1 Chronicles 23–26

The Levites

23After David had lived long and was old, he made his son Solomon the new king of Israel. ²David gathered all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and Levites. ³He counted the Levites who were thirty years old and older. In all, there were thirty-eight thousand Levites. ⁴David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand Levites will direct the work of the Temple of the Lord, six thousand Levites will be officers and judges, ⁵four thousand Levites will be gatekeepers, and four thousand Levites will praise the Lord with musical instruments I made for giving praise.”

⁶David separated the Levites into three groups that were led by Levi’s three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The People of Gershon

⁷From the people of Gershon, there were Ladan and Shimei.

⁸Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel, and his other sons were Zetham and Joel.

⁹Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. These three sons were leaders of Ladan’s families. ¹⁰Shimei had four sons: Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. ¹¹Jahath was the first son, and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many children, so they were counted as if they were one family.

The People of Kohath

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

¹³Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen to be special forever. They were chosen to prepare the holy things for the Lord’s service, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, and to serve him as priests. They were to give blessings in his name forever.

¹⁴Moses was the man of God, and his sons were counted as part of the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵Moses’ sons were Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶Gershom’s first son was Shubael. ¹⁷Eliezer’s first son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many sons.

¹⁸Izhar’s first son was Shelomith.

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

²⁰Uzziel’s first son was Micah and his second was Isshiah.

The People of Merari

²¹Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. ²²Eleazar died without sons; he had only daughters. Eleazar’s daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. ²³Mushi’s three sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.

The Levites’ Work

²⁴These were Levi’s descendants listed by their families. They were the leaders of families. Each person who was twenty years old or older was listed. They served in the Lord’s Temple.

²⁵David had said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people. He has come to live in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶So the Levites don’t need to carry the Holy Tent or any of the things used in its services anymore.” ²⁷David’s last instructions were to count the Levites who were twenty years old and older.

²⁸The Levites had the job of helping Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Temple of the Lord. They cared for the Temple courtyard and side rooms, and they made all the holy things pure. Their job was to serve in the Temple of God. ²⁹They were responsible for putting the holy bread on the table, for the flour in the grain offerings, for the bread made without yeast, for the baking and mixing, and for the measuring. ³⁰The Levites also stood every morning and gave thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this every evening. ³¹The Levites offered all the burnt offerings to the Lord on the special days of rest, at the New Moon festivals, and at all appointed feasts. They served before the Lord every day. They were to follow the rules for how many Levites should serve each time. ³²So the Levites took care of the Meeting Tent and the Holy Place. And they helped their relatives, Aaron’s descendants, with the services at the Temple of the Lord.

The Groups of the Priests

24These were the groups of Aaron’s sons: Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. ³David, with the help of Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, and Ahimelech, a descendant of Ithamar, separated their family groups into two different groups. Each group had certain duties. ⁴There were more leaders from Eleazar’s family than from Ithamar’s—sixteen leaders from Eleazar’s family and eight leaders from Ithamar’s family. ⁵Men were chosen from Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s families by throwing lots. Some men from each family were chosen to be in charge of the Holy Place, and some were chosen to serve as priests.

⁶Shemaiah son of Nethanel, from the tribe of Levi, was the secretary. He recorded the names of those descendants in front of King David, the officers, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the families of the priests and Levites. The work was divided by lots among the families of Eleazar and Ithamar. The following men with their groups were chosen.

⁷The first one chosen was Jehoiarib. The second was Jedaiah. ⁸The third was Harim. The fourth was Seorim. ⁹The fifth was Malkijah. The sixth was Mijamin. ¹⁰The seventh was Hakkoz. The eighth was Abijah. ¹¹The ninth was Jeshua. The tenth was Shecaniah. ¹²The eleventh was Eliashib. The twelfth was Jakim. ¹³The thirteenth was Huppah. The fourteenth was Jeshebeab. ¹⁴The fifteenth was Bilgah. The sixteenth was Immer. ¹⁵The seventeenth was Hezir. The eighteenth was Happizzez. ¹⁶The nineteenth was Pethahiah. The twentieth was Jehezkel. ¹⁷The twenty-first was Jakin. The twenty-second was Gamul. ¹⁸The twenty-third was Delaiah. The twenty-fourth was Maaziah.

¹⁹These were the groups chosen to serve in the Temple of the Lord. They obeyed the rules given them by Aaron, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

The Other Levites

²⁰These are the names of the rest of Levi’s descendants:

Shubael was a descendant of Amram, and Jehdeiah was a descendant of Shubael.

²¹Isshiah was the first son of Rehabiah.

²²From the Izhar family group, there was Shelomoth, and Jahath was a descendant of Shelomoth.

²³Hebron’s first son was Jeriah, Amariah was his second, Jahaziel was his third, and Jekameam was his fourth.

²⁴Uzziel’s son was Micah. Micah’s son was Shamir. ²⁵Micah’s brother was Isshiah, and Isshiah’s son was Zechariah.

²⁶Merari’s descendants were Mahli and Mushi. Merari’s son was Jaaziah. ²⁷Jaaziah son of Merari had sons named Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸Mahli’s son was Eleazar, but Eleazar did not have any sons.

²⁹Kish’s son was Jerahmeel.

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

These are the Levites, listed by their families. ³¹They were chosen for special jobs by throwing lots in front of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of the families of the priests, and the Levites. They did this just as their relatives, the priests, Aaron’s descendants, had done. The families of the oldest brother and the youngest brother were treated the same.

The Music Groups

25David and the commanders of the army chose some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to preach and play harps, lyres, and cymbals. Here is a list of the men who served in this way:

²Asaph’s sons who served were Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. King David chose Asaph to preach, and Asaph directed his sons.

³Jeduthun’s sons who served were Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah. There were six of them, and Jeduthun directed them. He preached and used a harp to give thanks and praise to the Lord.

⁴Heman’s sons who served were Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵All these were sons of Heman, David’s seer. God promised to make Heman strong, so Heman had many sons. God gave him fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶Heman directed all his sons in making music for the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, lyres, and harps; that was their way of serving in the Temple of God. King David was in charge of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman. ⁷These men and their relatives were trained and skilled in making music for the Lord. There were two hundred eighty-eight of them. ⁸Everyone threw lots to choose the time his family was to serve at the Temple. The young and the old, the teacher and the student, had to throw lots.

⁹First, the lot fell to Joseph, from the family of Asaph.

Second, twelve men were chosen from Gedaliah, his sons and relatives.

¹⁰Third, twelve men were chosen from Zaccur, his sons and relatives.

¹¹Fourth, twelve men were chosen from Izri, his sons and relatives.

¹²Fifth, twelve men were chosen from Nethaniah, his sons and relatives.

¹³Sixth, twelve men were chosen from Bukkiah, his sons and relatives.

¹⁴Seventh, twelve men were chosen from Jesarelah, his sons and relatives.

¹⁵Eighth, twelve men were chosen from Jeshaiah, his sons and relatives.

¹⁶Ninth, twelve men were chosen from Mattaniah, his sons and relatives.

¹⁷Tenth, twelve men were chosen from Shimei, his sons and relatives.

¹⁸Eleventh, twelve men were chosen from Azarel, his sons and relatives.

¹⁹Twelfth, twelve men were chosen from Hashabiah, his sons and relatives.

²⁰Thirteenth, twelve men were chosen from Shubael, his sons and relatives.

²¹Fourteenth, twelve men were chosen from Mattithiah, his sons and relatives.

²²Fifteenth, twelve men were chosen from Jerimoth, his sons and relatives.

²³Sixteenth, twelve men were chosen from Hananiah, his sons and relatives.

²⁴Seventeenth, twelve men were chosen from Joshbekashah, his sons and relatives.

²⁵Eighteenth, twelve men were chosen from Hanani, his sons and relatives.

²⁶Nineteenth, twelve men were chosen from Mallothi, his sons and relatives.

²⁷Twentieth, twelve men were chosen from Eliathah, his sons and relatives.

²⁸Twenty-first, twelve men were chosen from Hothir, his sons and relatives.

²⁹Twenty-second, twelve men were chosen from Giddalti, his sons and relatives.

³⁰Twenty-third, twelve men were chosen from Mahazioth, his sons and relatives.

³¹Twenty-fourth, twelve men were chosen from Romamti-Ezer, his sons…