1 Chronicles 23

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

And David is old, and satisfied with days, and causeth his son Solomon to reign over Israel,

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

and gathereth all the heads of Israel, and the priests, and the 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.

and the Levites are numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, and their number, by their polls, is of mighty men thirty and eight thousand.

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 to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah [are] twenty and four thousand, and officers and judges six thousand,

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.”

and four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand giving praise to Jehovah, 'with instruments that I made for praising,' [saith David.]

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.

And David distributeth them into courses: Of the sons of Levi: of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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

Of the Gershonite: Laadan and Shimei.

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

Sons of Laadan: the head [is] Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

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

Sons of Shimei [are] Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three; these [are] heads of the fathers of Laadan.

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

And sons of Shimei [are] Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these [are] sons of Shimei, four.

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.

And Jahath is the head, and Zizah the second, and Jeush and Beriah have not multiplied sons, and they become the house of a father by one numbering.

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

Sons of Kohath [are] Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

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.

Sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron is separated for his sanctifying the holy of holies, he and his sons — unto the age, to make perfume before Jehovah, to serve Him, and to bless in His name — unto the age.

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

As to Moses, the man of God, his sons are called after the tribe of Levi.

15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

Sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The oldest son of Gershom was Shubael.

Sons of Gershom: Shebuel the head.

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

And sons of Eliezer are Rehabiah the head, and Eliezer had no other sons, and the sons of Rehabiah have multiplied exceedingly.

18 The oldest son of Izhar was Shelomith.

Sons of Izhar: Shelomith the head.

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

Sons of Hebron: Jeriah the head, 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.

Sons of Uzziel: Micah the head, and Ishshiah, the second.

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

Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

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

And Eleazar dieth, and he had no sons, but daughters, and sons of Kish their brethren take them.

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

Sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.

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 [are] sons of Levi, by the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, by their appointments, in the number of names, by their polls, doing the work for the service of the house of Jehovah, from a son of twenty years and upward,

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 said, 'Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given rest to His people, and He doth tabernacle in Jerusalem unto the age;'

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

and also of the Levites, 'None [are] to bear the tabernacle and all its vessels 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 by the last words of David they [took] the number of the sons of Levi from a son of twenty years and upward,

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.

for their station [is] at 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 cleansing of every holy thing, 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.

and for the bread of the arrangement, and for fine flour for present, and for the thin unleavened cakes, and for [the work of] the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all [liquid] measure and [solid] measure;

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.

and to stand, morning by morning, to give thanks, and to give praise to Jehovah, and so at 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.

and for all the burnt-offerings — burnt-offerings to Jehovah for sabbaths, for new moons, and for appointed seasons, by number, according to the ordinance upon them continually, before Jehovah.

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.

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