1 CHRONICLES CHAPTER 19 - 24

1 CHRONICLES 19

1 It happened after this the king
Of Ammon’s children and their sting
Nahash died, and his son reigned then.
2 And David said “I’ll show again
Kindness to Hanun, Nahash’ son,
Because of what his dad has done
In kindness to me. David sent
Messengers to comfort the bent
In sorrow for his father’s death.
So David’s servants out of breath
Came to children of Ammon’s land
To Hanun, comfort towed in hand.
3 But Ammon’s children’s princes said
To Hanun, “Do you think instead
That David brings praise to your dead
Father, by sending comforters
To you? Are his slaves not such fers
Come to you to seek, overthrow
And spy out the land where they go?”
4 So Hanun took David’s lads and
Shaved them and cut off at a band
Their clothing in the middle of
Their buttocks and sent out with shove.
5 So some went and told David how
The men were dealt with in the row.
And he sent out to meet them, for
The men were embarrassed to floor.
And the king said “Stay at the town
Of Jericho till beards be grown,
And then come back to the king’s door.”
6 When Ammon’s folk saw they had made
Themselves hateful and on parade
To David, Hanun and the folk
Of Ammon sent a thousand broke
Talents of silver to rent out
Chariots and cavalry in clout
From Mesopotamia, and out
Of Syriamaachah and out
Of Zobah. 7 So they hired thirty
Two thousand chariots and the fee
Of Maachah’s king and his folk too,
Who came and camped before the wall
Of Medeba. And at the call
Ammon’s folk gathered from their towns,
And came to battle full of frowns.

The workings of diplomacy today
Hardly differ at all from what bore sway
Between old Ammon and Israel when one
King died and the throne bore his favoured son.
Israel can still raise havoc with a smile,
And Ammon still treat public with some guile.
It’s all expected diplomatic mile,
And still the kings hire Tony Bear to join
George Rush in the attempt to mint the coin
Afresh and at the same time make a buck,
Or shekel or euro or fine cornshuck.
Beloved, look on this simple crew of Yours
And take a jaunt on Middle Eastern Tours,
And give a word to lift us from the muck.

8 When David heard, he sent Joab
And all the army with confab
Of mighty men. 9 And Ammon’s folk
Came out and set battle in stroke
Before the city gate. The kings
That came were alone in the rings.
10 When Joab saw the battle set
Against him fore and aft, both met,
He chose the best of all the folk
Of Israel and put them in stroke
Against the Syrians in yoke.
11 The rest of the army he put
In hand of Abishai in root
His brother, and they set in rank
Against Ammon’s folk on the bank.
12 And he said “If the Syrians
Are too strong for me, then your plans
Shall be to help me, but if those
Folk of Ammon are strong to close
Around you, then I’ll beef your shows.
13 “Be of good courage, let us quit
Ourselves like men for those who sit
In cities of our Ælohim,
And let YHWH do the good it seem.”
14 So Joab and the folk with him
Came near the Syrians to the grim
Fight, and they fled in front of him.

Too many centuries of blood and mey
Have turned around the cedars and the way
Of Lebanon as far as Damask’s shore
Making the world a place of flood and gore.
As I review the history of the place
Southwest of the Euphrates in its trace,
Much tells me that nothing has chanced, but still
Come Israel’s armies out to foot the bill.
Enough of bloodshed now, suffice the plunder,
Let peace at last come under Sinai’s thunder,
While men of kind and women of their kin
Awaken to the warning sound and din.
I pray for peace in all the world but most
Now where Jerusalem meets the last boast.

15 And when Ammon’s folk saw them flee,
They also fled before the spree
Of Abishai his brother, and
Went into the city to stand.
Joab went to Jerusalem.
16 And when the Syrians saw that they
Were worsted before Israel’s fray,
They sent their messengers to say
To Syrians beyond the stream,
With Shophach captain of the cream
Of Hadarezer before them.
17 And it was told to David, and
He gathered all Israel to stand,
And went over Jordan and came
On them and attacked in their fame.
When David attacked Syrians,
They fought with him in greys and tans.
18 The Syrians fled at the onslaught
Of Israel, and David in plot
Killed seven thousand chariot men
Of Syrians, and forty then
Thousand of infantry, and killed
Shophach the army captain billed.
19 When Hadarezer’s servants saw
That they fell under Israel’s claw,
They made peace with David to be
His servants, nor would Syrians see
Their way to help Ammon’s folk free.

Tony and George should take a second look
How many mercenaries in the book
Outright are killed in one swoop of the crook.
Maybe they’d wait a moment more until
All arguments are silenced on the hill.
Some days are good for war, no doubt, and yet
My heart and hope say that the foe when met
Can be brought to good terms without the gun
Enlarged to flatten out the mountains won.
Laugh if you will at all the victories
While turning eyes away from what won’t please,
A population slaughtered in the breeze.
I trow the world’s insane with blood and lust,
No one it seems bows down to kiss the dust.

1 CHRONICLES 20

1 It happened after that year ended,
At the time kings go out unfended,
Joab led out the army’s strength,
Wasted Ammon’s folk’s country’s length,
And came besieging Rabbah too.
But David stayed within the view
Of his Jerusalem. Then struck
Joab Rabbah down in the muck.
2 And David took their king’s crown off
His head and found without a scoff
Its weight was one talent of gold,
With precious stones within it told,
And it was set on David’s head,
And he also took from the spread
Of the city booty as said.
3 And he brought out the folk in it,
And cut them with saws and the bit
Of iron harrows, and with axe.
That’s how David treated their backs,
And all the towns of Ammon’s folk.
David and all the army went
Back to Jerusalem when spent.

Tough talk and action on David’s own part
Horrifies me, brings sorrow to my heart
Out of the sparkling crown the mind can bend
Meat threshed with harrows and with axes send
Among the populations of the wood
Some message of a thing that can no good
Message bestow. And yet, I think the power
Come down from heaven upon a blessèd hour
Enunciates the judgement of Your reign.
Let Your judgement come with consequent pain.
Why should I complain that the world must bear
A pain resulting from the wicked share
In all that government and company
Now exposed to earth’s human progeny?

4 It happened after that there rose
A war at Gezer with the foes
Of Philistines, at which time slew
Sibbechai the Hashathite due
Sippai, who was of giant’s spawn,
And they were scattered on the lawn.
5 And there was war again in sight
With Philistines, and so the wight
Elhanan Jair’s son killed Lahmi
The brother of Goliath, see,
The Gittite, whose spear staff to see
Was like a weaver’s beam fairly.
6 Once more there was a war at Gath,
Where there was a tall man in path,
Whose fingers and toes number to
Twenty-four six in each hand’s crew,
And six on each foot, he was too
The son of a giant in view.
7 But when he challenged Israel,
Jonathan the son of the fell
Shimea, David’s brother came
To kill him and receive the fame.
8 These were the giant’s sons in Gath,
And they fell by David’s hand’s wrath,
And by the hand of his servants,
Till there was no giant to dance.

Thanks for the felling of the giants in
Harboured days of David, and without sin.
Our times have changed but little since the din
Made out Goliath stricken with his kin.
A little man may now slay hundreds more
Slinking about in armoured tank and store.
Many are ways to kill prolifering.
Come morning though I see there is no king
Emancipated from the wicked place
Lying where evil plans are set to trace
With all destruction of the human race.
Another time perhaps will see anointed
Instead of juiced-up thugs and double-jointed.
No doubt divinely guided slaughter’s grace.

1 CHRONICLES 21

1 And Satan rose against Israel
Inciting David to compile
A list of Israel’s folk on file.
2 And David said to Joab and
To the folk’s chiefs, “Go out in band
And count Israel from Beersheba
As far as Dan and bring in claw
Their number to me so I’ll know.”
3 Joab replied, “May YHWH now show
His people hundredfold in glow
More than they are, but now my lord
The king, are they not all on board
As my lord’s servants, the whole horde?
Why then does my lord so require
This matter? Why should he desire
To be a cause of wickedness
To Israel and not to bless?”

So Satan is the one who came to speak
To David in a moment he was weak.
The other text says You did that bright thing.
I wonder should I stop to ask the king.
Today the followers of Moses stand
To be counted as Jews on every hand.
The followers of Christ take every pew
And claim to be the ones to follow You.
The Muslims weep or not beside the grave
Of Ahmed and vow to be Allah’s slave.
I bind all three into my own and take
David to be my leader for the sake
Of Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and still
The divine guide that hides upon the hill.

4 But yet the king’s word won the day
Against Joab, who went his way
Throughout all Israel’s land and came
Back to Jerusalem for shame.
5 And Joab gave the figure’s sum
Of the folk to David to hum.
And all Israel were up to stand
Up at one thousand thousand and
A hundred thousand men that drew
The sword, and Judah was in crew
Four hundred seventy thousand men
That also drew the sword again.
6 But Levi and Benjamin he
Did not count among the folk’s spree,
For the king’s word detestedly
Fell on Joab’s ear and wrongly.
7 And Ælohim was displeased by
This thing, and so He from the sky
Struck Israel both gal and guy.

Why did You strike the people from the sky,
Beloved, did any of them want to die?
The Bible makes You seem unjust to me,
Perhaps because I’m blinded by a flea.
Did You strike also men of Benjamin
And Levi too as though they were in sin?
Perhaps Your striking was to show the crowd
Not to think or to say the thing aloud,
That suffering’s the result of the deed
Of evil punished by the Lord for greed,
And happiness and success are the sign
That people live by Your revealed design.
Beloved, strike out in arbitrary way
And none can rise to question night or day.

8 And David said to Ælohim,
“I’ve greatly sinned, it so would seem,
Because I’ve done this wicked thing,
But now, I beg you, on the wing
To wipe out Your slave’s wickedness,
For I’ve made a foolish address.”
9 And YHWH spoke to Gad, David’s seer,
Saying “Go say in David’s ear
This word, ‘So says YHWH, “I make clear
To offer you three, so choose one,
So I may strike you on the bun.”’”
11 So Gad came to David and said
To him, “So says YHWH, ‘Choose your bed,
12 ‘Either three years not to be fed,
Or three months attacked by your foes,
While enemy sword vents in throes,
Or else three days with sword of YHWH,
A pestilence on land and crew,
And YHWH’s angel destroying through
All the lands of Israel in view.’
Now think about what message I
Shall take returning to the guy
Who sent me.” 13 David said to Gad,
“I’m greatly troubled and I’m sad.
Let me I pray fall in YHWH’s hand,
Since His mercies are very grand,
But do not let me come beneath
The power of men and men’s bequeath.”

Look here, Beloved, what You did to the church
Of David when You found them in the lurch.
David repented of forbidden deed,
But You required another thing in need.
Your grace was not enough to spare the rod,
You had to show the folks that You were God.
So after David prayed repentant prayer
You gave him three wishes out of thin air.
Do famine, sword of enemy, and doom
Atone for any sin You find in room?
If You were about to send David’s son
To die for all the evil things he’d done
Then why kill off the Israelites to show
Atonement’s needed even on the go?

14 So YHWH sent pestilence upon
Israel, and seventy thousand drawn
Of Israel dropped. 15 And Ælohim
Sent out an angel to the cream
Jerusalem to destroy it.
While he destroyed YHWH looked at bit
And changed His mind about the fit,
And told the angel that destroyed,
“It is enough that you’ve employed,
So stop.” The angel of YHWH stood
Beside the threshing floor for good
Of Ornan, one a Jebusite.
16 Then David raised his eyes to light
Upon YHWH’s angel standing there
Between the earth, between the air,
With drawn sword in his hand made bare
Over Jerusalem the fair.
And David and the elders met
In sackcloth, in prostration set
Upon their faces. 17 David said
To Ælohim, “Was it not I
Who gave the order on the sly
To count the people? I have sinned
And done the evil when I grinned,
But these sheep, what have they done You?
Stretch out Your hand, I pray O YHWH
My Ælohim, be against me
And my dad’s house, but not in spree
Against Your folk destructively.”

If Your eye then, Beloved, stopped the plague when
You saw the desolation of the men
Of Judah, and You thought the plague enough
To atone for the disobeying rough,
Then why did You not look once on the cross
And see the sufferings of the man of loss?
Enough’s enough for You in David’s day,
So why pretend the cross is there to pay?
It looks to me like You do what You like
Without necessity to make the strike.
You send men into death and let the blood
Fall precious on the ground as though in flood
Of useless sacrifice. Indeed I know
No useful thing is evil in the show.

18 That’s why YHWH’s angel ordered Gad
To tell him it would not be bad
For David to go and to build
An altar to YHWH on the filled
Threshing floor of Ornan the wight
Who owned it and was Jebusite.
19 So David went up by command
Of Gad, which he spoke out of hand
In the name of YHWH where to stand.
20 Now Ornan turned and saw the man
Or angel rather, and his span
Of four sons with him ran and hid,
But Ornan kept threshing his quid.

This Ornan of the threshing floor has spunk,
Working in the hot sun, he may be drunk.
In any case the angel does not faze
Ornan or put him in a mystic daze.
He keeps his business sense about him while
His four sons flee who knows how many mile.
The angel was destroyer on the brink,
But Ornan’s courage failed on from his drink.
David wanted to sacrifice so bad
Your angel gave permission then through Gad.
How many seek permission for the groan
Of sacrificing Jesus on the throne
Of high altar from mass to mass today?
You don’t hand out contracts now anyway.

21 Then David came to Ornan, and
Ornan looked and saw David stand.
And he went from the threshing floor,
And bowed before David to pour
His face to the ground to adore.

Hah! Ornan knows the difference between
A visionary angel on the scene
And king with power to grant and to destroy.
The plague of angels is nothing of joy,
But cannot be proved by constant employ,
Empirical plot shows an empty field,
While kings are there to polish the well-heeled.
So Ornan knows to bow and give the bean.
Beloved, I too see angels twittering
About my window. Who knows what they bring
In plague now-days. If truth be told I find
Them as awesome before my chambered mind
As any other royalty combined.
I think both are a privilege in kind.

22 Then David said to Ornan, “Let
Me have this place so I can get
This threshing floor, so I may build
An altar here to YHWH fulfilled.
Just sell it to me at its price
To take away the plague in trice
From my folk.” 23 Ornan said aloud
To David, “Take it for your crowd,
And may my lord the king do good
In his sight. See, I give the wood
Of threshing cane, the oxen too
For a burnt offering as due,
And wheat for the meat offering too,
I give it all from me to you.

Ornan says he will give the king the plot.
Well, that’s just Canaanite and Hittite way
Of being polite beneath the sun’s ray.
They start the bidding from that gain ungot.
The same thing happened with dear Abraham
Who waited for the sons of Heth to give
A grave for those who would no longer live
Beneath the canopy of tent and lamb.
Beloved, You are my king and yet You come
To buy my inner temple for a sum.
I promise it to You and free of debt,
But You bid for it more than gold can get.
I give You but the self that You bestow,
You give me all the universe in tow.

24 Then King David said to Ornan,
“No, but I’ll surely buy the span
For the fair price, for I’ll not take
What’s yours for YHWH, nor give in stake
Burnt offerings that cost me no flake.”
25 So David gave Ornan the weight
Of six hundred shekels in state
Of gold for the place and the rate.
26 And David built an altar there
To YHWH, and offered burnt affair
And peace offerings, and called on YHWH,
And He answered him from the sky
By fire on the altar whereby
Burnt offering was made on the sly.

Six hundred shekels of gold, by Your word,
That is a sum royal from royal bird.
No wonder Ornan felt it safe to promise
Both land and oxen, though a doubting Thomas.
If David came to beg of me my land
Knowing the charisma of David’s hand
No doubt I too would give him all he asked
And left him midnight sun in which I basked.
Let David’s altar be set up where I
Tend to the clouds that paint the moving sky,
Watch with a helping eye the firs that pass
From summer into winter like green grass.
My heart’s an altar here, myself the lamb
That lives a moment, a bare spark, a gram.

27 And YHWH ordered the angel, and
He put up his sword from his hand.
28 At that time, when David saw that
YHWH had answered him where he sat
On threshing floor of Jebusite
Ornan, he sacrificed in rite.
29 For the tent of YHWH and the place
Of slaughter of burnt offering’s grace,
Which Moses in the wilderness
Had made, were then at the address
Of the high place in Gibeon’s press.
30 But David could not go before
It to ask Ælohim in store,
Because he feared the angel’s sword
Who came in the name of the LORD.

David fears more the angel than does he
Who threshes out the wheat and the barley.
Experience and knowledge and the test
Of faith brings fear into the godly breast.
The blind and ignorant are those who know
No fear before the divine angel’s show.
The reason so few see the sword drawn foe
Or hear angelic word or bow to find
The brightness far too bright for human mind,
Is simply because angels like to dance
On heads of pins too small for human prance.
The slightly twittered song on window pane
Well goes unnoticed in both sun and rain,
Goes unrecognized for its feathered pants.

1 CHRONICLES 22

1 Well David said “This is the house
Of YHWH Ælohim, and not mouse,
This is the altar of burnt offering
For Israel when they come in proffering.”
2 Then David ordered they should bring
The foreigners who came to sing
In Israel’s land, and he set up
The masons to dress stones in cup
To build the house of Ælohim.
3 And David gathered iron in lots
For pins in the gate hinges’ plots
And for the jointures, brass in bin
More than can be counted for sin,
4 And cedar trees in plenty too,
And those from Tyre brought lots of true
Cedar wood to David in crew.
5 So David said, “Solomon my
Son is young and just fit to try,
And the house to be built for YHWH
Renowned and glorious in view
Through all the lands, I will be fit
To make preparation for it.”
And David did a lot of things
On that account before death’s stings.
6 He summoned at last Solomon,
And ordered him who was his son
To build a dwelling place for YHWH
Ælohim of Israel and true.

David too circumvents word of the Lord
That told him he could not be the adored
To build a temple. Instead of submission,
He comes as close as he can to commission.
He does not build, but gathers all in store.
He does not lift a hammer, but the floor
Is filled with all the temple stones and bones.
David’s obedience in letter tones
Does not follow in spirit of the law.
Such is man’s way who lifts the tooth and claw.
The Bible is a book that tells the story
Of circumvention of commandments’ glory,
And every man still comes to it to read
Why he need not obey, at least in seed.

7 And David said to Solomon,
“My son, for my part it was done
In my intention for to build
A temple for YHWH’s name fulfilled
Who is my Ælohim instilled.
8 “But YHWH’s word came to me and said
‘Great wars and much blood you have shed,
You shall not build a house in fame
For me, because you’ve shed much blood
On earth before My eyes in flood.

If David was obedient to kill
Coming after merciful Saul to fill
The shoes of one who refused in the end
To commit destruction on human friend,
Then he should not be punished for the fact
That he was faithful to the divine act.
Let David build his temple! All men must
In three-score and ten years of eating dust.
Who is here innocent of blood and shame,
Who eat the widows’ portion and the game
Of orphans left to flounder in the flood
Of stolen oil and gold stuck in the mud?
Beloved, be just and merciful and see
What disobedience You have let free.

9 ‘Truly a son shall be born you,
Who’ll be a man of peace in pew,
And I will give him rest from all
His foes around in field and hall.
His name shall be Solomon, for
I will give peace and quiet store
To Israel in his days for score.
10 ‘He’ll build a temple for My fame,
And he shall be My son in name,
And I will be his Father too,
A counsellor for what to do,
And I will set his kingdom’s throne
Over Israel till time atone.’

The temple Solomon, the son of peace,
Built for the world and nation in release,
Was not erected from the iron and stone
And wood and gold that David from his throne
Gathered in grateful store for useless glory.
The real temple of this ancient story
Was written in a song of love that few
Have understood, but every man in pew
Has heard with awe before the tinkling sound
Of Song of Solomon upon the ground.
The temple of the son of peace, Islam’s
Great prophet, son of David in his balms
Contains the secret word and love in heart.
So David and Solomon did their part.

11 “Now, my son, may YHWH be with you,
And make prosper all that you do
Establishing the house of YHWH
Your Ælohim who promised you.
12 “May YHWH just give you wisdom and
Knowledge to reign on Israel’s band,
So you may keep the law of YHWH
Your God in everything you do.
13 “Then you will prosper, if you take
Care to obey the statutes’ stake
And judgments with which YHWH gave charge
To Moses of Israel at large.
Be strong and of good courage, do
Not be afraid, dismayed in pew.
14 “Truly I’ve gathered up with care
For the house of YHWH and its share
One hundred thousand talents gold,
A thousand thousand talents told
In silver, brass and iron more
Than can be counted in the store.
I’ve gathered lumber and stone too,
And you can add more to the stew.
15 “And you have lots of workmen too,
Carpenters and stonecutters’ crew,
All kinds of skilful men that do
All kinds of work for revenue.
16 “No limits to silver and gold
And brass and iron if all be told,
Get up and get busy, and may
YHWH be with you to bless your way.”

I take the gold of universe I find
About me in such wealth that I am blind
Before the glare and glory of the filled
Temple of world that only You could build.
I take the iron and stone, the cedar tree
And build of it my prayer and song to be
A temple to Your Name ascending free
In tones heard only by the bird and beast,
The ear of poverty, humility.
I see the building blocks rise in the east
And in grander parade file to the west
Leaving the divine temple in my breast.
Beloved, the self that fills my temple here
Is none but Yours alone and without fear.

17 David also ordered the chiefs
Of all Israel to bring reliefs
To Solomon his son, and said
18 “Has not YHWH your Ælohim sped
To be with you? And has He not
Provided respite in your plot?
He’s set the dwellers in the land
Delivered captive in my hand,
That land is subjugated to
His chosen people before YHWH.
19 Establish your heart and your soul
To search for YHWH and let your goal
Be your Ælohim. So get up
And build the sanctuary cup
Of YHWH Ælohim, bring the ark
Of covenant of YHWH to park
And holy pots of Ælohim
Into the building made supreme
For fame of YHWH to see and hark.”

Ah, my Beloved, what words of David crown
The temple song I find around the town!
The great and glorious Trinity I see:
Establish your hearth, the first thing to be.
Let your heart search for YHWH, that a thing true,
The second person of the thing I do.
And third in the great idol I set up
Is to let my goal be no golden cup
But Ælohim. These three are gods enough,
And so I spit out all the meat that’s tough.
But wait! There are more persons in the show:
Bring the ark of covenant where the glow
Of Decalogue is great, and holy pots,
The instruments of Ahmed in their lots.

1 CHRONICLES 23

1 Now when David was old and bowed
Beneath the weight of days in crowd,
He made his son called Solomon
King over Israel for fun.
2 He summoned all of Israel’s chiefs
With priests and Levites in their briefs.
3 The Levites were counted to start
From age thirty to do their part,
And they numbered to thirty-eight
Thousand all gathered at the gate.
4 Twenty-four thousand of those had
The job custodial, not bad,
Of YHWH’s house, while six thousand more
Were civil servant at the door
Of judges, 5 while four thousand sat
About the gates in formal pat,
And four thousand more came to praise
YHWH with instruments in the ways
Appointed them for giving praise.

The Levites’ tasks were all divided up
Into four groups of holy things to sup.
The great majority of functionaries
Were cleaners of the temple for their berries.
The others were just left to judge and sit
And sing the songs of David to be fit.
Who think the temple needs no cleansing ought
To think how many Levites were once taught
To wield a broom instead of censor there,
And use a mop instead of offerings’ share
Of knife. Another spectacle that seeks
Admittance to my mind, from curtains’ peeks,
Is that the load of blood and filth required
Also means more the cleaners are desired.

6 Then too David set them in groups
Of Levi’s descendants in coops:
Those of Gerson, Kohath and last
Merari to give a great blast.
7 Of Gershonites: Laadan Shimei.
8 The sons of Laadan: the first guy
Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel
Three in all body, bone and soul.
9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith,
Haziel, and Haran—three kith.
These were the chiefs of fathers’ clan
In all the house of Ben Laadan.
10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath,
Zina, Jeush, Beriah’s math.
These were the four sons of Shimei.
11 Jahath was the first on the sly
And Zizah the second man’s cry.
But Jeush and Beriah did
Not have so many sons to bid,
That’s why they were appointed to
One father house all in one crew.

I have no sons at all, I’m not Levite,
So I must be apportioned to the right
Of some house other than my own in sight.
Beloved, apportion me to David’s house
To be not guard or singer but a mouse
To clean the floors of blood and guts and make
That marbled, cedared temple for Your sake
A sweet and clean place under gate of air,
The ten commandments wafting ever there.
Beriah and Jeush had their own place
And I would join them in Davidic race
To bow before Your throne, Beloved, and hear
The rising of the Psalms upon my ear,
As I push mop on hands and knees with cheer.

12 The sons of Kohath: Amram and
Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel’s hand
Make four in all as though so planned.
13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and
Moses, and Aaron set apart,
He and his sons to do their part
Forever, so he’d sanctify
The most holy things, to comply
With burning incense before YHWH
To serve Him and with a word true
To bless in His name all the crew.
14 Now the sons of Moses the man
Of Ælohim appointed clan
To the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons
Of Moses: Gershon’s benisons
And Eliezer. 16 Of the sons
Of Gershon, Shebuel was first.
17 Of the descendants reimbursed
Of Eliezer, Rehabiah
Was the first. Eliezer cier
Had no other sons, but the sons
Of Rehabiah came in tons.
18 Of sons of Izhar, Shelomith
Was the first. 19 Of the sons in kith
Of Hebron, Jeriah was first,
Amariah second, and burst
Out Jahaziel to be third,
And Jekameam the fourth heard.

Now Shelomith’s a name of peace, I trow,
And given to both male and female now.
The son of peace in Levite’s crew is named
Alongside Solomon, David’s son famed.
A great-grandson of Moses, I suppose
This Shelomith will keep me on my toes.
I take the sweet name on my lips and share
The Hebrew melody with sun and air.
Beloved, let peace be my faith as I go
About the cobbled streets of tinselled show
To find the blind and those who do not know
That You alone are Self and what You speak
In Your ten words is all that man should seek.
Let war if need be keep me in that glow.

20 Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah
Was the first and the second pica
Was Jesshiah. 21 Sons of Merari
Were Mahli and Mushi. Not sorry,
The sons of Mahli: Eleazar
And Kish. 22 Then died Eleazar
Without sons, only daughters star,
And their cousins, the sons of Kish,
Took them as wives as they could wish.
23 The sons of Mushi were Mahli,
Eder, and Jeremoth, all three.
24 These were the sons of Levi by
Their fathers’ houses and the cry
Of fathers’ chiefs as they were counted
Each one by number of name mounted,
Who laboured in the house of YHWH
From twenty years of age to do.
25 So David said “YHWH Ælohim
Of Israel gave rest supreme
To His folk so that they might live
Always in Jerusalem’s sieve.”
26 And also to the Levites, “They
Shall no longer carry in sway
The tabernacle, or the pots
For its services in their lots.”

I do not mind carrying on my back
Your temple and its heavy pots in stack!
I do not need a grander temenos
Than that within myself to bear the cross.
What cross! The tent of David, light as air,
The singing of the Psalms by all the fair.
I do not mind the weight of pole and trim
Upon the back as long as I have him
Before me with his boy’s voice rising shrill
In ear of lion and bear upon the hill.
Beloved, I dance with Levites now set free
From burdens on the backs that once fairly
Walked on the dry Jordan bed to the land
Of Canaan where I’m also bound as planned.

27 By the last words of David all
The Levites were counted in stall
From twenty years old and above,
28 Because their duty was to love
To help the sons of Aaron in
The service of YHWH’s house and bin,
In the courts and the rooms to clean
All holy things and work that’s seen
In Ælohim’s service demesne,
29 With the showbread and the fine flour
For the meat offering, with the shower
Of cakes unyeasted in the pan,
With what is mixed and all that can
In weights and measures as by plan,
30 To stand each dawn to thank and raise
A song to YHWH and in His praise,
And at nightfall for days and days,
31 And every time burnt offering’s brought
To YHWH on Sabbaths, also caught
On the first day of the months wrought,
And on the set feasts, by the count
According to statutes’ amount,
From time to time before YHWH’s plot.
32 And they should take care of the tent
Of meeting and holy place spent,
And help the sons of Aaron who
Are their kin in housework of YHWH.

What made it right to count the Levites when
You caught David with plague when he again
Counted the armies of the Lord to fight
Against the Syrians, Philistines’ right?
Let me not count today the ones who come
Into the temple where my dervish bum
Waits at the door to take the shoes cast off:
Let me not count, Beloved, nor let me scoff.
I entered in the Blue Mosque on a day
When they were taking shoes, I came to pray.
But for my Celtic hue, they turned away
Until the time was past. But when they saw
Me bowing afterward in prostrate awe
They handed me apologizing paw.

1 CHRONICLES 24

1 Now these are the divisions of
The sons of Aaron. Sons in love
Of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu,
Eleazar, and sent to spy you
Ithamar. 2 But both Nadab and
Abihu died before the stand
Of their father, and had no band
Of children, therefore Eleazar
Served as priest as did Ithamar.
3 David, Zadok ben Eleazar,
Ahimelech ben Ithamar
Appointed them cycles to serve.
4 More chiefs appeared and having verve
Among Eleazar’s sons that came
Among sons of Ithamar’s fame,
But so they were set to the game.
Among Eleazar’s sons sixteen
Heads of fathers’ houses were seen,
And eight heads of fathers’ bands rose
Among sons that Ithamar chose.
5 So they were divided by lot
In equal bands, for in the plot
There were those serving in the slot
Official of the sanctuary
And Ælohim’s work to be wary,
From Eleazar’s sons as well
As Ithamar’s sons for a spell.

The priest, the sons of Aaron are appointed,
However one counts in the church’s sway,
Of David, who held sceptre and the way
Made plain, simply because he was anointed.
As such the son of David and Messiah
Should no doubt have the right to appoint priests,
Make Peter bishop of the Roman feasts
Convinced that he would never be pariah.
Enough of evidence is here to state
Long since that such priests, though among the great,
Will never represent You for the glory
Around the throne of David now grown hoary.
I think though David set up priests to serve,
Now none can find them wherever they swerve.

6 And the scribe, Shemaiah the son
Of Nethanel, of Levites one,
Wrote down their names before the king,
The leaders, Zadok the priestling,
Ahimelech the son and star
Of the priestly Abiathar,
And chiefs of fathers’ houses of
The priests and Levites, one above
Set for Eleazar and one
For Ithamar when all was done.
7 Now the first lot fell to the name
Of Jehoiarib, and the same
The second to Jedaiah’s fame,
8 The third to Harim, and the fourth
To Seorim, 9 the fifth as pour’th
To Malchijah, the sixth in way
To Mijamin, 10 the seventh stray
To Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
11 The ninth to Jeshua to hide you,
The tenth to Shecaniah, and
12 The eleventh one come to stand
To Eliashib, the twelfth to
Jakim, 13 the thirteenth falling to
Huppah, fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
14 The fifteenth to Bilgah like grebe,
The sixteenth to Immer, 15 and then
Seventeenth to Hezir again,
The eighteenth to Happizzez, while
16 Nineteenth to Pethahiah’s smile,
The twentieth to Jehezekel,
17 The twenty-first at temple shekel
To Jachin, twenty-second to
Gamul, 18 the twenty-third one to
Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to
Maaziah. 19 This was cycle true
Of their service to come into
The sanctuary house of YHWH
According to their law as set
By Aaron their father’s hand met,
As YHWH Israel’s Ælohim said
Commanding him with wine and bread.

The cycles of the sanctuary make
Happy the quarrels for the priestly sake
Of Qumran, where Zadokite faith and weather
Make the dry land to blossom and to feather.
As many people are consumed to know
Something about that ancient field and show,
My titillated brain is on the go
Come Sabbath or New Moon, make no mistake.
Each cycle and each priest is written down
Long since hidden in caves from those in town
While secrets of the blessings and the lost
Arise in academics to be tossed.
In everything I find a place to reason,
Not worrying about the time or season.

20 The rest of Levi’s sons are these:
Of Amram’s sons, Shubael to please,
Of Shubael, Jehdeiah come.
21 And as for Rehabiah’s hum,
The sons of Rehabiah, first
Was Isshiah. 22 Of Izharites,
Shelomoth, Shelomoth’s sons’ wights,
Jahath for one. 23 Of Hebron’s sons,
Jeriah first, then Amariah,
Jahaziel the third of tons,
And Jekameam fourth pariah.
24 Of Uzziel’s sons, Michah, and
Of Michah’s sons, Shamir to stand.
25 The brother of Michah, Isshiah,
Of Isshiah’s sons, Zechariah.
26 The sons of Merari: Mahli
And Mushi, two to count not three,
The son of Jaaziah was Beno.
27 The sons of Merari were Beno
By Jaaziah, then Shoham,
Zaccur, and Ibri like a lamb.
28 Of Mahli: Eleazar, who
Had no sons not even a few.
29 Of Kish: the son of Kish to see,
Jerahmeel. 30 The sons of Mushi
Also were Mahli, Eder, and
Jerimoth. These were in the land
The sons of the Levites by their
Fathers’ houses and what they wear.

See here how much these brothers love each other
Since Mushi named his son after his brother.
I understand if Mahli did not think
Returning the favour as worth the drink.
I too would rather be called Mahli than
Mushi, at least by English-speaking man.
The Levite names leave little to desire,
They are set up to wait the temple fire.
I too watch as the priests pale and return
To find no fire on altars there to burn.
The brother Kish no doubt is better set
With only one son on which to place bet.
Yes, one’s enough, no trouble in the offing,
No Trinities, no sacrifice or scoffing.

31 These too cast lots just as their kin
The sons of Aaron did to win,
In sight of King David, Zadok,
Ahimelech, and like a rock
The fathers’ chiefs of priests, Levites,
The chief fathers like younger wights.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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