20. In earlier times Phinehas son of Eleazar was the official in charge of the gatekeepers, and the Lord was with him.
21. Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the gatekeeper at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
22. Altogether, those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds numbered 212. They were registered by genealogy in their villages. The gatekeepers had been assigned to their positions of trust by David and Samuel the seer.
23. They and their descendants were in charge of guarding the gates of the house of the Lord—the house called the tent of meeting.
24. The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north and south.
25. Their fellow Levites in their villages had to come from time to time and share their duties for seven-day periods.
26. But the four principal gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the responsibility for the rooms and treasuries in the house of God.
27. They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they had to guard it; and they had charge of the key for opening it each morning.
28. Some of them were in charge of the articles used in the temple service; they counted them when they were brought in and when they were taken out.