The Divisions of the Levites

23 So when David was old and full of days, he made his son aSolomon king over Israel.

2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of bthirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to clook after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were dofficers and judges, 5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand epraised the Lord with musical instruments, f“which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”

6 Also gDavid separated them into 1divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 Of the hGershonites: 2Laadan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three in all. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, 3Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; therefore they were assigned as one father’s house.

12 iThe sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. 13 The sons of jAmram: Aaron and Moses; and kAaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should 4sanctify the most holy things, lto burn incense before the Lord, mto minister to Him, and nto give the blessing in His name forever. 14 Now othe sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15 pThe sons of Moses were 5Gershon and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershon, qShebuel 6was the first. 17 Of the descendants of Eliezer, rRehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 Of the sons of Izhar, sShelomith was the first. 19 tOf the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah was the first and Jesshiah the second.

21 uThe sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and vKish. 22 And Eleazar died, and whad no sons, but only daughters; and their 7brethren, the sons of Kish, xtook them as wives. 23 yThe sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.

24 These were the sons of zLevi by their fathers’ houses—the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of atwenty years and above.

25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel bhas given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”; 26 and also to the Levites, “They shall no longer ccarry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service.” 27 For by the dlast words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; 28 because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of God, 29 both with ethe showbread and fthe fine flour for the grain offering, with gthe unleavened cakes and hwhat is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of imeasures and sizes; 30 to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening; 31 and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the Lord jon the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the kset 8feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; 32 and that they should lattend to the mneeds of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the nneeds of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.