1 Chronicles 23–26

The Work of the Levites

23^*When David was very old, he made his son Solomon king of Israel.

²King David brought together all the Israelite leaders and all the priests and Levites. ³He took a census of all the male Levites aged 30 or older. The total was 38,000. ⁴The king assigned 24,000 to administer the work of the Temple, 6,000 to keep records and decide disputes, ⁵4,000 to do guard duty, and 4,000 to praise the Lord, using the musical instruments provided by the king for this purpose.

⁶David divided the Levites into three groups, according to their clans: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷Gershon had two sons: Ladan and Shimei. ⁸Ladan had three sons: Jehiel, Zetham, and Joel, ⁹who were the heads of the clans descended from Ladan. (Shimei had three sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.)^{x 10–11}Shimei had four sons: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah, in order of age. Jeush and Beriah did not have many descendants, so they were counted as one clan.

¹²Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ^13*His eldest son, Amram, was the father of Aaron and Moses. (Aaron and his descendants were set apart to be in charge of the sacred objects for ever, to burn incense in the worship of the Lord, to serve him, and to bless the people in his name. ¹⁴But the sons of Moses, the man of God, were included among the Levites.) ¹⁵Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶The leader among Gershom’s sons was Shebuel. ¹⁷Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

¹⁸Kohath’s second son, Izhar, had a son, Shelomith, the head of the clan. ¹⁹Kohath’s third son, Hebron, had four sons: Jeriah, Amariah, Jahaziel, and Jekameam. ²⁰Kohath’s fourth son, Uzziel, had two sons, Micah and Isshiah.

²¹Merari had two sons, Mahli and Mushi. Mahli also had two sons, Eleazar and Kish, ²²but Eleazar died without having any sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. ²³Merari’s second son, Mushi, had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

²⁴These were the descendants of Levi, by clans and families, every one of them registered by name. Each of his descendants, twenty years of age or older, had a share in the work of the Lord’s Temple.

²⁵David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people, and he himself will live in Jerusalem for ever. ^26*So there is no longer any need for the Levites to carry the Tent of the Lord’s presence and all the equipment used in worship.” ²⁷On the basis of David’s final instructions all Levites were registered for service when they reached the age of twenty, ^28*and were assigned the following duties: to help the priests descended from Aaron with the temple worship, to take care of its courtyards and its rooms, and to keep undefiled everything that is sacred; ^29*to be responsible for the bread offered to God, the flour used in offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the baked offerings, and the flour mixed with olive oil; to weigh and measure the temple offerings; ^30*and to praise and glorify the Lord every morning and every evening ^31*and whenever offerings to the Lord are burnt on the Sabbath, the New Moon Festival, and other festivals. Rules were made specifying the number of Levites assigned to do this work each time. The Levites were assigned the duty of worshipping the Lord for all time. ^32*They were given the responsibility of taking care of the Tent of the Lord’s presence and the Temple, and of assisting their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, in the temple worship.

The Work Assigned to the Priests

24These are the groups to which the descendants of Aaron belong. Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^2*Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and left no descendants, so their brothers Eleazar and Ithamar became priests. ³King David organized the descendants of Aaron into groups according to their duties. He was assisted in this by Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, and by Ahimelech, a descendant of Ithamar. ⁴The descendants of Eleazar were organized into sixteen groups, while the descendants of Ithamar were organized into eight; this was done because there were more male heads of families among the descendants of Eleazar. ⁵Since there were temple officials and spiritual leaders among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar, assignments were made by drawing lots. ⁶The descendants of Eleazar and of Ithamar took turns in drawing lots. Then they were registered by Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite secretary. The king, his officials, the priest Zadok, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of the priestly families and of the Levite families, were all witnesses.

^7–18This is the order in which the 24 family groups were given their assignments:

1, Jehoiarib;

2, Jedaiah;

3, Harim;

4, Seorim;

5, Malchijah;

6, Mijamin;

7, Hakkoz;

8, Abijah;

9, Jeshua;

10, Shecaniah;

11, Eliashib;

12, Jakim;

13, Huppah;

14, Jeshebeab;

15, Bilgah;

16, Immer;

17, Hezir;

18, Happizzez;

19, Pethahiah;

20, Jehezkel;

21, Jachin;

22, Gamul;

23, Delaiah;

24, Maaziah.

¹⁹These men were registered according to their assignments for going to the Temple and performing the duties established by their ancestor Aaron in obedience to the commands of the Lord God of Israel.

The List of the Levites

²⁰These are other heads of families descended from Levi:

Jehdeiah, a descendant of Amram through Shebuel;

²¹Isshiah, a descendant of Rehabiah;

²²Jahath, a descendant of Izhar through Shelomith;

²³Jeriah, Amariah, Jehaziel, and Jekameam, sons of Hebron, in order of age;

²⁴Shamir, a descendant of Uzziel through Micah;

²⁵Zechariah, a descendant of Uzziel through Isshiah, Micah’s brother;

²⁶Mahli, Mushi, and Jaaziah, descendants of Merari. ²⁷Jaaziah had three sons: Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ^28–29Mahli had two sons, Eleazar and Kish. Eleazar had no sons, but Kish had one son, Jerahmeel. ³⁰Mushi had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

These are the families of the Levites.

³¹The head of each family and one of his younger brothers drew lots for their assignments, just as their relatives, the priests descended from Aaron, had done. King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites were witnesses.

The Temple Musicians

25King David and the leaders of the Levites chose the following Levite clans to lead the services of worship: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. They were to proclaim God’s messages, accompanied by the music of harps and cymbals. This is the list of persons chosen to lead the worship, with the type of service that each group performed:

²The four sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah. They were under the direction of Asaph, who proclaimed God’s messages whenever the king commanded.

³The six sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. Under the direction of their father they proclaimed God’s message, accompanied by the music of harps, and sang praise and thanks to the Lord.

⁴The fourteen sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵God gave to Heman, the king’s prophet, these fourteen sons and also three daughters, as he had promised, in order to give power to Heman. ⁶All his sons played cymbals and harps under their father’s direction, to accompany the temple worship. And Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under orders from the king.

⁷All these 24 men were experts; and their fellow-Levites were trained musicians. There were 288 men in all.

⁸To determine the assignment of duties they all drew lots, whether they were young or old, experts or beginners.

^9–31These 288 men were divided according to families into 24 groups of twelve, with a leader in charge of each group. This is the order in which they were on duty:

1, Joseph of the family of Asaph;

2, Gedaliah;

3, Zaccur;

4, Zeri;

5, Nethaniah;

6, Bukkiah;

7, Asharelah;

8, Jeshaiah;

9, Mattaniah;

10, Shimei;

11, Uzziel;

12, Hashabiah;

13, Shebuel;

14, Mattithiah;

15, Jerimoth;

16, Hananiah;

17, Joshbekashah;

18, Hanani;

19, Mallothi;

20, Eliathah;

21, Hothir;

22, Giddalti;

23, Mahazioth;

24, Romamti Ezer.

The Temple Guards

26These are the assignments of work for the Levites who served as temple guards. From the clan of Korah there was Meshelemiah son of Kore, of the family of Asaph. ²He had seven sons, listed in order of age: Zechariah, Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel, ³Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

^4*There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, ^5*Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.

^6–7Obed Edom’s eldest son, Shemaiah, had six sons: Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, Elihu, and Semachiah. They were important men in their clan because of their great ability; the last two were especially talented.

⁸Obed Edom’s family furnished a total of 62 highly qualified men for this work.

⁹Meshelemiah’s family furnished eighteen qualified men.

¹⁰From the clan of Merari there was Hosah, who had four sons: Shimri (his father made him the leader, even though he was not the eldest son), ¹¹Hilkiah, Tebaliah, and Zechariah. In all there were thirteen members of Hosah’s family who were temple guards.

¹²The temple guards were divided into groups, according to families, and they were assigned duties in the Temple, just as the other Levites were. ¹³Each family, regardless of size, drew lots to see which gate it would be responsible for. ¹⁴Shelemiah drew the east gate, and his son Zechariah, a man who always gave good advice, drew the north gate. ¹⁵Obed Edom was allotted the south gate, and his sons were allotted to guard the storerooms. ¹⁶Shuppim and Hosah were allotted the west gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road. Guard duty was divided into assigned periods, one after another. ¹⁷On the east, six guards were on duty each day, on the north, four, and on the south, four. Four guards were stationed at the…