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.

David Organizes the Priests

24 The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of ^(AT)Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^2 (AU)But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. ³ With the help of ^(AV)Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. ⁴ Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers' houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. ⁵ They divided them ^(AW)by lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. ⁶ And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and ^(AX)Ahimelech the son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father's house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.

⁷ The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸ the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹ the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰ the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to ^(AY)Abijah, ¹¹ the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹² the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³ the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, ¹⁴ the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵ the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹ These had as their appointed duty in their service ^(AZ)to come into the house of the Lord according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

²⁰ And of the rest of the sons of Levi: ^(BA)of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ^21 (BB)Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. ²² Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ^23 (BC)The sons of Hebron:^[d] Jeriah the chief,^[e] Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ^24 (BD)The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ^26 (BE)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.^{[f] 27} The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Eleazar, ^(BF)who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. ^30 (BG)The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. ³¹ These also, the head of each father's house and his younger brother alike, ^(BH)cast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, ^(BI)Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites.

Mem

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for ^(A)the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ^2 (B)One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^(C)let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ^4 (D)Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

^5 (E)One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^(F)Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since ^(G)he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For ^(H)none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, ^(I)whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹ For to this end Christ ^(J)died and lived again, that he might be Lord both ^(K)of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For ^(L)we will all stand before ^(M)the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then ^(O)each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

^13 (P)Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide ^(Q)never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^(R)that nothing is unclean in itself, ^(S)but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^(T)you are no longer walking in love. ^(U)By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ^16 (V)So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ^17 (W)For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but ^(X)of righteousness and ^(Y)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Whoever thus serves Christ is ^(Z)acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So then let us ^(AA)pursue what makes for peace and for ^(AB)mutual upbuilding.

^20 (AC)Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. ^(AD)Everything is indeed clean, but ^(AE)it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ^21 (AF)It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^{[c] 22} The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. ^(AG)Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.^[d]