1 Chronicles 22:1–24:31

Then David said, ^s“Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares for Temple Building

²David commanded to gather together the ^tresident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he ^uset stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. ³David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, ^vas well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, ⁴and cedar timbers without number, ^wfor the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. ⁵For David said, ^x“Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

Solomon Charged to Build the Temple

⁶Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁷David said to Solomon, “My son, ^yI had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. ⁸But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^z‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. ⁹Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. ^aI will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. ^bFor his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. ^10cHe shall build a house for my name. ^dHe shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’

¹¹“Now, my son, ^ethe Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. ^12fOnly, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. ^13gThen you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. ^hBe strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed. ¹⁴With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord ⁱ100,000 talents¹ of gold, a million talents of silver, and ^jbronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. ¹⁵You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working ¹⁶gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! ^kThe Lord be with you!”

¹⁷David also commanded ^lall the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, ¹⁸“Is not the Lord your God with you? And ^mhas he not given you peace² on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people. ¹⁹Now ⁿset your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, ^oso that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built ^pfor the name of the Lord.”

David Organizes the Levites

23^qWhen David was old and full of days, ^rhe made Solomon his son king over Israel.

²David¹ assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³The Levites, ^sthirty years old and upward, were numbered, and ^tthe total was ^u38,000 men. ⁴“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said,^{2 v}“shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be ^wofficers and judges, ⁵4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments ^xthat I have made for praise.” ^6yAnd David organized them in divisions ^zcorresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

^7aThe sons of Gershon³ were Ladan and Shimei. ⁸The sons of Ladan: ^bJehiel 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.

^12cThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ^13dThe sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. ^eAaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should ^fmake offerings before the Lord and ^gminister to him and ^hpronounce blessings in his name forever. ¹⁴But the sons of Moses the ⁱman of God were named among the ^jtribe of Levi. ¹⁵The ^ksons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶The sons of Gershom: ^lShebuel 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 ^msons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰ⁿThe sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

^21oThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and ^pKish. ²²Eleazar died ^qhaving no sons, but only daughters; their ^rkinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. ^23sThe sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

^24tThese were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses ^uas they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from ^vtwenty 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, ^whas given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶And so the Levites no longer need ^xto 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 ^vtwenty 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 ^yshowbread, the ^zflour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the ^abaked offering, the ^boffering mixed with oil, and all ^cmeasures 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 ^don Sabbaths, ^enew moons, and feast days, ^faccording to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord. ³²Thus ^gthey were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the ^hservice of the house of the Lord.

David Organizes the Priests

24The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of ⁱAaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^2jBut Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. ³With the help of ^kZadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. ⁴Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers’ houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. ⁵They divided them ^lby lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ⁶And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and ^mAhimelech the son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father’s house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

⁷The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to ⁿAbijah, ¹¹the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹²the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, ¹⁴the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, ¹⁶the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, ¹⁷the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹These had as their appointed duty in their service ^oto come into the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰And of the rest of the sons of Levi: ^pof the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ^21qOf Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. ²²Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ^23rThe sons of Hebron:¹ Jeriah the chief,² Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ^24sThe sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ^26tThe sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.^{3 27}The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸Of Mahli: Eleazar, ^uwho had no sons. ²⁹Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ^30vThe sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. ³¹These also, the head of each father’s house and his younger brother alike, ^wcast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, ^xZadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites.