1 Chronicles 23
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
23 When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
2 David assembled all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and Levites.
3 The Levites thirty years old and upward numbered, man by man, 38,000,
4 Of whom [a]24,000 were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord and 6,000 were to be officers and judges.
5 And, said David, 4,000 shall be gatekeepers and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments which I made for praise.
6 And David organized them in sections according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites: Ladan (Libni) and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan.
10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina (Zizah), Jeush, and Beriah. Of these four sons of Shimei,
11 Jahath was chief and Zizah the second, but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons [not enough for a father’s house or clan]; so they were counted together as one father’s house.
12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy and to consecrate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever might burn incense before the Lord, minister to Him, and bless in His name [and the character which that name denotes] forever.
14 But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The son of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.
17 The son of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah’s sons were very many.
18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the chief.
19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only, and their kinsmen, sons of Kish, took them as wives.
23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
24 These were the Levites by their fathers’ houses, the heads of the fathers’ houses of those registered, according to the number of names of the individuals who were the servants of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward.
25 For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel has given peace and rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever.
26 So the Levites no more have need to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service.
27 For by the last words and acts of David, these were the number of the Levites from twenty years old and above.
28 But their duty should be to wait on [the priests] the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, caring for the courts, the chambers, the cleansing of all holy things, and any work of the service of God’s house,
29 For the showbread also, and for the fine flour for a cereal offering, whether of unleavened wafers or of what is baked on the griddle or soaked [in oil], and for all measuring of amount and size [as the Law of Moses required].
30 They are also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening,
31 And to assist in offering all burnt sacrifices to the Lord on Sabbaths, New Moon festivals, and set feast days by number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord.
32 So they shall keep charge of the Tent of Meeting and the Holy Place and shall attend to the sons of Aaron their kinsmen, for the service of the house of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:4 The reader may be tempted to consider these figures absurdly high if he does not get the whole picture. Note these features of it: 1. The Levites were divided into twenty-four rotating divisions (I Chron. 24:6-19). 2. One thousand Levites on duty at one time for Solomon’s temple, considering the many purposes and cost of the building, its ornate ritual, and the scale of the work, is not unreasonable according to authorities. 3. In the primitive simplicity of the wilderness, the worshiper killed the animal he brought for an offering, skinned it, cut it in pieces, and washed the entrails and legs. But now all these services were the duty of the Levites or Nethinim (servants of the temple); in addition, the number of worshipers had greatly increased (hence the need for a large number of Levites).
1 Chronicles 23
New Life Version
The Work of the Levites
23 When David was an old man, he made his son Solomon king of Israel. 2 He gathered together all the leaders of Israel, the religious leaders, and the Levites. 3 The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and older. Their number was 38,000. 4 Of these, 24,000 were to watch over the work of the Lord’s house. There were 6,000 who were leaders and men who were to judge. 5 There were 4,000 gate-keepers. And 4,000 were praising the Lord with the things for playing music that David had made. 6 David divided them into groups by the sons of Levi, Gershon and Kohath and Merari.
7 The sons of Gershon were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the first, then Zetham and Joel, three in all. 9 The three sons of Shimei were Shelemoth, Haziel and Haran. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan. 10 And the sons of Shimei were Jahath, 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 were numbered together as one father’s house.
12 The four sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 13 The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart for holy work, he and his sons forever. They were to burn special perfume before the Lord, and do His work. And they were to pray for good to come to the people in the Lord’s name forever. 14 But the names of the sons of Moses the man of God were among the family of Levi. 15 The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The son of Gershom was Shebuel the leader. 17 The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah the leader. Eliezer had no other sons. But Rehabiah had many sons. 18 The son of Izhar was Shelomith the leader. 19 The sons of Hebron were Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jehaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 The sons of Uzziel were Micah the first, and Isshiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died and had no sons, only daughters. Their brothers the sons of Kish married them. 23 The three sons of Mushi were Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth.
24 These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses. They were the heads of the fathers’ houses of those whose names were numbered from twenty years old and older. They were to do the work of the Lord’s house. 25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given peace to his people. And He lives in Jerusalem forever. 26 The Levites do not need to carry the meeting tent and all the parts for its work any longer.” 27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and older. 28 He said, “Their duties are to help Aaron’s sons with the work of the Lord’s house, in the open spaces and in the rooms. They are to make clean all the holy things, and do any work needed to be done in the house of God. 29 They are to take care of the holy bread, the fine flour for a grain gift, and the bread without yeast. They are to take care of what is baked, and what is well mixed, of all the right amounts. 30 They are to stand every morning and evening to thank and praise the Lord. 31 And they are to give all the burnt gifts to the Lord on the Days of Rest, the new moons, and the special days. They are to do this before the Lord all the time, by the number set by the Law. 32 In this way they are to take care of the meeting tent, the holy place, and help their brothers the sons of Aaron, for the work of the Lord’s house.
1 Chronicles 23
King James Version
23 So when David was old and full of days, 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 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
4 Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges:
5 Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
6 And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites were, Laadan, and Shimei.
8 The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.
9 The sons of Shimei; Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.
10 And the sons of Shimei were, Jahath, 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 were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.
12 The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
13 The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.
14 Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.
16 Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief.
17 And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
18 Of the sons of Izhar; Shelomith the chief.
19 Of the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 Of the sons of Uzziel; Micah the first and Jesiah 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: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them.
23 The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
24 These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and upward.
25 For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:
26 And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.
27 For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:
28 Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God;
29 Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;
30 And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even:
31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:
32 And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the Lord.
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