利未人的職務

23 大衛年紀老邁,壽數將盡,就立他兒子所羅門為以色列王。 他召集了以色列的眾首領、祭司和利未人。 凡三十歲以上的利未人都在統計之列,共有三萬八千男子, 其中有兩萬四千人在耶和華的殿裡司職,六千人做官長和審判官, 四千人守門,四千人用大衛提供的樂器頌讚耶和華。 大衛將利未人革順、哥轄和米拉利的子孫分成班次。

革順的兒子有拉但和示每。 拉但有長子耶歇,還有細坦和約珥,共三個兒子, 都是拉但族的族長。示每的兒子有示羅密、哈薛和哈蘭三人。 10 示每的兒子還有雅哈、細拿、耶烏施和比利亞四人。 11 雅哈是長子,細拿是次子。耶烏施和比利亞的子孫不多,所以合為一族。

12 哥轄有暗蘭、以斯哈、希伯崙、烏薛四個兒子。 13 暗蘭的兒子是亞倫和摩西。亞倫和他的子孫永遠被分別出來事奉耶和華,向祂獻至聖之物,在祂面前燒香,奉祂的名祝福,直到永遠。 14 上帝的僕人摩西的子孫歸在利未支派的名下。 15 摩西的兒子是革舜和以利以謝。 16 革舜的長子是細布業。 17 以利以謝只有一個兒子利哈比雅,但利哈比雅子孫眾多。 18 以斯哈的長子是示羅密。 19 希伯崙的長子是耶利雅,次子是亞瑪利亞,三子是雅哈悉,四子是耶加緬。 20 烏薛的長子是米迦,次子是耶西雅。

21 米拉利的兒子是抹利、姆示。抹利的兒子是以利亞撒、基士。 22 以利亞撒終生沒有兒子,只有女兒,同族人基士的兒子娶了她們為妻。 23 姆示的三個兒子是末力、以得和耶利摩。 24 以上是利未各宗族的子孫,他們登記在各自族長的名下,凡二十歲以上的男子都在耶和華的殿裡任職。 25 大衛說:「以色列的上帝耶和華已使祂的子民安享太平,祂永遠住在耶路撒冷。 26 利未人再不用抬聖幕和其中的器皿了。」 27 按照大衛臨終時的囑咐,二十歲以上的利未人都已被統計。 28 他們的任務是幫助亞倫的子孫在耶和華的殿裡司職,管理殿的院子和廂房,負責潔淨聖物等事務。 29 他們還負責供餅、做素祭的細麵粉、無酵薄餅的調和、烤製、分量和尺寸。 30 他們每天早晚要肅立、頌讚耶和華, 31 每逢安息日、朔日[a]或其他節期,他們要按照規定的數目將燔祭獻給耶和華, 32 並負責看守會幕和聖所,幫助他們的親族——亞倫的子孫在耶和華的殿裡供職。

Footnotes

  1. 23·31 朔日」即每月初一。

Rules for the Levites

23 David was old and his life had nearly finished.[a] He chose his son Solomon to rule over Israel as king.

He brought together all Israel's leaders, as well as the priests and the Levites. His officers counted all the Levites who were 30 years old or older. There were 38,000 men. David said, ‘24,000 of these Levite men must have authority for the work of the Lord's temple. 6,000 of them will be officers and judges. 4,000 of them will be guards at the gates of the temple. 4,000 of them will use music to praise the Lord. They will use the musical instruments that I have provided for them.’

David made the Levites into three separate groups. Each group had descendants from one of Levi's sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

The group from Gershon's clan

From Gershon's clan there were Ladan and Shimei.

Ladan's three sons were: Jehiel, the firstborn, then Zetham and Joel.

Shimei's three sons were: Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran.

Those men were the leaders of Ladan's family.

10 Shimei had four more sons: Jahath, Ziza, Jeush and Beriah.

11 Jahath was the oldest son and Ziza was the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. So the officers counted them together as one family.

The group from Kohath's clan

12 Kohath's four sons were: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

13 Amram's sons were Aaron and Moses.

The Lord chose Aaron and his descendants for special work for all time. Their work was to offer special holy things to the Lord. They would offer sacrifices to the Lord. They would serve him in the temple. And they would use his name to bless the people.

14 The tribe of Levi included the sons of Moses, God's servant.[b]

15 Moses' sons were Gershom and Eliezer.

16 Gershom's oldest son was Shebuel.

17 Eliezer's son was Rehabiah. He was the leader of the family. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

18 From the family of Kohath's second son Izhar, Shelomith was the leader.

19 Hebron had four sons: Jeriah was the leader, Amariah was second, Jahaziel was third and Jekameam was fourth.

20 Uzziel had two sons: Micah was the leader and Isshiah was second.

The group from Merari's clan

21 Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi.

Mahli's sons were Eleazar and Kish.

22 Eleazar died without any sons. He had only daughters. Kish's sons, who were their cousins, married them.

23 Mushi's three sons were: Mahli, Eder and Jeremoth.

24 Those were the leaders of the Levites' clans, family by family. The Israelites carefully recorded the names of all the men who were 20 years old or older. From that age, they each had their work to do in the Lord's temple.

25 David had said, ‘Now the Lord, Israel's God, has given rest to his people. He has his home in Jerusalem for all time. 26 So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle to different places. They do not need to carry all the things that are used to serve God.’ 27 So David counted the Levites who were 20 years old or older and could work in the temple. Those were David's last words before he died.

The work of the Levites

28 The Levites' work was to help Aaron's descendants as they served the Lord in his temple. They took care of the temple's yards and its small rooms. They made the Lord's special things clean and holy. They did the work that was necessary to serve God in his temple. 29 They took care of the special bread for the table in the holy place. They kept the flour for the grain offerings, for the flat bread that they made without yeast and for the special cakes. They weighed and they measured all the things for the bread and the cakes. 30 Every morning they stood in their places to thank the Lord and to praise him. They did the same thing every evening. 31 They also did that when the priests offered burnt offerings to the Lord. That happened on Sabbath days, at New Moon festivals and on other special days. The correct number of Levites must be there to serve the Lord at all times, as the rules commanded. 32 In that way, the Levites had authority to take care of the special tent and the holy place. They helped their relatives, Aaron's descendants, as they served the Lord in his temple.[c]

Footnotes

  1. 23:1 David was about 70 years old.
  2. 23:14 Moses was a Levite but his wife was not an Israelite.
  3. 23:32 Aaron and Moses both belonged to Levi's tribe. But God chose only Aaron and his descendants to be priests who offered sacrifices to him.