1 Chronicles 23

1 When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

Now David was old and full of days; and he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

2 Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.

And he got together all the chiefs of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.

3 The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.

And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

4 “Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority;

5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.”

Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise.

6 Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

And David put them into divisions under the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.

The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham and Joel, three.

9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three; these were the heads of the families of Ladan.

10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zizah and Jeush and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei.

11 Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one family and received a single assignment.

Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had only a small number of sons, so they were grouped together as one family.

12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.

The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever.

14 As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

And the sons of Moses, the man of God, were put into the list of the tribe of Levi.

15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first.

The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first.

17 The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

And the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the first; and Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had a great number.

18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the first.

The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first.

19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah was the first and Isshiah the second.

The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first, and Isshiah the second.

21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

22 Eleazar died without having any sons; he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

And at his death Eleazar had no sons, but only daughters, and their relations, the sons of Kish, took them as wives.

23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth —three in all.

The sons of Mushi: Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth, three.

24 These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.

These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord.

25 For David had said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever.

For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever;

26 So now the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles for its service.”

And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites.

27 For according to the final instructions of David, the Levites twenty years of age or older were counted,

So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over.

28 but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,

Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord,

29 as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.

The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures;

30 They were also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise in the evening.

They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening;

31 Whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, they were to serve regularly before the LORD in the numbers prescribed for them.

At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord;

32 So the Levites were to carry out the responsibilities for the Tent of Meeting and the Holy Place, and, under their brothers the descendants of Aaron, the service of the house of the LORD.

And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.