1 Berɛsosɛm 23
1 Ɛberɛ a Dawid bɔɔ akɔkoraa no, ɔyii ne babarima Salomo sɛ ɔno na ɔbɛdi Israel so ɔhene.
David was a very old man [DOU] when he appointed his son Solomon to be the next king.
2 Dawid frɛfrɛɛ Israel amanyɛ ntuanofoɔ nyinaa ne asɔfoɔ, a Lewifoɔ ka ho sɛ, wɔmmra ahensie afahyɛ no ase.
David gathered the leaders of Israel and the priests and other descendants of Levi.
3 Wɔkanee Lewifoɔ a wɔadi mfirinhyia aduasa anaa deɛ ɛboro saa, na wɔn nyinaa dodoɔ yɛ mpem aduasa nwɔtwe.
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 Na Dawid kaa sɛ, “Wɔn mu mpem aduonu ɛnan bɛhwɛ Awurade Asɔredan no ho adwuma so. Mpem nsia bɛsom sɛ mpanimfoɔ ne atemmufoɔ.
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 Mpem ɛnan bɛyɛ apono ano ahwɛfoɔ na mpem ɛnan foforɔ de nnwontodeɛ a mayɛ no bɛkamfo Awurade.”
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 Na Dawid kyekyɛɛ Lewifoɔ no mu akuakuo de mmusuakuo a wɔyɛ Lewi mmammarima Gerson, Kohat ne Merari asefoɔ no din totoo wɔn so.
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 Gerson mmammarima ne: Libni ne Simei.
From the descendants of Gershon there were Ladan and Shimei.
8 Libni asefoɔ no mu baasa yɛ: Yehiel (a ɔyɛ abusuapanin), Setam ne Yoɛl.
There were three sons of Ladan: Jehiel was the oldest, and his [younger] brothers Zetham and Joel.
9 Yeinom na na wɔyɛ Libni abusua no mpanimfoɔ. Na Simei asefoɔ baasa no ne Selomot, Hasiel ne Haran.
There were three of the sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. They were all leaders of the clans of Ladan.
10 Simei asefoɔ baanan a wɔaka no ne: Yahat, Sisa, Yeus ne Beria.
There were four men who were other sons of Shimei:
11 Na Yahat yɛ ɔbapanin, na Sisa di Yahat akyi. Wɔfaa Yeus ne Beria sɛ abusua baako, ɛfiri sɛ, na wɔn mu biara nni mmammarima dodoɔ.
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 Na Amram, Ishar, Hebron ne Usiel ka Kohat asefoɔ no ho.
Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
13 Amram mmammarima yɛ: Aaron ne Mose. Wɔyii Aaron ne nʼasefoɔ sɛ wɔnni nneɛma kronkron no ho dwuma, na wɔmmɔ afɔdeɛ wɔ Awurade anim, nsom Awurade, na wɔnhyira wɔ ne din mu daa daa.
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 Mose a ɔyɛ Onyankopɔn onipa no deɛ, wɔde ne mmammarima kaa Lewi abusuakuo ho.
The sons of Moses, the man who served God [well], were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
15 Mose mmammarima no yɛ Gersom ne Elieser.
The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.
16 Na Sebuel a ɔyɛ abusuapanin no ka Gersom asefoɔ no ho.
The oldest son of Gershom was Shubael.
17 Na Elieser wɔ ɔbabarima baako a wɔfrɛ no Rehabia a na ɔyɛ abusuapanin. Na Rehabia mmammarima yɛ bebree.
Rehabiah was the oldest son of Eliezer. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many sons.
18 Na Selomit a ɔyɛ abusuapanin no ka Ishar asefoɔ no ho.
The oldest son of Izhar was Shelomith.
19 Na Yeria a ɔyɛ abusuapanin, Amaria a ɔdi hɔ, Yahasiel a ɔtɔ so mmiɛnsa ne Yekameam a ɔtɔ so ɛnan no ne Hebron mmammarima no.
Hebron had four sons. Jeriah was his oldest son, and his [younger] brothers were Amariah, Jahaziel, and Jekameam.
20 Na Mika a ɔyɛ abusuapanin ne Yisia a ɔdi hɔ no yɛ Usiel asefoɔ no.
Uzziel had two sons. Micah was the oldest son, and his [younger] brother was Isshiah.
21 Na Mahli ne Musi yɛ Merari mmammarima. Mahli mmammarima ne: Eleasa ne Kis.
Merari had two sons: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.
22 (Eleasa wuiɛ a wanwo mmammarima biara, na mmom, mmammaa nko ara. Ne mmammaa no warewaree wɔn nuanom a wɔyɛ Kis mmammarima.)
Eleazar had no sons; he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
23 Musi mmammarima baasa no din de: Mahli, Eder ne Yeremot.
The three sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
24 Yeinom na na wɔn mmusua enti wɔyɛ Lewi asefoɔ, na wɔyɛ wɔn mmusua akuo no ntuanofoɔ a na wɔahwɛ atwerɛ wɔn din. Na ɛsɛ sɛ wɔn mu biara di mfirinhyia aduonu anaa deɛ ɛboro saa, ansa na waso Awurade fie som.
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 Na Dawid kaa sɛ, “Awurade, Israel Onyankopɔn ama yɛn asomdwoeɛ, na daa ɔbɛtena Yerusalem.
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 Afei, ɛho nhia sɛ Lewifoɔ no bɛsoa Ahyiaeɛ Ntomadan no ne ne nkuku ne ne nkaka de adi atutena.”
Therefore, the descendants of Levi no longer need to carry the Sacred Tent and the items used in the work there.”
27 Sɛdeɛ Dawid no ara akwankyerɛ a ɛtwa toɔ no seɛ no, ɛsɛ sɛ wɔtwerɛ Lewifoɔ a wɔadi mfirinhyia aduonu ne deɛ ɛboro saa nyinaa din ma ɔsom.
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 Na Lewifoɔ no adwuma ne sɛ, wɔbɛboa asɔfoɔ no a wɔyɛ Aaron asefoɔ no wɔ ɔsom nnwuma a wɔyɛ wɔ Awurade fie no mu. Afei, wɔbɛhwɛ adihɔ ne adan a ɛwɔ nkyɛnkyɛn no so. Na wɔbɛboa ahodwira nnwuma mu, na wɔasom akwan ahodoɔ so wɔ Onyankopɔn efie.
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 Na wɔhwɛ burodo kronkron a wɔkora no didipono so no, asikyiresiam a wɔayam no muhumuhu a wɔde bɔ aduane afɔdeɛ, taterɛ a mmɔreka nni mu, ɔfam a wɔde ngo dua sradeɛ akye ne burodo afoforɔ a wɔde afrafra no so. Afei, na wɔn asɛdeɛ bi nso ne sɛ, wɔhwɛ nsania ne susudua nso so.
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 Na anɔpa ne anwummerɛ biara nso, wɔgyina Awurade anim to aseda ne nkamfo nnwom ma no.
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 Wɔboa ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ a wɔbɔ ma Awurade homeda ahodoɔ mu wɔ Ɔbosome Foforɔ Afahyɛ mu ne nnapɔnna nyinaa ho dwumadie mu. Ɛberɛ biara, na Lewifoɔ dodoɔ a ɛfata wɔ hɔ a wɔsom Awurade anim.
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 Ɛno enti, Lewifoɔ no a na wɔsom wɔ Ahyiaeɛ Ntomadan no mu kɔɔ so somm wɔ Asɔredan no mu. Na wɔde nokorɛdie yɛɛ wɔn som no nnwuma wɔ Awurade efie.
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.
