1 Chronicles 23
Complete Jewish Bible
23 David had now grown old; he had lived many years; so he made Shlomo his son king over Isra’el.
2 Then he assembled all the leaders of Isra’el, with the cohanim and L’vi’im. 3 A census of L’vi’im thirty years old and over was taken, and their number came to 38,000. 4 Of these, 24,000 were to oversee the work on the house of Adonai, while 6,000 were officials and judges, 5 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 sang praise to Adonai “with the instruments I made for the purpose of singing praise.”
6 David organized them into divisions named after the sons of Levi — Gershon, K’hat and M’rari.
7 For the Gershuni: La‘dan and Shim‘i. 8 The sons of La‘dan: Yechi’el the chief, Zetam and Yo’el — three. 9 The sons of Shim‘i: Shlomit, Hazi’el and Haran — three. These were the heads of the clans of La‘dan. 10 The sons of Shim‘i: Yachat, Zina Ye‘ush and B’ri‘ah. These four were the sons of Shim‘i. 11 Yachat was the chief and Zizah the second, then Ye‘ush and B’ri‘ah, who did not have many descendants and were therefore counted as one clan.
12 The sons of K’hat: ‘Amram, Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el — four. 13 The sons of ‘Amram: Aharon and Moshe. Aharon was set apart to be consecrated as especially holy, he and his sons forever; so that they might bring offerings before Adonai, perform the service for him and bless in his name forever. 14 But as for Moshe the man of God, his sons are included with the tribe of Levi. 15 The sons of Moshe: Gershom and Eli‘ezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: Sh’vu’el the chief. 17 The sons of Eli‘ezer were: Rechavyah the chief. Eli‘ezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rechavyah were very numerous.
18 The sons of Yitz’har: Shlomit the chief. 19 The sons of Hevron: Yeriyahu the chief, Amaryah the second, Yachzi’el the third and Y’kam‘am the fourth. 20 The sons of ‘Uzi’el: Mikhah the chief and Yishiyah the second.
21 The sons of M’rari: Machli and Mushi. The sons of Machli: El‘azar and Kish. 22 El‘azar died without having sons, but daughters only; their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them. 23 Mushi had three sons — Machli, ‘Eder and Yeremot.
24 These were the descendants of Levi, according to their clans, the heads of clans according to their listing in the register, who did the work for the service of the house of Adonai, those twenty years old and over. 25 For David said, “Adonai the God of Isra’el has given rest to his people, and he lives in Yerushalayim forever. 26 The L’vi’im will no longer have to carry the tabernacle and all the equipment that goes with it for its service.” 27 For, according to David’s last instructions, the descendants of Levi twenty years old and over were to be counted. 28 Their role was to assist the descendants of Aharon with the service of the house of Adonai in the courtyards and rooms, and with purification of all the holy articles — in other words, with the work needed to minister in the house of God. 29 They were to assist with the showbread and the finely ground flour needed for grain offerings, no matter whether of matzah, pan-baked bread or mixed with oil, and no matter what shape or size. 30 They were to stand every morning to sing thanks and praises to Adonai, and likewise every evening. 31 They were to be present regularly before Adonai whenever burnt offerings were offered to Adonai on Shabbat, at Rosh-Hodesh, and at the other designated times, in the numbers required by the rules for sacrifices. 32 Finally, for the service in the house of Adonai they were to perform their duties in relation to the tent of meeting, the Holy Place and their kinsmen the descendants of Aharon.
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
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
