1 Chronicles 23

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 thirty-eight thousand men. ⁴“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges, ⁵four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments which I have made for praise.” ⁶And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merarʹi.

⁷The sons of Gershom were Ladan and Shimʹe-i. ⁸The sons of Ladan: Jehiʹel the chief, and Zetham, and Joʹel, three. ⁹The sons of Shimʹe-i: Sheloʹmoth, Haʹzi-el, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. ¹⁰And the sons of Shimʹe-i: Jahath, Zina, and Jeʹush, and Beriʹah. These four were the sons of Shimʹe-i. ¹¹Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeʹush and Beriʹah had not many sons, therefore they became a fathers’ house in one reckoning.

¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzʹziel, four. ¹³The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, that he and his sons for ever should burn incense before the Lord, and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name for ever. ¹⁴But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵The sons of Moses: Gershom and Elieʹzer. ¹⁶The sons of Gershom: Shebʹuel the chief. ¹⁷The sons of Elieʹzer: Rehabiʹah the chief; Elieʹzer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiʹah were very many. ¹⁸The sons of Izhar: Sheloʹmith the chief. ¹⁹The sons of Hebron: Jeriʹah the chief, Amariʹah the second, Jahaʹziel the third, and Jekameʹam the fourth. ²⁰The sons of Uzʹziel: Micah the chief and Isshiʹah the second.

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

²⁴These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses as they were registered 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 peace to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem for ever. 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 these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and upward—²⁸“but their duty shall be 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; ²⁹to assist also with the showbread, the flour for the cereal offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size. ³⁰And they shall stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹and whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, continually before the Lord. ³²Thus they shall keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and shall attend the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of the Lord.”