1 Chronicles 23

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

2He gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and the Levites.

3The Levites thirty years old and upward were counted, and their number, counted man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

4Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Yahweh, six thousand were to be officials and judges,

5four thousand were to be gatekeepers, and four thousand were to praise Yahweh with the instruments that I made for praise.

6David organized them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

8The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel, three in all.

9The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran, three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

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

11Jahath was the chief, and Zizah was the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as a single family with a single assignment.

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

13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to be consecrated as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before Yahweh, to minister to him, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.

14As for Moses the man of God, his sons were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.

15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16Of the sons of Gershom: Shebuel was the chief.

17Of the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

18Of the sons of Izhar: Shelomith was 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 without having sons; he had only daughters. Their relatives, the sons of Kish, married them.

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

24These were the descendants of Levi by their families, the heads of families as they were registered, counted by name, one by one, who did the work for the service of the house of Yahweh, from twenty years old and upward.

25For David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.

26So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”

27For according to the last words of David, the Levites were counted from twenty years old and upward.

28Their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron in the service of the house of Yahweh, having charge of the courts and the rooms, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God.

29They were in charge of the bread set out in rows, the fine flour for the grain offering, the unleavened wafers, what is baked on the griddle, what is mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity and size.

30They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise Yahweh, and to do the same in the evening,

31and whenever burnt offerings were offered to Yahweh on Sabbaths, new moons, and appointed festivals, according to the number required of them, regularly before Yahweh.

32So they were to keep the charge of the tent of meeting, the charge of the holy place, and the charge of their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the house of Yahweh.