Zadok and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of God’s promise. They set down the ark of God beside Abiathar until all the troops had withdrawn from the city.
Then Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Ahithophel advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do one thing, but I advised them to do something else.
Whenever they saw a lot of money in the box, the king’s scribe and the chief priest would collect and count the money that was donated in the Lord’s temple.
When they called for King Hezekiah, Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace and was the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, who was the royal historian and the son of Asaph, went out to the field commander.
They were ordered to sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord. This happened on the altar of burnt offerings continually, morning and evening, as written in the Lord’s Teachings that he gave Israel.
and Azariah. Azariah was the son of Hilkiah, grandson of Meshullam, and great-grandson of Zadok. Zadok’s father was Meraioth, the son of Ahitub (the official in charge of God’s temple).
Then Baruch read the scroll containing Jeremiah’s words. Baruch read it to all the people in the Lord’s temple in the room of the scribe Gemariah, son of Shaphan, in the upper courtyard at the entrance of New Gate of the Lord’s temple.
“ ‘But the priests who are Levites and descendants of Zadok took care of my holy place when the Israelites wandered away from me. They may come near me and serve me, and they may stand in my presence. They may bring fat and blood to me, declares the Almighty Lord.
Haven’t you ever read how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was chief priest and ate the bread of the presence? He had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right. Haven’t you ever read how he also gave some of it to his men?”