1 Chronicles 23

David Organizes the Levites

¹When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

²David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites.³The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was 38,000 men.⁴“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be officers and judges,⁵4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”⁶And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei.⁸The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three.⁹The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan.¹⁰And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.¹¹Jahath 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.

¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.¹³The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the Lord and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever.¹⁴But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi.¹⁵The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.¹⁶The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.¹⁷The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.¹⁸The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.¹⁹The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.²⁰The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

²¹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.²²Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them.²³The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, the heads of fathers' houses as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord.²⁵For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.²⁶And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.”²⁷For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward.²⁸For 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.²⁹Their duty was also to assist with the showbread, the flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size.³⁰And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening,³¹and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord on Sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord.³²Thus they were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.