Chronicles I 23

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

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

2 And he assembled all the chief men of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites.

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

3 And the Levites numbered [themselves] from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls amounted to thirty and eight thousand men.

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 the overseers over the works of the house of the Lord [there were] twenty-four thousand, and [there were] six thousand scribes 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 and four thousand doorkeepers, and four thousand to praise the Lord with instruments which he made to praise the Lord.

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 And David divided them [into] daily courses, for the sons of Levi, for Gedson, Caath, and Merari.

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

7 And for [the family of] Gedson, Edan, and Semei.

Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

8 The sons of Edan [were] Jeiel, the chief, and Zethan, and Joel, three.

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

9 The sons of Semei; Salomith, Jeiel, and Dan, three: these [were] the chiefs of the families of Edan.

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

10 And to the sons of Semei, Jeth, and Ziza, and Joas, and Beria: these [were] the four sons of Semei.

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

11 And Jeth was the chief, and Ziza the second: and Joas and Beria did not multiply sons, and they became [only] one reckoning according to the house of their father.

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 Caath; Ambram, Isaar, Chebron, Oziel, four.

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

13 The sons of Ambram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was appointed for the consecration of the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister and bless in his name for ever.

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 And [as for] Moses the man of God, his sons were reckoned to 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; Gersam, and Eliezer.

The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The sons of Gersam; Subael the chief.

The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first.

17 And the sons of Eliezer were, Rabia the chief: and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rabia were very greatly multiplied.

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

18 The sons of Isaar; Salomoth the chief.

The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first.

19 The sons of Chebron; Jeria the chief, Amaria the second, Jeziel the third, Jekemias the fourth.

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

20 The sons of Oziel; Micha the chief, and Isia the second.

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

21 The sons of Merari; Mooli, and Musi: the sons of Mooli; Eleazar, and Kis.

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

22 And Eleazar died, and he had no sons, but daughters: and the sons of Kis, their brethren, took 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 Musi; Mooli, and Eder, and Jarimoth, three.

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

24 These [are] the sons of Levi according to the houses of their fathers; chiefs of their families according to their numbering, according to the number of their names, according to their polls, doing the works of service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward.

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 said, The Lord God of Israel has given rest to his people, and has taken up his abode in Jerusalem for ever.

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 And the Levites bore not the tabernacle, and all the vessels of it 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 by the last words of David was the number of the Levites [taken] from twenty years old and upward.

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

28 For he appointed them to wait on Aaron, to minister in the house of the Lord, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the purification of all the holy things, and over the works 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 and for the show-bread, and for the fine flour of the meat-offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for the fried cake, and for the dough, and for every measure;

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 and to stand in the morning to praise and give thanks to the Lord, and so 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 and [to be] over all the whole burnt offerings that were offered up to the Lord on the sabbaths, and at the new moons, and at the feasts, by number, according to the order [given] to them, continually before the Lord.

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 And they are to keep the charge of the tabernacle of witness, and the charge of the holy place, and the charges of the sons of Aaron their brethren, to minister in 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.