1 Chronicles 23–26

Chapter 23

¹When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

²David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. ³The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was thirty-eight thousand men. ⁴“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, six thousand shall be officers and judges, ⁵four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments which I have made for praise.” ⁶And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

⁷The sons of Gersham^x were Ladan and Shime-i. ⁸The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. ⁹The sons of Shime-i: Shelomoth, Hazi-el, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. ¹⁰And the sons of Shime-i: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shime-i. ¹¹Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons, therefore they became a father’s house in one reckoning.

¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. ¹³The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, that he and his sons for ever should burn incense before the Lord, and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name for ever. ¹⁴But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. ¹⁷The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief; Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. ¹⁸The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. ¹⁹The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.

²¹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. ²²Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. ²³The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

²⁴These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of fathers’ houses as they were registered according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. ²⁵For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem for ever. ²⁶And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service”— ²⁷for by the last words of David these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and upward— ²⁸“but their duty shall be to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God; ²⁹to assist also with the showbread, the flour for the cereal offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size. ³⁰And they shall stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, ³¹and whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, continually before the Lord. ³²Thus they shall keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and shall attend the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of the Lord.”

Chapter 24

¹The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. ³With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. ⁴Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers’ houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. ⁵They organized them by lot, all alike, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ⁶And the scribe Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites; one father’s house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

⁷The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Se-orim, ⁹the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, ¹¹the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹²the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebe-ab, 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, the twenty-fourth to Ma-aziah. ¹⁹These had as their appointed duty in their service to come into the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shuba-el; of the sons of Shuba-el, Jehdeiah. ²¹Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. ²²Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ²³The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ²⁶The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Ja-aziah: Beno. ²⁷The sons of Merari: of Ja-aziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ³⁰The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses. ³¹These also, the head of each father’s house and his younger brother alike, cast lots, just as their brethren the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites.

Chapter 25

¹David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was: ²Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. ³Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shime-i,^a Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. ⁴Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazi-oth. ⁵All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him; for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king. ⁷The number of them along with their brethren, who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skilful, was two hundred and eighty-eight. ⁸And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike.

⁹The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him and his brethren and his sons, twelve; ¹⁰the third to Zaccur, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹¹the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹²the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹³the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁴the seventh to Jesharelah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁵the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁶the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁷the tenth to Shime-i, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁸the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁹the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁰to the thirteenth, Shuba-el, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²¹to the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²²to the fifteenth, to Jeremoth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²³to the sixteenth, to Hananiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁴to the seventeenth, to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁵to the eighteenth, to Hanani, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁶to the nineteenth, to Mallothi, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁷to the twentieth, to Eliathah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁸to the twenty-first, to Hothir, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁹to the twenty-second, to Giddalti, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ³⁰to the twenty-third, to Mahazi-oth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ³¹to the twenty-fourth, to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brethren, twelve.

Chapter 26

¹As for the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. ²And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the first-born, Jedia-el the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathni-el the fourth, ³Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eli-e-ho-enai the seventh. ⁴And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the first-born, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, ⁵Ammi-el…