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 

10 Then Azariah the high priest of the house of Zadok spoke to him, saying, “Since the offering began to be brought into the house of the LORD, there has been enough to eat and to be satisfied, and there is plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed his people, and there is plenty left over.” 

11 Then Hezekiah commanded that chambers be prepared in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them. 

12 There they faithfully brought the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things. Over these things were Conaniah the chief Levite, and Shimei his brother was second. 

13 And Jeiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ishmachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, who were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of King Hezekiah and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

14 Now Kore the son of Imnah, the Levite, who was the gatekeeper on the east side, was in charge of the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the Lord’s offerings and the most holy things.

15 And under his command were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amoriah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully to their brothers according to their courses, both small and great;

16 Besides those who were reckoned by genealogy of the males, from three years old and upward, to all who entered the house of the Lord, for their daily work in their service, according to their courses.

17 And those who were reckoned by genealogy of the priests by their fathers’ houses; and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, in their divisions, according to their divisions: 

18 and according to genealogies, with all their little ones, their wives, their sons and their daughters, throughout the whole congregation; for they sanctified themselves faithfully in the consecrated things. 

19 And of the sons of Aaron there were priests in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every city, men who were numbered by name, to give portions to every male among the priests and to all who were numbered by genealogies among the Levites. 

20 And Hezekiah did thus throughout all Judah: and he did that which was good, and right, and true, before the LORD his God. 

21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.