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.

The Divisions of the Priests

24 Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. ^(AO)The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ² And ^(AP)Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests. ³ Then David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and ^(AQ)Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to the schedule of their service.

⁴ There were more leaders found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and thus they were divided. Among the sons of Eleazar were sixteen heads of their fathers’ houses, and eight heads of their fathers’ houses among the sons of Ithamar. ⁵ Thus they were divided by lot, one group as another, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of the house of God, from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar. ⁶ And the scribe, Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, one of the Levites, wrote them down before the king, the leaders, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites, one father’s house taken for Eleazar and one for Ithamar.

⁷ Now 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 ^(AR)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 ^[i]Happizzez, ¹⁶ the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to ^[j]Jehezekel, ¹⁷ the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸ the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.

¹⁹ This was the schedule of their service ^(AS)for coming into the house of the Lord according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

Other Levites

²⁰ And the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, ^[k]Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. ²¹ Concerning ^(AT)Rehabiah, of the sons of Rehabiah, the first was Isshiah. ²² Of the Izharites, ^[l]Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. ²³ Of the sons ^[m]of ^(AU)Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴ Of the sons of Uzziel, Michah; of the sons of Michah, Shamir. ²⁵ The brother of Michah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. ^26 (AV)The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi; the son of Jaaziah, Beno. ²⁷ The sons of Merari by Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸ Of Mahli: Eleazar, ^(AW)who had no sons. ²⁹ Of Kish: the son of Kish, Jerahmeel.

³⁰ Also ^(AX)the sons of Mushi were Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

³¹ These also cast lots just as their brothers the sons of Aaron did, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites. The chief fathers did just as their younger brethren.

The Musicians

25 Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of ^(AY)Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was: ² Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and ^[n]Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were ^[o]under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied according to the order of the king. ³ Of ^(AZ)Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, ^[p]Zeri, Jeshaiah, ^[q]Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, ^[r]six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord. ⁴ Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, ^[s]Uzziel, ^[t]Shebuel, ^[u]Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. ⁵ All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to ^[v]exalt his ^(BA)horn. For God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

⁶ All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and ^(BB)harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were ^(BC)under the authority of the king. ⁷ So the ^(BD)number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the Lord, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight.

⁸ And they cast lots for their duty, the small as well as the great, ^(BE)the teacher with the student.

⁹ Now the first lot for Asaph came out for Joseph; the second for Gedaliah, him with his brethren and sons, twelve; ¹⁰ the third for Zaccur, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹¹ the fourth for ^[w]Jizri, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹² the fifth for Nethaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹³ the sixth for Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁴ the seventh for ^[x]Jesharelah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁵ the eighth for Jeshaiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁶ the ninth for Mattaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁷ the tenth for Shimei, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁸ the eleventh for ^[y]Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ¹⁹ the twelfth for Hashabiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁰ the thirteenth for ^[z]Shubael, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²¹ the fourteenth for Mattithiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²² the fifteenth for ^[aa]Jeremoth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²³ the sixteenth for Hananiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁴ the seventeenth for Joshbekashah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁵ the eighteenth for Hanani, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁶ the nineteenth for Mallothi, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁷ the twentieth for Eliathah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁸ the twenty-first for Hothir, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ²⁹ the twenty-second for Giddalti, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ³⁰ the twenty-third for Mahazioth, his sons and his brethren, twelve; ³¹ the twenty-fourth for Romamti-Ezer, his sons and his brethren, twelve.