¹⁷ And they distributed to the priests enrolled by their families in the genealogical records and likewise to the Levites twenty years old or more, according to their responsibilities and their divisions.

²⁴ These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more^(A) who served in the temple of the Lord.

²⁷ According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.

Contributions for Worship^(A)

² Hezekiah^(B) assigned the priests and Levites to divisions^(C)—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister,^(D) to give thanks and to sing praises^(E) at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling.^(F)

The Rest of the Levites

²⁰ As for the rest of the descendants of Levi:^(A)

These were the Levites, according to their families. ³¹ They also cast lots,^(E) just as their relatives the descendants of Aaron did, in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelek, and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites. The families of the oldest brother were treated the same as those of the youngest.

The Musicians

25 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph,^(F) Heman^(G) and Jeduthun^(H) for the ministry of prophesying,^(I) accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.^(J) Here is the list of the men^(K) who performed this service:^(L)

² From the sons of Asaph:

³ As for Jeduthun, from his sons:^(M)

⁴ As for Heman, from his sons:

⁶ All these men were under the supervision of their father^(O) for the music of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God.

Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman^(P) were under the supervision of the king.^{(Q) 7} Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord—they numbered 288. ⁸ Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots^(R) for their duties.

² “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs^(A) from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes.^(B) Write the name of each man on his staff. ³ On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name,^(C) for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe.

²⁴ “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more^(A) shall come to take part in the work at the tent of meeting,^(B)

⁴⁶ So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted^(A) all the Levites by their clans and families.