1 Chronicles 23

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

When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

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

Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.

3 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.

The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.

4 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.

“Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,

5 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.”

4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.”

6 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.

Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

7 From the descendants of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei.

The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

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

The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.

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

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

10 There were four men who were other sons of Shimei:

And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

11 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.

Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one family and received a single assignment.

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

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

13 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.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

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

As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The oldest son of Gershom was Shubael.

The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first.

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

The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

18 The oldest son of Izhar was Shelomith.

The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the first.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eleazar died without having any sons; he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

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

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

24 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.

These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.

25 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.

For David had said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever.

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

So now the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles for its service.”

27 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.

For according to the final instructions of David, the Levites twenty years of age or older were counted,

28 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.

but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God,

29 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.

as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.

30 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.

They were also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise in the evening.

31 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.

Whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, they were to serve regularly before the LORD in the numbers prescribed for them.

32 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.

So the Levites were to carry out the responsibilities for the Tent of Meeting and the Holy Place, and, under their brothers the descendants of Aaron, the service of the house of the LORD.