1 Chronicles 23

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

Then David, being old and full of days, appointed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

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

And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests as well as the Levites.

3 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.

And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward. And there were found thirty-eight thousand men.

4 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;

Of these, twenty-four thousand were chosen and distributed to the ministry of the house of the Lord. Then six thousand were overseers and judges.

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

Moreover, four thousand were porters. And the same number were the singers of psalms to the Lord, with the musical instruments which he had made for the music.

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

And David distributed them into courses according to the sons of Levi, specifically, Gershom, and Kohath, and Merari.

7 Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

The sons of Gershom: Ladan and Shimei.

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

The sons of Ladan: the leader Jahiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

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

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the leaders of the families of Ladan.

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

Then the sons of Shimei: Jahath, and Zizah, and Jeush, and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei, four.

11 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.

Now Jahath was first, Zizah second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, and for this reason they were reckoned as one family and one house.

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

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

13 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.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Now Aaron was separated so that he might minister in the Holy of Holies, he and his sons forever, and so that he might burn incense to the Lord, according to his rite, and so that he might bless his name in perpetuity.

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

The sons of Moses, the man of God, were also numbered in the tribe of Levi.

15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first.

The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first.

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

Now the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the first. And there were no other sons for Eliezer. But the sons of Rehabiah were multiplied exceedingly.

18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first.

The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first.

19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah 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, Jekameam the fourth.

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

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

Then Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only daughters. And so the sons of Kish, their brothers, married them.

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

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

24 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.

These are the sons of Levi, in their kindred and families, leaders in turns, and the number of each of the heads who were doing the works of the ministry of the house of the Lord, from twenty years of age and upward.

25 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;

For David said: “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and a habitation in Jerusalem even unto eternity.

26 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.

Neither shall it be the office of the Levites any more to carry the tabernacle with all its equipment for use in the ministry.”

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

Also, according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi shall be counted by number from twenty years of age and upward.

28 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,

And they shall be under the hand of the sons of Aaron, in the care of the house of the Lord, in the vestibule, and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord.

29 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;

But the priests shall be over the bread of the presence, and the sacrifice of fine wheat flour, and the unleavened cakes, and the frying pan, and the roasting, and over every weight and measure.

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

Yet truly, the Levites shall stand to confess and to sing to the Lord, in the morning, and similarly in the evening,

31 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;

as much in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord, as in the Sabbaths and new moons and other solemnities, according to the number and ceremonies for each and every matter, perpetually before the Lord.

32 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.

And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the rituals of the sanctuary, and the observance of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, so that they may minister in the house of the Lord.