Prepare yourselves by your fathers’ households in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel and according to the writing of his son Solomon.
Parallel translations
- WEB Prepare yourselves after your fathers’ houses by your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
- KJV And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
- BSB Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.
- NKJV Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, following the written instruction of David king of Israel and the written instruction of Solomon his son.
- NLT Report for duty according to the family divisions of your ancestors, following the directions of King David of Israel and the directions of his son Solomon.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Josiah tells the Levites to organize by their family divisions according to David's and Solomon's written instructions. Ordered service flows from obedience to God's established pattern.
Overview
The Levites are to prepare themselves by ancestral houses and divisions, following the written arrangements left by David and Solomon. This appeal to authoritative written instruction parallels Josiah's whole reform, which was sparked by recovering the Book of the Law. It teaches that faithful worship submits to God's revealed word rather than human invention.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Chr 8:14He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate, for David the man of God had so commanded.
- 1 Chr 23:1–26Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
- 1 Chr 24:1These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
- 1 Chr 9:10–34Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,
- Neh 11:10–20Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,
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Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 35:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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