1 Chronicles 23

1 And David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son 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 princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.

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

3 And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward; and their number, by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

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 to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers 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 and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, [said David, ] to praise [therewith].

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 divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, 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 Of the Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei.

From the descendants of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei.

8 The sons of Laadan: the head was Jehiel, 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: Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief fathers of Laadan.

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

10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Ziza, and Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei.

There were four men who were other sons of Shimei:

11 And Jahath was the head, and Ziza the second; and Jeush and Beriah had not many sons: as father's house, therefore, they were reckoned as one.

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, Jizhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

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

13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was separated, that he should be hallowed as most holy, he and his sons for ever, to offer before Jehovah, to do service to him, and to bless in his name for ever.

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 — And as to Moses the man of God, his sons were named of 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 head.

The oldest son of Gershom was Shubael.

17 And the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the head; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

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

18 — The sons of Jizhar: Shelomith the head.

The oldest son of Izhar was Shelomith.

19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and 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 head, and Jishijah 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 And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters; and their brethren the sons of Kish took 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 were the sons of Levi according to their fathers' houses, the chief fathers, as they were reckoned, by number of names by their polls, who did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, from twenty years old 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, Jehovah the God of Israel has given rest to his people, and he will dwell in Jerusalem for ever;

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 and the Levites also have no more to carry the tabernacle, nor any of its vessels for its service.

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

27 For by the last words of David was this [done], — the numbering of the sons of Levi from twenty years old 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 For their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the purifying of all holy things, and [for] the work of the service of the house of God;

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 and for the loaves to be set in rows, and for the fine flour for the oblation, and for the unleavened cakes, and for [what is baked in] the pan, and for that which is saturated [with oil], and for all measure of capacity and size;

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 and to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even;

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 and for all burnt-offerings offered up to Jehovah on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the ordinance concerning them, continually, before Jehovah;

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 they kept the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of Jehovah.

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.