1 Chronicles 23

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

David was a very old man [DOU] when he appointed his son Solomon to be the next king.

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

David gathered the leaders of Israel and the priests and other descendants of Levi.

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

He [commanded some of his officials to] count the descendants of Levi who were at least thirty years old, and they found out that there were 38,000 of them.

4 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.

Then David said, “From those 38,000 men, I want 24,000 of them to supervise the work at the temple of Yahweh, and I want 6,000 of them to be officials and judges.

5 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.

I want 4,000 to be guards at the gates, and 4,000 to praise Yahweh, using the musical instruments that I have provided for them.”

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

David divided the descendants of Levi into three family groups; each group consisted of men who were descendants of one of the three sons of Levi—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 The sons of Gershom: Ladan and Shimei.

From the descendants of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei.

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

There were three sons of Ladan: Jehiel was the oldest, and his [younger] brothers Zetham and Joel.

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

There were three of the sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. They were all leaders of the clans of Ladan.

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

There were four men who were other sons of Shimei:

11 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.

Jahath, who was his oldest son, and his [younger] brothers Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as though they were one family.

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

Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

13 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.

There were two sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the very holy things, to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, to serve in his presence, and to declare [to the people] what Yahweh [MTY] would do to bless them. They were to do those things forever.

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

The sons of Moses, the man who served God [well], were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.

15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first.

The oldest son of Gershom was Shubael.

17 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.

Rehabiah was the oldest son of Eliezer. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many sons.

18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first.

The oldest son of Izhar was Shelomith.

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

Hebron had four sons. Jeriah was his oldest son, and his [younger] brothers were Amariah, Jahaziel, and Jekameam.

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

Uzziel had two sons. Micah was the oldest son, and his [younger] brother was Isshiah.

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

Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.

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

Eleazar had no sons; he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

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

The three sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

24 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.

Those were the descendants of Levi, whose names were listed according to their families/clans. They were chosen for special jobs by (casting lots/throwing small marked stones). Each person who was at least 20 years old was listed. They all worked in the temple of Yahweh.

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

David had said previously, “Yahweh, the God to whom we Israeli people belong, has enabled us to have peace, and he [has come to] live in Jerusalem forever.

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

Therefore, the descendants of Levi no longer need to carry the Sacred Tent and the items used in the work there.”

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

Obeying the final instructions of David [before he died, instructions for doing this work at the temple], they counted only the descendants of Levi who were at least 20 years old.

28 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.

The work of those descendants of Levi was to assist the descendants of Aaron in their work in the temple of Yahweh: To be in charge of the temple courtyards and the side rooms, the ceremonies for purifying all the sacred things, and to do other work at the temple.

29 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.

They were also in charge of the sacred loaves of bread that were placed [each week] on the table [in the temple], the flour for the grain offerings, the wafers that were made without yeast, and the measuring the ingredients and mixing them and baking that bread and those wafers.

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

They were also told to stand every morning [at the temple] and thank Yahweh and praise him. They were also required to do the same thing every evening.

31 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.

And they were to do the same thing whenever offerings that were to be completely burned [on the altar] were presented/offered to Yahweh on Sabbath days and during the new moon celebrations and other religious festivals. They were told how many of them should be there and what they should do each time.

32 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.

So the descendants of Levi did the work that was assigned to them by their fellow Israelis who were descendants of Aaron. They did that work in the area surrounding the Sacred Tent, and in the Sacred Tent, and [later] at the temple.