1 Chronicles 23–26

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

The Levitical Musicians

25David and the officers of the army also set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, ^jand Jeduthun, who were to prophesy ^kaccompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals. ^lThis is the list of the men who performed their service:

²From Asaph’s sons:

Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph, under Asaph’s authority, who prophesied under the authority of the king.

³From Jeduthun: ^mJeduthun’s sons:

Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, ⁿHashabiah, and Mattithiah—six—under the authority of their father Jeduthun, prophesying to the accompaniment of lyres, giving thanks and praise to the Lord.

⁴From Heman: Heman’s sons:

Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵All these sons of Heman, the king’s seer, ^owere given by the promises of God to exalt him, ^pfor God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

⁶All these men were under their own fathers’ authority for the music in the Lord’s temple, with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of God’s temple. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the king’s authority. ⁷They numbered 288 together with their relatives who were all trained and skillful in music for the Lord. ⁸They cast lots for their duties, young and old alike, teacher as well as pupil. ^q

⁹The first lot for Asaph fell to Joseph, his sons, and his brothers—12

to Gedaliah the second: him, his brothers, and his sons—12

¹⁰the third to Zaccur, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹¹the fourth to Izri, ^rhis sons, and his brothers—12

¹²the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹³the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹⁴the seventh to Jesarelah, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹⁵the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹⁶the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹⁷the tenth to Shimei, his sons, and his brothers—12

¹⁸the eleventh to Azarel, ^shis sons, and his brothers—12

¹⁹the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁰the thirteenth to Shubael, his sons, and his brothers—12

²¹the fourteenth to Mattithiah, his sons, and his brothers—12

²²the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons, and his brothers—12

²³the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁴the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁵the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁶the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁷the twentieth to Eliathah, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁸the twenty-first to Hothir, his sons, and his brothers—12

²⁹the twenty-second to Giddalti, his sons, and his brothers—12

³⁰the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his sons, and his brothers—12

³¹and the twenty-fourth to Romamti-ezer, his sons, and his brothers—12.

The Levitical Gatekeepers

26The following were the divisions of the gatekeepers:

From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph.

²Meshelemiah had sons:

Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second,

Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,

³Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth,

and Eliehoenai the seventh.

⁴Obed-edom also had sons:

Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second,

Joah the third, Sachar the fourth,

Nethanel the fifth, ⁵Ammiel the sixth,

Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth,

for God blessed him.

⁶Also, to his son Shemaiah were born sons who ruled over their ancestral houses because they were strong, capable men.

⁷Shemaiah’s sons: Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad; his…