1 Chronicles 22:1–24:31

¹Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” ^z

David’s Preparations for the Temple

²So David gave orders to gather the foreigners that were in the land of Israel, ^aand he appointed stonecutters to cut finished stones for building God’s house. ^b3David supplied a great deal of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with an immeasurable quantity of bronze, ^c4and innumerable cedar logs because the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David. ^d5David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly great and famous and glorious in all the lands. ^eTherefore, I must make provision for it.” So David made lavish preparations for it before his death.

⁶Then he summoned his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. ⁷“My son,” David said to Solomon, “It was in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, ^f8but the word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me. ^g9But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, ^hfor his name will be Solomon, ^ijand I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. ^k10He is the one who will build a house for My name. He will be My son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ ^l

¹¹“Now, my son, may the Lord be with you, ^mand may you succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as He said about you. ¹²Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when He puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. ⁿ¹³Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. ^oBe strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged. ^p

¹⁴“Notice I have taken great pains to provide for the house of the Lord—3,775 tons of gold, 37,750 tons of silver, ^qrand bronze and iron that can’t be weighed because there is so much of it. I have also provided timber and stone, but you will need to add more to them. ¹⁵You also have many workers: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and people skilled in every kind of work ¹⁶in gold, silver, bronze, and iron—beyond number. Now begin the work, and may the Lord be with you.” ^s

¹⁷Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon: ¹⁸“The Lord your God is with you, isn’t He? And hasn’t He given you rest on every side? ^tFor He has handed the land’s inhabitants over to me, and the land has been subdued before the Lord and His people. ¹⁹Now determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. ^uGet started building the Lord God’s sanctuary so that you may bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant and the holy articles of God to the temple that is to be built ^vfor the name of Yahweh.” ^w

The Divisions of the Levites

23When David was old and full of days, ^xhe installed his son Solomon as king over Israel. ^y2Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, the priests, and the Levites. ³The Levites 30 years old or more were counted; ^zthe total number of men was 38,000 by headcount. ^a4“Of these,” David said, “24,000 are to be in charge of the work on the Lord’s temple, ^b6,000 are to be officers and judges, ^c54,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments that I have made for worship.” ^d

⁶Then David divided them into divisions according to Levi’s sons: ^eGershom, ^fKohath, and Merari.

⁷The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

⁸Ladan’s sons: Jehiel was the first, then Zetham, and Joel—three.

⁹Shimei’s sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three. Those were the heads of the families of Ladan.

¹⁰Shimei’s sons: Jahath, Zizah, ^gJeush, and Beriah. Those were Shimei’s sons—four. ¹¹Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; however, Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became an ancestral house and received a single assignment.

¹²Kohath’s sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four.

¹³Amram’s sons: ^hAaron and Moses.

Aaron, along with his descendants, ⁱwas set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense in the presence of Yahweh, ^jto minister to Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever. ¹⁴As for Moses the man of God, ^khis sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵Moses’ sons: Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶Gershom’s sons: Shebuel was first.

¹⁷Eliezer’s sons were Rehabiah, first; Eliezer did not have any other sons, but Rehabiah’s sons were very numerous.

¹⁸Izhar’s sons: Shelomith was first.

¹⁹Hebron’s sons: Jeriah was first, Amariah second, Jahaziel third, and Jekameam fourth.

²⁰Uzziel’s sons: Micah was first, and Isshiah second.

²¹Merari’s sons: Mahli and Mushi.

Mahli’s sons: Eleazar and Kish.

²²Eleazar died having no sons, only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.

²³Mushi’s sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three.

²⁴These were the sons of Levi by their ancestral houses—the heads of families, according to their registration by name in the headcount—20 years old or more, who worked in the service of the Lord’s temple. ^l25For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, ^mand He has come to stay in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶Also, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the equipment for its service” ⁿ— ²⁷for according to the last words of David, the Levites 20 years old or more were to be counted— ²⁸“but their duty will be to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the Lord’s temple, being responsible for the courts and the chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of God’s temple— ²⁹as well as the rows of the bread of the Presence, ^othe fine flour for the grain offering, ^pthe wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, ^qrthe mixing, ^sand all measurements of volume and length. ^t30They are also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the Lord, and likewise in the evening. ³¹Whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on the Sabbaths, New Moons, ^uand appointed festivals, they are to do so regularly in the Lord’s presence according to the number prescribed for them. ^v32They are to carry out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the holy place, ^wand for their relatives, the sons of Aaron, ^xin the service of the Lord’s temple.”

The Divisions of the Priests

24The divisions of the descendants of Aaron were as follows: Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^y2But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. ^z3Together with Zadok ^afrom the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech from the sons of Ithamar, David divided them according to the assigned duties of their service. ⁴Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than Ithamar’s, they were divided accordingly: 16 heads of ancestral houses were from Eleazar’s descendants, and eight heads of ancestral houses were from Ithamar’s. ⁵They ^bwere assigned by lot, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants.

⁶The secretary, Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the officers, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech ^cson of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites. One ancestral house was taken for Eleazar, and then one 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 Abijah, ^d

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, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

¹⁹These had their assigned duties for service when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to their regulations, which they received from their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

The Rest of the Levites

²⁰As for the rest of Levi’s sons:

from Amram’s sons: Shubael;

from Shubael’s sons: Jehdeiah.

²¹From Rehabiah:

from Rehabiah’s sons: Isshiah was the first.

²²From the Izharites: Shelomoth;

from Shelomoth’s sons: Jahath.

²³Hebron’s ^efsons:

Jeriah the first, Amariah the second,

Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁴From Uzziel’s sons: Micah;

from Micah’s sons: Shamir.

²⁵Micah’s brother: Isshiah;

from Isshiah’s sons: Zechariah.

²⁶Merari’s sons: Mahli and Mushi,

and from his sons, Jaaziah his son. ^g

²⁷Merari’s sons, by his son Jaaziah: ^h

Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

²⁸From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons.

²⁹From Kish, from Kish’s sons: Jerahmeel.

³⁰Mushi’s sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

Those were the sons of the Levites according to their ancestral houses. ³¹They also cast lots the same way as their relatives the sons of Aaron did in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike. ⁱ