E4.org

1 Chronicles 23

David Organizes the Levites

1 ^aWhen David was old and full of days ^bhe made Solomon his son king over Israel.

2 David ^{▼

▼
Hebrew He} assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites, ^dthirty years old and upward, were numbered, and ^ethe total was ^f38,000 men. 4 “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, ^{▼

▼
Hebrew lacks David said} ^h“shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be ⁱofficers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments ^jthat I have made for praise.” 6 ^kAnd David organized them in divisions ^lcorresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 ^mThe sons of Gershon ^{▼

▼
Vulgate (compare Septuagint, Syriac); Hebrew to the Gershonite} were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan: ^oJehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father’s house.

12 ^pThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13 ^qThe sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. ^rAaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should ^smake offerings before the Lord and ^tminister to him and ^upronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 But the sons of Moses the ^vman of God were named among the ^wtribe of Levi. 15 The ^xsons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: ^yShebuel the chief. 17 The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. 19 The ^zsons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 ^aaThe sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

21 ^abThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and ^acKish. 22 Eleazar died ^adhaving no sons, but only daughters; their ^aekinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. 23 ^afThe sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

24 ^agThese were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses ^ahas they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from ^aitwenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, ^ajhas given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need ^akto carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from ^altwenty years old and upward. 28 For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God. 29 Their duty was also to assist with the ^amshowbread, the ^anflour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the ^aobaked offering, the ^apoffering mixed with oil, and all ^aqmeasures of quantity or size. 30 And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord ^aron Sabbaths, ^asnew moons, and feast days, ^ataccording to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord. 32 Thus ^authey were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the ^avservice of the house of the Lord.