^22:2David ordered the resident foreigners in the land of Israel to be called together. He appointed some of them to be stonecutters to chisel stones for the building of God’s temple. ^22:3David supplied a large amount of iron for the nails of the doors of the gates and for braces, more bronze than could be weighed, ^22:4and more cedar logs than could be counted. (The Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large amount of cedar logs to David.)

^22:5David said, “My son Solomon is just an inexperienced young man,¹ and the temple to be built for the Lord must be especially magnificent so it will become famous and be considered splendid by all the nations.² Therefore I will make preparations for its construction.” So David made extensive preparations before he died.

^22:6He summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel. ^22:7David said to Solomon: “My son, I really wanted³ to build a temple to honor⁴ the Lord my God. ^22:8But the Lord said to me:⁵ ‘You have spilled a great deal of blood and fought many battles. You must not build a temple to honor me,⁶ for you have spilled a great deal of blood on the ground before me. ^22:9Look, you will have a son, who will be a peaceful man.⁷ I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side.⁸ Indeed, Solomon⁹ will be his name; I will give Israel peace and quiet during his reign.¹⁰^22:10He will build a temple to honor me;¹¹ he will become my son, and I will become his father. I will grant to his dynasty permanent rule over Israel.’¹²

^22:11“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you! May you succeed and build a temple for the Lord your God, just as he announced you would.¹³^22:12Only may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he places you in charge of Israel, so you may obey¹⁴ the law of the Lord your God. ^22:13Then you will succeed, if you carefully obey the rules and regulations which the Lord ordered Moses to give to Israel.¹⁵ Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic!¹⁶^22:14Now, look, I have made every effort to supply what is needed to build the Lord’s temple.¹⁷ I have stored up 100,000 talents¹⁸ of gold, 1,000,000¹⁹ talents of silver, and so much bronze and iron it cannot be weighed, as well as wood and stones. Feel free to add more! ^22:15You also have available many workers, including stonecutters, masons, carpenters,²⁰ and an innumerable array of workers who are skilled ^22:16in using gold, silver, bronze, and iron.²¹ Get up and begin the work! May the Lord be with you!”

^22:17David ordered all the officials of Israel to support²² his son Solomon. ^22:18He told them,²³ “The Lord your God is with you!²⁴ He has made you secure on every side,²⁵ for he handed over to me the inhabitants of the region²⁶ and the region²⁷ is subdued before the Lord and his people. ^22:19Now seek the Lord your God wholeheartedly and with your entire being!²⁸ Get up and build the sanctuary of the Lord God! Then you can bring²⁹ the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy items dedicated to God’s service³⁰ into the temple that is built to honor the Lord.”³¹

David Organizes the Levites

^23:1When David was old and approaching the end of his life,¹ he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

^23:2David² assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. ^23:3The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men.³^23:4David said,⁴ “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord’s temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges; ^23:54,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.”⁵^23:6David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

^23:7The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.

^23:8The sons of Ladan:

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

^23:9The sons of Shimei:

Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all.

These were the leaders of the family of Ladan.

^23:10The sons of Shimei:

Jahath, Zina,⁶ Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons—four in all.⁷^23:11Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.

^23:12The sons of Kohath:

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

^23:13The sons of Amram:

Aaron and Moses.

Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name.⁸^23:14The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites.⁹

^23:15The sons of Moses:

Gershom and Eliezer.

^23:16The son¹⁰ of Gershom:

Shebuel¹¹ the oldest.

^23:17The son of Eliezer was¹² Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

^23:18The son¹³ of Izhar:

Shelomith the oldest.

^23:19The sons of Hebron:

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

^23:20The sons of Uzziel:

Micah the oldest, and Isshiah the second.

^23:21The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

The sons of Mahli:

Eleazar and Kish.

^23:22Eleazar died without having sons; he had only daughters. The sons of Kish, their cousins, married them.¹⁴

^23:23The sons of Mushi:

Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.

^23:24These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple and were twenty years old and up.¹⁵^23:25For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem.¹⁶^23:26So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the items used in its service.” ^23:27According to David’s final instructions, the Levites twenty years old and up were counted.¹⁷

^23:28Their job was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s temple. They were to take care of the courtyards, the rooms, ceremonial purification of all holy items, and other jobs related to the service of God’s temple.¹⁸^23:29They also took care of¹⁹ the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring.²⁰^23:30They also stood in a designated place²¹ every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening ^23:31and whenever burnt sacrifices were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath and at new moon festivals and assemblies. A designated number were to serve before the Lord regularly in accordance with regulations.²²^23:32They were in charge of the meeting tent and the holy place, and helped their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple.²³

David Organizes the Priests

^24:1The divisions of Aaron’s descendants were as follows:

The sons of Aaron:

Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

^24:2Nadab and Abihu died before their father did; they had no sons. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.

^24:3David, Zadok (a descendant of Eleazar), and Ahimelech (a descendant of Ithamar) divided them into groups to carry out their assigned responsibilities.¹^24:4The descendants of Eleazar had more leaders than the descendants of Ithamar, so they divided them up accordingly; the descendants of Eleazar had sixteen leaders, while the descendants of Ithamar had eight.²^24:5They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the holy place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.³^24:6The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, wrote down their names before the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the priestly and Levite families. One family was drawn by lot from Eleazar, and then the next from Ithamar.⁴

^24:7The first lot went to Jehoiarib,

the second to Jedaiah,

^24:8the third to Harim,

the fourth to Seorim,

^24:9the fifth to Malkijah,

the sixth to Mijamin,

^24:10the seventh to Hakkoz,

the eighth to Abijah,

^24:11the ninth to Jeshua,

the tenth to Shecaniah,

^24:12the eleventh to Eliashib,

the twelfth to Jakim,

^24:13the thirteenth to Huppah,

the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,

^24:14the fifteenth to Bilgah,

the sixteenth to Immer,

^24:15the seventeenth to Hezir,

the eighteenth to Happizzez,

^24:16the nineteenth to Pethahiah,

the twentieth to Jehezkel,

^24:17the twenty-first to Jakin,

the twenty-second to Gamul,

^24:18the twenty-third to Delaiah,

the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

^24:19This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor⁵ Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him.⁶

Remaining Levites

^24:20The rest of the Levites included:⁷

Shubael⁸ from the sons of Amram,

Jehdeiah from the sons of Shubael,

^24:21the firstborn Isshiah from Rehabiah and the sons of Rehabiah,

^24:22Shelomoth from the Izharites,

Jahath from the sons of Shelomoth.

^24:23The sons of Hebron:⁹

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

^24:24The son¹⁰ of Uzziel:

Micah;

Shamir from the sons of Micah.

^24:25The brother of Micah:

Isshiah.

Zechariah from the sons of Isshiah.

^24:26The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

The son of Jaaziah:

Beno.¹¹

^24:27The sons of Merari, from Jaaziah:

Beno,¹² Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

^24:28From Mahli:

Eleazar, who had no sons.

^24:29From Kish:

Jerahmeel.¹³

^24:30The sons of Mushi:

Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

These were the Levites, listed by their families.

^24:31Just like their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, they also cast lots before King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of families, the priests, and the Levites. The families of the oldest son cast lots along with the those of the youngest.¹⁴

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 Heb “a young man and tender.”
2 Heb “and the house to build to make exceedingly great for a name and for splendor for all the lands.”
3 Heb “I was with my heart.”
4 Heb “for the name of.”
5 Heb “and the word of the Lord was [i.e., came] to me saying.”
6 Heb “for my name.”
7 Heb “man of rest.”
8 Heb “his enemies all around.”
9 The name Solomon (שְׁלֹמֹה, shélomoh) sounds like (and may be derived from) the Hebrew word for “peace” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).
10 Heb “in his days.”
11 Heb “for my name.”
12 Heb “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel permanently.”
13 Heb “as he spoke concerning you.”
14 Or “keep.”
15 Heb “which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel.”
16 Or perhaps, “and don’t get discouraged.”
17 Heb “and look, in my affliction [or perhaps, “poverty”] I have supplied for the house of the Lord.”
18 See the note on the word “talents” in .
19 Heb “a thousand thousands.”
20 Heb “craftsmen of stone and wood.”
21 Heb “and every kind of skilled one in all work, concerning gold, concerning silver, and concerning bronze, and concerning iron, there is no numbering.”
22 Or “help.”
23 The words “he told them” are added in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
24 In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Is not the Lord your God with you?” The question anticipates the response, “Of course he is!” Thus in the translation the positive statement “The Lord your God is with you!” has been used.
25 Heb “and he gives rest to you all around.”
26 Or “earth.”
27 Or “earth.”
28 Heb “now give your heart and your being to seek the Lord your God.”
29 Heb “to bring.”
30 Heb “items of holiness of God.”
31 Heb “for the name of the Lord.”
1 Heb “and full of years.”
2 Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 Heb “and their number by their heads, by men, was 38,000.”
4 The words “David said” are supplied here in the translation for clarification. The appearance of the first person verb “I supplied” in v. 5 indicates that David is speaking here.
5 Heb “made to [or “for”] praise.”
6 The reads “Zina” here and “Zizah” in v. 11. One Hebrew , the , and the , harmonizing the form of the name to that found in v. 11, read “Zizah” here.
7 Verses 8–10 are confusing. Two different lists of Shimei’s sons appear. In between these lists is the statement “these were the leaders of the family of Ladan,” suggesting that the list just before this includes the sons of Ladan, not Shimei. But verse 8 already lists Ladan’s sons. Apparently the text as it stands is a conflation of differing traditions.
8 Heb “and Aaron was set apart to consecrate it, the most holy things, he and his sons, permanently, to sacrifice before the Lord, to serve him, and to bless his name permanently.”
9 Heb “and Moses the man of God, his sons were called to the tribe of Levi.”
10 The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this. The attached phrase “the oldest” might indicate that Shebuel was not Gershom’s only son, but note v. 17.
11 The reads Σουβαηλ (Soubaēl) here, a reading followed by , , , (“Shubael”); cf. 24:20.
12 The Hebrew text has “the sons of Eliezer were,” but only one name appears after this in the verse, and we are specifically told that Eliezer had no other sons.
13 The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this. The attached phrase “the oldest” might indicate that Shelomith was not Izhar’s only son, but note v. 17.
14 Heb “the sons of Kish, their brothers [i.e., relatives/cousins] lifted them up.” For other uses of נָאָשׂ (na’as, “lift up”) in the sense of “marry,” see 671 Qal.3.d.
15 Heb “these were the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, according to their numberings, by number of names, according to their heads, doer[s] of the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from a son of twenty years and upwards.”
16 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
17 Heb “for by the final words of David, they were the number of the sons of Levi, from a son of twenty years and upward.”
18 Heb “For their assignment was at the hand of the sons of Aaron for the work of the house of the Lord concerning the courtyards and concerning the rooms and concerning the purification of all holiness and the work of the service of the house of God.”
19 Heb “with respect to.”
20 The Hebrew terms מְשׂוּרָה (mésurah) and מִדָּה (middah) refer to different types of measurements.
21 Heb “and to stand.”
22 Heb “by number according to the manner upon them, regularly before the Lord.”
23 Heb “and they kept the charge of the tent of meeting and the charge of the holy place and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.”
1 Heb “for their assignment in their service.”
2 Heb “And the sons of Eleazar were found to be more, with respect to the heads of men, than the sons of Ithamar, and they divided them. To the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen heads, according to the house of the fathers; and to the sons of Ithamar there were eight, according to the house of their fathers.”
3 Heb “and they divided them by lots, these with these, for the officials of the holy place and the officials of God were from the sons of Eleazar and among the sons of Ithamar.”
4 Heb “one house of a father was drawn by lot for Eleazar, and one [this assumes an emendation of אָחֻז (’akhuz) to אֶחָד (’ekhad, “one”)] was drawn by lot for Ithamar.”
5 Heb “father.”
6 Heb “these were their responsibilities for their service to enter the house of the Lord according to their manner [given] by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel commanded him.”
7 Heb “Belonging to the rest of the sons of Levi.”
8 This appears to be a variant of the name Shebuel (cf. 1 Chr 23:16 and 26:24).
9 Most Hebrew omit “Hebron” here, but see 1 Chr 23:19. The name is included in two Hebrew and some .
10 The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this.
11 Heb “the sons of Jaaziah, Beno.” Apparently בְנוֹ (véno), which could be translated “his son,” is a proper name here. The text, however, may be corrupt at this point; a list of Jaaziah’s sons may have been accidentally omitted. See v. 27.
12 Or “from Jaaziah his son.” See the note on “Beno” in v. .
13 The Hebrew text has, “Belonging to [i.e., from] Kish, the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel.” There appears to be a conflation of headings.
14 Heb “the fathers [i.e., families] of the head [i.e., oldest] just like his youngest brother.”