20. Phinehas son of Eleazar had supervised their work because the Lord was with him.
21. Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was also one of the guards at the temple.
22. There was a total of two hundred and twelve guards, all of them listed in the family records in their towns. Their ancestors had been chosen by King David and by Samuel the prophet to be responsible for this work,
23. and now they guarded the temple gates.
24. There was one full-time guard appointed to each of the four sides of the temple.
25. Their assistants lived in the villages outside the city, and every seven days a group of them would come into the city and take their turn at guard duty.
26. The four full-time guards were Levites, and they supervised the other guards and were responsible for the rooms in the temple and the supplies kept there.