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

and gathereth all the heads of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites;

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.

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

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

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

Of the Gershonite: Laadan and Shimei.

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

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

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

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

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

15 Sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 Sons of Gershom: Shebuel the head.

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

18 Sons of Izhar: Shelomith the head.

19 Sons of Hebron: Jeriah the head, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

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

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

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

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

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

26 and also of the Levites, `None [are] to bear the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service;'

27 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 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 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 and to stand, morning by morning, to give thanks, and to give praise to Jehovah, and so at evening;

31 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 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.

The Levites

23 When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon(A) king over Israel.(B)

He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. The Levites thirty years old or more(C) were counted,(D) and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.(E) David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge(F) of the work(G) of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges.(H) Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments(I) I have provided for that purpose.”(J)

David separated(K) the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi:(L) Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

Gershonites

Belonging to the Gershonites:(M)

Ladan and Shimei.

The sons of Ladan:

Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.

The sons of Shimei:

Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.

These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

10 And the sons of Shimei:

Jahath, Ziza,[a] Jeush and Beriah.

These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

11 Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.

Kohathites

12 The sons of Kohath:(N)

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.

13 The sons of Amram:(O)

Aaron and Moses.

Aaron was set apart,(P) he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister(Q) before him and to pronounce blessings(R) in his name forever. 14 The sons of Moses the man(S) of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.

15 The sons of Moses:

Gershom and Eliezer.(T)

16 The descendants of Gershom:(U)

Shubael was the first.

17 The descendants of Eliezer:

Rehabiah(V) was the first.

Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

18 The sons of Izhar:

Shelomith(W) was the first.

19 The sons of Hebron:(X)

Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.

20 The sons of Uzziel:

Micah the first and Ishiah the second.

Merarites

21 The sons of Merari:(Y)

Mahli and Mushi.(Z)

The sons of Mahli:

Eleazar and Kish.

22 Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.(AA)

23 The sons of Mushi:

Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.

24 These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more(AB) who served in the temple of the Lord. 25 For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest(AC) to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, 26 the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”(AD) 27 According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.

28 The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification(AE) of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God. 29 They were in charge of the bread set out on the table,(AF) the special flour for the grain offerings,(AG) the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.(AH) 30 They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening(AI) 31 and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon(AJ) feasts and at the appointed festivals.(AK) They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.

32 And so the Levites(AL) carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting,(AM) for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.(AN)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 23:10 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina