Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close LSB

1 Chronicles 23
Legacy Standard Bible

Solomon Made King over Israel

23 (A)Now David became old and full of days, (B)and he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.

The Work of the Levites

3 (C)And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and (D)their number by [a]census of men was 38,000. 4 Of these, 24,000 were (E)to direct the work of the house of Yahweh; and 6,000 were (F)officers and judges, 5 and 4,000 were gatekeepers, and (G)4,000 were praising Yahweh with the instruments which [b]David made for giving praise. 6 And David divided them into divisions (H)according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The Sons of Gershon

7 Of the Gershonites were [c]Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first and Zetham and Joel, three.
9 The sons of Shimei were Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three.
These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei were Jahath, [d]Zina, Jeush, and Beriah.
These four were the sons of Shimei.
11 Jahath was the first and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became a father’s household, one [e]unit.

The Sons of Kohath

12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
13 (I)The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And (J)Aaron was separated in order to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, (K)to offer offerings up in smoke before Yahweh, to minister to Him and to bless in His name forever.
14 But as for (L)Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The [f]son of Gershom was [g]Shebuel the chief.
17 The [h]son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
18 The [i]son of Izhar was [j]Shelomith the chief.
19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first and Isshiah the second.

The Sons of Merari

21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.
22 And Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only, so their brothers, the sons of Kish, took them up as wives.
23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

The Service of the Levites

24 (M)These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ households, even the heads of the fathers’ households of those of them who were [k]counted, in the number of names by their [l]census, doing the work for the service of the house of Yahweh, (N)from twenty years old and upward. 25 For David said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, (O)has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 Also, (P)the Levites will no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward. 28 For their station is to be on hand for the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of Yahweh, in the courts and in the chambers and in the cleansing of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God, 29 (Q)and with the showbread, and (R)the fine flour for a grain offering, and unleavened wafers, or (S)what is made on the griddle, or (T)what is well stirred, and (U)all measures of volume and size. 30 And they are to stand every morning to thank and to praise Yahweh, and likewise at evening, 31 and to offer all burnt offerings to Yahweh, (V)on the sabbaths, the new moons and (W)the appointed times in the number set by the judgments concerning them, continually before Yahweh. 32 Thus (X)they shall keep responsibility of the tent of meeting, and responsibility of the holy place, and (Y)responsibility of the sons of Aaron their [m]relatives, for the service of the house of Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 23:3 Lit their heads
  2. 1 Chronicles 23:5 Lit I made
  3. 1 Chronicles 23:7 In Ex 6:17, Libni
  4. 1 Chronicles 23:10 In v 11, Zizah
  5. 1 Chronicles 23:11 Lit mustering
  6. 1 Chronicles 23:16 Lit sons
  7. 1 Chronicles 23:16 In 24:20, Shubael
  8. 1 Chronicles 23:17 Lit sons...were
  9. 1 Chronicles 23:18 Lit sons
  10. 1 Chronicles 23:18 In 24:22, Shelomoth
  11. 1 Chronicles 23:24 Lit mustered
  12. 1 Chronicles 23:24 Lit heads
  13. 1 Chronicles 23:32 Lit brothers
Close NET

1 Chronicles 23
New English Translation

David Organizes the Levites

23 When David was old and approaching the end of his life,[a] he made his son Solomon king over Israel.

2 David[b] assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men.[c] 4 David said,[d] “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord’s temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges; 5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.”[e] 6 David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei.

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

9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all.

These were the leaders of the family of Ladan.

10 The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina,[f] Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons—four in all.[g] 11 Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility.

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

13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses.

Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name.[h] 14 The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites.[i]

15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

16 The son[j] of Gershom: Shebuel[k] the oldest.

17 The son of Eliezer was[l] Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.

18 The son[m] of Izhar: Shelomith the oldest.

19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the oldest, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the oldest, and Isshiah the second.

21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi.

The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.

22 Eleazar died without having sons; he had only daughters. The sons of Kish, their cousins, married them.[n]

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

24 These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple and were twenty years old and up.[o] 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem. 26 So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the items used in its service.” 27 According to David’s final instructions, the Levites twenty years old or older were counted.[p]

28 Their job was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s temple. They were to take care of the courtyards, the rooms, ceremonial purification of all holy items, and other jobs related to the service of God’s temple.[q] 29 They also took care of[r] the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring.[s] 30 They also stood in a designated place[t] every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening 31 and whenever burnt sacrifices were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath and at new moon festivals and assemblies. A designated number were to serve before the Lord regularly in accordance with regulations.[u] 32 They were in charge of the meeting tent and the Holy Place, and helped their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple.[v]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 23:1 tn Heb “and full of years.”
  2. 1 Chronicles 23:2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. 1 Chronicles 23:3 tn Heb “and their number by their heads, by men, was 38,000.”
  4. 1 Chronicles 23:4 tn The words “David said” are supplied here in the translation for clarification. The appearance of the first person verb “I supplied” in v. 5 indicates that David is speaking here.
  5. 1 Chronicles 23:5 tn Heb “made to [or “for”] praise.”
  6. 1 Chronicles 23:10 tc The MT reads “Zina” here and “Zizah” in v. 11. One Hebrew ms, the LXX, and the Vulgate, harmonizing the form of the name to that found in v. 11, read “Zizah” here.
  7. 1 Chronicles 23:10 sn Verses 8-10 are confusing. Two different lists of Shimei’s sons appear. In between these lists is the statement “these were the leaders of the family of Ladan,” suggesting that the list just before this includes the sons of Ladan, not Shimei. But verse 8 already lists Ladan’s sons. Apparently the text as it stands is a conflation of differing traditions.
  8. 1 Chronicles 23:13 tn Heb “and Aaron was set apart to consecrate it, the most holy things, he and his sons, permanently, to sacrifice before the Lord, to serve him, and to bless his name permanently.”
  9. 1 Chronicles 23:14 tn Heb “and Moses the man of God, his sons were called to the tribe of Levi.”
  10. 1 Chronicles 23:16 tn The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this. The attached phrase “the oldest” might indicate that Shebuel was not Gershom’s only son, but note v. 17.
  11. 1 Chronicles 23:16 tc The LXX reads Σουβαηλ (Soubaēl) here, a reading followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, CEV (“Shubael”); cf. 24:20.
  12. 1 Chronicles 23:17 tn The Hebrew text has “the sons of Eliezer were,” but only one name appears after this in the verse, and we are specifically told that Eliezer had no other sons.
  13. 1 Chronicles 23:18 tn The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this. The attached phrase “the oldest” might indicate that Shelomith was not Izhar’s only son, but note v. 17.
  14. 1 Chronicles 23:22 tn Heb “the sons of Kish, their brothers [i.e., relatives/cousins] lifted them up.” For other uses of נָאָשׂ (naʾas, “lift up”) in the sense of “marry,” see BDB 671 s.v. Qal.3.d.
  15. 1 Chronicles 23:24 tn Heb “these were the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, according to their numberings, by number of names, according to their heads, doer[s] of the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from a son of twenty years and upwards.”
  16. 1 Chronicles 23:27 tn Heb “for by the final words of David, they were the number of the sons of Levi, from a son of twenty years and upward.”
  17. 1 Chronicles 23:28 tn Heb “For their assignment was at the hand of the sons of Aaron for the work of the house of the Lord concerning the courtyards and concerning the rooms and concerning the purification of all holiness and the work of the service of the house of God.”
  18. 1 Chronicles 23:29 tn Heb “with respect to.”
  19. 1 Chronicles 23:29 tn The Hebrew terms מְשׂוּרָה (mesurah) and מִדָּה (middah) refer to different types of measurements.
  20. 1 Chronicles 23:30 tn Heb “and to stand.”
  21. 1 Chronicles 23:31 tn Heb “by number according to the manner upon them, regularly before the Lord.”
  22. 1 Chronicles 23:32 tn Heb “and they kept the charge of the tent of meeting and the charge of the holy place and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.”
Next
1 Chronicles 22
1 Chronicles 24
Next
dropdown
Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.