1 Chronicles 23

1 So when David was old and full of days, 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 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and 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 which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of YHWH; 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 Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised YHWH 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 among the sons of Levi, namely, 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 were, Laadan, and Shimei.

From the descendants of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei.

8 The sons of Laadan; the chief 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 of the 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 were, Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

There were four men who were other sons of Shimei:

11 And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's 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, Ishar, 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 sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before YHWH, to minister unto 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 Now concerning Moses the man of Elohim, 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 were, Gershom, and Eliezer.

The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.

The oldest son of Gershom was Shubael.

17 And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none 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 Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.

The oldest son of Izhar was Shelomith.

19 Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, 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 Of the sons of Uzziel; Michah the first, and Jesiah 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 after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of YHWH, from the age of twenty years 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, YHWH Elohim of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may 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 also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.

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 the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:

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 Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of YHWH, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of Elohim;

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 Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure 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 YHWH, 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 to offer all burnt sacrifices unto YHWH in the Sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before YHWH:

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 that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of YHWH.

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.