Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth; all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen. ] Four sons, and nine brethren or kinsmen.
9
Meshelemiah had eighteen sons and relatives who were outstanding.
10
The sons of Hosah the Merarite were Shimri (he was not the firstborn but his father made him first),
11
then Hilkiah, followed by Tabaliah and Zechariah. Hosah accounted for thirteen.
12
These teams of security guards, supervised by their leaders, kept order in The Temple of God, keeping up the traditions of their ancestors.
13
They were all assigned to their posts by the same method regardless of the prominence of their families - each picked his gate assignment from a hat.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.