1 Chronicles 23
New Living Translation
Duties of the Levites
23 When David was an old man, he appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel. 2 David summoned all the leaders of Israel, together with the priests and Levites. 3 All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to 38,000. 4 Then David said, “From all the Levites, 24,000 will supervise the work at the Temple of the Lord. Another 6,000 will serve as officials and judges. 5 Another 4,000 will work as gatekeepers, and 4,000 will praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have made.” 6 Then David divided the Levites into divisions named after the clans descended from the three sons of Levi—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
The Gershonites
7 The Gershonite family units were defined by their lines of descent from Libni[a] and Shimei, the sons of Gershon. 8 Three of the descendants of Libni were Jehiel (the family leader), Zetham, and Joel. 9 These were the leaders of the family of Libni.
Three of the descendants of Shimei were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. 10 Four other descendants of Shimei were Jahath, Ziza,[b] Jeush, and Beriah. 11 Jahath was the family leader, and Ziza was next. Jeush and Beriah were counted as a single family because neither had many sons.
The Kohathites
12 Four of the descendants of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart to dedicate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s presence, to serve the Lord, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.
14 As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were included with the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The descendants of Gershom included Shebuel, the family leader. 17 Eliezer had only one son, Rehabiah, the family leader. Rehabiah had numerous descendants.
18 The descendants of Izhar included Shelomith, the family leader.
19 The descendants of Hebron included Jeriah (the family leader), Amariah (the second), Jahaziel (the third), and Jekameam (the fourth).
20 The descendants of Uzziel included Micah (the family leader) and Isshiah (the second).
The Merarites
21 The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died with no sons, only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish.
23 Three of the descendants of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
24 These were the descendants of Levi by clans, the leaders of their family groups, registered carefully by name. Each had to be twenty years old or older to qualify for service in the house of the Lord. 25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given us peace, and he will always live in Jerusalem. 26 Now the Levites will no longer need to carry the Tabernacle and its furnishings from place to place.” 27 In accordance with David’s final instructions, all the Levites twenty years old or older were registered for service.
28 The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of Aaron, as they served at the house of the Lord. They also took care of the courtyards and side rooms, helped perform the ceremonies of purification, and served in many other ways in the house of God. 29 They were in charge of the sacred bread that was set out on the table, the choice flour for the grain offerings, the wafers made without yeast, the cakes cooked in olive oil, and the other mixed breads. They were also responsible to check all the weights and measures. 30 And each morning and evening they stood before the Lord to sing songs of thanks and praise to him. 31 They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the Lord on Sabbath days, at new moon celebrations, and at all the appointed festivals. The required number of Levites served in the Lord’s presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given.
32 And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the Temple[c] and faithfully carried out their duties of service at the house of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 23
Christian Standard Bible
The Divisions of the Levites
23 When David was old and full of days,(A) he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.(B) 2 Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, the priests, and the Levites. 3 The Levites thirty years old or more were counted;(C) the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand by headcount.(D) 4 “Of these,” David said, “twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work on the Lord’s temple,(E) six thousand are to be officers and judges,(F) 5 four thousand are to be gatekeepers, and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the instruments that I have made for worship.”(G)
6 Then David divided them into divisions according to Levi’s sons:(H) Gershom,[a] Kohath, and Merari.
7 The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.
8 Ladan’s sons: Jehiel was the first, then Zetham, and Joel—three.
9 Shimei’s sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three. Those were the heads of the families of Ladan.
10 Shimei’s sons: Jahath, Zizah,[b] Jeush, and Beriah. Those were Shimei’s sons—four. 11 Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; however, Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became one family[c] and received a single assignment.
12 Kohath’s sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four.
13 Amram’s sons:(I) Aaron and Moses.
Aaron, along with his descendants,(J) was set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense in the presence of the Lord,(K) to minister to him, and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 As for Moses the man of God,(L) his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.
15 Moses’s sons: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 Gershom’s sons: Shebuel was first.
17 Eliezer’s sons were Rehabiah, first; Eliezer did not have any other sons, but Rehabiah’s sons were very numerous.
18 Izhar’s sons: Shelomith was first.
19 Hebron’s sons: Jeriah was first, Amariah second, Jahaziel third, and Jekameam fourth.
20 Uzziel’s sons: Micah was first, and Isshiah second.
21 Merari’s sons: Mahli and Mushi.
Mahli’s sons: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died having no sons, only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
23 Mushi’s sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three.
24 These were the descendants of Levi by their ancestral families[d]—the family heads, according to their registration by name in the headcount—twenty years old or more, who worked in the service of the Lord’s temple.(M) 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to his people,(N) and he has come to stay in Jerusalem forever. 26 Also, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the equipment for its service”(O)— 27 for according to the last words of David, the Levites twenty years old or more were to be counted— 28 “but their duty will be to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the Lord’s temple, being responsible for the courts and the chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of God’s temple— 29 as well as the rows of the Bread of the Presence,(P) the fine flour for the grain offering,(Q) the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking,[e](R) the mixing,(S) and all measurements of volume and length.(T) 30 They are also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the Lord, and likewise in the evening. 31 Whenever burnt offerings are offered to the Lord on the Sabbaths, New Moons,(U) and appointed festivals, they are to offer them regularly in the Lord’s presence according to the number prescribed for them.(V) 32 They are to carry out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the holy place,(W) and for their relatives, the descendants of Aaron,(X) in the service of the Lord’s temple.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.