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.
1 Chronicles 23
English Standard Version
David Organizes the Levites
23 (A)When David was old and full of days, (B)he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
2 David[a] assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3 The Levites, (C)thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and (D)the total was (E)38,000 men. 4 “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said,[b] (F)“shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be (G)officers and judges, 5 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments (H)that I have made for praise.” 6 (I)And David organized them in divisions (J)corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 (K)The sons of Gershon[c] were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan: (L)Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan. 10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11 Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father's house.
12 (M)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13 (N)The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. (O)Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should (P)make offerings before the Lord and (Q)minister to him and (R)pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 But the sons of Moses the (S)man of God were named among the (T)tribe of Levi. 15 The (U)sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16 The sons of Gershom: (V)Shebuel the chief. 17 The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. 19 The (W)sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20 (X)The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second.
21 (Y)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and (Z)Kish. 22 Eleazar died (AA)having no sons, but only daughters; their (AB)kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. 23 (AC)The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
24 (AD)These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, the heads of fathers' houses (AE)as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from (AF)twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, (AG)has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need (AH)to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from (AI)twenty years old and upward. 28 For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God. 29 Their duty was also to assist with the (AJ)showbread, the (AK)flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the (AL)baked offering, the (AM)offering mixed with oil, and all (AN)measures of quantity or size. 30 And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening, 31 and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord (AO)on Sabbaths, (AP)new moons, and feast days, (AQ)according to the number required of them, regularly before the Lord. 32 Thus (AR)they were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the (AS)service of the house of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 23:2 Hebrew He
- 1 Chronicles 23:4 Hebrew lacks David said
- 1 Chronicles 23:7 Vulgate (compare Septuagint, Syriac); Hebrew to the Gershonite
1 Chronicles 23
International Children’s Bible
The Levites
23 David had lived long and was old. Then he made his son Solomon the new king of Israel. 2 David gathered all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and Levites. 3 David counted the Levites who were 30 years old and older. In all, there were 38,000 Levites. 4 David said, “Of these, 24,000 Levites will direct the work of the Temple of the Lord. And 6,000 Levites will be officers and judges. 5 And 4,000 Levites will be gatekeepers. And 4,000 Levites will praise the Lord with musical instruments. I made these instruments for them to use for praise.”
6 David separated the Levites into three groups. These groups were led by Levi’s three sons: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
The People of Gershon
7 From the people of Gershon, there were Ladan and Shimei.
8 Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel. His other sons were Zetham and Joel.
9 Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran. These three sons were leaders of Ladan’s families. 10 Shimei had four sons. They were Jahath, Ziza, Jeush and Beriah. 11 Jahath was the first son, and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many children. So they were counted as if they were one family.
The People of Kohath
12 Kohath had four sons. They were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
13 Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen to be special forever. They were chosen to prepare the holy things for the Lord’s service. They were to offer sacrifices before the Lord. They were to serve him as priests. They were to give blessings in the Lord’s name forever.
14 Moses was the man of God. Moses’ sons were counted as part of the tribe of Levi. 15 Moses’ sons were Gershom and Eliezer. 16 Gershom’s first son was Shubael. 17 Eliezer’s first son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many sons.
18 Izhar’s first son was Shelomith.
19 Hebron’s first son was Jeriah. His second son was Amariah. Jahaziel was the third son. And Jekameam was the fourth son.
20 Uzziel’s first son was Micah. And Isshiah was his second son.
The People of Merari
21 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. 22 Eleazar died without having sons. He had only daughters. Eleazar’s daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. 23 Mushi’s three sons were Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth.
The Levites’ Work
24 These were Levi’s descendants listed by their families. They were the leaders of families. Each person who was 20 years old or older was listed. They served in the Lord’s Temple.
25 David had said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He has given rest to his people. He has come to live in Jerusalem forever. 26 So the Levites don’t need to carry the Holy Tent. They don’t need to carry any of the things used in its services anymore.” 27 David’s last instructions were to count the Levites. All who were 20 years old and older were counted.
28 The Levites had the job of helping Aaron’s descendants. They helped in the service of the Temple of the Lord. They cared for the Temple courtyard and side rooms. They had the job of making all the holy things pure. Their job was to serve in the Temple of God. 29 They were responsible for putting the holy bread on the table. They also were responsible for the flour in the grain offerings. And they were responsible for the bread made without yeast. They were also responsible for the baking and mixing. And they did all the measuring. 30 The Levites also stood every morning and gave thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this every evening. 31 The Levites offered all the burnt offerings to the Lord on the special days of rest. And they offered them at the New Moon festivals and at all appointed feasts. They served before the Lord every day. They were to follow the rules for how many Levites should serve each time. 32 So the Levites took care of the Meeting Tent. They also took care of the Holy Place. And they helped their relatives, Aaron’s descendants, with the services at the Temple of the Lord.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
