These guards were assisted by their relatives, who lived in the villages and who had to take turns at guard duty for seven days at a time.

This is what we will do. When the priests and Levites come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of them will guard the Temple gates,

The Levites and the people of Judah carried out Jehoiada's instructions. The men were not dismissed when they went off duty on the Sabbath, so the commanders had available both those coming on duty and those going off.

Everything must be done in a proper and orderly way.

These are the groups to which the descendants of Aaron belong. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

It was on the basis of the levitical priesthood that the Law was given to the people of Israel. Now, if the work of the levitical priests had been perfect, there would have been no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek, not of Aaron.