1 Chronicles 23
New King James Version
The Divisions of the Levites
23 So when David was old and full of days, he made his son (A)Solomon 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 (B)thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to (C)look after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were (D)officers and judges, 5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand (E)praised the Lord with musical instruments, (F)“which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”
6 Also (G)David separated them into [a]divisions among the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the (H)Gershonites: [b]Laadan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Laadan: the first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel—three in all. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Laadan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, [c]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 (I)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. 13 The sons of (J)Amram: Aaron and Moses; and (K)Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever, that he should [d]sanctify the most holy things, (L)to burn incense before the Lord, (M)to minister to Him, and (N)to give the blessing in His name forever. 14 Now (O)the sons of Moses the man of God were reckoned to the tribe of Levi. 15 (P)The sons of Moses were [e]Gershon and Eliezer. 16 Of the sons of Gershon, (Q)Shebuel[f] was the first. 17 Of the descendants of Eliezer, (R)Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 Of the sons of Izhar, (S)Shelomith was the first. 19 (T)Of 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 (U)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and (V)Kish. 22 And Eleazar died, and (W)had no sons, but only daughters; and their [g]brethren, the sons of Kish, (X)took them as wives. 23 (Y)The sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the sons of (Z)Levi 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 (AA)twenty years and above.
25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel (AB)has given rest to His people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem forever”; 26 and also to the Levites, “They shall no longer (AC)carry the tabernacle, or any of the articles for its service.” 27 For by the (AD)last 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 (AE)the showbread and (AF)the fine flour for the grain offering, with (AG)the unleavened cakes and (AH)what is baked in the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of (AI)measures 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 (AJ)on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the (AK)set[h] feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the Lord; 32 and that they should (AL)attend to the (AM)needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy place, and the (AN)needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:6 groups
- 1 Chronicles 23:7 Libni, Ex. 6:17
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 LXX, Vg. Zizah and v. 11
- 1 Chronicles 23:13 consecrate
- 1 Chronicles 23:15 Heb. Gershom, 1 Chr. 6:16
- 1 Chronicles 23:16 Shubael, 1 Chr. 24:20
- 1 Chronicles 23:22 kinsmen
- 1 Chronicles 23:31 appointed feasts
1 Chronicles 23
American Standard Version
23 Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3 And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges; 5 and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith. 6 And David divided them into [a]courses according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites: [b]Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, [c]Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they became a fathers’ house in one reckoning.
12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, [d]that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons, for ever, to burn incense before Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, for ever. 14 But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: [e]Shebuel the chief. 17 And the sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The sons of Izhar: [f]Shelomith the chief. 19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief, and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 22 And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them to wife. 23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
24 These were the sons of Levi after their fathers’ houses, even the heads of the fathers’ houses of those of them that were counted, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of Jehovah, from twenty years old and upward. 25 For David said, Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath given rest unto his people; and he dwelleth in Jerusalem for ever: 26 and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tabernacle and all the vessels of it for the service thereof. 27 For [g]by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and upward. 28 For [h]their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God; 29 for the showbread also, and for the fine flour for a meal-offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size; 30 and to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even; 31 and to offer all burnt-offerings unto Jehovah, on the sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before Jehovah; 32 and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:6 Hebrew divisions.
- 1 Chronicles 23:7 In 6:17, Libni.
- 1 Chronicles 23:10 In verse 11, Zizah.
- 1 Chronicles 23:13 Or, to sanctify as most holy him etc.
- 1 Chronicles 23:16 In 24:20, Shubael.
- 1 Chronicles 23:18 In 24:22, Shelomoth.
- 1 Chronicles 23:27 Or, in the last acts
- 1 Chronicles 23:28 Hebrew their station was at the hand of the sons of Aaron. See Neh. 11:24.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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