1 Chronicles 23:1-23

New International Version

The Levites

23 When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon^(A) king over Israel.^(B)

²He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. ³The Levites thirty years old or more^(C) were counted,^(D) and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.^(E) ⁴David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge^(F) of the work^(G) of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges.^(H) ⁵Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments^(I) I have provided for that purpose.”^(J)

⁶David separated^(K) the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi:^(L) Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

Gershonites

⁷Belonging to the Gershonites:^(M)

Ladan and Shimei.

⁸The sons of Ladan:

Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.

⁹The sons of Shimei:

Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.

These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

¹⁰And the sons of Shimei:

Jahath, Ziza,^[a] Jeush and Beriah.

These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.

¹¹Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.

Kohathites

¹²The sons of Kohath:^(N)

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.

¹³The sons of Amram:^(O)

Aaron and Moses.

Aaron was set apart,^(P) he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister^(Q) before him and to pronounce blessings^(R) in his name forever. ¹⁴The sons of Moses the man^(S) of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.