1 Chronicles 23

CHAPTER 23

Solomon Made King over Israel

^1aNow David became old and full of days, ^band he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

²And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.

The Work of the Levites

^3aAnd the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and ^btheir number by ¹census of men was 38,000.

⁴Of these, 24,000 were ^ato direct the work of the house of Yahweh; and 6,000 were ^bofficers and judges,

⁵and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and ^a4,000 were praising Yahweh with the instruments which ¹David made for giving praise.

⁶And David divided them into divisions ^aaccording to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The Sons of Gershon

⁷Of the Gershonites were ¹Ladan and Shimei.

⁸The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first and Zetham and Joel, three.

⁹The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan.

¹⁰The sons of Shimei were Jahath, ¹Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.

¹¹Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became a father’s household, one ¹unit.

The Sons of Kohath

¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

^13aThe sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And ^bAaron was separated in order to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, ^cto offer offerings up in smoke before Yahweh, to minister to Him and to bless in His name forever.

¹⁴But as for ^aMoses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

¹⁵The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶The ¹son of Gershom was ²Shebuel the chief.

¹⁷The ¹son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

¹⁸The ¹son of Izhar was ²Shelomith the chief.

¹⁹The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.

The Sons of Merari

²¹The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.

²²And Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only, so their brothers, the sons of Kish, took them up as wives.

²³The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

The Service of the Levites

^24aThese were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, even the heads of the fathers’ households of those of them who were ¹counted, in the number of names by their ²census, doing the work for the service of the house of Yahweh, ^bfrom twenty years old and upward.

²⁵For David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^ahas given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever.

²⁶“Also, ^athe Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings for its service.”

²⁷For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward.

²⁸For their station is to be on hand for the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of Yahweh, in the courts and in the chambers and in the cleansing of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God,

^29aand with the showbread, and ^bthe fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or ^cwhat is made on the griddle, or ^dwhat is well stirred, and ^eall measures of volume and size.

³⁰And they are to stand every morning to thank and to praise Yahweh, and likewise at evening,

³¹and to offer all burnt offerings to Yahweh, ^aon the sabbaths, the new moons and ^bthe appointed times in the number set by the judgments concerning them, continually before Yahweh.

³²Thus ^athey shall keep responsibility of the tent of meeting, and responsibility of the holy place, and ^bresponsibility of the sons of Aaron their ¹relatives, for the service of the house of Yahweh.