I Chronicles 23

The Divisions of the Levites

1 So when David was old and full of days, he made his son *1 Kin. 1:33–40; 1 Chr. 28:4, 5Solomon 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 *Num. 4:1–3thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to *2 Chr. 2:2, 18; Ezra 3:8, 9look after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were*Deut. 16:18–20officers and judges, 5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand *1 Chr. 15:16praised the Lord with musical instruments, *2 Chr. 29:25–27"which I made," saidDavid, "for giving praise."

6 Also *Ex. 6:16; Num. 26:57; 2 Chr. 8:14David separated them into divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 Of the *1 Chr. 26:21Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three inall.9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three inall. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, 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 *Ex. 6:18The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four inall.13 The sons of *Ex. 6:20Amram: Aaron and Moses; and *Ex. 28:1; Heb. 5:4Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should sanctify the most holy things, *Ex. 30:7; 1 Sam. 2:28to burn incense before the Lord, *(Deut. 21:5)to minister to Him, and *Num. 6:23to give the blessing in His name forever. 14 Now *1 Chr. 26:20–24the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15 *Ex. 18:3, 4The sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershon, *1 Chr. 26:24Shebuel was the first. 17 Of the descendants of Eliezer, *1 Chr. 26:25Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 Of the sons of Izhar, *1 Chr. 24:22Shelomith was the first. 19 *1 Chr. 24:23Of 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 *1 Chr. 24:26The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and *1 Chr. 24:29Kish. 22 And Eleazar died, and *1 Chr. 24:28had no sons, but only daughters; and their brethren, the sons of Kish, *Num. 36:6took them aswives.23 *1 Chr. 24:30The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three inall.

24 These were the sons of *Num. 10:17, 21Levi 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 *Num. 1:3; Ezra 3:8twenty years and above.

25 For David said, "The Lord God of Israel *1 Chr. 22:18has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever"; 26 and also to the Levites, "They shall no longer *Num. 4:5, 15; 7:9; Deut. 10:8carry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service." 27 For by the *2 Sam. 23:1last 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 *Ex. 25:30the showbread and *Lev. 6:20the fine flour for the grain offering, with *Lev. 2:1, 4the unleavened cakes and *Lev. 2:5, 7whatisbakedin the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of *Lev. 19:35measures 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*Num. 10:10on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the *Lev. 23:2–4set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; 32 and that they should *2 Chr. 13:10, 11attend to the *(Num. 1:53); 1 Chr. 9:27needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the *Num. 3:6–9, 38needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.